Wenholz to run for
position as county
commissioner
50¢
VOL. 140
NO. 48
8 Pages
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Heppner dominates all-conference team
Above: Brock Hisler (32), Jace Coe (20), Kason Cimmiyotti (18) and Conor Brosnan (56) were chosen for first-team on both
sides of the ball.
Below: Blane Mahoney (45) and Toby Nation (72) were also chosen for first-team. -Photos by Damon Brosnan.
Heppner, the Blue
Mountain Conference
champion, had six players
chosen to the all-conference
first team. The Mustangs
dominated the team, with
12 players chosen by the
conference coaches. Four of
those players earned first-
team honors on both sides
of the ball.
Brock Hisler, a Mus-
tang linebacker/running
back, was a first-team selec-
tion on both sides of the ball
along with Jace Coe, de-
fensive back/receiver, Ka- back/receiver, and Conor sive line. Blane Mahoney
son Cimmiyotti, defensive Brosnan, linebacker/offen- was a first-team defensive
lineman and Toby Nation
was offensive lineman.
Second team selec-
tions from Heppner in-
cluded quarterback, Landon
Mitchell; offensive line,
Tucker Ashbeck and Jake
Lentz; running back, Ca-
den George; kicker, Conor
Brosnan; defensive back,
Derrick Smith; linebacker,
Caden George; and defen-
sive lineman, Toby Nation.
Honorable mention for de-
fensive lineman went to
Tucker Ashbeck and offen-
sive line to Kegan Steagall.
Financial help available for low-income
Internet connections
Free and reduced lunch families immediately qualified
Broadband Team leader Aaron Moss gives presentation on getting Morrow County
connected
Franell explained. “Unlike
the big providers that hide
the program, we want to
make it easy for people
to get signed up,” Franell
said of helping families
get the subsidy. He said all
Heppner and Ione resident
families need do is call
gorge.net (541-436-0223),
which is now in the process
of installing high-speed in-
ternet to homes in Ione and
Heppner, give their name
and his company will get
them signed up. “People
don’t have to provide data
(to prove their low-income
eligibility),” he said. Be-
cause there is a national
data base, “We can verify
through the schools that
people are eligible. If you
are a low-income family
struggling right now you
will be able to get that 300
Mbps high speed internet
for $59.95 a month. Gorge.
net service is only available
in the city limits of Ione and
-See INTERNET/PAGE TWO
Jeff Wenholz
governmental experience
on his application as Mor-
row County planning com-
mission, solid waste advi-
sory committee and budget
committee as well as the
Umatilla Chemical Depot
advisory commission.
The primary election
will be held May 17, 2022
and the general election No-
vember 8, 2022. If elected,
Wenholz will take over the
position January 2, 2023.
If county must
COVID test:
Who pays and on
whose time?
By David Sykes
If federal vaccine man-
dates are enacted requiring
all county employees to
either get vaccinated or
get tested, county commis-
sioners last week discussed
who would pay, and on
whose time the tests would
be done. Forty percent of
county employees are not
vaccinated.
As of last Wednesday’s
meeting, commissioners
were still not sure if a fed-
eral mandate would come
down requiring all coun-
ty employees to either be
vaccinated or get weekly
testing. But in preparation,
commissioners did talk
about the cost of the tests,
and whether they would
be administered on county
time or the employees’
time?
County Emergency
Management head Paul
Gray said he had researched
the test’s costs and if they
do become mandatory the
county may end up buy-
ing 1,200 to 1,800 kits at
a cost of around $15,000.
The type of test used is
still unclear, but if a home
test is approved the price
is currently at $8.50 each.
If a lab test is required, the
cost was unknown. “It’s a
moving target,” Gray said
of preparing for mandates
that may or may not come
down, and for which the
rules are unknown. Gray
said he did not want the
county to go out and buy
a bunch of home tests for
instance, only to find out
later they would not be
accepted. Gray also said if
federal mandates are enact-
ed there would mostly be a
run on tests, which could
both drive up the price and
make the test scarce.
“If the mandates are
enacted they apparently
would say if you don’t get
vaccinated then you can
take a test once a week. If
you test positive you would
go home. If you test nega-
tive, you can go to work,”
Commission Chair Don
Russell explained. Gray
said if the county ends up
using the home test it takes
15 minutes “then you go
to work.” He said if you
use the other testing then a
sample is taken and sent to
a lab. “Take the test Friday,
maybe next Wednesday,
maybe get results,” Gray
explained.
One thing made clear
by the commissioners,
however, any mandates
enforced would not be of
their making. “I have talked
to employees who aren’t
vaccinated and don’t plan
on being vaccinated, and
they are angry,” Russell
said. “But I tell them don’t
be angry at your county
government because we
were never consulted. We
just know we have these
mandates in front of us and
the penalties are too large to
ignore, and we are going to
have to follow it. My goal
is to not lose any employees
over this,” he emphasized.
“Be mad at the federal gov-
ernment, be mad at Gov-
ernor Brown, but don’t be
mad at the three of us. Your
efforts at Morrow County
are valued,” he said of the
employees. Commissioner
Melissa Lindsay echoed
Russell’s message. “This
is a federal mandate and
we have had zero input,”
she said. “This mandate has
zero to do with apprecia-
-See COUNTY COVID
TESTS/PAGE TWO
E L E VAT E YO U R A DV E N T U R E
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
gorge.net president Joseph
Franell
megabit service for $9.95
a month, which is transfor-
mative for families, and re-
ally, really helpful,” Franell
said. The company has been
currently advertising 300
NEW
2022
FOR
By David Sykes
If your family is on
the free and reduced lunch
program at school you are
eligible to receive substan-
tial help in paying for an
internet connection, Mor-
row County Broadband
team leader Aaron Moss
explained at a recent inter-
net connection meeting.
“Right now, there are
only 58 families in the
county enrolled in the pro-
gram and we know the need
is significantly higher,”
Moss said. In encouraging
people to get connected he
said families on free and
reduced lunch at schools are
“immediately qualified” for
financial assistance to help
pay for internet service.
Called the Emergency
Broadband Benefit Pro-
gram, federal grants will
pay up to $50 per month
in internet service fees
for qualified households.
It is designed to help
low-income households
stay connected during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
For an example of the
program, Joseph Franell,
president of high-speed
internet provider gorge.
net, was at the meeting and
explained how his company
is setting up to help low-in-
come people get connected.
“We are going to make
this as easy as possible,”
J e f f We n h o l z , a
self-employed man from
Irrigon, has thrown his hat
into the ring for Morrow
County Commissioner, Po-
sition 2. Wenholz is the first
candidate to file for one of
the two positions currently
open for the May 2022
primary election. Position
2 is currently held by Don
Russell, whose term will
expire in January 2023.
Commissioner Melissa
Lindsay currently holds
position 3, which also ends
January 2023.
According to Mor-
row County Clerk Bobbi
Childers, Wenholz is the
only candidate who has
filed at this time. Neither
Russell nor Lindsay have
submitted candidate ap-
plications for re-election,
although the March 8, 2022
deadline for filing is still
several months off.
Wenholz listed prior
for more
information
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