Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 30, 2022 -- THREE
Ione students receive Oregon Wheat
Has no one condemned Foundation scholarships
Spiritually Speaking
you?
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph
On the fourth Sunday of Lent, we
read and reflected on the parable of the
Prodigal Son. Which of the two sons can
we compare to Saul, who later became
the Apostle Paul? Many of us will quick- Fr. Thankachan
ly answer, “the younger son.” Paul lived Joseph
a rebellious life and then experienced a
total conversion to the ways of God, right? Wrong. Paul
never lived a wayward life. Right from his youth, he lived
a strict religious life. He was like the elder son, who was
always law-abiding and intent on doing his father’s will.
This week, we read of a woman caught in adultery, who,
from an encounter with Christ and His mercy, turns into
a new person.
We read in the Gospel of John (8: 1-11) the immortal
words of Christ to the woman caught in adultery: “Has
no one condemned you? Neither will I condemn you. Go
in peace and sin no more.” Therefore, we can see that we
have no need to be afraid to let Christ see our sins. We
have nothing to obtain from Christ except forgiveness. Let
us pause to call to mind our sins, especially the harsh and
unfair judgements we sometimes pass on others, like the
crowd did in this parable of the woman caught in adultery.
We have an innate stone-throwers tendency. We can-
not tolerate the sinner. Sin stinks when it is committed by
others, and we want to clean it up. But not so when it is
committed by ourselves. We need to look at our own house
before we start throwing mud at others. It is impossible to
throw mud without some of it sticking to your hand. This
means that the very act of condemning others involves
a sin on our part. The first letter of John says, “If we say
we are without sin, we deceive ourselves.” If Jesus, the
One without sin (Jn 8:7), can forgive sinners, how much
more should we sinners forgive each other?
When the accusers had left, Jesus turned to the
woman and asked, “Is it true what these men said?” She
nodded her head. “That means you were in sin then,” He
continues. Once again, she nodded her head. “To be in
sin is to be in darkness. You were not made for darkness
but for light,” Jesus said and then paused some time and
asked, “Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Sir,”
she replied. “Well then, neither will I condemn you. Go
in peace, walk in the light, and do not enslave yourself
again.” A faint smile appeared on her tear-stained face.
She was dismissed with infinite gentleness and the most
delicate of reproofs. How differently it might have ended
but for the compassion of Jesus. The empathy of Christ
really made her turn over a new leaf. She left her sinful
ways and became an ardent follower of Christ.
In the same way, He is waiting for all of us to return
to Him with a repentant heart. Surely, He will encircle us
with His love and affection and knows that we all need
His forgiveness. He will be there to rescue us from our
stone throwers, and the same words will be repeated to
us: “…. well then, neither will I condemn you. Go in
peace.” The comforting words of Christ. According to
the Law of Moses, Lev 20:10, an adulterer should be
stoned to death. They used this occasion to trap Jesus... If
Jesus allowed her to be stoned to death, He could not be
called the merciful teacher. If He forgave her, He would
be accused of infringing on the Law.
The story is told of a young French soldier, who
deserted Napoleon’s army but who, within a matter of
hours, was caught by his own troops. The penalty for
desertion was death. The young soldier’s mother heard
what had happened and went to plead with Napoleon to
spare her son’s life. Napoleon heard her plea but pointed
out that because of the serious nature of the crime, her son
clearly did not deserve mercy. “I know he doesn’t deserve
mercy,” the mother answered. “It wouldn’t be mercy if he
deserved it.” That is the point of mercy, nobody deserves
it. Everyone deserves true justice. Mercy, on the other
hand, is a sheer gift.
In the story, Jesus is asking us all to be like Him,
to be compassionate and empathetic towards our fallen
brothers and sisters.
THE GATHERING
EVERY WEDNESDAY
Where: Ione Community Church
When: Wednesdays 5:30 - 7:30
The Ione Community Church is
hosting The Gathering, a time
for members of the community to
come together and connect.
Social hour and games following
5:30 pm
DINNER
6:15
MIDDLE
SCHOOL
YOUTH
GROUP
&
BIBLE
STUDY
FOR
ADULTS
dinner for everyone
“For where two or three are gathered in my
name, there I am in the midst of them.”
Matthew 18:20 KJV
Birthright of Morrow County
is seeking volunteers.
We are a pregnancy resource
center located on Willow Street of
Heppner. 2 or 3 hours a week.
Weekly volunteers and subs need-
ed. If interested, please call:
541-676-0530.
The Oregon Wheat
Foundation recently an-
nounced the recipients of
twelve scholarships to Or-
egon high school seniors.
Each of these students will
receive a $1,500 scholar-
ship to support studies at
their selected university,
community college or vo-
cational/trade school. This
year was a particularly
competitive application
round, with three times the
number of applications in
comparison to 2021.
Last year, the Founda-
tion grew the dollar amount
available for each individu-
al scholarship from $1,000
to $1,500 per student. This
year, in recognition of
the number of applicants,
the Foundation extended
the number of statewide
scholarships to be able to
support more students. “It
is through the generous
contributions of our wheat
industry that the Founda-
tion has a healthy base of
resources to support the
next generation through
these scholarships,” stated
Dale Case, Oregon Wheat
Foundation Board Chair.
“The board was unanimous
in its decision to expand the
scholarship program and
we thank the donors who
make it possible.”
Two Ione students were
selected by the Foundation
to receive this year’s schol-
arships, along with 10 other
high school seniors from
around the state. The recip-
ients included Grace Ogden
and Haylie Peterson who
will graduate from Ione this
spring.
Grace Ogden will grad-
uate from Ione High School
and plans to attend Oklaho-
ma State University, with
a double major in ag com-
munications and animal
science. She is the daughter
of Jarrod and Alison Ogden.
Grace is active in 4-H as
a County Ambassador, is
a member of the National
Honor Society, plays var-
sity volleyball and tennis
and is Associated Student
Body President. She has
been a student intern with
OSU Morrow County Ex-
tension and an intern for
Representative Greg Smith,
in addition to working farm
labor and driving com-
bine at Ogden Farms and
Weedman Ranches. She
is also extremely active in
FFA, serving as Chapter
President and District Vice
President and obtaining her
State FFA degree.
By April Hilton-Sykes
Morrow County Health
District CEO Emily Rob-
erts told the board at their
Monday night meeting in
Ione, that she doesn’t an-
ticipate a change in mask
mandates until the end of
April. Masks are still re-
quired within the district
until then. “We’re not ruling
out PPE (personal protec-
tive equipment) until then,”
said Roberts. “People hav-
en’t been to work with any
illness, and I’d like keep it
that way,” she said.
Kathleen Greenup, RN,
chief nursing officer (CNO)
with the district, said that
MCHD has received over
1,000 testing kits which can
be handed out to whoever
needs one. Greenup an-
nounced that she is resign-
ing from her CNO position
but says she will remain
with the district as a nurse
“on the floor”.
Reviewing ambulance
response statistics, the
board learned the Board-
man Ambulance, operated
by Morrow County Health
District, had a response
time of 5.05 minutes for
51 runs in January and
5.02 minutes for 48 runs in
February.
Irrigon Ambulance
reported a response time of
11.97 minutes for 43 runs
in January and 8.9 minutes
for 18 runs in February.
Heppner Ambulance had a
response time of 12.5 min-
utes for 20 runs in January
and 23 runs in February.
In addition to the CEO
and board, Chief Operating
Officer Troy Soenen and
Heppner Clinic Director
Katelin Tellechea attended
the meeting.
In other business, the
board:
-approved an agree-
ment for health care staffing
with MedCall NorthWest,
Inc., for employment of
independent medical pro-
fessionals on a parttime or
temporary basis.
-approved an indepen-
dent contractor agreement
with Pioneer Memorial
Physical Therapy, LLC,
for the services of a phys-
ical therapist, occupational
therapist, speech language
pathologist and/or phys-
ical therapist assistant to
provide direct patient care,
among other services.
-approved a request
from Katie Siri-Murray
for a $3,114 for two stan-
dard adult and pediatric
automatic defibrillators for
the Heppner Community
Foundation facilities for
use at the Gilliam Bisbee
Building, a community
event center, and a fitness
center, Lott’s Fitness on
Main St. in Heppner.
-approved a year-long
contract with Tom and
Karen Wolff, Heppner, for
lease of a rental space that
the district uses primarily
for housing visiting phy-
sicians. Board member
Aaron Palmquist noted the
agreement already had a
rate increase built in it.
-received the following
“unaudited” profit and loss
statement through Feb-
ruary: gross patient reve-
nue-$1,059,421, less the
$3,553 provision for bad
debt, less $145,061 for
contractual and other ad-
justments, plus $218,296 in
tax revenue and $259,544
in other operating reve-
nue for $1,395,753 in total
operating revenue; less
$1,371,896 in total operat-
ing expenses and a $15,581
non-operating gain for a
$39,438 gain for the month.
-received the following
hospital report: Pioneer
Memorial Hospital had two
Haylie Peterson
Haylie Peterson will
also graduate from Ione
Community Charter School
and plans to attend Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege, with an emphasis
in ag production. She is
the daughter of Treve and
Liz Peterson. Haylie is a
member of the National
Honor Society, involved
in Ione FFA, a member
of the student body and
active in multiple sports in-
cluding varsity basketball,
volleyball and tennis. She
is a Morrow County 4-H
ambassador. In addition
to working on her family
ranch, Rocky Bluff Ranch,
Haylie most recently in-
terned with Beef Northwest
Feeders. She plans to return
to the family ranch and farm
after getting her degree.
Other seniors who re-
ceived scholarships were
Nathan Bingaman and Ken-
dra Counsell, Imbler High
School; Sydney Dodge and
MCHD still requires masks
ESTATE SALE
for Eddie Gunderson
810 Hep-Spray Hwy
April 1st & 2nd from 8am to 3pm.
Misc.household items, furniture, fridge,
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: shop tools/items, sewing machine, etc...
All priced to sell!
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Grace Ogden
Kinley McAnally, Pendle-
ton High School; Hannah
Kortge and Gabriel Pet-
roff, Dufur High School;
Tegan Macy, Culver High
School; Kailey McGourty,
Vale High School; Kassidy
Schumacher, Scio High
School; and Lannie Stone-
brink, Enterprise High
School.
Students were eval-
uated based on academic
record, leadership, commu-
nity service and the submit-
ted essays. “The achieve-
ments of all the students
submitting an application
to the Foundation reflects
a very bright future for our
industry. I am excited by the
potential reflected in this
graduating class of seniors
and look forward to their
continued contribution to
agricultural community,”
stated Amanda Hoey, Ore-
gon Wheat CEO.
The Oregon Wheat
Foundation annually awards
scholarships for high school
seniors. Scholarship awards
may be made to a quali-
fying student from each
of the participating coun-
ties, which include Baker/
Union, Gilliam, Klamath,
Malheur, Morrow, Sher-
man, Umatilla, Wallowa
and Wasco. In addition,
awards may be made in the
Willamette Valley region
and in the Central Oregon
region.
in-patient admissions for
February, two swing bed
admissions, one death, six
admitted for observation,
one admitted for hospital
respite, one swing bed ad-
mission, 574 total outpa-
tients with emergency room
admissions, 70 emergency
room encounters, 1,399 lab
tests, 78 x-ray/ultrasound
tests, 54 CT scans, one MRI
scan, and one respiratory
therapy session.
-received the following Troy Soenen
clinic reports: Pioneer Me-
morial Clinic in Heppner
had 268 provider visits,
Irrigon Medical Clinic had
271 provider visits, Ione
Clinic had 65.
-received the following
report: Home Health had
195 patient visits; Hospice
had two admissions; Phar-
macy had 1,978 drug doses
for $126,442 in revenue.
-held an executive ses-
sion following the public
Katelin Tellechea
meeting.
WCVEDG to hold
annual luncheon
The Willow Creek Val-
ley Economic Development
Group will be holding its
annual luncheon Thursday,
April 7 at noon in the Gil-
liam and Bisbee Building.
Lunch will be hosted and
be served by The Gateway
Café.
There will be a pre-
sentation by The Howard
and Beth Bryant Founda-
tion and Superintendent
Dirk Dirkson will give a
brief update on the Morrow
County School District’s
upcoming bond measure.
Please RSVP to the Hep-
pner Chamber, heppner-
chamber@gmail.com, by
Monday, April 4.
Valby Lutheran Church
Valby Road
Ione Oregon. 97843
Church Services
1st & 3rd Sundays
10:00 AM
Available for:
Weddings • Funerals
Family Events
541-422-7300
Old
Country
Church
All Are
Welcome
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