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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2022)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 3, 2022 -- THREE Spiritually Speaking Be watchful and vigilant -Continued from PAGE ONE By Fr. Thankachan Joseph This Sunday’s first reading is from the Book of Wisdom (18, 6-9). Wisdom was written about a century before the coming of Jesus, by a faithful, literate Jew living in cosmopolitan Alexandria, Egypt. One of his purposes was to bolster Fr. Thankachan the faith of fellow Jews living in a world Joseph indifferent and sometimes hostile to their beliefs. The theme of the writer is how the providence of God has protected the chosen people throughout salvation history, especially during their oppression in Egypt and during the Exodus therefrom under Moses. In Exodus, chapters 11 and 12, while the angel of the Lord was striking down the first-born of Pharaoh and other Egyptians, the vigilant Hebrew slaves were both offering grateful sacrifice to the Lord and eating the meat of the lamb to fortify themselves for their coming escape from the slavery of Pharaoh. That night was the first Passover. Like those Jewish slaves in Egypt, we, too, are called to cling to the hope of a future that may seem too good to be true, and we, too, are expected to be steadfast in our faith, even when we see no signs of the fulfilment of God’s promises. The second reading is from Hebrews (11:1-2, 8-19). It contains the only explicit definition of faith in the Bible: “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for, and evidence of things not seen.” Abraham heard the voice of God sum- moning him to a different land, where God promised to grant him many descendants. By faith, Abraham left his homeland, accepted God’s promise that his descendants would form a great nation and was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac at God’s command. Despite obstacles and setbacks, Abraham stayed obedient, “for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.” The Gospel of Luke (12:32-48) is one of three escha- tological discourses in the Gospel. All three of the Synop- tic Gospels record Jesus’s concern that his disciples keep alert, keep watch over themselves with careful attention. Jesus explains that we must be vigilant like the servant waiting for his master’s unexpected return or like the wise homeowner who was well prepared for the unexpected break-in of a thief. Since the time of our death is quite uncertain, we, too, must be ready to meet our Lord at any moment. He should find us carrying out our task of love, mercy, and service, rather than leaving things undone or half-done. He should also find us at peace with God, ourselves, and with our fellowmen (Eph.4:26). There are four reasons the believer must keep watch: 1) Because the time of the Lord’s return is unknown. 2) Because he has been given a specific task to have completed when Christ returns. 3) Because Christ is returning unexpectedly, suddenly. 4) Because he can be caught napping sleeping. We need to be vigilant and ready to face the Lord. One of the traditional means for remaining alert is prayer. The most important element in prayer is listening to God – an attitude of attention to the “tiny whispering sound” of the Lord (1 Kings 19:11-12). Such attentiveness demands that we set aside a quiet time every day during which we can tune our ears to the divine sounds of love, harmony and peace. Let us recall the words of the Book of Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him and he with me” (3:20). We need to wait for the Lord. “Waiting for Christ to return” means working for the coming of the Kingdom of God. This means doing God’s will by rendering humble service to others, by combating poverty, by ending the hatred that divides us, by establishing peace among indi- viduals and nations, by curbing the pride that causes us to become confrontational, and by building social structures that respect the dignity of individual humans. We must wait for the Lord in our daily lives by learning to see Jesus in the least of our brothers and sisters. The Lord comes unexpectedly into our lives everyday through events and people we meet. But the ultimate, unexpected coming of the Lord in our lives is the moment of death. We should be watchful to recognize the Lord and be prepared to meet him in the little unexpected opportunities of everyday life. This is the best way to prepare for the ultimate encounter with the Lord at the hour of death. Heppner hosting volleyball camp The Heppner Volley- ball program will be hosting a Heppner youth volleyball skills camp next week at the Heppner High School gym. Cost will be $20 and includes a team shirt. The camp for 4 th to 6 th graders will be held Mon- day and Tuesday, August 8 and 9 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.. MISLABELED TESTS for women who may be pregnant. Private business- es such as Boardman Foods have also joined in on these mitigation efforts. On how the samples got messed up to be begin with, the Gazette contacted Doherty. He said it was testing done by the private business, not the county, that apparently made a mis- take on Drago’s water test. He said somehow another property’s water sample with the high nitrate level was incorrectly assigned to Drago’s address. Following this mis- handling of test samples, however, Doherty had an- nounced at an open county commission meeting that the 68 ppm results were at that time the highest results recorded in the county. Doherty did not identify the property address but did say it was in the Irrigon area. Drago wants to know why this information was an- nounced publicly as people might associate it with his property since it was being talked about. “Why was I being used as an example?” Drago wanted to know. “Sounds a little odd to me,” he said. Drago, who is 92-years- old said when word of the nitrate contamination first came out he and his wife were “very concerned” and went to a doctor for examinations. He said the doctor told him if they were drinking water at that level of contamination, 68ppm, they would both be “very sick.” We’ve been drinking the water for 10 years,” he said of his well water, and both are in good health. He also said he has never had a nitrate filter installed on his well. When asked who has access to all the water sam- ple results now being col- lected, including addresses around the county, Doherty said he personally gets emails with all the results including property address- es, but he is not sure who else in county government gets this information. He said he doesn’t know who sees the results when tests are conducted by the pri- vate businesses. Doherty explained that he contacted Roy Drago’s son, rather than going directly to the property owners, about the high nitrate level because they are family friends and he wanted to tell them right away about the high nitrate levels. On the integrity of the tests, Doherty said he has complete confidence. “I’m 1,000 percent behind the tests. I trust the process,” he said. Heppner temps slightly warmer in July According to prelim- inary data received by NOAA’s National Weather Service in Pendleton, tem- peratures at Heppner aver- aged slightly warmer than normal during the month of July 2022. The average tempera- ture was 73.0 degrees which was 2.0 degrees warmer than the normal average temperature for this month. High temperatures aver- aged 89.2 degrees with the high of 105 degrees being recorded on the 31 st . Low temperatures averaged 56.9 degrees with the low of 50 degrees being recorded on the 18 th . There were 13 days with a high temperature above 90 degrees. Precipitation was much below normal during July, totaling 0.03 inches, which was 0.28 inches below nor- mal. Precipitation of at least .01 inch was reported on zero days. The heaviest amount of precipitation was 0.03 inches, which was reported on the 4 th . -Aracely Urenda, 31, Boardman, and Kenneth Paul Kippley, 40, Board- man. July 27, 2022: -Juan Carlos Moreno Lara, 30, Irrigon, and Andrea Celina Islas Castaneda, 30, Irrigon. July 29, 2022: -Heidi Melissa Garcia, 22, Umatil- la, and Casey Emmett Horn, 40, Umatilla. Camp for 7 th and 8 th grad- ers will also be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, August 10 and 11. Those who are unable to attend but would like to play this year should contact their coach, Mrs. Payne (Jr. High) or Mrs. Rosenbalm (Colt). Valby Lutheran Church Valby Road Ione Oregon. 97843 Scan QR Code to download the app 10:00 AM 541-422-7300 Old Country Church All Are Welcome Our newly updated website makes it easy to: •Submit news •Submit birth, engagement and wedding announcements •Send us photos •Submit letters to the editor •Place ads •Start a new subscription www.heppner.net Weekly deadline for all news and advertising is Monday at 5pm. 188 W Willow, Heppner • 541-676-9228 348 N. Main St. Heppner Text: Tons of possibility with this 3 bed 2 bath home featuring open floor plan, spacious living area, and upstairs bonus room perfect for home office or gath- ering area. Tons of storage can be found through out. Finished basement ideal for workshop/crafting area or potential 4th bedroom. Bring your ideas home!! $227,000 MLS# 22393385 Destiny George 541-980-1148 Destined Realty Group Keller Williams Realty Portland Central 503-548-4848 Church Services 1st & 3rd Sundays Available for: Weddings • Funerals Family Events The City of Irrigon would serve small to medi- is positioned to receive um sized businesses with a $1,000,000 for a business focus on enhancing oppor- incubator facility thanks to tunities for minority busi- a provision secured by Or- ness enterprises (MBE) and egon Senators Ron Wyden low-income populations. The project represents and Jeff Merkley in annual spending legislation in- a partnership between the troduced in the Senate on City of Irrigon and the Thursday. If signed into Port of Morrow, which will law, the bill would direct provide additional funding funding to Irrigon to con- to complete the project. struct a new facility that “ T h e C i t y would meet area business of Irrigon is needs with space for start- grateful to ups and growth of local the Port of Morrow for businesses. Once complete, the their gener- business opportunity in- ous financial cubator building would a n d s t a f f Lisa Mittels- provide a well-maintained support for dorf, Execu- facility that can efficiently this project,” tive Director accommodate multiple use noted Palm- of the Port of types, including distribu- quist. “The Morrow tion, manufacturing and project fits warehousing to meet the hand and glove with the needs of the region. With an current business develop- estimated available space ments happening in our of 10,000 square feet, the community”. “The Port is proud to building would allow a variety of small size spaces, partner with Irrigon on with flexibility to accom- this initiative, which will modate specific business support new and emerg- needs within the interior, ing businesses with the including office space and space and opportunity they need to succeed,” said Lisa restrooms. Mittelsdorf, Executive “Irrigon Director of the Port of is very excit- Morrow. “This facility will ed about this be particularly effective in funding,” said creating opportunities for Irrigon City minority and low-income Manager Aar- individuals in our commu- on Palmquist. nity that need it most. We “This grant greatly appreciate Sena- brings oppor- tunities for sus- Aaron Palm- tor Merkley and Senator tainable growth quist, Irrigon Wyden’s work to secure in our commu- City Manager this provision.” Funding was included nity and our region. The incubator de- as a Congressionally Di- velopment project will help rected Spending (CDS) pro- entrepreneurs take that first vision within annual gov- big step toward launching ernment funding legislation introduced by the Senate their own business.” Funding would address Appropriations Committee. a longstanding need for The Senate legislation will economic development in still need to be reconciled Irrigon. Currently, Irrigon with proposals from the has limited locations for House of Representatives small businesses to start-up, as part of negotiations to which restrains economic finalize a bicameral, bi- development, particularly partisan agreement. Final for disadvantaged popu- legislation is expected later lations. The new facility this year. Do You Have Something to Share? Marriage Licenses The Morrow County Clerk’s office has released the following report of marriage licenses: July 6, 2022: -Jesus Emanuel Sanchez Arella- no, 20, Irrigon, and Wendy Nicole Soto Cardenas, 19, Irrigon. July 7, 2022: -Wacy Chance Coil, 30, Lexing- ton, and Kylie Michelle Neuneker, 29, Lexington. US Senate advances $1 million for Irrigon business incubator 217 North Main St., Heppner, OR Phone 676-9158 Floral 676-9426 murraysdrug.com Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-6pm • Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 9am-2pm Pharmacy- Mon-Fri 9am-6pm
