County prepared to
hire mediator in
ambulance dispute
50¢
VOL. 141
NO. 37
8 Pages
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Boardman Harvest Festival to feature local
artisans, produce, and family fun
The ninth annual Mor-
row County Harvest Fes-
tival is coming Saturday,
October 1st at the SAGE
Center in Boardman. It
will run from 10a.m. to
4p.m.
The Harvest Festival
will be exclusively out-
doors and will feature a
large, variety of vendors
with high-quality, region-
ally produced agricultural
goods and handmade arti-
san crafts.
Some events this year
include Threemile Canyon
Farms opportunity for at-
tendees to “fill-a-bag” full
of locally grown produce
at the 6th annual ‘Harvest
Bounty for Youth in Agri-
culture’. In exchange for a
small donation to a local
youth program, you pack
a grocery bag full of tradi-
tionally grown potatoes or
organic onions.
The “Kid’s Corner”
showcases numerous free
youth activities to the pub-
lic and involve partner-
ships with organizations
like Future Farmers of
America, Boardman Parks
and Recreation District,
FBLA, NHS and more.
Also returning this year
are the mule-drawn wag-
on rides, face painting,
and pumpkin painting. The
Harvest Festival will have
live music by Leah Justine
and Dallin Puzey on the
patio. Leah is a native who
is a 419 Record’s Flagship
Artist who writes and per-
forms country music and
we are excited to see her
during her performance
from 10:00am to 1:00pm.
Dallin Puzey, a Hermis-
ton native, who writes and
preforms his own music, in
addition to playing a vari-
ety of familiar folk, coun-
try, rock, and pop songs
will be performing from
Mule-drawn wagon rides back again this year
1:00pm to 4:00pm.
For more information
about the event, please
visit the Morrow Coun-
ty Harvest Festival event
page on Facebook, go to
www.visitsage.com or call
the SAGE Center at (541)
481-7243.
The SAGE Center (Sus-
tainable Agriculture and
Energy Center) is an inter-
active visitor center oper-
ated by the Port of Morrow
and showcases the indus-
tries at the Port, sustain-
able agriculture, and ener-
gy production in Morrow
County.
Ione Community School celebrates Back to School BBQ
Ione Community School
celebrated its Back to School
BBQ on September 7th
hosted by our Booster Club.
“It was great to see so
many community members,
staff, and students come out
to share a meal to start the
year off on the right track,”
a school spokesperson said.
Ione has not been able
to host this event for the
last two years, and he said
they are grateful to start the
school year off “by breaking
bread with their neighbors.”
The Booster Club
was thanked for putting
on “such a great event.”
The school looks forward
to many continued gath-
erings this fall and invites
the public to “join us for
home events this week.”
There is a home Volleyball
on Thursday beginning at
4 pm, Football on Friday
at 7 pm, and Volleyball on
Saturday starting at 10 am.
“We look forward to
seeing you there and thanks
for your continued support
of the Ione Community
School, The Ione Booster
Club, and Cardinal Ath-
letics,” the spokesperson
concluded.
Morrow County appears
ready to hire a professional
mediator to help solve a
long-simmering dispute
between the Morrow Coun-
ty Health District and the
Boardman Rural Fire on
how emergency medical
and ambulance services
should be handled in the
Boardman and north county
areas. The county has a con-
tract ready with Elizabeth
Heckathorn to serve in that
position and was expected
to sign the agreement at its
September 14 meeting.
According to her resume,
Heckathorn, who lives in
Portland, has a long history
in the emergency medical
services (EMS) business,
including as Chief of EMS
for Jefferson County where
she managed a staff of 40
professional and volunteer
employees. In addition to
other duties she was solely
responsible for the manage-
ment of the district budget
including grant writing and
administration, accounting,
business tax preparation,
and budget publication.
All parties in the dispute
hope to see an end to the
on-going argument which
has seen the two districts
battle over who shall pro-
vide ambulance service
in the area. The conflict
has produced accusations,
caustic statements and both
sides hiring attorneys. The
county government is in-
volved since commission-
ers will be the ones approv-
ing any license for Board-
man Fire’s ambulances to
transport patients. Officials
on both sides say hiring a
professional mediator may
be a way out of the conflict,
and Heckathorn believes
she can help.
“I believe my qualities as
a mediator and my knowl-
edge of the EMS & Trauma
system are the right fit at the
right time for this opportu-
nity with Morrow County’s
EMS system. My recent
and reputable experience
Elizabeth Heckathorn
includes a long history of
leadership in EMS & Fire
Service and other closely
related health and emergen-
cy service professions,” she
said in her resume to county
commissioners.
Last week the county
had a contract ready to
sign with Heckathorn, but
commissioners voted to
wait until the September 21
meeting to review and sign
off on the final details of the
agreement. In the contract
the county will pay Heck-
athorn $135 per hour plus
a $552 retainer and travel
and lodging expenses.
According to the contract
the goal of mediation is for
Heckathorn to “lead a re-
view of Morrow County’s
current ASA (Ambulance
Service Area) Plan and
moderate a discussion to
include potential options
for modernization” of the
current plan. The contract
says Heckathorn is “pre-
pared to mediate disputes
between providers of EMS
in Morrow County.” The
ASA plan covers how emer-
gency medical services are
conducted and deployed in
the Morrow County.
The Morrow County
Board of Commissioners
is ultimately responsible
for any updating on the
plan, however Heckathorn
will, if requested, assist in
updating and modernization
of the plan as a result of the
meeting between the health
district and the fire district.
City in good financial
shape, says manager
Heppner is in good
financial condition, City
Manager Kraig Cutsforth
told the council Monday
night. “We are in the best
financial shape since I have
been here (as city manag-
er)”, Cutsforth said of the
amount of funds on hand in
the city’s bank accounts. As
of August 31, the city had
over $2.5 million cash on
hand in the bank and things
were looking good into the
future.
Main reasons for the
city’s favorable financial
position are a $500,000
grant from the state made
possible by the efforts of
State Representative Greg
Smith, $143,000 in COVID
grant money and $200,000
from the Columbia River
Enterprise Zone for infra-
structure improvements.
Cutsforth told the coun-
cil it will need to decide
how the unbudgeted portion
of the money will be spent,
as it is “discretionary” or
unrestricted funds and can
be spent where the council
decides the money is most
needed. He also said the
city should look good into
the future also as some debt
has been paid down and
other grants funds will also
be coming in.
In other business at Mon-
day’s council meeting it
was voted on to move for-
ward with the ordering and
purchase of a new com-
mand pickup truck for the
fire department.
The council also heard
a report from Barb Or-
wick of the Neighborhood
Center who said the center
distributed 204 food boxes
in August and that they had
several new families sign
up who had never gotten a
Continued page 2
Ione residents enjoy a back to school barbeque last week at the
community school put on by the booster club
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