EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Local Anime Club
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Sam’s OC (original charac- Samantha Lamb in her an-
ter), Sakura. -Contributed ime-themed bedroom. -Con-
photo
tributed photo
American cattle and wheat
country, but it’s a topic that
lives at the center of Hep-
pner teen Samantha Lamb’s
life. She started the club to
connect with others through
sharing an art form that is
near and dear to her heart.
Samantha, who prefers
to go by Sam, is the daughter
of Scott and JoAnna Lamb
of Heppner. She began her
anime journey when she
was about nine years old.
She recalls that the first
anime she ever watched
was Princess Mononoke.
She watched the animation
with her Japanese aunt as a
way to learn the language
and culture.
“At first I was watching
Japanese anime to learn
Japanese, but then I got into
anime in general just for the
fun of it,” says Sam. “I got
attached to the characters.”
She also says that part
of the appeal is the art;
when asked what draws her
to anime, Sam’s response is
prompt.
“The animation, and
the fact that its all hand
drawn,” she says.
Sam’s mother, JoAnna
Lamb, says her daugh-
ter doesn’t do things by
halves—once Sam got in-
terested in anime, it be-
came something of an
obsession. A recent room
re-design resulted in a fully
anime-themed bedroom.
Sam has also done her own
anime-based drawing, even
creating her own original
characters, or “OCs.” One
of those OCs is Sakura, the
daughter of a king, who ran
away to find her brother.
“He turned into this
demon thing,” explains
Sam. “But she still trusted
her brother.”
Lamb says she un-
knowingly started the pro-
cess with a suggestion.
“She was outgrow-
ing cartoons,” says Lamb,
adding that she suggested
anime as a bridge between
cartoons and older shows.
“And then it just snow-
balled. This is where we
ended up.”
Sam admits to being
a purist when it comes to
anime.
“I mostly prefer them
in Japanese,” she says.
That is, no dubbing al-
lowed. She says she will
turn on subtitles because
she doesn’t know all the
Japanese words, but her
mother says she’s picking
up more all the time.
“She can pick up words
now,” Lamb says.
Seeing her daughter’s
love for anime was what
made Lamb encourage her
daughter to start the local
anime club. Sam is on the
shy side but opens up when
speaking on her favorite
topic. Andrea Nelson, own-
er of Flood Town Books,
offered space for the club,
and the idea took off.
Some weeks, the club
is limited to Sam and one
other. Other weeks the turn-
out is more—last Saturday
saw six youth assembled in
a corner of the book store,
plus one online participant.
They say they hope the
club will grow as the word
spreads.
But what is anime?
For many—especial-
ly those in older genera-
tions—knowledge of anime
might be limited to shows
like Pokémon and the ac-
companying Pokémon GO
craze a few years back.
It’s true that shows like
Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z
and others have introduced
many Americans to anime,
but the film genre goes way,
way beyond that.
The Merriam-Webster
dictionary defines anime as
“a style of animation origi-
nating in Japan that is char-
acterized by stark colorful
graphics depicting vibrant
characters in action-filled
plots often with fantastic or
futuristic themes.”
That is, anime looks
like a cartoon, but it’s no
Looney Tunes.
Modern anime began
in 1956 and gained greater
traction in 1961. The word
anime itself was first used in
1985, and the genre gained
real ground in the U.S. be-
ginning in the 1990s.
Early anime films
weren’t intended for au-
diences outside of Japan,
so they contained many
uniquely Japanese cultural
references as well as being
produced in the Japanese
language. For instance, ac-
cording to the Encyclopae-
dia Britannica, the large,
doe-like eyes of the anime
characters “are commonly
perceived in Japan as mul-
tifaceted ‘windows to the
soul.’”
However, it’s worth
mentioning that, while an-
ime series like those above
are usually considered chil-
dren’s shows, there can be a
very adult side to anime that
parents should be aware of.
Lamb says she and Sam
watch anime on a site called
Crunchyroll, which has a
“mature” filter so she can
filter out mature sexual
content and language, but
some anime can still be
quite violent. She says she
has Sam run new shows she
wants to watch by her so
she can research them first.
“Sometimes I shoot
one down because I don’t
like the message it gives—
school violence or teens
behaving badly—and
sometimes I approve it—
like killing make-believe
demons,” says Lamb.
Speaking of killing
make-believe demons, De-
mon Slayer is Sam’s current
favorite anime, and will
be the topic of the club’s
discussions all this month.
The club meets 10 a.m.
every Saturday (with few
exceptions) at Flood Town
Books in Heppner.
-Continued from PAGE ONE cy rooms for a long period
“safety net.” Core services
are to mobile crisis with
24/7 response, kids who
are at risk of out of home
placement, those who are
low income or indigent, and
those who are transitioning
back from the state hospital.
“In most cases, the state
contract has expanded to in-
clude additional services,”
she told the board, “but the
rule, or the revised stat-
utes, haven’t expanded, so
there’s some discrepancy.”
The county receives
funds from the state, which
it passes on to CCS, and the
commissioners are required
to have a mental health
advisory board. That also
has been delegated to CCS.
Aside from the county,
CCS also has contracts with
Medicaid/Oregon Health
Plan to provide benefits
through their insurance
plans. Lindsay said the
OHP plans account for
the bulk of their funding;
depending on the county,
OHP plans can make up 60
or 65 percent of the fund-
ing CCS receives. State
funding for core services is
closer to 10 to 15 percent.
Lindsay added that changes
to diagnoses covered by
state or federal funding can
dramatically affect funding.
“We know that behav-
ioral health has received a
lot of publicity, and we will
continue to as long as there
are school shootings, mass
shootings, really horrific
things that happen because
of unresolved behavioral
health issues,” said Lind-
say.
She said requirements
for services have increased,
and nobody can get into
the state hospital without
going through the district
attorney’s office, which
has increased the need for
residential programs such
as Heppner’s Lakeview
Heights or Boardman’s
Columbia River Ranch.
“It used to be we took
people from the state hos-
pital into that facility. We
still do, but due to some of
the challenges, it’s not quite
the same flow that it used to
be. The backlog is high, the
waitlist is high,” she said
She said that the state
went from 30 acute care
beds per 100,000 people
down to seven per 100,000
post-COVID.
“There’s not enough
placement for people. Peo-
ple are waiting in emergen-
of time for beds.”
Lindsay also went over
enrollment figures for 2022.
Enrollment numbers for
December and January
were not final at the time of
the report, but Lindsay said
CCS total enrollment for all
counties for adult outpatient
mental health services took
a huge jump in November,
up to 4,356 from 2,216 in
October. Total number of
services delivered in No-
vember 2021 was 2,645.
There was a drop in
chemical dependency ser-
vices, down to 460 in No-
vember from 527 in Octo-
ber. Lindsay said that was
probably due to the passage
of Measure 110, which
largely decriminalized drug
possession. She said CCS
chemical dependency treat-
ment used to happen when
a person was cited for pos-
session and had to go before
a judge, but that doesn’t
happen now.
“One of the beliefs with
Measure 110 was that if
people are no longer getting
cited but treatment is free,
then people are going to
voluntarily start showing
up for treatment,” she said.
Child outpatient men-
tal health services showed
enrollment of 1,126 for
November, not a significant
jump from October’s figure
of 1,113.
Sykes asked if Lindsay
saw any relief or problems
coming up in the new legis-
lative session. She said that
more funding unfortunately
didn’t translate to being
able to offer more services
right away because of the
trouble they’re having hir-
ing people. For that reason,
she said, she was concerned
about the sunsetting of a
provision the Oregon legis-
lature made during COVID
that allowed all businesses
to offer incentives such
as hiring bonuses. Being
able to do so had helped a
lot with both retention and
hiring, she said, but under
normal Oregon law, compa-
nies can only offer bonuses
for “bona fide” pay scales.
CCS is currently trying to
ascertain if their wage sys-
tem qualifies as bona fide,
but it doesn’t appear it does.
“If we can’t offer bo-
nuses, we’re going to really
struggle,” said Lindsay.
“That’s what I’ve been ask-
ing for. To me it seems like
an issue that both parties
could get behind.”
Utah Tech University
student Aramis Corpus of
Boardman is among the
students honored on the
university’s President’s List
for the fall semester 2022.
Inclusion on the President’s
List requires students to
complete a minimum of 15
credits and achieve a GPA
of 3.9 or higher.
“On behalf of the facul-
ty and staff, congratulations
to all Utah Tech students
who made the 2022 fall se-
mester honor roll list,” said
Vice President of Academic
Affairs and Provost Mi-
chael Lacourse. “Your hard
work and persistence have
paid off and you should be
proud of your achievement.
Keep up the great work and
we hope to see your name
on the honor roll for the
spring 2023 semester.”
Bowles steps down
from city council
John Bowles
The City of Heppner
again has a councilor po-
sition open upon the resig-
nation of council member
John Bowles.
Bowles started as a
Heppner city councilor in
2006.
“For the past 17 years I
have served beside several
city managers, mayors,
counselors, staff and citi-
zens,” said Bowles. “During
that time, we’ve completed
many great projects for the
city of Heppner. There were
some tough decisions made
along the way, but we got
through them by working
together.”
Bowles, who was ap-
pointed Morrow County
Sheriff last fall, said he
was stepping down because
changes in his personal
and professional life no
longer allow him to devote
adequate attention to the
council position.
“I’ve enjoyed my time
as city councilor and this
has been a difficult deci-
sion,” he said. “Going for-
ward, I wish all the current
and future counselors the
best.”
The City of Heppner is
actively seeking a replace-
ment for Bowles on the city
council. Candidates for the
position must be at least 18
years old, have lived inside
the Heppner city limits for
at least a year as of Feb. 9
and be a registered voter in
the State of Oregon. The
deadline to apply is 5 p.m.
Feb 9.
Application forms can
be found at cityofheppner.
org or Heppner City Hall.
Anyone interested in the po-
sition can contact city hall
Monday through Thursday
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information,
contact Kraig Cutsforth at
541-676-9618 or heppner@
cityofheppner.org.
Completed, signed
forms can be mailed to
Heppner, PO Box 756, Hep-
pner, OR 97836 or brought
to Heppner City Hall at 111
N Main St., Heppner.
Boardman to host
city manager meet
and greet
Narrows the field to three
candidates
The City of Boardman
is planning a meet and greet
Thursday, Feb. 2, from 5:30
to 7 p.m. for members of
the public to meet the can-
didates for the Boardman
City Manager position. The
event will be held at the
Port of Morrow Riverfront
Center at 2 Marine Drive in
Boardman.
Boardman City Manag-
er pro tem Rick Stokoe said
the council has narrowed
the field to three candi-
dates, Aaron Palmquist
of Irrigon, Elke Doom of
Huron Township, MI and
Sharon Jakubowski Wolz
of Kearny, AZ.
Members of the public
will have the opportunity
to meet the candidates and
complete comment cards
for the city council’s con-
sideration.
The Boardman City
Council will interview the
candidates the following
morning in executive ses-
sion. The interviews will
be conducted by four pan-
els—a city council panel, a
business panel, citizen pan-
el made up of citizens nom-
inated by council members,
and a panel of department
heads and staff.
“I strongly encourage
people to attend the meet
and greet and give their
comments,” said Stokoe.
Ione plans economic
Corpus named to Utah development town hall
The City of Ione is for south Morrow County.
Tech president’s list
planning a town hall to This effort will provide an
Boardman City Council
plans executive sessions
The Boardman City
Council is planning two
separate executive sessions
next week regarding the se-
lection of a new Boardman
City Manager.
The first executive ses-
sion will be Thursday, Feb.
2, at 9 a.m. at Boardman
City Hall. The purpose will
be for city council members
to meet finalists for the city
manager position. Board-
theft and vandalism. The man City Hall is located at
city is asking citizens to
remember to lock their
doors, both home and out-
buildings, and to report any
suspicious activities.
Ione warns residents
to be watchful
The City of Ione is
warning residents of Ione
and surrounding areas that
there have been recent
crimes and suspicious ac-
tivities in Ione, including
Community Counseling
200 City Center Circle.
The second session will
be Friday, Feb. 3, at 8:30
a.m. at the Port of Morrow
Riverfront Center. During
the session, city council
members will interview fi-
nalists for the city manager
position and hold deliber-
ations regarding selection
of a new city manager. The
Riverfront Center is located
at 2 Marine Drive.
address economic devel-
opment. The town hall will
take place Tuesday, Feb. 14,
at 7 p.m. following the Ione
City Council meeting.
The Morrow County
Planning Department and
cities of the Willow Creek
Valley are conducting the
Department of Land and
Conservation and Develop-
ment’s Goal 9 assessment
inventory of employment
lands available to realize
economic growth oppor-
tunities, along with com-
munity input, to shape the
future of the downtown and
commercial areas.
The town hall will give
community members an
opportunity to learn more,
ask questions and provide
input.