Health district $4.3
million lawsuit
-Continued from PAGE ONE
transition from vol-
unteer to paid EMS staff,
in order to accommodate
increased county demand
on ambulance services.
Another MCHD con-
cern is the potential loss of
cost-based reimbursement
for its ambulance services.
The health district says the
loss of that funding, an es-
timated one million dollars
per year, could threaten am-
bulance services throughout
the county, as well as cost-
ing lost jobs associated with
those services.
So, as an alternative to
the injunction, the health
district is asking for the
county to pay the difference
between cost-based reim-
bursement versus actual
reimbursement for the next
three years, to the tune of
$3 million, plus $100,000
potential loss of hospital
revenue and $1.1 million
in damages, for a total of
4.2 million.
The lawsuit also makes
allegations of conflict of
interest against Morrow
County Commissioner Jeff
Wenholz, saying his po-
sition on the Good Shep-
herd Health Care Board of
Trustees caused him to act
against the best interests of
Morrow County residents.
While Wenholz was not
listed as a defendant in the
lawsuit, the health district
has “reserved the right to
assert direct claims against
Wenholz,” according to
paragraph six of the doc-
ument.
The lawsuit also seeks
a restraining order and in-
junction against BFRD
and Hughes, which would
prohibit the fire department
from engaging in ambu-
lance services in Morrow
County.
Monetary claims
against Hughes and Board-
man Fire include the $3
million for estimated cost-
based reimbursement,
damages in the amount
of $1,203,350 for tortious
interference with business
relations between the health
district and the county, plus
an additional $169,000 in
fines for what the health
district says are multiple
violations of the 1998 ASA
plan.
Tortious interference
refers to one party interfer-
ing with an advantageous
business relationship of
another party, causing eco-
nomic harm.
Even before the fil-
ing of the lawsuit, Mor-
row County had engaged
attorney Bob Blackmore
to help it navigate the le-
gal complexities of the
ASA plan. Morrow County
Counsel Justin Nelson told
the Gazette-Times that the
lawsuit has been given to
both Blackmore and county
insurance provider City-
county Insurance Services
(CIS) for review. Boardman
Fire is also in the process of
consulting with its lawyer.
Look for more infor-
mation in next week’s Ga-
zette-Times.
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 17, 2023- SEVEN
Heppner FFA holds annual Morrow County receives
banquet
$725K in transit funding
Retiring officers of the Heppner FFA Chapter. “They have
served our chapter and community while balancing family/
friends, school, jobs, athletics, youth group, NHS, ASB and
4-H,” says Heppner FFA Advisor Beth Dickenson. L-R: Sec-
retary Keeley Nairns, President John Lindsay, Vice President
Morgan Cutsforth, Treasurer Irelynn Kollman and Sentinel
Paul Lindsay. -Contributed photo
to coach track for 12 ad-
ditional years; during that
time, he helped many stu-
dent athletes achieve their
goals and was honored as
National Track Coach of
the Year.
This fund awards one
$1,000 scholarship to a
college-bound Ione High
School Senior based on
demonstrated academic
achievement and commu-
nity involvement, and with
preference given to students
who have participated in
the Ione High School Track
Program.
Students must be con-
tinuing their education at a
community college, trade
school, or four-year college
or university. Applicants
must have a minimum 3.0
accumulated GPA and show
involvement in community/
school activities.
Applications will be
accepted and awarded by
the South Morrow County
Scholarship Inc. Board of
Directors using the Coach
LaRue Scholarship Google
Form Application. Applica-
tions must include a tran-
script and activities/work
experience sheet.
All applications are due
by 4 p.m. on May 24. Any-
one with questions or wish-
ing to apply may contact
Brandi Sweeney at brandi.
sweeney@morrowsd.org.
Oregon’s U.S. Sena-
tor Jeff Merkley is one of
the driving forces behind
the Pollinator Power Act,
which would give priority
to solar projects that include
habitats for pollinators like
this honeybee. -Photo by
Andrea Di Salvo
legislation that aims to
help reverse the decline
in pollinator populations
by incentivizing pollinator
habitats surrounding new
solar projects carried out
through the Rural Energy
for America Program.
“Pollinators are critical
to maintaining life as we
know it, and as our nation
embarks on a huge expan-
sion of solar energy, we
have a great opportunity
to create new pollinator
habitats at the same time,”
said Merkley. “New polli-
nator habitat is critical to
reversing scary declines in
pollinator populations, and
The Heppner FFA Chapter held its annual banquet Thursday,
May 11. Included in the evening were awards, recognition of
outgoing chapter officers, induction of new officers and, of
course, lots of food and laughter. -Contributed photo
Heppner holds WalkMS
Youth enjoy the campfire at the Asension Camp. Hopeful
Saints youth are raising funds to attend camp this summer.
-Contributed Photo
Participants in Heppner’s 2023 WalkMS pause at Les Schwab
Tire Center for photos and a donation. Pictured are WalkMS
participants with Heppner Les Schwab employees, while Wal-
kMS coordinator Barb Orwick receives a donation from Les
Schwab manager John Gould (far right).
-Contributed photo
The youth of Hopeful
Saints Ministry will be
hosting an ice cream sun-
dae fundraiser this Sunday,
May 21, from 11:15 a.m.
to 1 p.m. The youth will
be set up in the Hopeful
Saints church yard on the
corner of Church and Gail
streets. They will be serving
up dishes of ice cream with
all the traditional toppings
to raise funds for the min-
istry’s camp scholarship
fund.
Funds raised will help
with the costs of youth at-
tending Ascension Camp in
Cove this summer. Hopeful
Saints has several youth
registered for camp—five
attending Senior High
Camp, one attending Be-
ginners Camp, four attend-
ing Discovering Camp and
two adults attending in
leadership.
Ascension Camp is a
place apart to “connect
with God’s sacred mystery,
celebrating the dignity, di-
versity and oneness of all
creation.” Ascension Camp
offers age-specific camps
for preschool through adult
education/formation. Any-
one who would like more
information about the camp
may call the church office at
541-676-9970 and leave a
message for George Nairns,
and she will return the call.
Donations for camp
scholarships may also be
mailed to Hopeful Saints,
PO Box 246, Heppner, OR
97836.
FFA plant sale continues
Thursday
The Heppner FFA chapter May 18, from 1-5 p.m. to sell
WalkMS participants at Heppner City Park. -Contributed photo and plant science class will be all remaining plants
The Heppner contin-
gent of WalkMS met at
Hager Park the morning of
April 29 to raise money for
the National Multiple Scle-
rosis Society. The group
collected more than $4,000
during the fundraiser.
The group started with
about 16 individuals, who
walked to Les Schwab Tire
Center for pictures and a
donation to the society.
The walkers contin-
ued to Heppner City Park,
picking up participants and
more donations along the
way. Once there, more pic-
tures were taken of the
group, which had grown to
about 30 people.
Bucknum’s Tavern pro-
vided brunch for the hungry
walkers to end the morning.
The National Multiple
Sclerosis Society sponsors
WalkMS to raise money to
help research to end this
disease. The society also
provides funds for affected
victims to help with physi-
cal therapy, support groups
and even house remodels.
Anyone who hasn’t
donated but wants to may
contact Barb Orwick at
541-256-0455.
The greenhouse and plant
extending their annual plant
sale to this Thursday. The Hep- sale is a project of the FFA
pner High School greenhouse chapter/plant science class.
will be open this Thursday,
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it’s time to get creative to
help our pollinators recover
and thrive.”
“Many pollinators are
threatened or endangered,
creating a serious risk to
our future food supply. It
is critical to incentivize the
creation and expansion of
pollinator habitat across
USDA programs,” said
Booker. “Siting pollinator
habitat alongside REAP
solar projects is not just a
win for pollinators, but it
increases the productivity
of the panels and helps
nearby farmers who benefit
from pollinators.”
The Pollinator Power
Act would direct the U.S.
Secretary of Agriculture
to prioritize solar projects
that include the creation of
pollinator habitats. Polli-
nator populations, such as
western monarch and hon-
eybees, have been steadily
declining in recent years,
and pollinators are key to
ecosystems and food pro-
duction in the U.S.
Merkley and Booker—
who serves on the Senate
Agriculture Committee—
are pushing for the inclu-
sion of this legislation in the
upcoming 2023 farm bill.
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Merkley, Booker introduce legislation to create pollinator habitats
around solar projects
Merkley, Booker intro-
duce legislation to create
pollinator habitats around
solar projects
Washington, D.C.—
Recently, U.S. Senator Jeff
Merkley (D-OR) and U.S.
Senator Cory Booker (D-
NJ) introduced the Pol-
linator Power Act, new
port bus service, maintain
and purchase vehicles,
build bus charging stations
and more. Funding for these
programs comes from fed-
eral programs and a .01 of
1 percent state payroll tax.
ODOT reports that it
received 75 applications
requesting $35.5 million.
That’s approximately $1.25
in proposals for every avail-
able dollar, which the agen-
cy says reflects high need
for public transportation
investments compared to
funds available.
In making its recom-
mendations to the commis-
sion, the Public Transpor-
tation Advisory Committee
considered input from tran-
sit districts, public transpor-
tation key audiences, Area
Commissions on Transpor-
tation and others.
Hopeful Saints youth to
host ‘Sundae Sunday’
South Morrow scholarship
applications due May 24
South Morrow County
seniors who are interested
in obtaining scholarships
are invited to apply by May
24. Scholarships, includ-
ing the Coach Del LaRue
Scholarship, are available
through the South Morrow
County Scholarship Board.
The South Morrow
County Scholarship Board
will award scholarships to
Heppner High School and
Ione Community School
seniors based on academic
achievement and school/
community/work involve-
ment. Students must have a
2.5 GPA or higher to apply.
Students must be con-
tinuing their education at a
community college, trade
school or four-year college
or university. Funds are to
help students pay for tui-
tion, program fees, books,
supplies, rent and other
expenses. Multiple schol-
arships will be awarded.
If selected, students will
need to submit their current
college class schedule or
verification of enrollment.
The Coach Del LaRue
Scholarship was developed
in memory of Del LaRue,
a long-time teacher and
coach at Ione High School.
LaRue had a passion for
coaching basketball and
track and loved seeing stu-
dents set and achieve their
goals. After retiring from
teaching, LaRue continued
Three transportation
awards to benefit Mor-
row County are among the
more than $28.5 million
the Oregon Transportation
Commission approved at its
meeting last week, the Ore-
gon Dept. of Transportation
announced Tuesday.
Morrow County will re-
ceive $484,000 for a Board-
man/Port of Morrow circu-
lator, as well as $241,600
for a Heppner to Boardman
connector. Also partly ben-
efiting Morrow County will
be the $803,796 awarded to
the Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation for a Hermiston to
Boardman connector.
The funds come from
the Statewide Transporta-
tion Improvement Fund’s
(STIF) discretionary pro-
gram and are used to sup-
This 2,471 sqft home and two lots totaling 13.12
acres could be the perfect property to keep your
horses and livestock. Pasture and dry land. Tax ID
5378 and 8939. Selling as-is. MLS#: 23292049
62886 HIGHWAY 74 - Ione
177 N. Main
P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
Chris@sykesrealestate.net
Broker
Chris Sykes
541-215-2274