TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 23, 2023
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
Mobile Maker Lab outreach continues to grow
Has seven-month plan to visit Eastern Oregon counties
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE:
http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
Published weekly by Sykes Publishing and entered as periodical matter at the Post
Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid
at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax
(541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve.net. Web site:
www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times,
P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: In Morrow County $35/year.
Outside Morrow County $40/year. In County Senior Rate (65 years or older) $30/
year. 9 month Student student subscriptions $35/year.
Chris Sykes ...............................................................................................Publisher
Andrea Di Salvo ............................................................................................ Editor
Cindi Doherty.........................................................................................Advertising
All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m.
For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5.50 per
column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $15 up to 100
words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.00 per column inch.
For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for publi-
cation must be specified. Affidavits must be requested at the time of submission. Affidavits
require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be
specified if required).
For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to
meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space
for the obituary.
For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner
GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone
number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. The GT is not
responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks will be
placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10.
The Mobile Maker Lab (MML), dedicated at EOU on Jan.
25, is part of a small fleet that travels throughout Eastern
Oregon serving children preschool through high school.
-Contributed photo
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
-Continued from PAGE ONE be transported.”
He said they were run-
ning quite a few miles on
those life assists.
“I think by the end of
the year, we’re going to see
our lift assists with EMS be
double from what it was last
year,” he said.
The Heppner Fire
Department had started
charging the health district
for services at the helicopter
landing zone, Rhea said,
and they might have to do
the same with lift assists.
“Especially where
we’re running to Blakes
Ranch and Cutsforth Park,”
he said. “It’s not really cost
effective for us to be part of
the ambulance crew.”
Rhea also asked about
the hydrant on the corner
of Main and Willow streets,
which was damaged by a
construction truck. Hep-
pner Public Works Director
Chad Doherty said he had
the part to fix the hydrant,
but the Oregon Dept. of
Transportation crews need-
ed to raise it because the
were raising the cement at
that spot.
“That makes me ner-
vous,” said Rhea. “We’ve
had too many calls for the
senior center.”
The Mobile Maker Lab
is a classroom on wheels,
with hands-on STEM learn-
ing activities, a career-con-
nected learning curriculum,
and an open concept of tin-
kering with STEM-related
tools and materials. The
MML was created with the
mission of making STEM
education accessible to all
students across Eastern Or-
egon, no matter how remote
their location.
This pre-kindergarten
through 12 th grade, commu-
nity-focused curriculum in-
cludes concepts such as re-
newable energy, ag science,
aerospace, bio-medical, and
computer science, as well as
other career-focused proj-
ects that can accommodate
different grade levels’ learn-
ing and diverse schools’
interests and needs.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
The Heppner City
Council
funding rounds.
Heppner Public Works
Director Chad Doherty re-
ported that the city is still
waiting for the Dept. of
Environmental Quality to
respond to its sewer project
feasibility study. Once the
DEQ approves it, the city
can start to pursue funding
for the project and will have
a better idea of the construc-
tion timeline.
The city is also working
to remedy several spots
where water doesn’t flow
into storm drains properly.
The spots were brought
to light by the same rain-
storm that caused flooding
in Ione.
In other business at the
city council meeting, Fire
Chief Steve Rhea said the
fire department is getting
more requests for lift assists
because Morrow County
Health District ambulances
are currently running with
skeleton crews, which usu-
ally means one EMT and a
driver.
“And most of those
drivers are female,” he
added. “So it’s almost an
automatic page out for us
any time the ambulance
has a patient that needs to
selected areas of their re-
gion during this upcoming
school year.
The program began
as a College of Education
faculty project at Eastern
Oregon University in 2014.
“It was born and raised
at Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity and has major support
from the College of Ed-
ucation,” David Melville
said. “It was conceived to
provide and support STEM
education to remote areas
across the seven rural coun-
ties of our region.”
Beginning with the
2023-24 school year, the
MML will travel to deliver
in-person STEM lessons
and hands-on activities
to schools across the GO
STEM region, including
Morrow, Umatilla, Harney,
Grant, Baker, Union and
Wallowa counties.
BO % GO
40 OFF /31
Eastern Oregon University hosted a ribbon-cutting cere-
mony Jan. 25 to celebrate the launch of the Greater Oregon
STEM Hub’s (GO STEM) new Mobile Maker Lab (MML).
-Contributed photo
The Greater Oregon
STEM Hub (GO STEM)
and its Mobile Maker Lab
is seeing its Eastern Oregon
outreach and engagement
grow following a launch
earlier this year.
“We are encouraging
young people to get ex-
cited about science, tech-
nology, engineering, and
math, as well as preparing
students for future careers
in STEM,” said David Mel-
ville, Executive Director,
Greater Oregon STEM
Hub. “There is a lot of
excitement seeing the lab
come down the road as it
visits our rural communi-
ties.”
The Mobile Maker Lab
(MML), dedicated at East-
ern Oregon University on
Jan. 25, is part of a small
fleet that travels throughout
Eastern Oregon serving
children preschool through
high school. Melville said
the lab was at the Morrow
County Fair last week with
OMSI, connecting with
young people to spread
enthusiasm for science,
technology, engineering
and math. Additionally, the
MML will be at the Pendle-
ton Roundup and Girls Tech
Day this autumn.
Melville said when
they first launched the
MML they knew they were
tasked with serving over
100 schools across the sev-
en rural Eastern Oregon
counties, but it was hit
and miss as they could not
regularly visit all corners of
their region. The program
now plans to concentrate its
efforts by spending a month
in each county’s schools
before moving on so they
could truly concentrate on
DS 1 0
OFFER EN
866-643-2965
$429,000
$350,000
PRICE REDUCED!
Great school and excellent location! 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
All reasonable offers will be considered.
62886 HIGHWAY 74 - Ione
177 N. Main
P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
Chris@sykesrealestate.net
Broker
Chris Sykes
541-215-2274
Les Schwab Proudly Supports
the Morrow County Fair
This year Les Schwab gave $200.00 to each 4-H member who
expressed interest in having Les Schwab purchase their animals.
The recpients were as follows: Brooklyn Hendricks, Ketch Fennern, Mikalie Duncan, Hailey
Cimmiyotti, Axton Hendricks, Kelly Doherty, Tenley Rosenbaum, Michael McElligott, Katie Spivey,
Carmine Albitre, Eva Worden, Tacey Schonbachler, Irelynn Kollman, Jayden Macias, Hadlie
Duncan, Pearl Miller, Callahan Baker, Catherine Lindsay, William McElligott, Conner Wilcox,
Madison Orem, Dallie Wilcox, Colden Hoeft, Riley Archer, Arianna Worden, Matthew Wilson, Kord
Dickenson, Andee Lathrop, Madelyn Campbell, Aden Lathrop, Elizabeth Doherty, Avree Lathrop,
Caydance Kreitzer, Mason Orem
124 N. MAIN STREET
HEPPNER OR (541) 676-9481