SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 25, 2023
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To my Morrow
County
communities
I am writing to en-
courage you to vote yes on
Measure 25-97, to renew
the Morrow County Health
District operating levy and
help ensure long-term es-
sential health services are
available locally for all
people who live in Mor-
row County. Because this
election cycle doesn’t in-
volve statewide or national
candidates/issues, you may
dismiss the importance
of voting, but in fact, this
election will have a signif-
icant impact on our family,
friends, and communities.
A yes vote will renew the
five-year local option tax,
with a tax rate the same as
it was 15 years ago when it
was initiated (.$39/$1,000
assessed property value)
to support home health
and hospice, emergen-
cy services, hospital and
support services, extended
care nursing, senior living
solutions, preventive care,
education, complementa-
ry and community benefit
services, and rural health
clinics, just to name a few.
The Health District was
created by individuals who
had the incredible fore-
sight to safeguard essential
services when hundreds of
communities were losing
access to health services
throughout our nation.
The MCHD co-exists with
other care providers and
community partners to en-
sure a safety net of health
services is available to all
of us throughout the coun-
ty, but most importantly,
our most vulnerable pop-
ulations – older adults,
military veterans, people
with disabilities or chronic
health conditions, people
of color and people with
lower-incomes. Morrow
County looks similar to
27 other rural and frontier
communities in Oregon
which created health dis-
tricts - 17 located east of
the Cascades. This is not
coincidental - the need for
the existence of special
districts is greatest in rural
areas. This resource model
is not dissimilar to the way
we finance any program
that supports much of the
public good – federal in-
terstate highways, public
safety, state and county
roads, public education,
fire protection, water re-
source management, or
Medicare and Social Secu-
rity. Revenue is collected
and pooled to ensure the
greatest good for the great-
est number of people.
I feel extremely fortu-
nate to have access to lo-
cal health care and I chose
to use and support local
services to guarantee they
are available when illness
or injury arises for any-
one in our county. Please
show your support with a
yes vote. Ballots must be
mailed or deposited in lo-
cal drop boxes by Novem-
ber 7, 2023.
Andrea Fletcher
Lexington, OR
Vote Yes on
Measure 25-97
I am writing this let-
ter to urge Morrow Coun-
ty residents to Vote Yes
on Measure 25-97. The
continuation of funding
of services should be of
the utmost importance to
all residents of Morrow
County, regardless of ge-
ography.
In the past several
years, there has been con-
cern about some of our
communities becoming a
“Food Desert.” I think cit-
izens should be concerned
about the possibility of
our county becoming a
“Health Desert,” if fund-
ing for the Morrow County
Health District is removed.
We live in a rural county
where many residents have
limited options. MCHD
provides services to our
schools, communities, and
home-bound individuals.
They also provide employ-
ment for over 200 individ-
uals, each earning livable
wages.
An important fact with
this measure is that it is
not a new tax or even an
increase in the existing
tax. This measure en-
sures funding for the next
five years at the present
rate. Morrow County has
the lowest tax rates in our
region, at times less than
half of neighboring health
districts.
For example,
we pay less than 47% of
what residents in the Blue
Mountain Health District
pay.
There has been a lot of
rhetoric regarding MCHD
over the past several years,
and it has increased re-
cently. I do not think that
anything in its current state
is perfect. There is room
for improvement. Howev-
er, eliminating the funding
source would have a detri-
mental effect on all of our
communities. We need to
avoid emotion leading us
to a slippery slope where
we lose many services (if
not all.)
I ask you to vote “Yes
on Measure 25-97.”
Sincerely,
John Doherty
Heppner, OR
How to Be
Queen
If I had a mind to be
Queen of Planet Earth…
there would be a few
things, I’d have to set in
place first. It’s kind of
like getting all the ingre-
dients together before you
bake a cake. And just in
case you’d like to try your
hand at ruling the planet….
here is my “recipe” book,
“Ten Steps to Becoming
Queen”.
Establish credibility.
This might require some
work. It includes trashing,
ridiculing, and demeaning
anyone who disagrees with
you. Help from the news
media is really your best
bet here.
Create fear. People
are way easier to control
when they’re afraid. Cli-
mate Change is an awe-
some tool and super effec-
tive, but you might want to
bring back COVID, just in
case. Once again, look to
the news media for help
with this.
Create
dependence:
This is very important.
Dependence = control.
Start with a lot of hand-
outs. Make them feel it’s
well-deserved. Promoting
a victim mentality will
help facilitate this.
Get rid of God: But
denying His existence isn’t
enough. You really need
to aim at anything He has
established as truth. In
fact, make truth negotia-
ble. “My truth, your truth”
catchphrase is a fantastic
tool.
Create vulnerability.
This is easy when peo-
ple are convinced of two
things: a) The Queen will
protect them. b) Defending
themselves makes them
just as bad as the one try-
ing to harm them…prefer-
ably worse. Any mascu-
line behavior of biological
males (desire to protect
themselves or their fami-
lies) should be dismissed
and disparaged as Toxic
Masculinity and/ or Far
Right Terrorism.
Establish human value
criteria. Each subject’s val-
ue is solely based on their
contribution to your king-
dom. To make this more
palatable,
“Pro-lifers”
need to be painted as rad-
ical religious nuts who are
dangerous to their neigh-
bors. Both abortions and
euthanasia need to be seen
as compassionate “solu-
tions”.
Create a new morali-
ty. Anything God-related
(Ten Commandments, the
Bible) should be ousted.
Recycling, the correct use
of pronouns, all forms of
the alphabet people, and/or
sexual perversion…. This
is the new norm and needs
to be totally acceptable.
Find lots of useful id-
iots. You can never have
too many of these. You can
easily find these folks in
the news media business.
Also…. Look in Congress.
There is a plethora of them
there.
While you are estab-
lishing your kingdom,
place one of these useful
idiots in “power”. Make
sure he knows how to read
a teleprompter. The ability
to manage stairs is helpful
but not a necessity. It’s im-
perative that he has mas-
tered the following step
(10).
Learn how to lie be-
lievably. This may be the
most important ingredient.
It really makes all the other
ingredients easier to work
with. It’s basically con-
sidered “leavening”. Once
you’ve got this down….
just have fun with it. See
how absurd you can be
with your “stories”. You’ll
find people will believe
anything if they think it’s
the cool thing. It’s hilari-
ous.
Well, that’s about it.
I hope this helps if you
ever have the desire to be
Queen of your planet.
By Susie Crosby
Boardman Planning Co.Starters Four Night
Commission Vacancy Business Bootcamp in
November
to be filled Nov. 7 th
The city of Boardman
has two vacancies on the
Planning Commission. The
City is seeking interested
parties that live within the
Boardman City limits or,
for one of the positions, in
the 97818 Zip Code. With
one term ending December
31 st , 2024, and the oth-
er ending December 31 st ,
2025.
The position will be
appointed in a City Council
meeting on November 7 th ,
2023 with the first Plan-
ning Commissions meeting
scheduled for November
15 th , 2023. The Planning
Commission is made up of
seven members appointed
by the City Council and
is a permanent advisory
board to the council on
matters related to planning
and development. More
information on the Planning
Commission can be found
at http://www.cityofboard-
man.com/pc/page/plann-
ningcommission.
FBLA Pie Sale Available
until Nov. 8 th
Once again, the Hep-
pner High School FBLA
(Future Business Leaders
of America) is starting their
annual pie sale. Pie forms
are now available and will
continue until November
8 th . If you would like to
place an order, call Hep-
pner High School and ask
for Mrs. Collins or you
can have a FBLA member
bring you a form. They
will be selling Lemon Ice
Box, Berry, Apple, Cherry,
Pumpkin, and Peach for
$22 each and an Oreo pie
for $15. All the pies except
for Pumpkin will be frozen.
The Pumpkin Pies will
be baked the morning of
Monay, November 20 th . All
the pies will be delivered
November 20 th – 21 st just in
time to be put on your table
for Thanksgiving!
CO.STARTERS Boot-
camp is a four-part plan
for bringing your business
to life. You’ll work col-
laboratively with peers to
strategize, problem-solve,
and apply business basics
to your idea or venture. It
is facilitated by Brad Attig
with Foundry Collective
and Reinventing Rural.
This workshop spans four
evenings in November,
not including the week of
Thanksgiving (1st, 8th,
15th, and 29th) from 5p.m.
- 7:30 p.m. at the Gilliam
and Bisbee building. You
must be committed and
attendance at all four of
the sessions is necessary.
Drinks and light snacks will
be provided. There is no
cost to attend, but seats are
limited, so you need to reg-
ister in advance. To register,
visit https://bit.ly/Bootcam-
pHeppner This workshop is
funded by a generous grant
from Hepper Community
Foundation, Reinventing
Rural, and technical
assistance funds allocated
to rural communities by the
Oregon Legislature through
Business Oregon.
Mustang Volleyball
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Ava Gerry #10 sets the ball for a Mustang spike. - Photo by
Tylynn Cimmiyotti
Maya Payne: 6 kills, 16
assists, 3 digs. Hallee His-
ler: 5 kills, 13 digs, 1 ace, 4
blocks. Morgan Cutsforth: 6
kills, 17 digs, 2 aces. Katie
Spivey: 14 digs. Avree La-
trop: 1 ace, 1 block.
Heppner vs. Stanfield:
Lost, 1-3. 22-25, 14-25,
25-18, 23-25. Stats: Ava
Gerry: 16 kills, 17 assists,
15 digs, 2 aces, 2 blocks.
Maya Payne: 10 kills, 17
assists, 11 digs, 2 blocks.
Hallee Hisler: 9 kills, 14
digs, 3 blocks. Morgan
Cutsforth: 6 kills, 20 digs,
1 block. Katie Spivey: 29
digs, 1 ace. Olivia Ogden: 7
digs. Avree Lathrop: 1 dig,
1 block, 1 ace.
Please join us at Hep-
pner High School Gym on
November 9th, 2023, from
10:30 to 11:30 a.m. as we
celebrate Veterans Day. We
extend a special invitation
to all servicemen, veterans,
and their spouses to join us
for this occasion. Following
the celebration, lunch will
be provided.
We also encourage the
public to attend and join
us in honoring our brave
servicemen and veterans.
Let’s come together as a
community to show our
gratitude and appreciation
for their sacrifices.
We look forward to
seeing you at Heppner High
School Gym on November
9th, 2023, for this meaning-
ful event.
Veterans Celebration
Day at Heppner High
School Nov. 9 th
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I r t h r I g h t
Birthright of Morrow County will be
having a 3-year anniversary dinner with a
speaker on Sunday, November 5, 2023 at
5:00 pm. The dinner will be held at
St. Patrick’s Parish Hall. The meal will
be homeade lasagna, salad, garlic bread,
brownies and ice cream. Tickets are
$20.00 per person or $35.00 a couple.
If you have questions or would like to
purchase tickets, please call us at
541-676-0530. You can purchase tickets
in advance or pay at the door. Please
come out and support us!
Lunch
& Dinner
Menu
Specials 10/26 - 11/1
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Thursday - PB&J Stuffed cinnamon
French toast, sausage, and breakfast bar $9
Friday - Turkey BLT on sourdough
with cheese curds $9
Saturday - soup is chicken dumpling
Live Music starting around 8pm
Prizes for best costumes
Monday - 1/4lb patty melt with baked beans $9
Tuesday - Captains Seafood platter and a cup
of clam chowder $11
Tuesday night 6-9pm $2 hard shell taos
Wednesday Tuna Casserole, roll, an green beans
$9 or $7 for seniors