The Harney County Ministerial Association holds services every fifth Sunday. The community is invited to join in a time of music, fellowship and praise. For information, contact Pastor Jean Hurst, 573-4141.

Alcoholics Anonymous meets every Sunday at Foursquare Church for 12X12 study, at 7 p.m.

Medicare Assistance Program, through the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center is held the first Monday of each month from 1-3 p.m. Call 573-6024 to make an appointment.

Harney County Search and Rescue meets the first Monday of each month at the Harney County Courthouse basement meeting room at 7 p.m.

Masonic Lodge meets the first and third Monday of each month at the Burns Masonic Lodge, 1210 West Taylor, at 7 p.m.

HDH Sports & Physical Therapy will offer a free athletic injury clinic at that facility, 559 West Washington, every Monday from 5-6 p.m. A physical therapist will assess and treat athletic injuries and provide education for athletes and parents on self management of injuries. For more information, call 573-1543.

The Hines Volunteer Fire Department meets at the Hines Fire Hall each Monday at 7 p.m. (except the last Monday of the month). Prospective members may contact Fire Chief Bob Spence at 573-7477 or 573-2251.

The Burns Lions Club meets each Monday at noon at the Burns Elks Lodge, 118 N. Broadway, for lunch. Those interested in serving the community are welcome.

Narcotics Anonymous holds an open meeting each Monday at 7 p.m. at Foursquare Church.

Medicare D and Health Plan assistance is available on the first Tuesday of each month, from 1-3 p.m., at the Harney County Senior Center. For an appointment, call 573-6024.

Harney Basin Writers meets at the Harney County Library the first and third Tuesdays of each month, from 2-4 p.m.

Harney Hospital Foundation meets the first Tuesday of each month in the Hospital Conference Room at 7 p.m.

Sylvia Rebekah Lodge meets the first and third Tuesday of each month at the I.O.O.F. Hall, 348 North Broadway at 6:30 p.m.

Harney County Democratic Party meets the first Tuesday of each month at the Harney County Courthouse, 450 North Buena Vista, at 7 p.m.

Tai Chi is held every Tuesday at the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. All ages are welcome to participate.

Patient Assist, Needy Med Program trained volunteers will be at the Harney County Senior Center each Tuesday, from 1-4 p.m. For appointments call the Senior Center at 573-6024.

Boy Scout Troop 440, sponsored by the Burns Lion’s Club, meets each Tuesday from 7-8:30 p.m. at the LDS Church in Hines. Boys ages 11-18 are welcome to join.

Alcoholics Anonymous holds an open meeting each Tuesday at Foursquare Church, at 7 p.m.

Download PDF: Destination Harney County 2009

Determined to save lives and end breast cancer forever, the Oregon and Southwest Washington Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure has awarded nearly $2 million in grants this year to fund research, as well as to aid tens of thousands of medically underserved women and men in local Oregon and Southwest Washington communities. Funding for these programs comes from the annual Komen Portland Race for the Cure®, individual giving, corporate partners and other area fund raisers.

In order to ensure it is funding programs that address the specific unmet breast cancer needs of communities throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington, the Affiliate works with local health care professionals and community leaders to conduct a comprehensive community needs assessment.  This community profile, a standard practice of all Komen Affiliates, is then used to establish a local grant application and review process consistent with the organization’s standards and mission.

Twenty-three organizations throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington, including Harney District Hospital,  have been awarded a total of $534,967 in Community and Transportation Grants, which will help provide services to more than 24,000 men and women who are medically underserved due to challenges such as language and cultural barriers, financial difficulties and transportation issues. Support services are also provided to women going through treatment and survivors. Community Grants were given to organizations that support diverse demographics including Native American, Asian, Hispanic and Russian communities, as well as rural communities.

Harney County has an above average breast cancer mortality rate for Oregon.  Harney District Hospital works to provide support for survivors and breast health/early detection education to the women of Harney County. With the help of the Komen grant, support for breast cancer survivors will be provided through monthly support group meetings, team participation in the Komen Portland Race for the Cure, and the Breast Cancer Issues Conference. Educating the citizens of Harney County on the importance of early breast cancer screening and providing them with support and access to breast health services is critical in order to reduce deaths from breast cancer.

“The medically underserved population of Oregon and Southwest Washington is considerable during these tough economic times and Komen Community Partners make it possible to reach those most in need,” said Christine McDonald, Executive Director, Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Oregon and Southwest Washington Affiliate.  “Our Community Partners make it possible for us to effectively communicate the message of early detection, support, and hope to the communities that we serve throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington. These organizations are to be celebrated for their outstanding work in the fight against breast cancer.”

More than 180,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed among women in the United States this year, and the Pacific Northwest is among the highest rates of breast cancer in the country. Early detection is critically important. Women have a 98 percent five-year survival rate when breast cancer is found in its earliest stages in contrast to women with a late stage diagnosis (when the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body) who have a 26 percent five-year survival rate. Early detection saves lives.

In other business, city considers purchasing another car

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

At their regular meeting on Wednesday, May 13, the Burns City Council approved an agreement with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that should allow for successful completion of the helibase building at the Burns airport.

The council will receive bids and award the contract, the BLM will provide project management and quality assurance, and once the job has been completed, the BLM will transfer $30,000 to the City of Burns for the construction work.

The agreement states that any project costs in excess of the $30,000 shall be the responsibility of the City of Burns.

•••

The council discussed purchasing a 2007 Ford Edge for $22,500 from Burns Ford. City Manager Don Munkers said to pay for the vehicle, the city would borrow the money from the General Equipment Reserve Fund and then repay the fund over a four-year period, plus 5.5 percent interest.

The Edge would replace a 1998 Taurus that the city is currently using as the administrative vehicle, and the Taurus would then be used as a courtesy car at the Burns airport.

Munkers added that the van that is currently being used as a courtesy vehicle at the airport is “a liability.”

Mayor Len Vohs stated the Taurus has 120,000 miles on it, and has been needing more repairs recently. “It may seem frivolous at this time to consider purchasing another vehicle, but in the overall picture, I think it’s a step in the right direction,” Vohs said. He explained that he anticipates staff attending more training sessions and conferences in the future, and that requires a reliable vehicle.

Councilor Dan Hoke said he didn’t think 120,000 miles on a vehicle was all that much, and wanted to know how much repairs on the Taurus were costing the city. He said if the city was spending $1,500 a year on repairs, it was still cheaper than spending more than $20,000 over four years. “And we do have one decent vehicle at the airport (other than the van),” Hoke said. “I don’t think I enough information on what the Taurus would cost us (in repairs) to make that kind of decision right now.”

The council agreed to table the decision until the next meeting so more information can be gathered.

•••

Larry and Sarah Conway were in attendance to discuss a dog at large citation they received on Jan. 28.

Conaway explained that their dog had come out to the street to greet their own children who were arriving home on the school bus. “A woman who was working in the area saw the dog and made the complaint,” Conaway said.

Conaway said he pleaded not guilty to the complaint on Feb. 4 and received a Feb. 19 court date. Because his older boys were playing in a basketball tournament on the 19th, he asked for, and received a later date. “Then when we got back from the tournament, I saw in the paper that I was found guilty because I didn’t attend the Feb. 19 court date,” Conaway said. He said the date was apparently moved back to the 19th because the complainant couldn’t attend the later one, but he was never informed of the change. “They knew I couldn’t be there on the 19th,” Conaway said.

He added that they have an electronic system to keep the dog in the yard and, “It wasn’t a case of dog at large. It was our dog meeting our kids,” he said.

Vohs called the matter a “tricky situation” because of the circumstances involved, and said they would have to look in to the legalities of it. “I don’t know where to go with this tonight, but we can review it and see what we can do,” Vohs said.

•••

Munkers reported the city was able to get a portable welder and two portable generators from General Services Administration (GSA) for just the cost of getting them to Burns. “It’s about $50,000 worth of equipment, and it costs about $2,400 to get it here,” he said.

Vohs added that GSA has lots of equipment, such as trucks and loaders, that the city could use in the future. He added that the only stipulation is that the city would be required to keep the equipment for one year, and then they could sell it if they want. “We could rent or lease the equipment during that one year though,” Vohs said.

In other business, the council:

• approved the amended franchise agreement for FTV fiber optics;

• voted to change the city’s credit card issuing bank to the Bank of Eastern Oregon. Munkers said the financial institution they were using was asking for individual names on the cards, as well as the individuals’ Social Security numbers and mothers’ maiden names. “The Bank of Eastern Oregon doesn’t require names on the cards or the other information, and I recommend the switch,” Munkers said;

• voted to accept the lowest bid of $26,500 for a bucket truck from Bend River Equipment Inc. The truck is a 2000 Ford F-550 4×2 diesel with 158,000 miles;

• approved Ordinance 09-803 regarding the franchise agreement with CenturyTel. The ordinance did include several changes, such as changing the term of the franchise from 20 to five years, and increasing the franchise fee from 4 percent to 7 percent.

The next council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 27, at city hall.

He believes wording could harm biomass, hydropower developments

Rep. Greg Walden (Ore.-2) said the latest draft of a bill to regulate carbon dioxide by creating a costly new emissions trading scheme is written in a way that will hurt development of biomass energy and new hydropower.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which Walden is a member, began considering the 946-page bill on Monday, less than two hours after it was first made available to the committee members or the public.

“Within the first 30 pages of the bill it became clear that woody biomass from federal land gets shortchanged by some tricky wording that would effectively prevent brush and debris from most of our forests from counting as renewable energy. I’ll offer amendments tomorrow in committee to fix this flaw,” said Walden, who is former chairman of the Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee of the House Resources Committee.

“In addition, the climate change legislation also says new hydropower counts as renewable as long as the addition of the turbines doesn’t change the water levels at any time or location behind a dam. One of the sustainable energy ideas is to use hydropower to balance the intermittent wind power output by storing water behind a dam when the wind blows and releasing it to make hydropower when it doesn’t. The language of this proposal would disqualify that water power as a renewable energy source. It makes no sense to me, and I’ll offer amendments to fix this problem,” said Walden.

In opening comments Monday, Walden expressed frustration that the committee has refused to hold public hearings on the 946 page legislation and only made a copy of it available hours before the committee convened Monday afternoon.

“This legislation is sweeping in the change it will bring about for generations to come and the Congress should take time to at least read the bill to make sure we understand the impact of these changes,” said Walden.  “If passed as is, it will dramatically increase energy costs to consumers and businesses and cost millions of jobs.”

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Hollywood) told the press he plans to wrap up work on the measure before the end of the week.

Lady Mustangs relay teams rewrite the record books

By Debbie Raney and Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

Not only did the Crane Mustang girls relay teams win state championships in both the 4×100 and 4×400 relays at the 2009 state meet last weekend, they did it with flare, setting new state tournament records in both races.

The 4×100 relay team members, Lindy Steeves, Emilee O’Toole, September O’Crowley and Alex Borelli, had set a time of 50.69 in the preliminaries on Friday. This in itself was a new record, but when it counted in the final race on Saturday, the Mustang team finished with a time of 51.15, still a new state meet record.

The 4×400 relay team members, Steeves, Borelli, O’Crowley and Beth Milburn, ran Friday’s race in 4:03.62. The time surpassed the state meet record by over six seconds. In the finals on Saturday the team, with Natalie Bentz running the third leg, finished the race with a new state meet record of 4:04.96.

With the points accumulated from the relay teams, as well as individual event points, the Mustang girls earned the second-place trophy for the OSAA/U.S. Bank/Les Schwab Tires tournament. Crane had 64 points, behind Sherman with 107.5.

Bentz picked up valuable points for the team, as she won the state championship in the high jump and placed sixth in the 800-meter run. In the high jump, Bentz took the gold medal with a jump of 5 feet, 2 inches. She ran the 800-meter in 2:34.64.

In addition to running on both relay teams, O’Crowley brought home two silver medals, placing second in the pole vault and the 400-meter run. She cleared 8 feet, 9 inches in the pole vault and ran the 400-meter in 58.69.

Steeves picked up an individual event medal, placing third in the 200-meter run. Her time for the race was 26.92.

With a time of 51.63, Milburn medaled in the 300-meter hurdles. Her time garnered her fourth place at the state meet.

O’Toole grabbed a sixth- and an eighth-place in individual events. She placed sixth in the 100-meter run with a time of 13.28, and eighth in the 200-meter with a time of 27.87.

Also competing at the state meet for the Mustang girls was Delilas Korth. Korth ran the 3,000-meter, finishing in 12th place with a time of 12:15.05.

•••

Burns girls place fourth

The Burns girls track team earned a fourth-place finish in the 3A division of the OSAA State 3A/2A/1A  Track Meet held May 15-16 at Western Oregon University in Monmouth.

Catlin Gabel ran away with the girls meet, scoring 105 points to easily out-distance Grant Union who finished second with 45 points. Westside Christian placed third with 43 points, Burns was fourth with 40 points and Bandon fifth with 36 points.

Burns High School freshman Maddye Dinsmore placed second in both the 100 (12.84) and 200 (26.22) meter dashes.

Jamie Higle, a junior, picked up six team points for the Hilanders with a third place finish in the 800 meters in a time of 2:23.67.

Sophomore Chelsea Siegner’s discus throw of 100 feet 7 inches earned her a seventh-place finish.

Burns’ 4×100 relay team of Brea Ribeiro, Dinsmore, Ja. Higle and Jen Higle finished second with a time of 51.42. Catlin Gabel finished just ahead of the Hilanders with a time of 51.23.

Anna Clemens, Je. Higle, Dinsmore and Ja. Higle raced to a second-place finish in the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:07.93. Again, it was Catlin Gabel placing first with a time of 4:06.37.

Carraig Colahan was the only member of the Burns boys track team to qualify for the state meet, and he placed second in the discus with a throw of 141 feet 3 inches, picking up eight team points.

Westside Christian won the boys meet with 66 points, followed by Creswell with 59, Nyssa 52, Cascade Christian 46 and Rogue River 44 in the top five.

•••

Crane boys finish eighth

The Crane Mustang boys 4×100 relay team qualified for the OSAA/U.S. Bank/Les Schwab Tires state 1A track meet with a time of 46.63. That time was the seventh fastest among the qualifying teams. During the preliminary races on Friday, the Mustang team — Dallen Davies, Blake Steeves, Raymond Thompson and Jordan Conaway — ran the course in 45.61, the fastest among the qualifying times. On Saturday, the Crane team kicked it up one notch further and ran the race in a time of 45.51, earning the gold medal for the state meet.

Individually, the Mustangs had four members place in the top eight of their events.

Steeves competed in the triple jump and the long jump, placing in both. He came in third in the triple jump with a distance of 42 feet, 10.25 inches, and eighth in the long jump recording a jump of 19 feet, 5 inches.

Jeran Conaway placed fourth in the pole vault, clearing 11 feet, 6 inches.

Jordan Conaway also picked up a fourth place, jumping 19 feet, 11 inches in the long jump.

Davies medaled in two events, the 100- and 200-meter runs. His time of 11.72 in the 100-meter earned Davies a fifth place, and the 200-meter, he ran in 23.84, for sixth.

Also competing for the Crane boys’ team were Gus Titus and Lewis Whiting, both running in the 3,000-meters. Titus finished ninth with a time of 9:49.81, and Whiting was 10th with a time of 9:51.78.

As a team, the Mustangs placed eighth, with 34 points. Portland Lutheran was the top 1A boys team with 62 points.

Theodore James Henriques died on May 18, due to complications of his lungs.

He was born on Sept. 21, 1989, to Alex and Peggy Henriques.

To his family and friends, he was a special soul who brought sunshine to the gloomiest days and laughter to the saddest moments. Henriques touched the hearts of all who met him.

A memorial service for Henriques will be held on Friday, May 18, at 11 a.m. at the Burns Church of Latter-day Saints.

Harney Partners for Kids and Families meets on the third Wednesday of each month at noon, at Glory Days Pizza. Lunch is provided, please RSVP to Michelle Bradach, president.

Babe Ruth meets the third Wednesday of each month in the courthouse basement meeting room, 450 North Buena Vista, at 7 p.m.

Oregon Hunters Association is for all hunters, whether rifle, bow, shotgun, muzzle loader or other. The local chapter meets at Linda’s Thai Room, the third Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m and is followed by a board meeting.

Storytime for preschoolers is scheduled at the Harney County Library, 80 West D St., each Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Contact the Harney County Library for more information 573-6670.

Burns Fire Dept. meets each Wednesday at the Burns Fire Hall at 7 p.m.

Burns Elks Lodge, 118 North Broadway, meets each Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Alcoholics Anonymous meets each Wednesday at the Foursquare Church at 7 p.m.