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Wednesday, November 30, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
More Oregon students Bull by Bull
homeless than last year
By Judy Bull
Guest Columnist
SALEM (AP) — More
students in Oregon are home-
less than the number tallied
last year, a disturbing trend
that has now gone on for three
years, state education officials
said last week.
The Department of Educa-
tion said 21,340 students, or
3.7 percent of the K-12 popu-
lation in public schools, don’t
have a fixed and adequate
nighttime residence.
Reacting to the report, the
Stable Homes for Oregon
Families Coalition urged the
Legislature to protect tenants
at risk of losing their homes
because of eviction and
severe rent increases.
The number of homeless
students increased by more
than 1,100 from the previous
year, the new report said.
Lincoln County Commis-
sioner Bill Hall said rural
communities have been hit
hard, with nearly 1 in 7 stu-
dents experiencing homeless-
ness for part of the 2015-16
school year in his county.
“Our children should be
thinking about their home-
work and playtime, and not
worrying about where they
will sleep at night,” Hall
said on Facebook. “We can
do more to protect kids and
families from experiencing
homelessness in Oregon.”
State law allows landlords
to evict families at any time
without stating a reason and
prohibits local governments
from enacting rent stabili-
zation measures, the Stable
Homes for Oregon Families
Coalition said. The United
States Conference of Mayors
has identified eviction as a
leading cause of homeless-
ness, especially for families
with children, the coalition
said.
The instability that home-
lessness causes often leads
to school absences and fall-
ing behind, Marti Heard,
homeless program liaison
for Portland Public Schools,
was quoted as saying by the
coalition. That can jeopardize
future college or career suc-
cess, Heard said.
In some districts, 20 per-
cent or more of their students
count as homeless by the fed-
eral definition, the education
department said. Unemploy-
ment and a lack of family-
wage jobs and affordable
housing in rural areas have
contributed to the rise, it said.
• The other night I walked
down to get the mail in the
dark. At least twice a day
for 30 years I’ve walked
down to get said mail and
paper, sometimes in the
dark. It never fails: walk-
ing in the dark is always a
gift filled with night smells
and sounds, welcoming light
from the neighbor’s window
a ways off, and a bazillion
stars. It is never scary.
• I have an antique car-
riage that has covered a lot of
ground in the last 35 years,
including all the Central
Oregon parades and giving
more than one Santa Claus a
ride in the Sisters Christmas
Parades. A while back a
friend and I were talking
about carriages and driving
horses. He said it had always
been his dream to refurbish
an antique carriage, though
he wondered if it was ever
going to happen since he was
now into his 70s. Since Irish,
my best driving horse, died
many years ago, my carriage
has been sitting in the barn
gathering only time and dust.
The instant my friend began
sharing his dream, I knew I
would give him my carriage.
Dreams do come true.
• Just as I can tell when
it’s rodeo weekend by the
litter on Cloverdale Road,
I can also tell what season
it is (water bottles = sum-
mer), and what holiday has
just been celebrated (candy
wrappers = Halloween). So,
too, I can always tell when
haying season is over by all
the colorful tag-ends of bal-
ing twine laying along the
road. It used to be there were
only orange-colored ones,
but now there are blue and
purple and yellow and green
striped ones, too. Of course
nothing will ever take the
place of balin’ wire.
• Living in a log house
means never having a truly
clean house, dust-wise.
While Ms. Agnes was wait-
ing to move into their new
house, she gave piano les-
sons in my home every
Thursday. One Thursday
morning I swear I heard
Pepper think, “It must
be Thursday. Mama’s
dusting.” Over time
I have decided
that my favorite
view windows are the
only windows I really need
to keep really clean.
• If ever there was a
smell that brings back my
childhood, it’s the familiar,
friendly smell of my cray-
ons when I open the old tin
box which holds all those
colorful, worn bits of wax. I
have not taken a liking to the
adult coloring books with
their intricate shapes and
patterns that are all the rage,
but rather I still prefer larger,
less complicated subjects
such as trees and mountains,
horses and cowboys. Still,
the best part of coloring,
though, is opening up that
sweet-smelling box.
• Yet another childhood
memory comes alive when
I play jacks. My wonderful
friend, Sharon Anglea, and I
used to play jacks on my din-
ing room table — because
we discovered the floor
was just too far
to go.
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