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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2019)
SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM ❚ WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019 ❚ 3A FFA Continued from Page 1A High, up to 300 students at a time take hand-on classes from two FFA instruc- tors and are automatically enrolled in the national organization, which is nearly 1 million members strong, Tow- ery said. He and fellow FFA instructor Sarah McArthur took FFA teams to compete at nationals in Indianapolis last fall. One four-person team – Byron Kuenzi, Je- rome Kuenzi, Collin Standley and Kyle Drescher – finished 12th and won gold status in the agricultural technology and mechanical systems event. This year, no one’s going to nationals, but 2019 grad Ellie Hanson made the of- ficer team that will travel the state in 2019-20. Gates Continued from Page 1A That doesn’t include a 10% contin- gency, the $5,000 for grant administra- tion or the $10,000 to $12,000 for formal engineering plans, costs the city didn’t anticipate but were in the agreement with ODOT. “They say we’ve given you a grant of $85,000, but you can’t have the $85,000 unless you do this and this and this,” Marr said. ODOT administers grants through the Small City Allotment Program of $5 million from the State Highway Fund each year to cities of fewer than 5,000 people for projects to address a safety issue. ODOT Special Program Coordinator Shelly White-Robinson said Gates can alter its proposal to reduce the size of its project to fit in with the amount of mon- ey awarded. “If an agency requests a scope mod- ification, they will just submit that in writing to ODOT,” White-Robinson said. “It’s very common for agencies to changes.” Tucker said if it doesn’t get addition- al funds, the city could reduce the pro- ject to Louisa Drive and Oak Street. Gates doesn’t have the means to pay for much on its own. Property tax revenue is limited and brings in about $7,000 per year; mari- juana dispensary Canyon Cannabis pays the city about $14,000 per year in taxes. “Measure 5 says the tax can only be increased three percent every year, which is nothing,” Marr said. “When you’re working on 28 cents per thou- sand, three percent isn’t much.” Moore-Green Continued from Page 1A sense of what constituents in HD 19 want or need. Well, I’m going to go listen. I would hate to presume that I know anything. Is there anything that you think that right off the bat you’d like to accom- plish? That’s on your list to begin with? Well, I started my list yesterday. I’ll be meeting with the mayor of Salem next week, the mayor of Aumsville and I are working out a date, but I will be at their National Night Out on, I believe that’s August 8 … as well as visiting a neighbor- hood in Turner and one back in South Sa- lem. So, I plan on doing that. The mayor of Turner, he and I have yet to connect but it’s only been 24 hours, I’ve got to give people time to return calls. And obviously getting to know the members here in the House. I think I was caught off guard by the warmth and the immediate welcome. I hadn’t even thought about what that was going to be. Just something I hadn’t thought about – well, yeah, you’re going to go work there. But I feel like my fellow members have just been incredibly friendly, including the Speaker who reached out, gosh, less than 12 hours I think. That was rather humbling and it was very nice of her to do that. As far as any policy ideas that you have going forward? You’re going to be talking to folks and seeing what they need from you? Absolutely. Absolutely, yes. So, there have been several at- tempts to remove the non-medical ex- emption for vaccinations. Would you have voted for that last session? No. Why’s that? I believe that the parents have the right to make the choice for their chil- dren. As far as gun control, Leader Wilson said at the beginning of last session during a press conference that he was not open to any additional gun control measures and he said that was a feel- ing among many in his caucus. Do you share that? I would concur. So, you would not be open to any ad- ditional gun control legislation? I would have to see the legislation. But my instinct would be no. Also, 26 local FFA students just fin- ished showing animals at the Marion County Fair, earning a combined total of $35,000 in prize money and at auction, Towery said. FFA was born in 1926 in Virginia, at a time when more young people than ever were choosing to move to cities and away from farming. Agriculture educa- tors figured such an organization would support, encourage and challenge farm boys to develop their leadership abilities and take pride in their work. Two years later, the organization went national. By 1970, girls represented their states at nationals for the first time. While the letters “FFA” still stand for Future Farmers of America, in 1988, the organization changed its name to The National FFA Organization to “reflect the growing diversity of agriculture,” ac- cording to Oregon FFA’s website. The city tried to pass a bond measure to fund street improvements in 2016, but it soundly failed. Three years ago, the city council add- ed an unpopular $5 monthly fee onto each residents’ water bill for a road fund, something the city never had. So far, the city has banked about $30,000 that could be used for the side- walk project. “We could add that in there, but we’re still $70,000 short,” Marr said. Most cities require developers to pay for things like building sidewalks and putting in streetlights when they build new homes; Gates doesn’t. “The one thing about it, too, is people will come in here, they want street lights, they want this, they want that,” Tucker said. “One guy came in and said, ‘That’s all I ever hear is you don’t have any money.’ We don’t have any money.” Gates is the kind of city where people have to rely on help from others just to get by. After Tucker and a neighbor chipped in to fix another neighbor’s fence so his dog could go off leash, they found the bottom rung of the steps leading from the porch had rotted out. Tucker and his other neighbor found a piece of ply- wood, cut it to size and screwed it in place. “The guy didn’t even have enough money to replace a piece of wood on his porch,” Tucker said. “He barely has enough money to feed himself. You got to help people out like that.” Now Gates is asking for help. Marion County Economic Develop- ment Analyst Danielle Gonzalez has given the city places to look for funding, but they’ve got a lot of money to raise and until the end of 2020 to do it. bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler You brought up carbon, the Timber Unity folks who all came out and were against HB 2020. On that issue, do you think that the Legislature has a re- sponsibility to pass legislation to com- bat climate change? In the form that it was, no. So, House Bill 2020, you wouldn’t have voted for because of its impacts? Here again, was it a 20 or 22 cent per gallon tax on gasoline? Working class people trying to get to and from work, kids to and from day care. You know, that’s a tough one. Democrats have already said they’re going to try to do some sort of climate bill next session. Separate from HB 2020 specifically, do you believe that the Legislature should try to pass a bill, again, to help try to combat climate change in some respect? I mean, I’d have to see the legislation. I’m a little leery, I would have to see the legislation. To wrap up here: What do you make of the Legislature’s performance the last few years? There’s been a lot of people in this state, Republicans in particular, who think that Democrats have gone too far. Do you believe that the Legislature has overstepped? What do you make of the Legislature’s performance in recent years both from a politics, partisanship perspective, but also from policies that they may have put forward? Here again, I kind of want to go back to the anti-vaxx moms and the Timber Uni- ty. I think their message was: Wait. Let’s take a deep breath, let’s back up and let’s talk about this. I think that unto itself speaks to the overreach. Is there anything else you’d like to say about your hopes as a legislator? Well, I’m terribly excited to get out into the communities and meet the mayors face-to-face. I know (Salem) Mayor (Chuck) Bennett – I served six years on the budget committee and so I feel I have a fairly good relationship with him. But I’m really looking forward to meeting the mayors of Aumsville and Turner and hearing from the constituents on the ground. You know, what are the things that they’re facing day-in and day-out. I’m excited, happy. And thank you for your time. Of course, thank you. Contact Connor Radnovich at crad- novich@statesmanjournal.com or 503- 399-6864, or follow him on Twitter at @CDRadnovich Twenty-six members of Silverton High School’s FFA chapter competed at the Marion County Fair earlier this year PHOTO COURTESY OF SILVERTON FFA Trees Continued from Page 1A of years, Buhl said. “But we are still technically in a drought and losing more Douglas fir than historically,” she said. “It’s so widespread and becoming so obvious to people.” Grand fir has been declining for years, especially in the Willamette Val- ley, as precipitation becomes less con- sistent. “We might get a dump of water one day, and nothing for a week,” Buhl said. “At a certain point in size these grand firs reach, they can’t withstand that any longer.” Many people notice insect damage on grand fir, and assume it caused the tree to die, Buhl said. But that’s usually secondary, after drought kills the tree. Western red cedar has been declin- ing in areas from Oregon through Washington and western Canada. The Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon State University are estab- lishing monitoring sites to identify po- tential causes, which may include drought. Bigleaf maple is showing dieback and leaf damage in various locations in western Oregon. The Oregon Department of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service are investi- Thinning canopy in Western red cedar. CHRISTINE BUHL, OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY gating the cause, which may include drought. Even if Oregon’s drought ends, some trees won’t recover, Buhl said. “Trees require more than one year of good rain to bounce back,” she said. “It may be permanent.” Contact the reporter at tloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503- 399-6779 or follow at Twitter.com/Tra cy_Loew www.edwardjones.com Member SIPC LOCAL ADVISORS Salem Area Vin Searles Garry Falor CFP ® Tyson Wooters FINANCIAL ADVISOR Mission | 503-363-0445 FINANCIAL ADVISOR West | 503-588-5426 FINANCIAL ADVISOR South | 503-362-5439 Michael Wooters Chip Hutchings Cameron Hunt CFA, CFP ® FINANCIAL ADVISOR South | 503-362-5439 FINANCIAL ADVISOR Lancaster | 503-585-4689 FINANCIAL ADVISOR West | 503-588-5426 Caitlin Davis CFP ® Tim Sparks Matthew Guyette FINANCIAL ADVISOR West | 503-585-1464 FINANCIAL ADVISOR Commercial | 503-370-6159 FINANCIAL ADVISOR Mission | 503-363-0445 Jeff Davis Phil Ridling FINANCIAL ADVISOR Liberty | 503-581-8580 FINANCIAL ADVISOR Liberty | 503-581-8580 Keizer Area Sheryl Resner Mario Montiel Kylee Williams Charisa Henckel FINANCIAL ADVISOR Keizer | 503-304-8641 FINANCIAL ADVISOR Keizer | 503-393-8166 FINANCIAL ADVISOR Keizer | 503-304-8641 FINANCIAL ADVISOR Keizer | Station 503-393-4677 Surrounding Area Bridgette Justis Tim Yount Kelly Denney David Eder FINANCIAL ADVISOR Sublimity | 503-769-3180 FINANCIAL ADVISOR Silverton | 503-873-2454 FINANCIAL ADVISOR Dallas | 503-623-2146 FINANCIAL ADVISOR Stayton | 503-769-4902