2A | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2020 | APPEAL TRIBUNE Schooling Continued from Page 1A Greater Albany Public School District 8J i Junction City School District i Lincoln County Public Schools i North Santiam School District i Pendleton School District i Redmond School District Because the cap is set in statute — ORS 338.125(4) — it requires legislative action to be changed. A bill that would raise the cap was presented to state lawmakers in June. However, the legislature did not include it on the list of bills for the special ses- sion. The Oregon Virtual Public Schools Alliance supports a permanent cap in- crease and would likely support legisla- tive action in the future, though none is planned at this time. The group also has a petition on its website, urging Oregon lawmakers to increase the cap. Powell acknowledged virtual schools don't work for everyone, adding that it often depends on the needs and sched- ules of each family. Both her children have spent years enrolled in virtual charter schools, as well as years at brick and mortars. Powell also acknowledged the option as a form of school choice, arguing it's Address: P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309 Phone: 503-399-6773 Fax: 503-399-6706 Email: sanews@salem.gannett.com Web site: www.SilvertonAppeal.com Staff Suleika McCaughey practices letters with her son Sami Adham, 8, at their Salem home in April. one Oregon families should have. "It's outrageous that during a time of unprecedented school closures and the reemergence of COVID-19," she said, "the state Legislature would make it harder — not easier —for parents to pro- tect the health and safety of their fam- ilies, while meeting the educational needs of their children." For more information, go to www.oregonlaws.org/ors/338.125 or www.oregonvirtualschools.org. Natalie Pate is the education report- er for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at npate@StatesmanJour- nal.com, 503-399-6745, Twitter @Nataliempate or Facebook at www.Facebook.com/natalie patejournalist. News Director Don Currie 503-399-6655 dcurrie@statesmanjournal.com Advertising Westsmb@gannett.com Classifieds: call 503-399-6789 Retail: call 503-399-6602 Legal: call 503-399-6789 Missed Delivery? Call: 800-452-2511 Hours: until 7 p.m. Wednesdays; until 3 p.m. other weekdays To Subscribe Call: 800-452-2511 $21 per year for home delivery $22 per year for motor delivery $30.10 per year mail delivery in Oregon $38.13 per year mail delivery outside Oregon Deadlines News: 4 p.m. Thursday Letters: 4 p.m. Thursday Obituaries: 11 a.m. Friday Display Advertising: 4 p.m. Wednesday Legals: 3 p.m. Wednesday Classifieds: 4 p.m. Friday News Tips The Appeal Tribune encourages suggestions for local stories. Email the newsroom, submit letters to the editor and send announcements to sanews@salem.gannett.com or call 503-399-6773. Main Statesman Journal publication Suggested monthly rates: Monday-Sunday: $22, $20 with EZ Pay Monday-Saturday: $17.50, $16 with EZ Pay Wednesday-Sunday: $18, $16 with EZ Pay Monday-Friday: $17.50, $16 with EZ Pay Sunday and Wednesday: $14, $12 with EZ Pay Sunday only: $14, $12 with EZ Pay To report delivery problems or subscribe, call 800-452-2511 To Place an Ad Published every Wednesday by the Statesman Journal, P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309. USPS 469-860, Postmaster: Send address changes to Appeal Tribune, P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID: Salem, OR and additional offices. Send letters to the editor and news releases to sanews@salem.gannett.com. Shorthanded Continued from Page 1A been really, really shorthanded. We’re running 60%.” Freres Lumber was approved for a $5 million PPP loan on April 27, and Freres said the company will spend all of that on payroll. Despite an unemployment rate in Oregon of 11.2% in June, the company has been searching for employees since the slowdown. The nearly 100-year-old wood prod- ucts producer was forced to shut down for the first week in May as orders slowed along with the state’s shut down, and it ran out of room to store the plywood and other products it produc- es. But it kept its employees on the pay- roll. During that week the company was closed, three workers contracted CO- VID-19. While some manufacturing busi- nesses have struggled with outbreaks of employees contracting COVID-19, Freres said the three employees who contracted the coronavirus quarantin- ed with pay. “They caught that when they weren’t here,” Freres said. “They wouldn’t have caught it if we wouldn’t have had to shut down for a week.” Freres Lumber has provided PPE and cleaning supplies, mandated social dis- tancing by marking separation, dis- couraged use of lunchrooms, installed plexiglass barriers, closed offices to the public and increased third-party clean- ing of public areas. Freres Lumber vice president of Op- erations Kyle Freres said the company has paid for employees to stay home while not feeling well, encouraged them to maintain social distance while away from work and been upfront about their cases and informed co-workers of pos- sible exposures. “No one wants to get sick and no one wants to transmit sickness to others,” Kyle Freres said. “We all realize that CO- VID transmissions in the workplace can affect the health of friends, family, and co-workers. “We are an essential industry that worked through the pandemic, and we wanted to be as safe as possible while sustaining the livelihood of our employ- ees and our business.” Though Freres Lumber is located at its multiple facilities in Lyons, it draws most of its employees from the High- way 22 corridor cities of Salem, Keizer, Turner, Aumsville, Stayton, Mill City and Detroit, many of which have been harder hit than the Linn County city of 1,200. Despite employees coming from areas hard hit by the coronavirus, it still has only had three employees contract the virus. Freres Lumber spent about $10,000 to install dividers to keep workers safe from spreading COVID-19. SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL Rob Freres said the company is hir- ing for skilled positions including struc- tural engineers, CNC operators, electri- cians and truck drivers as well as un- skilled workers. “We’ll help with schooling and it doesn’t have to be directly work-related at the present time,” Rob Freres said. To apply, go to https://frereslum- ber.com/careers/current-job-open- ings/. Positions pay from $13.85 to $25 an hour. Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@statesmanjournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler Support local journalism by sub- scribing to the Statesman Journal. Public Notices PUBLIC POLICY NOTICES Public Notices are published by the Statesman Journal and available online at w w w .S ta te s m a n J o u r n a l.c o m . The Statesman Journal lobby is open Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can reach them by phone at 503-399-6789. In order to receive a quote for a public notice you must e-mail your copy to SJLegals@StatesmanJournal.com , and our Legal Clerk will return a proposal with cost, publication date(s), and a preview of the ad. LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICE DEADLINES All Legals Deadline @ 1:00 p.m. on all days listed below: ***All Deadlines are subject to change when there is a Holiday. The Silverton Appeal Tribune is a one day a week (Wednesday) only publication • Wednesday publication deadlines the Wednesday prior LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICE RATES Silverton Appeal Tribune: • Wednesdays only - $12.15/per inch/per time • Online Fee - $21.00 per time • Affidavit Fee - $10.00 per Affidavit requested Fee Continued from Page 1A sites from March to June brought a major hit in reve- nue for state parks that, combined with the decline in Oregon Lottery dollars that also supports parks, has meant a $22 million shortfall for OPRD. The agency responded with cuts, layoffs and a hir- ing freeze that means only about half the normal amount of rangers are patrolling state parks in a year when more people than ever are flooding parks and public lands. “There’s no modern equivalent for attempting to serve as many people as we expect with as few a peo- ple as we’ll have,” OPRD spokesman Chris Havel previ- ously told the Statesman Journal. “We’re basically op- erating with a skeleton crew.” Havel stressed that the new surcharge is temporary and primarily aimed at encouraging people to keep recreation local. He noted that New Mexico has closed all its state parks to out of state visitors, but Oregon isn’t going that far. “We’re adding this as one more way for people to think about whether right now is the right time for a long-distance trip,” OPRD spokesman Chris Havel said. “If people from out of state consider that, and still want to come, it’ll cost a little extra and they’ll be sup- porting our state parks system.” If Oregon wanted to continue the added fee into the future, that would require a more complex process, Havel said. “For now, the focus is only on this year,” Havel said. The surcharge is similar to the extra fees most state add to fishing licenses purchased by out of state resi- dents.