SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2020
THE OBSERVER — 5A
KILLING
ROADWORK
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
caller reported hearing a
man bragging about accel-
erating his pickup to hit
several pronghorns as they
bunched together in the
middle of the road. The
man said he left the scene
to get a hamburger, then
returned later to retrieve the
buck’s horns.
Troopers served a search
warrant on Phillips’ resi-
dence in May. They recov-
ered the horns and other evi-
dence linking Phillips to the
crime, according to divi-
sion Sgt. Lowell Lea. Phil-
lips confi rmed the antelope
were bunched together in
the road and said he acceler-
ated to more than 60 mph to
hit them. Phillips said he did
it because he hates prong-
horns, according to Lea.
State police arrested Phillips
on May 21. He is lodged in
the Lake County Jail.
“Not all poaching
involves the use of a
fi rearm,” Lea said. “This is
not the fi rst case of people
poaching with a vehicle.
And poaching takes oppor-
tunities away from hunters
and others.”
State court records
show Phillips faces seven
charges in all. Two relate to
the killing the antelope —
a wildlife violation for the
taking of the antelope and a
felony for fi rst-degree aggra-
vated animal abuse. The
other fi ve charges include
unlawful use of a weapon,
menacing and coercion for
threatening a man on May
16 in Lake County.
The antelope killing
comes after three Oregon
men were cited in May for
allegedly poaching 27 big
game animals in multiple
counties over the past two
years. A concerned citizen
contacted the TIP Line to
report the poaching ring.
Restitution for the crimes,
which occurred in Benton,
Lane, Linn, Lincoln, Polk
and Tillamook counties,
may top $162,000.
In April, two men were
charged with poaching a
pronghorn buck, a branch
bull elk and six buck deer
over the past year in Grant
County.
In July, the division iden-
tifi ed a poaching hot spot
in Columbia County, where
two elk and a buck deer
were shot over a period of
three months near Weyer-
haeuser property. All three
animals were left to waste
where they were shot, with
little or no meat taken.
The Oregon Hunters
Association operates the
TIP Line. Callers receive a
cash reward or hunting pref-
erence points if their report
leads to a citation or arrest.
The TIP Line rewards pro-
gram is funded primarily
through hunter restitution
fees and fi nes. The reward
for reporting a poached deer,
elk or antelope is four pref-
erence points or $500. Last
year OHA awarded more
than $21,000 in rewards, and
ODFW awarded 143 hunter
preference points to people
who reported to the TIP
Line.
ODFW anti-poaching
campaign coordinator
Yvonne Shaw said the
crimes refl ect wanton dis-
regard for wildlife, wildlife
laws and fellow Oregonians.
“When people poach,
they steal from all of us,”
Shaw said. “Coming across
a herd of pronghorns is a
once-in-a-lifetime experi-
ence that most Americans
would hold as a treasured
memory. Instead, a poacher
has robbed the animals of
their lives and everyone else
of the experience.”
pass slower moving semi-
trailers, thus preventing
getting stuck between
large semis. Patterson said
large trucks sometimes roll
at only 20 miles per hour
on the uphill passage while
many cars are traveling at
least 70 miles per hour.
The truck lanes are
made out of concrete
instead of asphalt because
it will hold up better under
the weight of heavier
vehicles.
“We expect them to last
for 50 years,” Patterson
said.
Concrete is more expen-
sive than asphalt but has
greater longevity, which
will save the state money.
“There is more of an
upfront cost, but it is worth
it in the long run,” Pat-
terson said.
He also said he antici-
pates there will be fewer
repair costs for the con-
crete lanes during their
lifespan. The asphalt lane,
by contrast, will need
extensive work, including
patching, he added.
The only problem Pat-
terson anticipates with the
concrete lanes is semis
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Staff photo by Dick Mason
The new concrete lanes through the Ladd Canyon portion of Interstate 84 south of La Grande cost more upfront than
asphalt but will last longer under the strain of heavy semitrailers.
will wear ruts into them.
To address this, the lanes
are 11 inches thick. This
will allow ODOT crews to
slice off the ruts and even
out the concrete surface
later, while leaving enough
roadway for trucks to con-
tinue traveling.
The Ladd Canyon
Freight Improvement
Project started in April
2019. In that fi rst year,
crews widened the shoul-
ders of the east- and west-
bound lanes of Interstate
84 for 10 miles between La
Grande and Ladd Canyon,
removed a bridge and
installed a concrete box-
like culvert large enough to
accommodate semitrailers.
Eliminating the bridge was
benefi cial because it tended
to get icy.
Work on the second
SCHOOLS
Continued from Page 1A
days,” he said.
Since then, though,
there have been few major
problems thanks in part
to Oregon State Police
troopers, who Patterson
credited with doing an
excellent job of patrolling
the work site.
“The OSP has made a
big difference,” Patterson
said. “It gets a lot of atten-
tion and respect.”
“In our district’s mind, we have
made technology a priority when
learning. It is the future, and that
is what Union School District is
focused on.”
Carter Wells, Union School District superintendent
reopening plan addressed
the need for students
to have access to tech-
nology with Chromebooks
or hotspots available to
check out. Mendoza said
the school has enough
Chromebooks for any stu-
dent who needs one. The
hotspots are more limited.
The district only has 100
hotspots and is looking
to get around 50 more for
the coming school year.
Hotspots likely will go to
those who have been iden-
tifi ed as in need, but Men-
doza said the school district
will work to get whoever
needs help with internet
access the assistance they
need.
Additionally, in
ensuring accessibility to all
students, all district super-
intendents have said they
will continue to work with
children who have Individ-
ualized Education Program
plan or a 504 disability
accommodation plan.
“By their very nature,
IEPs and 504 plans are
individualized,” Pettit
said. “Therefore, in the
event we are tempo-
rarily serving students
through distance learning,
those adjustments to
the delivery methods of
IEP/504 accommodations
would also be individual-
ized. Each accommoda-
tion would need to be indi-
vidually reviewed for the
best method of delivery
under whatever restrictions
are driving the decision to
shift to a distance learning
model.”
FAMILY
OWNED
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able to have 100% stu-
dent connectivity and have
demonstrated that this
is not a major barrier for
instruction of Cove stu-
dents,” Superintendent
Earl Pettit said. “Quality of
internet in Cove remains a
challenge, but all students
will have access to a device
and internet.”
Union School District
Staff photo by Sabrina Thompson
also had enough devices
The La Grande School District has enough Chromebooks
for every third- through
for every student who needs one to have access while
12th-grade student to have
participating in distance learning this fall.
a Chromebook during the
spring and intends to pro-
intendent George Men-
vide the same tools during
trict is following a plan
doza said. “We will have
the upcoming school year.
similar to the La Grande
synchronous and asyn-
Superintendent Carter
School District’s model.
The La Grande School
chronous learning options
Wells said the district is
District announced its
every day. We will have
working to fi nd the best
student grades, monitoring,
device for younger children fall 2020 reopening plan
Tuesday, Aug. 4, and is
and feedback on their
in kindergarten through
going with a comprehensive progress. We will have
second grade.
distance learning model for embedded intervention
“In our district’s mind,
the start of the year.
times. We will have a focus
we have made technology
“Comprehensive dis-
on a well rounded edu-
a priority when learning,”
tance learning is going to
cation as well as we have
Wells said. “It is the
be better than that distance electives, club offerings,
future, and that is what
learning we did last year
this fall.”
Union School District is
in April and May,” Super-
The school district’s
focused on.”
The Elgin School Dis-
trict is in a similar posi-
tion with enough iPads,
Chromebooks and laptops
for each student. Super-
intendent Dianne Greif
said the technology will
be distributed to the stu-
dents when school begins
at the end of August. The
devices were accumulated Steel on the inside where it matters most.
a few years ago, she said,
as a way for students to get
engaged in online learning.
“It’s how some of the
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classes teach, and espe-
cially in the older grades,
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it’s how they turn in
assignments,” Greif said.
North Powder School
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Sandy, OR
District still is developing
its plans. Superintendent
Lance Dixon said the dis-
phase of the project started
in April this year. Traffi c
through the construction
area is restricted to 50
miles per hour.
Patterson said drivers
generally are obeying
the speed limit but there
were major exceptions this
spring.
“We had two drivers go
through at over 100 miles
per hour in a couple of
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