The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current, October 01, 2020, Image 13

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The Observer., October 01, 2020, Page 13, Image 13

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Newspaper Page TextTHURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2020 THE OBSERVER — 5A SCHOOLS Continued from Page 1A playgrounds and ﬁ elds, so they will not come into con- tact with students outside their class and they will not be where other children have been. Smith also noted classes cannot share playground objects, such as basketballs, with other classes. Mayes, like Smith, said the process of making sure students will be safe is meticulous. “I believe we have done our utmost to make sure we have covered all our bases. We have gone over and over the guidelines and have met repeatedly with our admin team to ﬁ gure this all out,” the Central principal said. Smith said teachers have known for weeks there was a good chance the school district would be able to have K-3 students on-site Dick Mason/The Observer Island City Elementary custodial staff member Dale Read sanitizes a surface at the school Thursday, Sept. 30, 2020. The La Grande School District is preparing for all of its K-3 stu- dents to return to classrooms Monday. starting Oct. 5. “(The K-3 announce- ment) was not a surprise,” said Smith, who was La Grande High School’s assis- tant principal for two years ATTACKS Continued from Page 1A make and vote on are bread and butter things of the city, the basic things for living, those are the issues we are taking care of. I do not vote based on a party direction either. I think of each issue and make a decision on my own.” Dutto said it is important to remember their posi- tions on the council are nonpartisan. Howard said the person who made the post had not reached out to her or any other councilors and the claims he made are unsubstantiated. “I am discouraged to read the Union County Republican post,” Howard said. “It supposedly rep- resents my views without having any idea of what those views actually are. To insert partisan politics Clements Howard into a nonpartisan elec- tion is not just unfortunate — it distracts us from the real issues that confront our city. I hope that people of all political persuasions can come together to discuss and debate civilly how we might solve problems. La Grande deserves as much.” Hildebrandt suggested, in his post, the city council is working to defund the La Grande Police department. Dutto said there has not been any conversa- tion about defunding the La Grande Police Depart- ment, and the city recently renewed its labor contract with the police union for another three years. The city council gave a unan- imous vote in favor of the three-year collective bargaining agree- ment with the police department that went into effect July 1 and includes cost- Dutto of-living increases of 2.5% in 2019-20 and 2% each in the next two years. The city allocated $2.77 million for the police department in ﬁ scal year 2020-21, according to the city budget document, a slight decrease from the $2.79 million in the pre- vious cycle. “There has never been a discussion of or consid- eration for defunding or taking any money away from the police depart- ment,” City Manager Robert Strope said. “In fact, the city’s agreement is adding changes to beneﬁ t the police department.” Another issue Hildeb- randt raised is the assump- tion the city councilors are before taking his position at Island City Elementary in July. in support of the rioting that has occurred in Portland and elsewhere. “I suspect Mayor Steve Clements, Nicole Howard and Corrine Dutto (the 3 Democrats) on the council would support Black Lives Matter ‘protests’ if they came to La Grande,” Hil- debrandt wrote. “I’m also fairly certain that they would condone the 100 days of Antifa ‘protests’ in Portland.” Hildebrandt went on to urge people to write to the councilors and ask if they would support or con- demn Black Lives Matter and Antifa protests in Port- land should they come to La Grande. Dutto, Howard and Cle- ments said they do not con- done violence or looting. Howard and Dutto said they did not see any vio- lence during the June pro- test in La Grande, and they welcome peaceful protest Lawmakers approve money for wildﬁ re bills, housing aid instead of the original $20 million, to start paying suppression costs of the wildﬁ res that have swept through about 1 million acres of forests since Labor Day. As many as three dozen ﬁ res burned at once across Oregon. Prior to Labor Day, 2020 wildﬁ re suppression costs were estimated at $31 mil- lion, with the state on the hook for about $24.5 mil- lion after federal aid. Ofﬁ cials have said the costs of Oregon wildﬁ re suppression will approach $100 million. Though about half that total will be reimbursed by the Federal By Peter Wong Oregon Capital Bureau ONLINE SALEM — Oregon law- makers approved money to start paying wildﬁ re costs and helping homeowners rebuild, add workers to pro- cess unemployment claims and update technology and expand capacity for corona- virus testing. They did so Friday, Sept. 25, during an Emergency Board meeting that lasted more than three hours. The board’s 20 members handle budget matters between ses- sions of the full Legislature. And Monday, Gov. Kate Brown extended the state ban on evictions from resi- • To read a full ver- sion of this story, go to lagrandeobserver.com dential rental units through the end of the year. Though the board has met monthly since the 2020 session adjourned March 5 — and twice in August — Friday’s session was the ﬁ rst after the board com- mitted all of Oregon’s $1.4 billion share of federal pandemic aid under the CARES Act. The board enabled the Oregon Department of For- estry to tap $75 million, Emergency Management Agency, State Forester Peter Daugherty said his agency will have to pay the bills pending reimbursement. “With this kind of a ﬁ re season, we have started conversations with our fed- eral partners about com- pletely revamping the approach we take with the expected amount of cost processing that we are going to have to do,” Daugherty said. The agency had a backlog of about $100 mil- lion in costs from previous wildﬁ res. It has whittled that number down to $44 million. Smith said he was impressed with the profes- sionalism his staff demon- strated this summer, noting many teachers worked hard to boost their online teaching skills. “Our staff has done a great job of adapting. A lot of our staff took classes to get up to speed,” he said. Fourth and ﬁ fth graders at the La Grande School District’s elementary schools will be missing on Monday because state COVID-19 standards for their return have not yet been met. Mayes said she hopes they can be back at school shortly. “It is truly a bittersweet situation because it feels very awkward to not bring back our fourth and ﬁ fth graders. We will certainly miss them and hope they join us soon,” Mayes said. K-3 students will be attending school on-site Monday through Friday. There will not be a stag- gered start and the school day will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to a letter La Grande School Dis- trict Superintendent George Mendoza wrote to school district staff, parents and community members. If families of K-3 stu- dents do not want their child to return at this time, they will need to visit with their teacher and principal, Mendoza wrote. Students have the option of transi- tioning to the La Grande Learning Academy for long-term virtual education. Students who cannot attend on-site because of short-term illness, quaran- tine or other medical situ- ations will have access to asynchronous learning from their teachers. This means instead of live instruction they will receive lessons via recorded videos, written instructional materials and other means. as afforded by the freedom of speech. Dutto said First Amendment rights to free speech still apply. “I support having a pro- test for whatever the issue is,” she said. “It is the sup- pression of speech that is more frightening. That sup- pression will run us down the same road as North Korea and Russia. So I sup- port the freedom of speech, just like I support the right to bear arms. I was impressed with the (local) Black Lives Matter protest and counterprotest across the street and how it was handled. I don’t support violence or vandalism, but protest is good.” Clements echoed Dutto, and added that in his posi- tion as mayor he would do everything he could to stop a riot if it were to occur. “People have a right to peaceful assembly, not to riot, loot or agi- tate violence,” Clements said. “The riots in Port- land should never have been allowed to persist. I would not tolerate rioting or looting here and would use every power available to the city to stop them immediately.” Dutto said her and other councilors’ voting records indicate where their prior- ities are, not their political party registration. Save Now On Home Security GREAT LOW ® Monitored by ADT the #1 home security company in the U.S. PRICE MONITORING ® ADT 24/7 Monitored Home Security 24/7 monitoring provides peace of mind Yard sign and window decals help deter crime Quickly connect to fi re and emergency response May qualify for a homeowners insurance discount PER MONTH 1-855-384-7995 WE’RE AVAILABLE 24/7—CALL TODAY! 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Through his work on Island City’s budget committee, he said, he has gotten to know his local government personally. “The staff of Island City is awesome,” Com- fort said. “Great people doing great things. Island City is a great place, and it is because of the relation- ship between the mayor and staff. I plan to con- tinue to help them in any way I can.” He also said he hopes to see more develop- ment in Island City, and with plenty of land avail- able, he sees this as a real possibility. “It is my goal to lead Island City into the future,” Comfort said. “Cultivating ideas from the city council, staff and resi- dents that will make Island City a great place for fami- lies and commerce.” STORAGE BUILDINGS www.CountrysideSheds.com Get ready to get the animals inside (541) 663-0246 Locally owned and operated for over 25 years 10505 N. McAlister Road (Corner of Hwy 82 & N. McAlister Rd.) TIME TO PLAN for next year. 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