OREGON
A6 — THE OBSERVER
Driver license
renewal grace
period set to
end Dec. 31
By VIRGINIA BARREDA
Bridging the digital divide
By BENNETT HALL
SALEM — If you’ve got
an expired Oregon license
or vehicle registration, it’s
time to consider booking an
Oregon Driver & Motor Vehicle
appointment — fast.
The grace period to renew
already-expired licenses and
registrations is coming to an
end Dec. 31.
In 2020, the DMV closed
its 60 offi ces across Oregon
amid the pandemic, prompting
a huge backlog, DMV spokes-
person David House said.
When the offi ces reopened,
the backlog was exacer-
bated by staff shortages and
restrictions such as capacity
limits and appointment-only
services.
To help alleviate the pileup
of requests and clogged phone
lines, multiple vehicle-related
moratoriums were put in place
throughout the year.
One rolling moratorium
provides a grace period on
citations for expired driver
licenses, permits, vehicle reg-
istration and disabled parking
placards. The law only applies
to expiration dates of six
months or less and will expire
Dec. 31, according to the DMV
website.
Since reopening, the DMV
has increased its available
appointments and is also now
accepting walk-ins. Though
there are no capacity limits,
customers are required to wear
masks in the offi ces and during
driving tests.
Blue Mountain Eagle
Many services are now
available online, so agency offi -
cials say it’s worth checking the
DMV website before making
the trip. If you have to go in
person, make an appointment
through dmv2u.oregon.gov/
eServices, or just show up.
Life on the frontier
Grant County’s first
Cyber Mill brings
broadband to Seneca
Salem Statesman Journal
Save yourself a
trip to the DMV
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021
SENECA — When Logan
Stanley moved to Seneca from
Boise, she knew fi nding work
would be a challenge. But with
the arrival of the Cyber Mill,
her options have expanded
dramatically.
The nonprofi t facility, which
opened Nov. 16 in an 800-square-
foot former restaurant building on
Highway 395, is providing some-
thing that has been sorely lacking
for many residents of this small
Grant County ranching commu-
nity: broadband internet access.
Stanley stopped by the Cyber
Mill to check the place out and
open a free account that comes
with a code for the digital keypad
for the front door, so she can
access the building anytime
between 5 a.m. and 10:30 p.m.
She’s hoping the facility’s high-
speed internet connection will
allow her to parlay her political
science degree into a good-paying
job.
“I’m looking for remote work
(and) this gives me access to fi nd
work outside the area,” Stanley
said. “Having access to the
internet is what opens the door to
that opportunity.”
Stanley was just one of sev-
eral local residents who came
in Friday to see what the Cyber
Mill was all about. Acting as
host, tour guide and chief cheer-
leader was Didgette McCracken, a
founding board member of Cyber
Mill Grant County, the nonprofi t
behind the facility.
The project has been more
than two years in the making,
and McCracken couldn’t be more
excited to see how the people of
Seneca make use of it.
“It makes my heart happy,” she
said.
It’s a big change for the tiny
town of Seneca, population 165,
but it’s also a sign of things to
come for other isolated communi-
ties in this part of Eastern Oregon.
Bennett Hall/Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County Cyber Mill’s Didgette McCracken, left, chats with Grant Union High
School senior Luke Jackson, center, and his father, Layne Jackson, in the Seneca
Cyber Mill on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. The nonprofi t facility off ers free high-speed in-
ternet access to Seneca-area residents.
Similar projects are already in the
works for Prairie City and John
Day, and long-range plans call for
laying fi ber-optic lines that could
bring high-speed internet access
to every community in Grant
County.
All things internet
Think of the Cyber Mill as
an internet cafe without the cafe
(although the building still shows
traces of its previous incarnation
as a restaurant, and it does have a
coff eemaker and a small fridge).
Just inside the front door is a
living room-like space with small
tables and comfortable chairs
scattered around a Western-print
throw rug and a large video mon-
itor on one wall. On the other side
of the room is a line of work tables
with three desktop computer ter-
minals available for public use.
Still to come is a scanner/copier/
fax machine.
You can still see the old lunch
counter, which has now been
refurbished as a work surface sup-
plied with several stools.
In the back of the building is a
small meeting space, with room
for 10 or 12 people, a portable
whiteboard and a wall-mounted
monitor set up for videoconfer-
encing. The room can be reserved
in advance.
There’s also a handicapped-ac-
cessible restroom, a utility room
for computer servers, and a strong
Wi-Fi signal throughout the
building for people who want to
bring their own laptops, tablets or
Thank you to everyone
who donated and participated
in the Fundraiser for
Bob and Dorothy Kautz.
It was a HUGE success!
A Huge Thank You to: Grocery Outlet,
La Grande Country Club and all of the
volunteers who took time out of your day
to make this day a huge success!
Thank you to:
RD Mac
Beau & Michelle Willadsen
Tap That
Pepsi Cola
Eric & Chris Yundt
Jefferson St True Value
Legacy Dodge
Stan Terry
Mark Lanman
Tiffany Sherman &
Marissa Vaughn
Arrow
Northwest Furniture
& Mattress
Island Express
Terri & Randy Winterton
Thunder RV
Missy’s Fun Bags/31
Eagle Carriage & Machine
Brian & Michelle Bell
Alpine Archery
Comfort Dental Lab/Dave
& Deb Comfort
Les Schwab
Antler’s Espresso
Keith & Stephanie
Williams
Globe Furniture
Brickyard Lanes
Buffalo Peak
La Grande Country Club
Cinco De Mayo
Side A Brewing
Mamacita’s
Smokehouse
Cock-n-Bull
Longbranch
Benchwarmers
Nature’s Pantry
Amy Horn/Amy’s Jewels
Devi Mathson/Little Bear
Pallet Creations
Birddog Glass
Oregon Trail Transport
B&K Auto Salvage
& Recycling
Island City Market & Deli
Kim & Wayne Brown/
Capelli’s Salon
Grocery Outlet
other wireless devices.
Working at a remote job is just
one of the ways people will be
able to use the facility, McCracken
said.
The conference room can be
booked for in-person meetings
or classes, or people can use the
videoconference capability for
business meetings, training ses-
sions or even virtual doctor’s
appointments.
Having access to a high-
speed internet connection could
also enable local artisans to sell
their wares via online stores and
empower entrepreneurs to launch
all kinds of online businesses.
High school students can
come in to do their homework
or research a term paper, while
older students can pursue a col-
lege degree through online
coursework.
Or people can just come in to
hang out, surf the net, watch a
movie or connect with others for
multiplayer online games.
And for now, at least, it’s all
free.
McCracken said Grant County
Cyber Mill hopes to keep it that
way, but even if the nonprofi t
has to start charging a user fee at
some point, she thinks the cost
will remain aff ordable.
“We’ve run the numbers to
see what it would take to become
self-sustaining,” she said. “Once
you’ve done the upfront costs, it’s
very reasonable to operate. If we
have to do that, we’ll do that, but
we’ve also built in scholarships.”
While internet service is avail-
able through commercial sources
in Seneca, it can be cost-pro-
hibitive for some area residents.
Others say their homes are too
remote for satellite or DSL ser-
vice, or the connection they are
able to get is slow and unreliable.
“This part of Oregon is consid-
ered frontier,” McCracken said.
“A lot of people don’t really know
what that means, but when it
comes to broadband, there’s really
not a lot of options.”
Layne and Janelle Jackson,
who moved to Seneca from
Boston with their son, Luke, said
they’ve been frustrated by the lack
of reliable internet service at their
ranch 7 miles from town. The
Cyber Mill, they said, could make
a big diff erence for them.
“It’s crazy how bad our
internet is,” said Janelle. “We’ve
been waiting for this for a long
time.”
Luke, a 17-year-old senior at
Grant Union High School, brought
his Xbox to test out the Cyber
Mill’s signal. He hit a few glitches
gaming online, but that’s some-
thing he can’t do at all with the
spotty connection he gets at home.
“It was downloading really
good,” he said. “It streamed a
couple videos for me. … I prob-
ably did in the last hour and a half
a day’s worth (of downloading).”
Downloading a full-length
movie using the family’s home
internet service, Luke added,
sometimes takes as long as a
week.
His mother said she’ll use the
Cyber Mill’s videoconferencing
capabilities to schedule doctor’s
appointments.
“This is a better option for tele-
health meetings, so we don’t have
to go to Bend or Boise,” Janelle
said.
For now, the Seneca Cyber
Mill is piggybacking on the
broadband internet connection at
Seneca Elementary School, which
is tied into the Grant County Edu-
cation Service District’s wire-
less internet network. Eventu-
ally, McCracken said, that will be
replaced by an even more robust
and reliable fi ber optic cable.