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June 3, 2016 CapitalPress.com 7 California to dismiss Rural school extends invitation to students 0¿QHDJDLQVW irrigation district By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press By SCOTT SMITH Associated Press FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Water regulators rec- ommend dismissing a his- toric $1.4 million fine issued at the height of California’s drought last summer against a group of Central Valley farmers ac- cused of taking river wa- ter that didn’t belong to them. It marks a sharp re- versal to the first of such fines against a district with claims to water that are a century old. Entities with those rights have long en- joyed immunity from cut- backs. In a draft order, the State Water Recourses Control Board said May 26 that its prosecutors failed to prove its case against By- ron-Bethany Irrigation Dis- trict. The case should not have dragged on this long, said attorney Dan Kelly, who represented Byron-Beth- any, a district that serves 160 farms east of San Fran- cisco. “The prosecution team certainly held this out as a test case, something that would teach everyone not to ignore the state water board,” Kelly said. “The fact that they didn’t have sufficient evidence to prove what they were alleging is troubling.” The water board also recommended dropping a similar civil case against West Side Irrigation Dis- trict, which serves farmers near Tracy. State officials had not proposed a fine for West Side. The turn-around raises several questions, said at- torney Jeanne Zolezzi, who represents West Side. Vinegar company ¿QHGIRUVSLOOLQ Washington river “There’s a real question whether the state board is the policeman of how much water is in the river and who should be able to take it,” said Zolezzi, not- ing that has historically been left to the courts to decide. After the state issued its complaints, both districts asked for a hearing. The state’s prosecu- tors presented the case in March, and two state water board officials overseeing the hearing abruptly halted it before the districts could present their cases in de- fense. The draft order dismiss- ing the cases says the wa- ter enforcement officials couldn’t explain the basis for alleging that the district took more water than they had a right to take. State Water Board spokesman George Ko- styrko said the allegations appeared to be true when they were first made at the height of California’s drought, when hundreds of farmers throughout the state were being ordered to stop taking river water. A fair and impartial hearing process showed otherwise, he said. “This happened during a fourth and very crucial- ly dry year in California,” he said. “It appeared that some parties had been tak- ing water that didn’t belong to them.” The full State Water Re- sources Control Board must approve the dismissals be- fore they become final. Attorneys for both dis- tricts said they will seek damages and attorneys’ fees from the state in court. For Byron-Bethany, Kelly said that will be more than $1 million. PORTLAND — A tiny Eastern Oregon school has an invitation for Portland high school students: Come stay with us for a semester and learn about ag and science. The program, which will begin next school year with eight Portland girls visiting WKH ¿UVW VHPHVWHU DQG HLJKW Portland boys arriving for second semester, is a delib- erate attempt to span the ur- ban-rural divide. And Oregon does not get more rural than the Burnt River School in Unity, Ore., about 50 miles east of John Day. The Burnt River School District has a single build- ing, a K-12 charter school. In the 2015-16 school year — they’re already out for the summer — the district had 34 students. Fielding an eight- man football team last fall re- quired an alliance with Prairie City School. Cattle ranching is the primary way to make a living in the area. District Superintendent Lorrie Andrews also serves as school principal, teaches SHUVRQDO ¿QDQFH DQG FDUHHUV helps seniors with their port- folios and advises the year- book kids. She’s been there 30 years. “Time for me to go, huh?” she jokes. She’s been working on Burnt River’s invitation to Portland for a couple of years, with noteworthy help from state Rep. Greg Smith, a Re- publican from Heppner, state Rep. Cliff Bentz, a Republi- can from Ontario, and Baker County Commissioner Mark Bennett. Now they are ready to try it. “It is something we’ve thought a lot about,” An- drews said. Burnt River has a “great school and an ex- cellent staff,” she said, but the district’s enrollment has declined for several years. Twenty-eight of the school’s 34 students are high school age. “We were just thinking we need to think outside the box, Courtesy of Burnt River School District The entire student body and staff of Burnt River School poses on picture day in September 2015. The Eastern Oregon school invites Portland high school students to stay for a semester and learn about agriculture and science. Lorrie Andrews, the superintendent and principal who also teaches careers DQGSHUVRQDO¿QDQFHLVRQWKHIDUULJKW so to speak,” Andrews said. Over the May 21-22 week- end, Portland Public Schools sent an email to its high school families, telling them of the opportunity to take part in the Burnt River Integrated Agriculture/Science Research Ranch program, or BRIARR. On Monday, May 23, An- drews responded to 23 emails about the program. A bunch more arrived Tuesday. Portland students will get a semester of hands-on learning in what Burnt Riv- er describes as a “variety of natural resource settings.” They’ll learn about animal production science, sustain- able rangeland science and forest restoration studies, and do water quality monitoring with the Powder Basin Wa- tershed Council. She said it made sense to extend the invitation to Port- land, by far the state’s largest urban center. The city has more than 49,000 students in 78 schools, including 10 high schools. “We were thinking there probably are students out there who would enjoy a ru- ral experience and a small school experience at the same time,” Andrews said. “I think it’s a way to bridge that divide. I think there are a lot of misconceptions in both directions. I think we can all learn from one another. Kids are usually open to that.” Attracting more students helps the district’s budget. The Oregon Department of Education pays school dis- tricts a standard per-student amount of $7,100, and that funding will follow the Port- land students to Burnt River School. The students will be hosted by local parents, but WKHGHWDLOVKDYHQ¶WEHHQ¿QDO- ized. Andrews said the district is engaged in several alter- native ways to stay viable. The school became a charter school so it could offer “dis- tance learning,” and attract students outside the district who attend class by Skype, the online system. The dis- trict also has successfully hosted foreign exchange students over the years, An- drews said. Burnt River partners with other institutions. Blue Mountain Community Col- lege, in Pendleton, put on a short-term welding class for Burnt River kids. Welding, GPS use and small engine maintenance will be offered as mini-courses next year, and Andrews hopes to have D PRELOH OLYHVWRFN DUWL¿FLDO insemination lab visit the school. She’s talking to Trea- sure Valley Community Col- lege about an equine science unit. Students can take college credit courses, and the dis- trict pays for it, she said. “It’s important,” Andrews said. “It’s a priority for the school board to have stu- dents prepared to go on, even though we’re so rural.” The district will interview applicants in June, looking for students who will be the ULJKW¿WIRU8QLW\SRSXODWLRQ 75. “If it’s important to you to spend a lot of time at the shopping mall or the movies, this isn’t the place for you,” Andrews said. “Because that’s not where we are.” Application forms and a brochure are available on the district’s website: http://burn- triver.k12.or.us/home John Deere Dealers See one of these dealers for a demonstration By DON JENKINS Capital Press Fleischmann’s Vinegar &R KDV EHHQ ¿QHG for spilling concentrated vinegar on March 4 into the White River in Pierce County, according to the state Depart- ment of Ecology. The 10,000-gallon spill was caused by a faulty valve at the company’s Sumner manufacturing plant, accord- ing to DOE. The company has replaced the valve, the agency said. The river was high at the time of the spill, minimizing the environmental effects, ac- cording to DOE. There were QRUHSRUWVRIGHDG¿VK Efforts to obtain a comment from the California-based company were unsuccessful. The vinegar that spilled was twice as strong as house- hold vinegar. The company reported the spill the day it occurred. DOE has authority to issue D¿QHIRUHDFKYLROD- tion. In deciding to levy the full amount, the agency con- sidered the Sumner plant’s history, a DOE spokeswom- an said. )OHLVFKPDQQ¶V ZDV ¿QHG a total of $24,000 in 2014 by '2(7KHFRPSDQ\ZDV¿QHG $4,000 for spilling about 2,000 pounds of concentrated vine- gar onto the ground and anoth- er $19,000 for violations found in follow-up inspections. The vinegar spilled when corroded steel hoops on a 49,000-gallon wooden stor- age tank failed. The vinegar was contained in two storm- water ponds. DOE learned about the spill from an anon- ymous tip. Fleischmann’s can appeal WKHODWHVW¿QHWRWKH3ROOXWLRQ Control Hearings Board. According to the company website, Fleischmann’s is the world’s largest industrial vin- egar producer and has man- ufacturing plants across the country. 23-4/#4N