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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 2016)
8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2016 Local 5J recognizes Marvin Wood Man survives products, student of the month being struck, knocked off bridge BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER Samantha@TheBakerCountyPress.com Thursday, November 17, the 5J School District board members met for a work session and board meeting. In the work session, Josey Gaslin gave a pre- sentation on the Facilities Master Planning (FMP). The FMP was estab- lished in January 2016 and its objectives are to develop an assessment of the existing building conditions and to perform a review of instructional and support spaces relative to industry standards, they will be on site with staff for four days to do visual inspections of all facilities and they are able to evalu- ate and identify conditions of those facilities, and to prepare building condition evaluation forms and high level estimates for repairs and estimates. In her presentation, she showed the board members the square footage of each school in the district, the capacity of students each building can hold and how many students are in the school. After the FMP completed their assessments of the school buildings, they will be able to use the informa- tion to have a long range facilities plan for the build- ings. To begin the board meet- ing, the district recognized Marvin Wood Products as Business of the Quar- ter. Representing Marvin Wood Products were Mike Sundak, who prepared 150 work kits for students to build bird houses this year, Emery Owen, Chad Hurli- man, and Dean Amundson. The district also rec- ognized Rusty Munn in recognition of his Budget Committee Service. Munn worked as a school board member and then worked on the budget committee. They also recognized eighth grader Sydney Keller for the “Promise of Baker Student of the Month.” FMP Committee mem- bers Will Benson, Kevin Cassidy, Ellen Dentinger, Josey Gaslin, Autumn Harrell, Mike Rudi, Kim Mosier, Tony Rudolph, and Dan Van Winkle were recognized for their dedi- cation and service on the Facilities Master Planning Committee. Kim Mosier then gave a presentation on the Baker Valley Education Founda- tion. The Baker Valley Education Foundation is a group of five people who Photo courtesy of OSP. Samantha O’Conner / The Baker County Press Sydney Keller displays her student of the month award. are looking into a pos- sibility of creating a VEF to support the 5J District. According to a pamphlet Mosier passed out, their mission is “To promote, sponsor, facilitate and sup- port innovative teaching and education within the Baker 5J School District.” The VEF would be sepa- rate from the district and will be non-profit with its purpose being to support what is happening in the district. Mosier presented the idea to the board as the VEF cannot be established unless the district wants their help. According to Mosier, each district’s VEF is different and the focus of the Baker VEF will be “To promote sponsor, facilitate and support innovative teaching; to educate and energize the community; to mobilize community recourses to support in- novative teaching and programming”. According to Mosier’s presentation, the BVEF would need from the 5J School Board; “Review and approve by-laws once developed and adopted by the BVEF initial Board of Directors; Review and approve any additional members of the Board of Directors, as proposed by the initial Board of Directors; allow for com- munication with school administration and teachers to raise awareness about this project.” The Objectives of the BVEF, according to Mosier, are; “To enhance hands-on and experien- tial learning; to promote outdoor experiences; help teachers met educational needs of multiple intel- ligences.” Their goals are; “Raise community funds for projects and programs not mandated or funded by the state; provide those funds directly to teachers or teams through grants; create a direct pathway for community involvement in programs and projects that support the foundation’s purpose and objectives.” For the BHS report, the school’s blood drive donations went to the Red Cross November 2, and they collected 46 pints of donated blood. The high school held their annual Color Run, where staff and students walked/ran a mile and a half around the sports com- plex and teachers and staff would throw dyed starch at the walkers/runners. Last year, about 30 people attended and this year over 100 people attended and they generated over $800. On Friday, November 11 Vice Principal Chelsea Hurliman escorted a small group of students on a college visitation trip to the campuses of Eastern Or- egon University and Blue Mountain Community College. The students were able to tour the campuses and speak with admis- sion representatives about programs they offer. Mark Witty gave his Superintendent Report, discussing recruitment and how people who are trained to be teachers chose a different career path due to the recession. He talks about the need for teachers and how they need to work harder to recruit new staff members and how to attract people who will be a part of the districts visions and goals. There is an opening for the Budget Committee and they will advertise for at least another week or two and he asks the board to be attentive to people they think would be interested in the position. Witty is working with staff to develop a program to take students to China, spend 12 days in China, visit the sister school and interact in Beijing. He will be working with staff through a step by step process to go to China and he will be working on the notion that they would love to have students come from China to our school for a year. Assistant Superintendent Betty Palmer discussed that there are 15 new teachers that joined the district this year. She discussed the semi- nars they have with the teachers, where they help teachers with what they need to know about art- study and the next seminar will be on organization tips. She discussed how they want to bring in veteran teachers to help them with the sessions and processes. CFO/Business Manager Doug Dalton reported on the financial report, dis- cussing how they received grants for facility assess- ments and to help the district pursue long term plans and goals. They were awarded the BHS Seismic Grant, and with that they will be hir- ing architects and engi- neers to design what they are going to have construc- tion managers and firms bid to design. Kevin Cassidy was elected to be the Position One Eastern Oregon Re- gion Representative on the OSBA board. 15-year-old killed in Harney County car crash On November 17, 2016 at about 7 p.m., OSP Troopers and emergency personnel responded to the report of a single vehicle crash on Highway 78 near milepost 18 (10 miles west of Crane, 18 miles east of Burns). Preliminary investigation revealed a 1995 Nissan pickup had been traveling eastbound when it drifted off the shoulder and the driver over corrected caus- ing the vehicle to roll sev- eral times on the highway. All occupants were ejected from the vehicle (no safety restraints used). The operator, a 15 year old male from Burns, was pronounced deceased at the scene. The front right passen- ger, a 14 year-old male from Burns, was criti- cally injured and taken by air ambulance to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise. The rear passenger, a 10 year-old male from Burns was taken by ground ambulance to Saint Charles Bend for treatment of non- life threatening injuries (brother of driver). Distracted driving is be- ing investigated as a pos- sible contributing factor. Initial investigation indicates the juveniles did not have permission to be operating the vehicle. OSP was assisted on scene by Harney County Sheriff’s Office, Harney EMS, and the Oregon Department of Transportation. This is an ongoing inves- tigation. More information will be released when it be- comes available. The incident above happened in the dark with black ice a factor. On November 21, 2016 at about 6 a.m., OSP Troopers and emergency personnel responded to the report of a multiple vehicle crash on Interstate 84 near milepost 378 (on the Snake River Bridge between Oregon and Idaho). Preliminary investigation revealed a 2008 Chevrolet Colorado was traveling westbound on I-84 when it lost control on the bridge after hitting black ice. The Chevro- let impacted the bridge and came to rest on the shoulder of the bridge. The driver of the Chevrolet, Steven S BAI- LEY, age 41, of Middleton, Idaho was not injured. A passing motorist, Steven Arrasmith, age 34, of Mesa, Idaho, stopped his 2016 Jeep behind Bailey’s vehicle to offer assistance. Another westbound vehicle a 2008 Hyundai lost control on the ice and struck the back of the Jeep causing it to lurch forward. Arrasmith, who was now standing on the bridge, was struck by his Jeep and thrown over the bridge railing. He managed to hang on for a short period, despite having a serious injury, before falling about 50 feet into the Snake River below. In the darkness, Arrasmith managed to shed heavier clothing and swam to a nearby island. First responders could hear him yelling for help soon after rescued him. Arrasmith was taken to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Ontario for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the Hyundai, Jim D. Hudnall, age 68, of Walla Walla, Washington, received minor injuries. OSP was assisted by the Ontario Police Department, Payette County Sheriff’s Office, Ontario Fire and Rescue, Payette Fire and Rescue and the Oregon Department of Transportation. More information will be released as it becomes available. BLM gives release date for B2H EIS The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released a revised schedule for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process for the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line (B2H) Project. BLM expects to pub- lish the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, which will initiate a 30-day notice of availability period for the Final EIS, a 30-day land use planning protest period, and a 60-day Governor’s Consistency Review period. There is no for- mal public comment period associated with the Final EIS. Once published, the Final EIS can be accessed in the following ways: Online at boardmantohemingway.com/ documents.aspx; Via BLM’s ePlanning website; Request a CD version by e-mailing info@boardmantohemingway. com; At libraries and BLM offices in the project area. A full list of reading rooms will be available online at boardmantohemingway.com. The Final EIS considers resource impacts across 24 al- ternative routes organized in six geographic segments, as well as a No Action Alternative. The document responds to comments received on the Draft EIS and identifies the Agency Preferred Alternative and the Environmentally Preferable Action Alternative. Additional key changes in the Final EIS include: Updated routes and variations developed in response to comments on the Draft EIS Updated baseline environmental data and a robust ex- planation of the methodologies used to analyze resource impacts Updated mitigation information including a Mitigation Framework Plan Additional information about routing considerations on and near the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility Boardman Additional analysis of the project’s impacts on National Historic Trails and high-value agricultural lands New summaries comparing resource impacts for each route alternative by segment Additional information will be distributed to the project mailing and email list when the document released. Call 307-775-6115 for more information.
