The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current, August 25, 2017, Image 4

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The Baker County press., August 25, 2017, Page 4, Image 4

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Newspaper Page TextFRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2017 4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS Opinion / Local — Letters to the Editor — Nilsson should resign To the Editor: First let me state quite clearly that my comments refl ect my opinion and not nec- essarily that of any agency, entity, or orga- nization to which I belong or am afﬁ liated with. I have read the letter (August 18th issue) from reader Kevin Luckini regard- ing Baker City Council member Adam Nilsson and I agree with Mr. Luckini. Mr. Nilsson either needs to resign from the city council immediately or a recall effort must be initiated. I understand that under our system of law Mr. Nilsson is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. I am rather conﬁ dent that day will come. My call for Nilsson’s resignation or recall is based upon his social media posts as well as his post arrest public comments, not his alleged criminal behavior. Neither represent the perspective or attitude of one who holds public ofﬁ ce. Clearly Nilsson believes he is exempt from the laws which apply to others and that he is above the requirement of accountability that is his not just because he is a citizen but particu- larly because he is an elected ofﬁ cial. The alleged criminal behavior aside, are his social media postings and comments fol- lowing his arrest consistent with the Oath of Ofﬁ ce he took when sworn in as a City Council member? More important, are those postings and comments consistent with the expectations which the citizens he represents have every right to hold? In both cases I think not. Do the right and honorable thing Mr. Nilsson and resign from the City Council immediately. If not, expect to be recalled. Jerry Boyd Baker City B2H line needs stopped To the Editor: I attended the meeting held by Baker County Commissioners last week. I appre- ciated the way our county commissioners are standing up for the citizens regarding the proposed Boardman to Hemingway transmission line. They have made it clear that they do not support the building of the transmission line and have passed a resolution stat- ing that if Idaho Power uses the power of eminent domain to force landowners to allow the line, the county will sign on as “Friends of the Court” in support of landowners who take legal action against Idaho Power. They have also stated that they will help any landowner who wants them to help with negotiating with Idaho Power to get fair payment if the line goes through their land. It was encouraging to ﬁ nd that the transmission line is not a “Done Deal” and there are people working to stop the line from being built. I was surprised to hear that Bonneville Power has not agreed to pay part of the costs of building the line. They only committed to contribute to the assessment. I am concerned to hear that Idaho Power is already trying to get landowners to agree to payments for the line going through their land. There are laws regard- ing the amount that owners of farm and forest lands should be paid that make it wise for people to either hire an attorney or work with the county if a decision is made to allow the transmission line to be built. There are attorneys who are special- izing in helping people get reasonable compensation. Please be aware that if you do not com- ment once the Oregon Department of Energy publishes their “Draft Proposed Order” you will give up your rights to ﬁ ght against the line. I encourage citizens to become informed and involved in ﬁ ght- ing the Boardman to Hemingway trans- mission line. Our citizens, wildlife, and resources will be negatively impacted if this for proﬁ t company is allowed to build this transmission line at our expense. Jo Marlette Baker City Grant awarded for dog park PetSafe® announced to- day that 25 cities across the country will receive funds for new off-leash dog park construction and existing park maintenance and up- grades as grant recipients of its 2017 PetSafe® Bark for Your Park™ campaign. Since the launch of its nationwide Bark for Your Park program in 2011, Pet- Safe has been working to create more off-leash dog parks around the country that bring like-minded members of the commu- nity together and provide a place for dogs to receive exercise and socialization. “The goal of Bark for Your Park has always been to help communities be- come better places to live for people and their pets,” said Willie Wallace, CEO of Radio Systems® Cor- poration, parent company of PetSafe. “Finding a pet-friendly community is more important than ever. Dog parks are the second must-have amenity people search for when looking for a new city to call home. Plus, proper exercise and socialization reduces be- havior issues, which keeps dogs out of local shelters and rescues.” To be considered for a grant, communities were asked to provide documen- tation about the park and authorization from civic leaders. PetSafe received a total of 215 applications in 2017, surpassing all other years of the program. After a review of all applications by an internal committee, PetSafe has selected25 communities across the country as 2017 grant recipients. The fol- lowing cities will receive funding for dog park proj- ects or commercial-grade dog park equipment from UltraSite™, a PlayCore Company: New Park Awards • Honolulu, HI • Kansas City, KS • Allentown, PA • Baker City, OR • Big Stone Gap, VA Park Maintenance Awards • Birmingham, AL • Normal, OK • Paducah, KY • Bowie, MD • Moab, UT • Florence, AZ • Colorado Springs, CO • Truth & Consequences, NM • Brookhaven, NY • University Place, WA Park Upgrade Awards • Columbia, MO • Beatrice, NE • Eastlake, OH • Orange, CA • Encinitas, CA • Jacksonville, FL • Shorewood, IL • Bayonne, NJ • Huntington, WV • Columbus, IN With the addition of 14 states added to the pro- gram with this year’s grant recipients, PetSafe has helped fund 64 off-leash dog parks in 40 states since 2011. The application period for the 2018 Bark for Your Park grant-giving program will open again in the spring of 2018. Communi- ties can learn more about the program and sign up to receive email notiﬁ cations with important program announcements and dead- line reminders at www.petsafe.com/barkfo- ryourpark. PetSafe® is an industry leader in the development of innovative pet behav- ioral, containment and lifestyle product solutions. PetSafe is owned by Radio Systems® Corporation and headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn. For more information, please visit www.petsafe.com or con- nect with us on Facebook and Twitter. 5J awards summer staff CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Mosier explained that they are independent from the School District and raise funds locally to support projects in the 5J School District classrooms. They raised funds through a fundraiser last spring and now have funds to give to teachers through grants to be used within their classrooms. For their updates, they have had a lot of changes. Irvine will be leaving the BVEF as the treasurer, and that is a position they need to ﬁ ll. They have another vacancy on the Board they will need to ﬁ ll. They had voted on three members to join them and their bylaws explain that the foundation will appoint members and they will bring them to the School Board. Mosier explained that applications for their grants are due on Septem- ber 1st and the Board will decide on the applications September 14th and hope to announce their decisions by October 1st. They will send out emails to principals who will send it to teachers to ﬁ ll out. Superintendent Mark Witty was attending the OASE Executive Board Retreat August 17th and 18th. In his written board report, he explained that they were determining the priorities for the Confed- eration of School Admin- istrators for the 2017-18 school year. He gave an update on the Long Range Facil- ity Planning Commit- tee’s objectives in the next few months, stating. He explained that their “staff Site Team, two to ﬁ ve members from each educational facility, will meet August 29 to review data gathered from all staff as to the areas of concern within their location. We will review the compila- tion of data and discuss the key aspects that will be presented to the LRFPC on September 5.” Witty also explained in his written report that they anticipate three to ﬁ ve more meetings with the LRFPC prior to reporting recommendations from the LRFPC to the Board of Directors. Witty discussed “Our Human Resource depart- ment is processing mul- tiple new hires for Baker Technical Institute, Baker Charter Schools and Baker K-12 School District to as- sure that all State, Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) and board policies regulations are followed and imple- mented correctly.” Witty attended a meet- ing with Salam Noor in Malheur County on August 10. He reported, “SBAC will be shortened for the 2017-18 school year in grades 3-8. “This current year ODE will be determining which standardized test will be utilized in the 2018-19 school year for 11th grad- ers. It is likely that either the ACT or SAT will be chosen. Measure 98 dollars will be available this year without a detailed plan — Contact Us — submitted to the Oregon Department of Education. This spring we will be required to produce a four- year plan that focuses on establishing or expanding college-level coursework, establishing or expand- ing Career and Technical offerings, and developing programs that increase graduation rates for all students.” Witty also explained that they are currently plan- ning for Friday Academy for students K-12 and they have hired Angela Lattin as the Academy Facilita- tor, who will work with district staff in organizing programing for 100 to 140 K-6 students. Palmer explained that there are 19 to 20 ﬁ rst and second year teachers in the district now. She has asked retired teachers to return to work with and support the ﬁ rst and second year teachers. She also had her annual substitute teacher training that week and will have four more in the next three weeks. She explained that bus drivers also receive annual training. Palmer announced that Dr. Julie Esparza-Brown, an Associate Professor in the Special Education Department at Portland State University, will be coming to Baker to give a presentation on September 6th and 7th. Her presentation will be about applying equitable identiﬁ cation processes and program consider- ations for English Lan- guage Development (ELD) students YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS The Baker County Press President Donald Trump PO Box 567 Baker City, Ore. 97814 202.456.2461 fax Open Monday-Thursday for calls 9 AM - 4 PM Open 24/7 for emails 202.456.1414 Whitehouse.gov/contact US Sen. Jeff Merkley 503.326.3386 503.326.2900 fax Merkley.Senate.gov Phone: 541.519.0572 TheBakerCountyPress.com US Sen. Ron Wyden 541.962.7691 Wyden.Senate.gov www.Th eBakerCountyPress.com www.Facebook.com/Th eBCPress Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker County Press reserves the right not to pub- lish letters containing factual falsehoods or incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or detracting from speciﬁ c for-proﬁ t business- es will not be published. Word limit is 375 words per letter. Letters are limited to one every other week per author. Letters should be submitted to Editor@TheBakerCounty- Press.com. Advertising and Opinion Page Dis- claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest Opinions or Letters to the Editor express the opinions of their authors, and have not been authored by and are not necessarily the opinions of The Baker County Press, any of our staff, management, independent contractors or afﬁ liates. Advertisements placed by political groups, candidates, businesses, etc., are printed as a paid service, which does not constitute an endorsement of or fulﬁ llment obligation by this newspaper for the products or services advertised. Kerry McQuisten, Publisher Editor@TheBakerCountyPress.com US Rep. Greg Walden Wendee Morrissey, Advertising and Sales Wendee@TheBakerCountyPress.com 541.624.2402 fax David Conn, Advertising and Sales David@TheBakerCountyPress.com Published weekly every Friday. Subscription rates per year are $29.95 all areas, e-mail delivery. $39.95 print issue, home delivery, Baker City city limits only. $49.95 print issue, mail delivery, outside Baker City city limits only. Payment in advance. A division of Black Lyon Publishing, LLC 541.624.2400 Walden.House.gov Oregon Gov. Kate Brown 503.378.3111 Governor.Oregon.gov State Rep. Cliff Bentz 503.986.1460 State Sen. Ted Ferrioli 541.490.6528 Baker County Commissioners Bill Harvey; Mark Bennett; Bruce Nichols 541.523.8200 Copyright © 2014 -2017 541.523.8201