REGION
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
East Oregonian
Students battle over books
By JENNIFER COLTON
East Oregonian
Adrenaline pulsed through
Sandstone Middle School
as two teams braced for the
double-elimination tourna-
ment.
The
teams
huddled
together, ready for the buzzer
to sound. They bit their nails.
They swallowed hard.
One team — the YMnMs
— hadn’t lost a battle. The
other, the Goat-Shaped Blobs,
wanted their chance to take
the championship and head to
the regional competition.
The audience hushed as
the questions started: What
did this character have to
drink? Who said this line?
In which book did this scene
happen?
Eighteen teams competed
in the Battle of the Books at
Sandstone Middle School,
and the undefeated YMnMs
took the championship title.
“I’m relieved. Having
so many people watching
is … it’s a lot of pressure,”
eighth-grader Maria Tejeda
said. “It’s fun, but it’s a lot of
pressure.”
Oregon Battle of the
Books is a statewide reading
motivation and comprehen-
sion program. The program
challenges students in third
through 12th grade with
trivia and critical thinking
questions based on 16 prese-
lected books. The Oregon
Battle of the Books program
is run by volunteers through
the Oregon Association of
School Libraries and partially
funded through the Library
Photo by Jennifer Colton
The YMnMs: Yaloani Alvarado, from left, Nazly Chavez, Maria Tejeda and Sally Wooster
compete in the Battle of the Books championship at Sandstone Middle School.
Services and Technology Act.
The students of the
YMnMs — Maria Tejeda,
Sally Wooster, Yaloani
Alvarado, Mirely Reyes and
Nazly Chavez — have been
involved with Battle of the
Books for years and said they
participate because they like
to read, it’s fun, and it’s a
challenge.
“The hardest part is
remembering the details.
The best is getting to read
good books — and a variety
of books. It isn’t all the same
genre,” eighth-grader Nazly
Chavez said.
This year, Armand Larive
and Sandstone middle schools
received a grant from the
Oregon Battle of the Books
organization that covered the
registration fee and a book
box with one copy of each
of the 16 books used in the
middle school divisions.
Delia Wallis, librarian for
Hermiston High School and
Sandstone and Armand Larive
middle schools, said the
program challenges students
and promotes reading.
“You have to know your
stuff. You have to know what
color was the bicycle Bob
rode down the street,” Wallis
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iston High School will launch
an Oregon Battle of the Books
team next year.
For the 2015-16 school
year, students are keeping
their eyes on the page and on
the next stage. The winners
of the building competitions
advance to the regional
competition March 5 at
Blue Mountain Community
College in Pendleton.
While the YMnMs have
already earned their other
place, other students are
heading into their building
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At Hermiston elementary
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place in school gyms this
week:
Rocky Heights Elemen-
tary, Thursday at 9:15 a.m.
Desert View Elementary,
Friday at 8:15 a.m.
Sunset Elementary,
Friday at 10:10 a.m.
Highland Hills, Friday at
1:15 p.m.
———
Contact Jennifer Colton at
jcolton@eastoregonian.com
or 541-564-4534
East Moraine to receive additional $900K
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
The
Wallowa
Lake
Moraines
Partnership
could receive an additional
$900,000 from the U.S.
Forest Service to purchase
private land along the scenic
East Moraine of Wallowa
Lake.
The partnership — made
up of the Wallowa Land
Trust, Wallowa Resources,
Wallowa County, Oregon
Parks and Recreation Depart-
ment and the Trust for Public
Land — has been working
since 2011 to protect the area
for public access while main-
taining a productive, healthy
landscape.
But 3,000 acres of the East
Moraine is privately owned,
with 60 percent of that
belonging to the Ronald C.
Yanke Family Trust of Boise.
The family wants to either
sell or develop the land, and
has been negotiating with the
Moraines Partnership on a
potential deal.
The East Moraine of
Wallowa Lake is one of the
country’s most perfectly
formed glacial landscapes
and one of the most iconic
unprotected areas in Eastern
Oregon, according to the local
partnership. They originally
asked for $3.9 million from
the Forest Legacy Program
to buy 1,533 acres from the
family trust, of which $3
million was awarded last
year.
The
Forest
Legacy
Program was established to
maintain working forests, and
is funded through the federal
Land and Water Conservation
Fund. The fund expired last
September and was later
renewed by Congress for
three more years in December,
leaving the East Moraine
grant shrouded in uncertainty
for several months.
With the program now
reinvigorated, the Forest
Service has ranked the East
Moraine of Wallowa Lake
third nationwide among
projects to be funded through
the LWCF. The remaining
$900,000 from the partner-
ship’s original proposal has
also been written into the pres-
ident’s proposed 2017 budget.
Kathleen Ackley, executive
director of the Wallowa Land
Trust, said the federal dollars
will only cover a portion
RI WKH ¿QDO ELOO EXW ³WKLV
GH¿QLWHO\SXWVRXUVNLQLQWKH
game.”
Ackley said the partner-
ship is not price-sensitive,
and is willing to pay fair
market value for the land.
“This pot of money does
require us to go through
D YHU\ VSHFL¿F DSSUDLVDO
process,” she said. “We’re
continuing to move forward
with negotiations. It’s not
going to happen overnight.”
Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden
and Jeff Merkley, both
Democrats, praised the pres-
ident’s budget for its short-
term funding of the LWCF.
Meanwhile, the Coalition
of Oregon Land Trusts has
called for Congress to make
the fund permanent.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0825.
HERMISTON
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could be important when the
district faces state-mandated
PERS funding increases.
The Hermiston School PERS increases every two
District will grow its safety years, so the next increase
net in the 2016-2017 school will be in the 2017-18 school
year.
year.
In addition to the EFB
The school board met
Monday for a work session amount, the board also set
WRGLVFXVV¿QDQFLDOSODQQLQJ the parameter for enrollment
parameters for the year. The growth at an increase of
parameters, set by the board, 50 weighted students. A
provide the basis for the student’s funding “weight”
includes aspects such as
district budget.
The board agreed to poverty level, English-lan-
plan for modest enrollment JXDJH SUR¿FLHQF\ DQG
growth and to keep the disabilities. Smith said
amount of money left in straight increases in enroll-
district accounts at the ment do not always equal
end of the school year at a straight increases in state
minimum of 8 percent of funding.
“This year, although
the district’s total budget.
However, the board also we’re up 200 students, we
provided an objective for think we’re going to get paid
the district administration to (for) an increase of about
grow that balance to at least 80,” Smith said.
The 2015-16 increase will
9 percent.
An 8 percent slice of the offset a loss in funding for
district’s budget is about teacher experience. Schools
$4 million, and the balance with long-term experienced
provides both a safety net teachers receive additional
for the district and pays funding. The hiring increase
operating expenses during
the summer months, before
state funding is distributed
in the fall.
For the 2015-16 school
year, the district is currently
saving about 8.75 percent,
according to Deputy Super-
intendent Wade Smith. The
management objective for
the 2015-16 school year was
to keep the balance above
We are so fortunate to
8.5 percent.
have Manager
“We still haven’t fully
Cindy
Littlefield
recovered from the reces-
for
over
27 years!
sion, so we knew growing
WKDWZDVJRLQJWREHGLI¿FXOW
but we agreed to try to move
toward 9 percent,” Smith
said.
541-567-2260
Smith said that 9 percent
159 W. Hermiston Ave., Hermiston
By JENNIFER COLTON
East Oregonian
in Hermiston last year — 62
new hires — meant the
district did not receive that
experience bonus.
In other business, the
board:
Unanimously accepted
the consent items without
discussion. The consent
items included accepting
resignations from Blaine
Ganvoa, athletic director
at Hermiston High School;
Cynthia Moran, second-
grade teacher at Rocky
Heights Elementary; and
Sarah O’Gorman, kinder-
garten teacher at Desert
View Elementary.
Heard a presentation
from
Rocky
Heights
Elementary staff about
recent events, goals and
development.
Discussed a proposal to
move Outdoor School to the
fall for the 2016-17 school
year.
Proclaimed March 7-11
DV &ODVVL¿HG (PSOR\HH
Week.
Met in executive session
to discuss the superinten-
dent’s evaluation. No action
was taken after the executive
session.
Carriers
Needed in
Pendleton
North Hill and
Other Select
Routes -
Now Available
in the Pendleton
area.
$200 Sign On
Bonus*
*Paid after 90 days
211 SE Byers Ave., Pendleton
541-276-2211 or 1-800-522-0255
Page 3A
BRIEFLY
Trio rescued
after night in
mountains
Three Walla Walla men
spent a chilly Saturday
night in the mountains of
Umatilla County before
rescuers found them.
William Hammond,
Cameron Walcker and
Joshua Meharry went
to Harris Park south of
Milton-Freewater for a
day of dirt bike riding. But
Umatilla County Sheriff
Terry Rowan said the trio
did not return at noon as
they planned.
Their family and
friends searched for them
starting at about 7 p.m.,
according to information
in the sheriff’s daily
activity bulletin, and then
Hammond’s wife a little
after midnight Sunday
called the Umatilla County
6KHULII¶V2I¿FHDQGVDLG
they were missing. They
were dressed for biking
and had water, she told
dispatchers, but had did
not have food nor the right
clothes for an overnight
stay in the woods.
Rowan said the sheriff’s
RI¿FHVHDUFKDQGUHVFXH
unit went into action and
also asked the Walla Walla
County search and rescue
team to help. Parties
looked throughout the
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relative spotted the group
at about 10 a.m. Sunday
on the South Fork of the
Walla Walla River.
Rowan said it appeared
the three men hunkered
down in wet conditions
after having some
mechanical problems with
the bikes. Rescue team
members brought the men
out, he said, and they went
home safe.
Two seeking
bench in Umatilla
Co. Circuit Court
PENDLETON — An
incumbent judge of the
Umatilla County Circuit
&RXUW¿OHGIRUUHHOHFWLRQ
and a local attorney again
is trying to get on the
bench.
Daniel Hill of
Hermiston is seeking
another four-year term
in position 3 on the 6th
Judicial District, which
encompasses the circuit
courts of Umatilla and
Morrow counties. Hill is
the presiding judge in the
GLVWULFW1RRQHKDV¿OHGWR
challenge him, according
to election information on
the Oregon Secretary of
State website.
And Jon Lieuallen
¿OHGWRUXQIRUSRVLWLRQ
2, the other local circuit
court seat up for election.
Lieuallen lives in
Pendleton and is a partner
with the Milton-Freewarter
ODZ¿UPRI0RQDKDQ
Grove and Tucker.
Lieuallen in 2012 ran
against Circuit Judge Lynn
Hampton of Pendleton and
lost.
Circuit Judge Ron Pahl
of Pendleton now serves
in position 2. The district’s
trial court administrator
Roy Blaine said Pahl has
not decided if he will
run again. Pahl was the
previous presiding judge
and is a former Pendleton
Round-Up director.
And Dan Primus is
seeking another term as
Umatilla County district
attorney. He has held the
post since then-Gov. John
Kitzhaber appointed him in
2011. Currently, Primus is
running unopposed.
The deadline for
FDQGLGDWH¿OLQJVLV
March 8.
Equipment
failure knocks out
power for 1,165
HERMISTON —
Power was out for a large
swath of households in
Hermiston for the second
time in less than a week
after an equipment failure
Monday night.
Umatilla Electric
Cooperative spokesman
Steve Myers said an
underground line coming
out of the Hermiston Butte
substation, located at
UEC headquarters on Elm
Avenue, failed shortly after
8 p.m. Monday night.
The substation
serves several thousand
customers, he said, but
only 1,165 lost power.
Myers said in order
to make repairs those
customers have been
temporarily switched to the
Feedville substation. He
said for safety reasons the
switch took several hours
to implement gradually,
which is why the last of
the customers affected did
not get power until about 8
a.m. Tuesday morning.
“Cold weather can slow
down the process, because
power loads are heavier
when people have their
heating switched on,” he
wrote in an email.
On Friday afternoon
about 10,000 Hermiston-
area customers
experienced a power
outage after a high-speed
wind gust knocked out
a transmission line and
damaged other sections of
line in town.
Tillamook Cheese
Days return to
SAGE Center
BOARDMAN — The
upcoming Tillamook
Cheese Days features a
lasagna meal.
The public is invited
to enjoy a hearty plate of
lasagna with Caesar salad,
bread, cookie and drink
for $5, which includes
admission to the SAGE
Center. The event is Friday
and Saturday from 11 a.m.
to 2 p.m. at 101 Olson
Road, Boardman.
Cheese curds will be
available for purchase.
Also, Tillamook videos
will be shown in the
theater throughout the day.
For more information,
call 541-481-7243 or visit
www.visitsage.com.