REGION
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Foundation awards more than Plute recall
$260K to Morrow Co. schools dies on the vine
PENDLETON
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The Morrow Education
Foundation has awarded
more than $260,000 to all
Morrow County schools,
which the districts say will
be used to invest in class-
room technology.
Ione Community Charter
School received $22,604,
which Principal Henry
Ramirez said will go toward
replacing three touchscreen
panels and adding 20
Chromebooks for incoming
freshman. Anything left over
will be used for the school’s
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and early learning.
“We’re very fortunate and
grateful for this funding,”
Ramirez said.
Morrow County School
District received the bulk
of funding with $242,395.
Superintendent Dirk Dirksen
said the goal is to have tech-
nology available for students
at a one-on-one level. A little
more than half the money
will be made available as
technology grants that indi-
vidual teachers can apply
for.
“We also want to get the
teachers trained on using
the technology, and when
teachers put in for a grant
there is a professional devel-
opment requirement that
goes with it. It’s a win-win
situation,” Dirksen said.
Ed
Rollins,
board
member with the education
foundation, said the amount
awarded to each district was
determined on a per-student
basis. In addition to tech-
nology, the Morrow County
School District also received
$50,000 for Eastern Promise
credits, covering 1,613
Pendleton City Coun-
cilor Al Plute will leave
the council, but by his own
accord and not because of a
recall election.
City Recorder Andrea
Denton said the signature
sheets needed to recall Plute
were not submitted by the
Monday deadline, meaning
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cially over.
Larry Anderson, the
treasurer of Pendleton Citi-
zens United, the group that
organized to recall Plute,
said the group suspended
its campaign when Plute
announced he would resign
in May.
“There’s wasn’t any
sense to it (anymore),”
Anderson said. “It would
just make people mad.”
The recall’s failure to
advance to the next stage
of the process wasn’t for
lack of effort, according to
Anderson. He said Pend-
leton Citizens United had
collected around 800 signa-
tures before suspending
the campaign, more than
the 705 needed to trigger a
recall election.
Plute said the recall failed
because it was without merit
and thanked everyone who
supported him and refused
to sign the petition.
Plute said he wasn’t
departing
for
Eugene
because of the recall
campaign but because of his
impending retirement and
his wife’s desire to live in a
new city and escape the crit-
icism that’s been mounted
against her husband in
recent years. He has been
unsparing in his assessment
ABOVE: Rick Stokoe, left,
Port of Morrow com-
missioner and Morrow
Education Foundation
board member, presents
Morrow County School
Board President Becky
Kindle and Morrow
County School District
Superintendent Dirk
Dirksen with a check for
$242,395.
LEFT: Morrow Educa-
tion Foundation board
members Marv Padberg,
left and Ed Rollins, right,
present Ione Community
School Principal Henry
Ramirez, center, with a
check for $22,604.
Photos contributed by Lisa Mittelsdorf
credit hours. The remainder
of the grant will be used for
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counselors, one nurse and
other support specialists.
The Morrow Education
Foundation was formed
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group independent from the
school districts. Its board is
made up of nine members
from Boardman, Irrigon,
Heppner and Ione, and
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Morrow commissioners.
Gary Neal, the port’s
general
manager,
said
More questions than answers
when it comes to modern privacy
BRIEFLY
Crash on Highland Extension
kills Hermiston man
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permits available May 1
HERMISTON — A Hermiston man
was killed early Saturday morning after
his vehicle struck a utility pole on East
Highland Extension Road.
Cesar Alvarado, 20, was found deceased
inside a 2010 Nissan Sentra at 2:08 a.m.
on April 23 by Umatilla County Sheriff’s
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responding to a report of a single-vehicle
crash.
According to a news release by the
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traveling east on East Highland Extension
near Canal Road when his vehicle crossed
into the other lane for an unknown reason
and began sliding sideways before hitting a
power pole, fence and eventually a tree.
There was no indication at the scene that
alcohol was involved.
PENDLETON — Firewood permits for
the Umatilla National Forest will go on sale
Sunday, May 1 at participating local vendors
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Vendors will sell permits in four-cord packs
for $20, with an additional $2 vendor fee. The
$2 fee is not charged when buying permits
directly from the Forest Service.
Firewood cutters must carry an ax, shovel,
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and have their chainsaw equipped with an
approved spark arrester when cutting wood.
As the weather becomes hotter and drier,
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cutting is allowed on certain days. Public use
restrictions are updated on the Forest Service
website or by calling 1-877-958-9663.
Mountain travel can be treacherous, so
woodcutters should take care to avoid getting
stuck or causing damage to the land. Many
roads are still inaccessible due to snow. Avoid
driving off roads onto unstable ground, and
be prepared — pack additional food, water,
clothing and other emergency supplies.
Firewood season ends Nov. 30. Permits
are available at Southgate Mini-Mart in
Pendleton and Smitty’s Ace Hardware in
Hermiston. For a complete list, check www.
eastoregonian.com.
Farmers reminded to follow
burning regulations
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horizon, farmers are reminded to check in
every day with the Umatilla County Smoke
Management Committee before doing any
agricultural burns.
A burn permit is required for all unincor-
porated parts of the county, except for lands
under state, federal or tribal jurisdiction
RUWKRVHFRYHUHGE\DUXUDO¿UHSURWHFWLRQ
district. This includes burn barrels, yard
debris and fence lines.
Farmers can check for burn days by
calling 541-278-6397, or by visiting the
county website at www.umatillacounty.net.
The smoke management committee also has
a Facebook page posting up-to-the-minute
XSGDWHVRQWKLQJVOLNHUHGÀDJZDUQLQJV
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burning. Permit holders must log their
permit number, location and acreage or
amount burned when calling the burn line.
In addition, burning is not allowed on
haze reduction days to protect air quality
during community events. Haze reduction
days for 2016 include: Umatilla County
Fair, Aug. 9-13; Milton-Freewater Rocks,
Aug. 19-21; Walla Walla County Fair, Aug.
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Memorial Day Weekend, May 28-30; Fourth
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the Pendleton Round-Up, Sept. 10-17.
The county smoke management program
was established to lessen the impacts of
burning on air quality. For more informa-
tion, call the Umatilla County Planning
Department at 541-278-6252.
Library friends seek books
IRRIGON — The Friends of Irrigon
Library are planning a book sale fundraiser
May 13-14 and are seeking donations of
good used books for the sale. Donations may
be dropped of at the Irrigon Public Library,
490 N.E. Main Ave., or the Boardman Public
Library, 200 S. Main St., by May 11.
Friends of Irrigon Library also are
welcoming new members. The group will
meet Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Irrigon
Library for its regular monthly meeting.
For more information, call 541-922-0138.
Planning meeting set for
Boardman 4th of July
BOARDMAN — Planning has begun
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interested in helping plan the event is invited
to a meeting Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at
Macario’s Restaurant, 302 Olson Road,
Boardman.
If you want to help, but can’t attend the
meeting, call the Boardman Chamber of
Commerce at 541-481-3014 and your name
will be added to the planning committee roster
for updates on upcoming meetings.
MOTHER’S DAY
MAY
7TH
Put a IS
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on the
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heart with the
of flowers.
said, but the U.S. Supreme
Court in 2015 delivered a
unanimous decision that
Your government is police need a warrant to
watching you and what you search your cellphone
do, and so is your internet because of how much of
service provider and any our private lives we keep
number of businesses in those devices. That
with security cameras and case was striking, Willis
said, because liberals and
tracking software.
Writer and attorney conservatives on the court
Wendy Willis said the agreed, and it was a new
notion of Big Brother and way of looking at digital
corporate surveillance often privacy.
Yet the U.S. Consti-
prompts people to say they
do not care because they tution does not express a
have nothing to hide, when right to privacy. Rather,
what they really mean is Willis explained, the 1965
they feel helpless to do Supreme Court in Griswold
v. Connecticut, a case about
anything about it.
Willis is leading the the legality of birth control,
Oregon
Humanities determined portions of
Conversation Project “A several the Amendments
World without Secrets: combine to form a
Privacy and Expectations “penumbra of privacy.”
But that did not stop the
in the United States.” She
brought the discussion last government from gathering
week to Pendleton as part of information about U.S.
the annual Arts and Culture citizens, as former CIA
Festival at Blue Mountain computer network security
Community
College. expert Edward Snowden
Students from Blue Moun- revealed in 2013.
Willis pointed out Amer-
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plenty of seats in the Bob icans have a low tolerance
Clapp Theatre to dig into for risk, which makes us
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our privacy for safety. She
in the digital age.
Willis told the audience asked participants if they
she thinks we are all are OK with surveillance
learning together what because they have nothing
to hide, or if they believe
privacy looks like now.
Facebook
founder privacy is an important part
Mark Zuckerberg in 2010 of being autonomous, even
asserted privacy was no if they do nothing wrong.
Hands went up for both
longer a social norm, she
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
SUBMIT
COMMUNITY NEWS
Submit information to:
community@eastorego-
nian.com or drop off to
the attention of Tammy
Malgesini at 333 E. Main
St., Hermiston or Renee
Struthers at 211 S.E.
Byers Ave., Pendleton.
Call 541-564-4539 or 541-
966-0818 with questions.
Fully Digital
Enya 3 Series Hearing Aid
Spring $
Special
Put a smile on
the heart with the
power of flowers.
funds are mostly from the
Columbia River Enterprise
=RQH SD\PHQWV VSHFL¿FDOO\
for improving education in
Morrow County.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4547.
of the recall campaign,
calling out its backers.
The two-term city
councilor said the recall
campaign’s silver lining is
that it helped inspire people
to run for city council
seats. Twelve candidates
DUHFXUUHQWO\Y\LQJIRU¿YH
seats on the council.
“(Pendleton
Citizens
United) advertised the need
for people to step up,” he
said.
Although the committee
was organized to recall
Plute, Anderson said Pend-
leton Citizens United plans
to continue to monitor the
council and city politics.
Anderson said if Plute
reverses his decision to step
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another petition and use the
information they gathered
from the original petition
to quickly collect the signa-
tures they need to initiate a
recall election.
The Facebook page for
Pendleton Citizens United,
which Anderson said has
a core membership of 15
people and another 30 to
40 people sympathetic to
its cause, recently featured
endorsements for Ward 2
city council candidate Rex
Morehouse and Ward 3
candidate Dale Primmer.
Ironically, Plute also
supported Primmer, calling
him an “excellent” candi-
date.
Plute plans to submit his
resignation letter this week
and will stay on through the
budget process.
His last council meeting
is scheduled for May 17.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
995
• Enhances Speech
• Reduces Noise
Call 541-276-3155
Ruud’s Hearing Aid Service
Sale price valid on the Resound Enya 3 series. Limit two at the
promotional price. No other offers or discounts apply.
Discount does not apply to prior sales.
groups. Willis said she is
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She also asked the
audience to consider what
type of information should
be protected as private
and what are the limits of
privacy. And she dismissed
the notion security cameras
keep us safe. Those
cameras, she said, are to
help prosecute offenders.
One woman said video
footage helped Pendleton
police catch Lukah Chang,
who killed one woman in
Pendleton and severely
injured another. While
true, they did nothing to
stop either crime, Willis
contended.
Another
audience
member
argued
your
privacy ends when you do
something illegal or uneth-
ical, which Willis said is the
action that becomes a basis
for a warrant. But police in
the U.S., she said, have used
cameras to watch protesters
without a warrant.
One young man said if
the government demands
this level of transparency
from its people, the govern-
ment should be equally
transparent.
Willis said that key point
comes up at every one of
these presentations she
gives.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
First Aid, Choking
Adult, Child & Infant CPR/AED
Classes Given Monthly
When: Thursday, May 5, 2016
Where: St. Anthony Hospital
Rooms 3 & 4 • 1pm-5pm
$60-per session:
Includes Manual
Registration Required
Call Emily • 541-278-2627
2801 St. Anthony Way
Pendleton, OR
www.sahpendleton.com