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East Oregonian
Thursday, October 12, 2017
DeVos’ McMinnville visit met with protest, praise
By ROB MANNING
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Protesters and teachers
met U.S. Secretary of Educa-
tion Betsy DeVos on her visit
to McMinnville High School
Wednesday.
DeVos said she wanted to
visit the school because of its
high achievement rates. She
emerged from an Advanced
Placement class toward the
end of the high school day,
smiling.
“I
have
thoroughly
enjoyed the experience of
observing the classrooms
with the students actively
engaged, and all of them
also focused on learning
21st century skills as they
anticipate entering the adult
world,” Devos said. “I’ve
been extremely impressed
with how [teachers] have
embraced this.”
On the sidewalk along
the sprawling high school
campus, about 200 people
lined up to protest DeVos’
visit. They held signs
accusing her of prioritizing
school choice options, such as
private school vouchers and
charter schools, rather than
supporting public schools
like McMinnville High.
Leaders of Oregon’s
statewide teachers’ union
and the Portland Association
of Teachers were among the
demonstrators. Chair of the
Yamhill County Democrats
Stephanie Findley said she
had mixed feelings about
DeVos’ visit, and the publicity
it would bring to the local
high school.
Rockne Roll/News-Register via AP
Education secretary Betsy DeVos discusses a poetry passage with students at McMinnville High School on
Wednesday. DeVos visited McMinnville High School to see first-hand “the innovative initiatives present in the
McMinnville school district, particularly its STEM programs and teacher development techniques.”
“Absolutely, [the school]
should be recognized nation-
ally for the work they’re
doing,” Findley said. But
she disagreed with other
messages DeVos champions
from her position as educa-
tion secretary.
“We shouldn’t be talking
about vouchers or charter
schools, when we’re doing
such good work in our public
school system right now,”
Findley argued.
A handful of Trump
administration
supporters
stood on a corner near the
high school cheering on
DeVos’ visit. Several local
police officers stood on yet
another.
Inside, DeVos visited a
teacher planning meeting,
where administrators and
teachers discussed what
specific steps are working to
help students. They talked
about using “Socratic”
techniques to get students
to think about what they’re
WIND: Turbines will be 292 to 394 feet high
Continued from 1A
power producer in 2009, and today
owns 24 generation facilities in
North America with a total of 4,500
megawatts — including a mixture of
wind, coal, gas and biomass power
plants.
Capital Power took over the
Nolin Hills Wind Power Project after
acquiring the original developer,
Element Power of Portland, in 2014.
Wendelgass said wind resources in
Eastern Oregon are not as robust as
down the Columbia River Gorge,
but decent considering the advances
in wind energy technology.
The size and number of turbines
will largely depend on what type
of turbine the company decides to
install, and will likely range from
292 to 394 feet high. Leases have
already been arranged with the
private landowners, Wendelgass
said, though he did not provide
details.
Until the project receives a site
certificate from the Energy Facility
Siting Council, Wendelgass said
they do not have a buyer of the
electricity on the hook.
“Without finishing the EFSC
process, you can’t build a project,”
he said.
According to the Notice of Intent,
the project will connect to a yet-to-
be-built Bonneville Power Admin-
istration substation near Stanfield.
Wendelgass said he is aware of the
amount of irrigated cropland in the
area, and “that is certainly something
they will have to take into account.”
Transmission line impacts on
high-value farmland has been a
concern in Umatilla and Morrow
counties, given the proposed
Boardman to Hemingway Transmis-
sion Line owned by Idaho Power and
the Wheatridge Wind Energy Project
owned by Florida-based NextEra
Energy.
The Department of Energy
recently approved a site certificate
for the 500-megawatt Wheatridge
wind farm, while the 500-kilovolt
B2H line could receive its record of
decision as early as this month. Local
farmers and officials have discussed
implementing a pilot project that
would designate a single transmis-
sion corridor in Morrow County,
allowing energy facilities to tap
into the grid without resulting in a
spiderweb of power lines disrupting
farm activities.
The concept has even garnered
the interest of Gov. Kate Brown, who
established an advisory committee in
October 2015 to brainstorm possible
balances between energy and agri-
culture. That committee issued its
final report in February, and Brown
has instructed the Department of
Land Conservation and Develop-
ment to work with Morrow County
on crafting temporary rules for
development.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or
541-966-0825.
DUGGAN: Out of the 30,000 Oregon sex offenders,
fewer than 75 qualify as sexually violent, dangerous
Continued from 1A
September and opened a Facebook
page as Max Duggan. He was with
family in Washington, he posted, but
was heading for Pendleton to try to
live a quiet life.
Because he is a sex offender,
Duggan, 52, has to report where he
lives with Oregon State Police. The
agency’s Sex Offender Registration
Section reported Duggan provided
an address on the 400 block of North-
west 15th Street, a few blocks from
Pendleton High School. However, the
living arrangement didn’t last long.
That’s the apartment of Rose
McDonald. She said she has been
friends with Duggan since he was 15,
and she allowed him to stay with her
and use the address to register with
the state. Then the landlord found
out he was living there and kicked
him out, and McDonald said she put
Duggan on a bus to live with his sister
in Washington.
“He doesn’t want trouble,”
McDonald said. “He just wants to get
on with his life.”
Rick Partlow is in charge of parole
and probation officers for Umatilla
County Community Justice and
confirmed Duggan is not under any
supervision.
“He’s all done with both Oregon
and Washington, but still has to
register his residence for life,”
Partlow said, barring, for example,
a successful court appeal to overturn
the requirement.
Most convicts coming out of
Oregon prisons receive at least a year
of supervision, Partlow said, and
that can help curb recidivism. But
Washington, he said, allows inmates
to do their time and be done with
corrections.
Just going to jail or prison, Partlow
said, does not make an offender a
better person, and sex offenders under
supervision have access to programs
“For the sex offender,
the most important
component to learn-
ing is to understand
empathy. They need to
learn their impact on
other people’s lives.”
— Rick Partlow, in charge of
parole and probation officers for
Umatilla County Community Justice
and treatment.
“For the sex offender, the most
important component to learning is to
understand empathy,” Partlow said.
“They need to learn their impact on
other people’s lives.”
No supervision means Duggan
has no requirement for treatment.
Logman said he found Duggan’s
situation stunning. He said he felt the
need to warn his community about
Duggan.
Rather than hand out flyers,
Logman used Facebook.
On Sept. 13 he posted about
Duggan and included a link to his
webpage from Oregon’s online Sex
Offender Inquiry System. Some
4,000 Facebook users have since
shared Logman’s warning.
Logman also said he provided that
information to Facebook, which took
down Duggan’s page.
Oregon State Police runs the sex
offender inquiry website, which
recently removed the information
about Duggan. State police in an
email explained the website is for
certain offenders who meet certain
criteria.
“OSP has not yet been provided the
information necessary to determine
if Duggan meets the criteria needed
to authorize us to post him to the
website,” according to the email. “We
have requests out for this information,
and our staff is diligently working to
acquire the required information to
complete this determination.”
State Police Sgt. Steve Payne
works with the registration division
and explained the Oregon parole
board and psychiatric review board
determine which offenders meet
the criteria, and state police has to
wait for their reports. Oregon has
30,000 sex offenders, he said, and
the state in 2015 moved to the federal
classifications of level 1, 2 or 3, as
well as predatory or sexually violent
dangerous offenders. The reclassi-
fication created a backlog, and the
division is working through it as
quickly as it can.
The website only shows level 3,
predatory and the sexually violent
dangerous offenders. Out of the
30,000, fewer than 75 qualify as
sexually violent dangerous, Payne
said, and Duggan was a level 3 pred-
atory offender.
Logman also expressed his
frustration with the state police regis-
tration section, which can provide
individuals with information about
where sex offenders live.
“I left four messages since last
Wednesday,” Logman said. “I have
yet to get a call back. And I’m very
specific about who I’m calling
about.”
Payne said he understands
Logman’s concern with protecting
his family and informing the commu-
nity, but state police gave Logman
the 15th Street address. Payne said
if Duggan moved, he has 10 days to
provide his new address. McDonald
said Duggan was within that period.
That clock is ticking. And Dan
Logman said he wants to know
where Duggan ends up.
———
Editor’s note: The East Oregonian
was not able to find current contact
information for Duggan.
learning, and they shared a
list of “2020 skills” that push
beyond subjects like math
and social studies, to include
“negotiation” and “emotional
intelligence.”
DeVos visited three class-
rooms inside the high school,
including an AP literature
class of about 30 students.
She listened as students
discussed poetry in small
groups, each teenager with a
laptop on their desk.
After her tour, DeVos
attempted to answer critics,
including the people gathered
on the sidewalk outside. She
disagreed with protesters
who said she doesn’t support
public education.
“I support great schools,
great education and I want to
see every single child in this
country get an equal opportu-
nity,” DeVos said.
But she also defended
her belief that students and
families should be allowed
to choose the school situation
that best suits them.
“Let’s talk more broadly
about giving parents choices.
The hope is that choices
would be afforded to all
parents so that they could
have a school that would
work for them,” DeVos said.
She said she viewed
education as an “investment,”
and that policy makers should
focus more on what works
for individual children, and
less on supporting a specific
type of school system.
DeVos disagreed that
funding for school options
would
deprive
public
schools, like McMinnville
High School.
“It would not impact a
school like this,” DeVos said.
DeVos next heads to
Milpitas, California, to visit a
middle school Thursday. On
Friday, she is scheduled to
visit the Seattle area, where
she has a fundraiser sched-
uled.
NOOR: State graduation rates
ticked upward to 75 percent
the 100 percent target, settling
for the still-ambitious goal of
“Governor Brown asked 90 percent.
Salam Noor to resign because
In addition to improving
she was not satisfied with his the graduation rate, she asked
ability to execute her vision for education leaders to:
Oregon’s education system,”
• Establish a unified educa-
the governor’s spokesman, tion budget for 2019-2021 that
Chris Pair, said in an
ensures more students
email.
meet key education
Brown appointed
benchmarks
and
improves school read-
Noor to the position in
iness and attendance.
May 2015, just three
• Develop a state-
months after taking
wide early learning
over as governor.
plan that serves all
Her statement did not
Oregon communities
include any highlights
• Expand career
from Noor’s tenure,
pathways
aligned
simply stating: “I Salam Noor
to workforce needs
thank Salam for his
by
collaborating
service to the state of
with workforce, business, and
Oregon.”
In addition to sluggish test industry partners.
Gill, a former superintendent
scores, Oregon has also been
plagued with chronically low of the Bethel School District in
graduation rates. Though the Eugene, was named the state’s
rate ticked upward to 75 percent education innovation officer in
on Noor’s watch, it’s still well 2016, charged with increasing
below the national average of the number of students
completing high school.
83 percent.
“As education innovation
Oregon has in recent years
set a goal of a 100 percent grad- officer, Colt has cultivated
uation rate by 2025, something strong partnerships with rural
no state has achieved. Brown, and urban school districts,
in a letter dated Wednesday to communities and students,
Gill and other top education recommending policies that
officials, said boosting gradua- will improve student success
tion rates remains a top priority, in every corner of the state,”
though she backs away from Brown said.
Continued from 1A
FIRE: 2017 fire season has
cost an estimated $38.9M
Continued from 1A
fire issues, Daugherty said.
Brown has convened a
council to hasten the economic
recovery from wildfires that
scorched communities from
Mosier to Brookings.
Fire protection makes up
a good share of the agency’s
costs.
The Oregon Department of
Forestry estimates that to-date,
the 2017 fire season has cost it
$38.9 million.
Recent fire seasons have also
put a strain on employees — a
problem that was documented
by state auditors last year.
When fire season hits, all
divisions of the department help
handle the workload.
“We were in all-hands-on-
deck mode from the eclipse
(Aug. 21) until just recently,”
Daugherty said.
Harsh fire seasons and low
timber revenues have plagued
the agency’s state forests divi-
sion and, as of April, that divi-
sion of the agency was expected
to go into the red in 2022.
Daugherty noted that the
agency could also work to
“strengthen” relationships with
landowners, cooperation with
other government agencies and
remind the public of the link
between forest management
and fire.
Board
member
Cindy
Deacon Williams, of Medford,
argued that the wildfire
situation may require more
proactive measures to increase
“resilience” on forestlands.
“If we don’t figure out a way
to engage with it pro-actively
ahead of the time, we will as an
agency do nothing but rob Peter
to pay fire,” said Williams,
“With both funding and people,
and energy, and effort, and
talent, and the way the trends
are going, there’s no way we
can win that battle if that’s all
we do.”
Daugherty
expressed
concern that this year’s fire
season could stir up old tensions
about fire policy and forest
management.
“I think our real challenge
will be to redirect these divi-
sive conversations to a more
productive conversation, where
we can actually make progress
by finding common ground,”
Daugherty said.
———
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.