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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2018)
OFF PAGE ONE Fallout from Louisiana teacher’s arrest rages on Page 8A East Oregonian ABBEVILLE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana teacher whose widely viewed arrest at a school board meeting sparked online outrage has returned to work even as fallout from the incident rages on. Gov. John Bel Edwards said he saw nothing on videos of Deshia Hargrave’s arrest that warranted her rough treatment. Mean- while, the superintendent of Vermilion Parish Schools said he, his staff and his family have received death threats. Hargrave returned to the classroom Wednesday. The local prosecutor said he won’t pursue charges against Hargrave, who was appalled by her treatment and grateful for support from students, parents and others. A rally of support for the teacher was planned Thursday afternoon. “By taking away my voice they’ve taken away — KATC-TV via AP In this Monday image made from a video provided by KATC-TV middle-school English teacher Deyshia Har- grave is handcuffed by a city marshal after complying with a marshal’s orders to leave a Vermilion Parish School Board meeting in Abbeville, La. or tried to take away — my First Amendment rights to speak,” Hargrave said in a video posted on the Louisiana Association of Educators’ Facebook page. “Go to your local school board meetings,” Hargrave said. “Speak out. Be vocal.” Edwards, who is married to a teacher and gets support from teacher unions, said he “didn’t see anything that warranted that type of action.” Superintendent Jerome Puyau said the hate emails and phone calls began pouring in after videos spread. “I’ve stopped reading them because they’re just so bad and disgusting,” Puyau said, at times struggling to compose himself in an inter- view with The Associated Press. He said the school system offices went into temporary lockdown, and his daughters had to delete threats on their social media. The turmoil follows the board’s 5-3 vote Monday night approving a new 3-year contract raising Puyau’s salary by roughly $30,000, to about $140,000 annually, with incentive targets that could add 3 percent per year. He said the raise matches what other school officials make in similar jobs. Hargrave, a middle school English teacher, said she felt like she was representing all teachers in the parish by questioning the raise, at a time when teachers haven’t received an increase in 10 years, despite growing class sizes and other demands. INTERNET: Building fiber into rural areas 10-20 times more expensive than in areas with dense populations Continued from 1A the process to make it easier, we can have a substantive impact.” He said a lot of rural counties have significant Bureau of Land Management or forestry lands, and it’s already expensive to build fiber into lightly populated counties. “Getting it addressed at the federal level can be much more difficult,” he said. Franell said EOT does about 100 fiber installations per month, but the majority of their customers are commer- cial entities, not homes. They cover areas from west of Boardman to Pendleton, on both sides of the Columbia River. Franell said he was also interested in a part of the order that proposed increased access to towers on federal lands, especially in sparse and mountainous areas southeast of Hermiston. He said some areas of Eastern Oregon are so rural, they meet the definition of “fron- tier.” Those areas, he said, are often served with “fixed wireless,” service from point to point. “Towers can be a really efficient way of getting broadband in parts of the county that couldn’t justify building infrastructure,” he said. Franell said building fiber into rural areas can be between 10 and 20 times more expensive than in areas with dense populations. He said some companies have solved the problem by employing a hybrid approach to broadband infrastructure. “You build fiber in areas with dense populations,” he said. “From there, you extend broadband with less dense delivery means, like cable or copper wire. In really lightly populated areas, you use wireless.” He said eventually, as areas start to grow, compa- nies can leverage the revenue from the hybrid approach to slowly expand the fiber footprint further out. “I don’t know if it will ever be financially justifiable to build fiber to every home in America,” he said. “But we don’t have to get fiber to meet Staff photo by E.J. Harris Lineman C.J. Christensen with Eastern Oregon Tele- com measures the height of an internet cable line on Wednesday in Umatilla. the needs of rural customers.” Coalition forms Connect Americans Now believes it can pave the way for high-speed internet in every market nationwide by 2022. Several Oregon counties and farm groups, including Umatilla County, the Oregon Farm Bureau and Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, have joined the coalition in recent days. Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock said the county was working with the Association of Oregon Counties to advo- cate for broadband in the rural parts of the state, even though northern Umatilla County is more populated than most in Eastern Oregon. “The southern parts of our county, as you branch out it becomes more remote,” he said. “This [...] will probably have more impact on them.” But he said Umatilla County’s role as an economic hub makes it necessary to provide high-speed internet access to all areas of the county. Murdock said he didn’t know of any immediate projects in the county that would take place as a result of the executive order, but said the county would be at the forefront of changes. “The county will do everything in its power to be an active participant,” he said. Faster connections is important for Northwest farmers and ranchers looking to adopt web-powered preci- sion irrigation tools, such as real-time soil moisture monitors, to increase yields while reducing costs. “As any farmer will tell you, it takes more than grit and determination to be successful in today’s market,” Cikanek said. “We need to let farmers access modern technologies.” Richard Cullen, exec- utive director of Connect Americans Now, also praised the Trump administration’s dedication to rural broad- band on Monday following his speech at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention. “No one has more grit and determination than American farmers, and we are excited to hear that President Trump is focused on unleashing that productivity by bringing broadband service into more rural communities,” Cullen said. The coalition recently announced it will work with the Federal Communications Commission to establish policies that will allow rural broadband to flourish — namely by using what are known as “TV white spaces.” TV white space refers to unused channels in tele- vision broadcasting, which act as interference buffers between active channels. The spectrum ranges from 470 to 790 megahertz, similar to what is used for 4G wireless networks. If the FCC agrees to leave at least three white space channels vacant in every market, it may lead to more capital investment in rural high-speed internet service, Cikanek said. “Right now, we are focused on regulatory certainty from the FCC,” he said. Cullen said all Americans deserve access to high-speed internet, regardless of where they live. “Without a broadband connection, millions of students struggle to keep up with their assignments, Americans in rural areas are unable to fully utilize tele- medicine, farmers are denied the promise of precision agri- culture and businesses are unable to tap into the world of online commerce,” Cullen said in a statement. “Congress and the FCC must stand with rural America by allowing internet service providers to deliver broadband via white spaces spectrum.” –—— The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Jayati Ramakrishnan at 541-564- 4534 or jramakrishnan@ eastoregonian.com Thursday, January 11, 2018 COUNCIL: Brenne has served on the city council for 40 years contested election since 2002. He did not return aiming to stay another four requests for comment. years. McDonald is running for Appointed in 2016 to a second term representing a fill the remainder of former ward that covers North Hill, at-large councilor Al Plute’s Westgate and the airport. term, Cambier The Helix said he’s just schoolteacher starting to get up won her first to speed on the term in 2014, city’s responsibil- beating former ities. City Councilor Cambier Bryan Branstetter said he wants for the open seat. to continue to McDonald won support the coun- the only compet- cil’s goals and itive election in priorities, adding Cambier 2014, the other that he and his three incumbents colleagues have running unop- “good chem- posed. istry.” McDonald A retired did not return doctor and a a request for former Pendleton comment. School Board In 2016, member, Cambier several retire- said this would ments and a likely be his last Brenne pre-election term in office if resignation set up he won election to the most crowded his at-large seat, collection of which covers the Pendleton City entirety of Pend- Council races in leton. the 21st century. On the oppo- While many site side of the city council spectrum is John incumbents lack Brenne, a 40-year opponents during council veteran their re-election looking to win McDonald campaign, his 11th term. beating a seated Brenne’s longevity isn’t councilor isn’t completely merely unusual for Pend- uncommon. In 2010, Plute, leton, but puts him in the the former at-large coun- upper echelon of prolonged cilor, beat incumbent Steve American political careers. Taylor to claim his seat. Elected in 1978, if Any prospective candi- Brenne served in the U.S. dates for all four seats up for House of Representatives election can file declaration instead of the city council, paperwork with the city he would be tied for the recorder through March 6. second longest active tenure Election Day for Pendleton after Rep. Don Young of municipal elections is May Alaska. 15. If no candidate gets 50 The executive director of percent, the top two candi- the Pendleton Foster Grand- dates will meet again in a parents program, Brenne runoff election on Nov. 6. represents a ward that ——— includes the downtown area, Contact Antonio Sierra South Hill and Riverside. at asierra@eastoregonian. Brenne hasn’t faced a com or 541-966-0836. Continued from 1A Get Your Finances In Shape! You Don’t Have To Do All The Heavy Lifting! Our Win-Win CD now has even more prize money to help your savings grow.* Open with as little as $25! Monthly Drawings for $200 Annual Drawing for $2,500! 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