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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2016)
A2 Community wallowa.com September 21, 2016 Wallowa County Chieftain PPL grant mixes it up for Enterprise high class 72 ND C HIEF J OSEPH D AYS COURT By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Courtesy of Angelika U. Dietrich The 72nd Chief Joseph Days court was announced Aug. 21. From left: Maddi Tracy- Mallory, a junior at Joseph Charter School; Haley Miller, a sophomore at Joseph Charter School; and Caitlin Robb, a senior at Wallowa High School. The 72nd Chief Joseph Days queen will be crowned in April. Let the cake-making be- gin. A grant from Pacifi c Pow- er and Light has allowed the purchase of four Kitchen Aid Artisan stainless steel mixers and a Viking Husqvarna sew- ing machine for Enterprise High School’s Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) class. “The kids are always ex- cited about new stuff,” said teacher Tamarah Duncan. “They’ve certainly noticed the new mixers.” Cindi Aschenbrenner wrote the grant for the Enter- prise Education Foundation with the FACS class specifi - cally in mind. “Cindi asked if there was any need and I told her our Kitchen Aids were from 1973 and sometimes worked spo- radically,” Duncan said. She then shopped for the best Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Jacob Strampe figures out the mechanics of the newest tool in the Family and Consumer Sciences class at EHS. buy on the items she needed and submitted her fi ndings to Aschenbrenner and PPL met the costs: $1,500. Now the FACS class is ready to make an apron on the sewing machine and whip up a few cakes with the new Ocean conditions portend uncertain winter weather across West By Tim Hearden Capital Press SACRAMENTO — Weather forecasters are back- ing off their earlier prediction that La Nina atmospheric con- ditions would drive weather patterns this fall and winter. That means all bets are off when it comes to how — and how many — storms will ap- proach the West Coast, advis- es Michelle Mead, a National Weather Service warning co- ordinator. The federal Climate Pre- diction Center had issued a “watch” for La Niña — a mixture of atmospheric and ocean surface temperatures that tends to steer storms to- ward the Pacifi c Northwest and Northern California. But the center abandoned the La Niña watch as ocean surface temperatures dropped to neutral, portending neutral oceanic conditions that don’t infl uence storms in a particu- lar direction as they approach the coast. “(T)here are no strong at- mospheric signals to indicate strong correlations to winter conditions,” Mead said in an email. She said people can “get the dart board out” as winter outlooks show equal chances of above-, near- or below-nor- mal precipitation throughout virtually the entire West. For the Central Valley and much of the West, an early-season reprieve in the form of ample rainfall may be elusive. From December through April, the Climate Prediction Center sees a good chance of wetter-than-normal conditions only in parts of the inland Northwest, including Eastern Washington, north- eastern Oregon and northern and central Idaho. A drier-than-normal win- ter is expected in Southern California, while the rest of the West could go either way, according to the center’s long-range models. The U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook expects the drought to persist in most of California and in Eastern Or- egon through Dec. 31. The U.S. Drought Monitor still shows abnormally dry con- ditions or moderate drought throughout the West, with Central California still rated as in extreme or exceptional drought. For the Golden State, a re- turn to neutral oceanic condi- Uptmor a voice for small schools on state boards By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa School Superin- tendent Bret Uptmor is broad- ening his infl uence and repre- senting smaller schools with service on two state boards. He has been serving on the Accountability Record- ing Advisory Committee for about 18 months. That board reports to the Oregon Depart- ment of Education and was mandated by the legislature to work on ways to hold schools accountable for student suc- cess and show their work. It also makes recommendations on appeals of information found in school report cards. A recording issue, for in- stance, would be if a school has a 90 percent graduation rate on their report card be- cause 10 percent of the class opted out of the testing. This is not accurate recording. The graduation rate may be much higher, and the recording rules should be changed to refl ect the accurate number. STAY WARM with • Reliable • Eicient • Innovative $ 100 OFF! Plus, you may quality for MORE with rebates & tax incentives! Offer valid thru October 31, 2016. Items vary by location and may be limited to stock on hand. Please ask a member of the Ed Staub team for more details. ASK US HOW! Ed Staub & Sons Energy Community Service. 541-426-0320 201 E. Hwy 82 Enterprise, OR An example of an appeal would be one that Wallowa itself might make — the rules say that if a school has less than 40 graduates in a two- year span the graduation rate may not be considered in your school report card. A school’s graduation rate will show as zero. Because of his experience with smaller schools, Uptmor was able to argue for a change in that rule. “I had a deep interest in be- ing on the committee because I could see small schools were not equitably recognized,” he said. While on the board for Ac- countability Recording, Upt- mor also heard about a work committee that meets to deter- mine how the state determines a school’s accountability with regard to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The work committee met for three months and their recommendation was that the ODE move toward including a dashboard presentation on the report cards rather than only the basic statistics, so that a parent could look at the document and see how their tions after a year-long El Niño could mean more dry winters after one good-but-not-great precipitation season in many areas. As the water year draws to a close, Redding’s 40.49 inches of rainfall for the year topped its average of 34.32 annual inches, and more rain in the area was possible late this week, according to the National Weather Service. Fresno’s 14.29 inches since last Oct. 1 is above its normal annual rainfall total of 11.4 inches. But Sacramento will likely fi nish on Sept. 30 with slight- ly below-average precipita- tion, with 16.19 inches for the season compared to its normal 18.37 inches, according to the weather service. The season was largely capped off with big storms in March that fi lled Northern California reservoirs and en- abled the U.S. Bureau of Rec- lamation to give full water allocations to Northern Cali- fornia farms. But in a majority of past years when sea surface temperatures across the equa- torial Pacifi c remained mostly average, California’s rain and snow totals were below nor- mal, Mead noted. New water stations popular in schools By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Wallowa School Super- intendent Bret Uptmor. school was doing in a broader, more narrative way. “They could, for instance, read information on how their school was doing in maintain- ing a ‘school climate’ con- ducive to learning,” Uptmor said. “The school climate would include information on absences, disciplinary issues, dropouts and more.” Currently, Uptmor said, “when you’re telling parents in a two-page summary how their school is doing, they can’t look (at those rows of numbers) and say, ‘This school is doing good’ or ‘I like how they’re handling the math problem.’” In just one month of use, the water bottle fi lling sta- tions in Wallowa Elementa- ry and Wallowa High School have saved the equivalent of 800 water bottles, according to Superintendent Bret Upt- mor. Not only is that better for the environment, but it’s better for the kids, who are clearly drinking more water. The water stations, which include a regular drink- ing fountain, were entirely paid for through a Soropti- mist grant in the amount of $3,140. The grant covered the purchase and installation of two stations as well as two backup fi lters. Ann Bloom, nutrition education program assistant at the Wallowa County Ex- Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Kody Salmon tests the coolness of the water coming out of the new bottle- filling station at Wallowa Elementary School. tension Service, wrote for the grant on behalf of the school. “I know of other places that have gotten these and they say they get more use than you’d expect,” Uptmor said. “I know Ann was con- cerned about nutrition and kids drinking more water, and I think this addresses that well.” Weather Forecast Courtesy of Weather Underground. www.wunderground.com High Low Conditions 57 40 Mostly cloudy Sept. 23 59 38 Partly cloudy Dr. Ellen Morris Bishop Sept. 24 67 42 Clear Evening Presentation Sept. 25 72 47 Clear Sept. 26 76 45 Clear Sept. 27 67 39 Clear ! EE Ancient Moraines and the Early Ice Age in the Wallowas FR Sept. 22 and the Paciic Northwest geologist-naturalist-writer-photographer Thursday, Sept 22nd • 7pm How–and how long ago–did the Ice Age (Pleistocene) start? What features did its glaciers and loods produce here? What lived here during the Pleistocene? And what mysteries are left to solve? Moraine Field Trip Friday, Sept 23rd • 9am - noon The most ancient moraines of the Wallowas are un-dated, but may be more than a million years old. Our walk will explore the geology of these older features, and locate erratics for Oregon State University to determine an age through Be10 dating. Meet at Wallowology at 9am. Limit 10 people. Pre-register at 541-263-1663 or come into Wallowology. Sorry no dogs or collecting. Are you feeling stressed and overwhelmed? Do you feel hopeless or has the joy gone out of your life? Are you struggling to make your marriage work? A few sessions can make a big diference. Jeff Harman, MA., LPC www.jharmancounseling.com 508 N. Main • Joseph • Wed - Sun • 10am-3pm • wallowology.org Sept. 23 Sept. 30 Oct. 9 Oct. 16 1st Quarter Full Moon I can help! Professional Counseling In A Private Setting N atural H istory Discovery Center Phases of the moon To schedule an appointment call Jef Harman (541) 426-3067 Preferred Provider for Regence Blue Cross, ODS, Cascade Centers and many other private insurance and employee assistance programs. Last Quarter New Moon WALLOWA COUNTY SUNRISE AND SUNSET SEPT. 21-27 (from the U.S. Naval Observatory) WED THUR FRI SAT SUN MON TUES Sept. 21 Sept. 22 Sept. 23 Sept. 24 Sept. 25 Sept. 26 Sept. 27 Rise: 6:36 Rise: 6:37 Rise: 6:38 Rise: 6:39 Rise: 6:41 Rise: 6:42 Rise: 6:43 Set: 6:47 Set: 6:45 Set: 6:43 Set: 6:42 Set: 6:40 Set: 6:38 Set: 6:36