Wallowa County Chieftain
News
wallowa.com
December 21, 2016
A5
Schools reimbursed
for water lead testing
AGNEW
By PARIS ACHEN
CLEVENGER
Continued from Page A1
blow on to the next place
and take their skills with
them.
Often, the two cultures
remain unmixed. Both wary
of the other, Agnew said this
separation keeps the city
from capitalizing on all of
its assets, and keeps it from
growing in the sustainable
fashion that it should.
There is difference be-
tween a friendly face and a
friendly place, he said.
In Agnew’s view, Enter-
prise is always the former
but not always the latter.
Agnew said as a city
councilor he will look for
ways to bridge that gulf
between new and old. That
may entail a kind of Young
Professionals club where
people in their 20s-40s
can meet and socialize. He
wants to fi nd other ways for
area teens to be involved in
the community, and ways to
improve and expand assets
already in place.
“It will be a lot of learn-
ing and trying to make exist-
ing things a little better,” he
said of his council term.
Agnew sees himself as a
servant, not a politician. He
is the pastor at the growing
Abundant Life Ministries at
206 N.E. First Street, and
has spent years as a youth
pastor, so that vocabulary
comes naturally. He said the
city’s faith community is
strong and well represented
in city government.
He knows most council
meetings won’t be about
bridging gulfs and creating
an identity for a town —
which he believes hasn’t
been fully formed in Enter-
prise. Most of the work is
fi guring out sewer rates and
stop sign locations and go-
ing over the budget with a
fi ne-toothed comb.
“You have to do the mun-
dane or you can never get to
the exciting,” he said.
Agnew said he hopes to
get to do both in his fi rst
public offi ce.
Continued from Page A1
Clevenger said he wants
to be a voice for the year-
round residents of Joseph.
He thinks their needs of-
ten come secondary to the
business community and
seasonal tourists who bring
much-needed money into
town and support local jobs.
“Those things are neces-
sary and we want them to do
well,” said Clevenger. “But
we want to be a real commu-
nity, not just a tourist one.”
He doesn’t want to sac-
rifi ce local mores in order
to please tourists, whether
that’s with marijuana stores
or alcohol on city sidewalks.
One issue in particular
where he sides with long-
term residents is on short-
term rental housing in res-
idential areas. Clevenger
lives near such a place that
was grandfathered in, and
he puts up with the problems
that causes.
But he said that protecting
that ban is the major reason
Capital Bureau
why he decided to run for a
seat on the council.
Clevenger said he is also
interesting in zoning issues
and public nuisance ordi-
nances. He wants the city
to do what it can to clean up
Joseph and solve neighbor-
ly disputes that arise over
semi-abandoned
vehicles
and city right-of-way.
But he doesn’t plan to add
employees or hours in order
to increase nuisance enforce-
ment. He doesn’t plan to
look for local dollars to im-
prove Joseph’s roads.
“I don’t want to raise any
more taxes,” he said “I’m
taxed out.”
He does, however, want
to get more public input in
city matters. He said he will
look to social media and oth-
er avenues to try to convince
residents to take a more ac-
tive role in decision making.
“I just want to get the
most voices, the most infor-
mation we can to make a de-
cision and then go ahead and
make it,” he said.
SALEM — The Ore-
gon Emergency Board on
Wednesday approved reim-
bursing schools more than
$2 million for about 53,000
tests for lead in school water
supplies.
The board established a
$5 million reserve fund in
September and authorized
the Oregon Department of
Education to accept applica-
tions from schools for reim-
bursement of costs associat-
ed with testing for elevated
lead levels in drinking water.
The 53,000 tests come
from school districts that
represent 89 percent of pub-
lic school students in the
state, according to the non-
partisan Legislative Fiscal
Offi ce.
School districts had until
Dec. 1 to submit invoices for
reimbursement. They could
make requests for tests con-
ducted between March and
Dec. 1. The money only
covers the cost of collecting
and testing water supplies.
It doesn’t account for any
expenses associated with
mitigation of lead contami-
nation.
The widespread testing
followed widespread me-
dia coverage of a scandal
in Portland Public Schools
over lead in drinking water
that went unreported.
In August, the state
Board of Education — at the
behest of Gov. Kate Brown
– approved a rule that re-
quires school districts to
submit a plan for testing for
lead in water and other tox-
ins in school environments
and to report any results to
the public. The rule doesn’t
require actual testing.
Education and health au-
thorities unveiled a database
Dec. 7 that allows the public
to look up lead test results.
Lawmakers have said
they might consider legisla-
tion in 2017 that would re-
quire districts to test for lead
in water.
New York recently enact-
ed a law requiring schools to
test for lead, report results
to the public and develop a
plan for reducing exposure
to the toxin.
The most valuable and
respected source of local news,
advertising and information for
our communities.
BIRDS
Continued from Page A1
www.eomediagroup.com
Prior to the turn of the 20th
century, Americans participat-
ed widely in the “Side Hunt,”
a holiday tradition in which
hunters competed to shoot
and collect as many birds (and
other small game) as possible.
This tradition faded with the
rise of the early conservation
movement. By 1872, with the
formation of the fi rst national
park at Yellowstone at the di-
rection of President Ulysses
S. Grant, American attitudes
about wildlife preservation
were changing.
Beginning on Christmas
Day in 1900, the Side Hunt
was replaced with the “Christ-
mas Bird Census,” a concept
began by Frank Chapman, a
respected ornithologist with
the emerging Audubon So-
ciety. Chapman proposed to
count the bird populations in-
stead of hunting them.
More than a century later,
the popularity of this pastime
has grown. On the 101st count
in 2001, there were more than
52,000 participants in seven-
teen countries.
As the day began for Wal-
lowa County birders, coffee
was fi nished and count circles
— each in a distinct habitat in
the county — were assigned.
One group’s next hours
were spent covering miles of
Zumwalt Prairie roads, sight-
Wallo!a County
Chess Club
Welcome Tourists and Players of all levels!
Thursdays 4 to 8 PM
Photo by Michael Beaudoin
About a dozen people helped in the Wallowa County effort
of the worldwide Christmas Bird Count. The crew located
numerous birds of prey, ravens, ducks and quail.
ing everything from abundant
mountain quail to six massive
bald eagles and countless oth-
er raptors. Dozens of solitary
ravens drifted between the
boughs of neighboring forests
and groves. The snow was
dense and the air still, and
the high morning temperature
of six degrees explained the
frozen streams and irrigation
channels.
Local census volunteer Da-
vid Dranchak remarked that,
after a day of birding, “you
start to really notice the layer
of birds over everything.”
The crews counted birds
until about noon, then met
to compare results. Lueders
gathered the checklists and
prepared to collate the results
for submission to the Audu-
bon Society.
This year’s Christmas Bird
Count had 72,653 partici-
pants across the world — an
all-time record. Those partic-
ipants likely collected import-
ant data, as the long-running
annual bird count has long
proven insightful to the plight
of North American birds.
The data, gathered exclu-
sively by volunteers, has been
instrumental to researching
habitat and population de-
cline. It helped inform the
Audubon’s “Common Birds
In Decline Report,” high-
lighting a major reduction in
familiar bird North American
bird populations over the last
40 years.
Time for a Computer Tuneup?
Spyware Removal • 541-426-0108
103 SW 1st St., Enterprise
FREE!
JOSEPHY
CENTER
FOR ARTS
AND CULTURE
403 Main Street
Joseph, Oregon
Announcing that we now provide
Respite Care
Leave those Winter worries behind! Winterize your home, lock the
doors, grab a bag and come stay with us. Wallowa Valley Senior
Living is now providing Respite Care for those
recovering from surgery or wanting a safe
place for their loved one for a
short duration. Call today to
learn more information.
541.426.5311
HILLOCK’S STOR-ALL
MINI-STORAGE UNITS
605 Medical Parkway
Enterprise, OR 97828
New Units in Joseph Available Now!
541 - 426 - 4264
New Years Eve Party
Saturday, December 31st
Live Music w/ Good Question
Full Bar
Doors Open at 8pm
Music 9pm - 2017
Bar Snacks Available
HIGHWAY 82, LOSTINE
Stay Connected On Facebook
Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year!