A16
News
wallowa.com
November 29, 2017
Wallowa County Chieftain
Joseph library edges toward new addition
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Joseph City Library
moved one step closer toward
its goal of an addition to the
city’s library after a soup
and bingo fundraiser on Nov.
18. The library is attached
to Joseph’s city hall, 201 N.
Main St.
Librarian Eric Shoudel
said that the fundraiser, held
at “The Place,” raised more
than $900 for the addition.
The library was about $600
short on a $10,000 match-
ing grant from the Wildhorse
Foundation, and the fund-
raiser put them over the top.
“It’s not bad for three
hours,” Shoudel said.
The original goal was to
build a large structure that
would house a new library and
city hall. A local grant writer
took on the project but found
some stumbling blocks. For
example, the Ford Founda-
Paul Wahl/Chieftain
Sheila Hocker of Richland, Wash., left, and Betty Williams of
Wallowa joined the fun Nov. 19 playing bingo during a fund-
raiser for the Joseph Public Library at The Place adjacent
to the Joseph United Methodist Church. A variety of soups
were offered along with raffles, in addition to bingo.
tion, which often funds such
endeavors, recently started
requiring a higher match
amounts from applicants.
“Two hundred grand is
a lot of bake sales,” Shou-
del said. He added that the
fund currently contains about
$50,000.
Dropping the new structure
OSP: Surge of wolf killings
isn’t organized effort
By Eric Mortenson
Capital Press
It’s been a bloody year
for Oregon wolves, with at
least 10 killed under circum-
stances ranging from autho-
rized “lethal control” due to
livestock attacks and a shoot-
ing ruled self-defense, to an
unintended poisoning and
unsolved poachings.
At this point, Oregon State
Police have no reason to think
there is a concerted action by
an individual or group to ille-
gally kill the state’s wolves.
However, the investiga-
tion into the most recent kill-
ing, a collared wolf designated
OR-23, is still active, OSP
spokesman Sgt. Kaipo Raiser
said.
Steve Pedery, conservation
director for the Portland-based
group Oregon Wild, warned
that a “shoot, shovel and shut
up” attitude toward wolves has
taken hold in rural Oregon and
become part of the political
fault line separating factions
of Americans.
In Wallowa County, he
said, it’s not unusual to see
“Smoke a pack a day” bumper
stickers.
Doug Cottam, ODFW’s
Wildlife Division adminis-
trator, said the department is
“upset and frustrated by the
unlawful wolf killings in Ore-
gon.” Rewards are offered for
information leading to arrests.
“Poaching of any wildlife
is wrong and harmful to their
conservation,” he said in a pre-
pared statement.
Police and ODFW believe
the latest wolf was shot Nov.
12 or 13. It was found Nov.
14 in the Chesnimnus hunting
ENTERPRISE
Continued from Page A1
Administrators
have
already begun circulating
their best math teachers to
improve instruction in all
classes, according to Supt.
Erika Pinkerton.
“Our school k-6 will begin
a web-based program called
‘Study Island,’” Pinkerton
said. “This program will focus
on math and language arts,
Courtesy of Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
Despite a number of poachings and other suspicious
deaths, Oregon State Police say there’s no reason to believe
that there’s an organized campaign against grey wolves.
area known as Cold Springs,
in Northeast Oregon’s Wal-
lowa County. Tracking col-
lars on wolves are designed to
emit a mortality signal if the
animal does not move for a
certain period of time, ODFW
spokeswoman Michelle Den-
nehey said. She assumed that’s
what led to finding the wolf’s
carcass in this case.
State police found evi-
dence OR-23 was killed by a
gunshot, but released no other
information.
The wolf was part of the
Shamrock Pack. In February
2017, a male from the pack,
OR-48, died after it bit or
tugged on a M-44 trap set by
the USDA’s Wildlife Services
to kill coyotes.
In April 2017, the remains
of a male wolf designated
OR-33 were found about 20
miles northwest of Klamath
Falls in the Fremont-Winema
National Forest. A necropsy
showed it had been shot.
In late October, another
collared male, OR-25, was
found dead near Fort Klam-
ath in the Sun Pass State For-
est. The cause of death was not
disclosed.
On Oct. 27, in a case that
caused an uproar on social
media, an elk hunter told
ODFW and OSP he’d shot
an uncollared wolf in North-
east Oregon that ran at him
while at least two other wolves
appeared to be flanking him.
The Union County district
attorney reviewed the case and
decided not to prosecute the
hunter; state police said the
hunter acted in self-defense.
Conservation groups and
others say the 30.06 bullet’s
trajectory — through one side
and out the other — is at odds
with the man’s account. Some
accused the hunter of panick-
ing, or of deliberately kill-
ing the animal and making
up a story to justify it. In
an interview with the Capi-
tal Press, the hunter said he
believed he was in danger.
When the wolf ran at him,
he said he screamed, raised
his rifle, saw fur in the scope
and fired. A shell casing was
found 27 yards from the
wolf’s carcass.
which are both aligned to the
Common Core standards.”
Pinkerton expects to
launch that program by Jan-
uary, and parents can have
their child log on from home
and help their child with
assignments. There will also
be a direct link for parents to
access Kahn Academy where
a video clip of a teacher teach-
ing the concept in the home-
work will show them how to
help a child.
Some parents report that
children in grades three and
four are particularly confused
by “word problem math,”
which not only requires stu-
dents to know mathematical
formulas but to translate them
out of and then back into
word problems.
Student
scores
are
expected to improve as teach-
ers become more proficient
in new teaching methods and
new individual student track-
ing quickly indicates which
students are struggling.
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Greenshields & Aschenbrenner
This week we’re featuring co-athletes of the week, Brett Greenshields and
Coy Aschenbrenner, two football standouts at Enterprise High School.
Greenshields, a senior, and Aschenbrenner, a junior, were selected as both
first and second-team honors in the Wapiti League. Greenshields was selected
as a first-team punter while also getting the nod for second-team defensive
lineman. He also competes in basketball and track and is an FFA member.
Aschenbrenner racked up first-team offensive lineman honors and second-team
defensive lineman accolades. He also competes in baseball
and basketball and participates in FFA.
Brandt said. “We realized we
hadn’t done much fundrais-
ing, and we needed to get on
the stick.”
The next step for the library
is applying for more grants.
Brandt said that the previous
grantwriter ended up taking
work elsewhere.
“At this point, our little
committee has to look at con-
tacting the Ford Foundation
or the Meyer Memorial trust
and ask how much we reason-
ably need to begin applying for
grants,” she said.
Brandt said that the new
library will offer two ADA
bathrooms and a conference
room that can be used for read-
ing programs while also being
used as a place for city council
meetings.
“We sent out a request for
a proposal to get an idea on
the costs, and we only got one
back,” Brandt said. “It was so
out of sight it was like, ‘No,
we’re not doing that.’”
WOLF
laring wolves into Phase 3 of
the plan was not on the table.
He said that both Phase 1 and
Phase 2 of the management
plan call for at least two wolves
of each pack to be radio col-
lared so the wolves and their
locations can be monitored
more closely.
“They never really achieved
that, like a lot of other things
they don’t achieve,” Nash said.
The agency explained that
collaring wolves was expen-
sive because they’re hard to
find, but Nash said collaring
helped identify which packs
stayed within close range of
livestock. He said that Michael
Findley, the commission chair-
man, assured him money could
be found.
“They get a directive from
the chair of the commission,
then you read what’s in the
plan, but it’s not there,” Nash
said.
The rancher said sugges-
tions of more local control of
suspected depredations was
also completely dismissed by
the agency. He added that the
suggestion that law enforce-
ment, including Oregon State
Police, be involved in the pro-
cess was also discarded, even
though local agencies were
willing to participate.
Nash said that another bone
of contention with the plan is
a section that called for man-
datory minimum wolf pop-
ulation on units, but did not
dictate maximum wolf popu-
lations. He also said the plan
as it stands probably won’t be
acceptable to either ranchers,
hunters or conservationists.
“It doesn’t address the
three components that I think
are necessary to have wolves
in Oregon,” Nash said. “Live-
stock producers need to be
assured that their livestock
can be protected in an effec-
tive manner; hunters need to
be assured they’ll have viable
wildlife populations to hunt;
and the environmental com-
munity needs to be assured
that wolves that are not in con-
flict with the last two will be
unharmed. If we have all three
of those, we achieve equilib-
rium and possibly live with
each other.”
In Nash’s opinion, con-
servation groups probably
called ODFW wolf coordina-
tors Russ Morgan or Roblyn
Brown enough to wear them
down while livestock produc-
ers try to openly air their griev-
ances in public debate.
“It looks like most of the
environmental applications are
being addressed but very lit-
tle of what we’ve asked for,”
Nash said.
The rancher said that he
hopes changes will take place
in the plan before the final revi-
sion is issued. He said that as
it stands, he didn’t think stake-
holders such as the Oregon
Hunters Association, the Farm
Bureau and the Rocky Moun-
tain Elk Foundation would sign
on to the document.
“It’s as if we aren’t even in
the room,” Nash said.
The Chieftain also tried to
elicit comments from Casca-
dia Wildlands, a Eugene-based
conservation group, but did not
receive a reply.
Wallowa is implementing
the Response to Interven-
tion program, which recog-
nizes that different students
are struggling for different
reasons.
Elementary teachers work
collaboratively with trainers
at the state level to evaluate
success and change instruc-
tion assessments to better
serve students.
Among the many methods
used to assist students are
practical measures such as
dividing the class into groups
according to student abil-
ity so that learning problems
can be targeted by teach-
ers or assistants and moving
the students from group to
group as they learn so that no
stigma is attached to encoun-
tering a learning problem in
the process.
RTI is meant to be fluid
in process. It is also effec-
tive in identifying students
who may need to be referred
for special education services
and will additionally provide
documentation of what types
of instruction have not been
helpful.
The district is also part-
nering with the Oregon State
University Singleton Pro-
fessional Learning Com-
munity, a training program
designed to support and
improve the excellence of
teachers.
Groups of high school
math and English language
arts teachers began meeting
in August and will work with
other teachers across Eastern
Oregon.
Teachers enjoy both the
collaborative benefits and the
focus on action.
Eight
districts
are
involved working on what
they hope will be high-im-
pacting strategies for class-
room assessments.
Continued from Page A1
While some have ques-
tioned the final draft being
approved before the early 2018
count, Dennehy said it was time
for the approval.
“This has been going on
for more than a year now,” she
said. “We’re looking to bring
this to completion. We have
others asking us when the plan
is going to be finished. It’s a big
public process, and we didn’t
want to rush it.”
Arran Robertson, media
representative for Oregon Wild,
said the April plan was not
to the group’s liking and that
the latest revisions did little to
change that.
“The previous version that’s
being edited was not starting
from a strong place in terms of
wolf conservation,” he said. “I
would say that although there’s a
few small changes that improve
here and there, there’s also some
things that take it further back. It
doesn’t look like a better plan
from our perspective.”
Robertson was unable to
provide further details because
the group’s wolf expert, Rob
Klavins, was on vacation and
not available for elaboration.
Oregon Wild works to pro-
tect and restore wildlands,
wildlife and waters in the
state as an enduring legacy for
future generations.
Local rancher Todd Nash,
who also serves on the coun-
ty’s board of commissioners
as well as the Oregon Cattle-
men’s Association wolf task
force, saw little in the plan to
encourage ranchers.
“There’s protection for
wolves, but very little for any-
thing else,” Nash said. “Things
we’ve been asking for are
absent in there — even some
of the things that the commis-
sion directed.”
According to Nash, col-
WALLOWA
Continued from Page A1
Supt. Bret Uptmor said
that he doesn’t focus on the
students in the top two tiers
as much as he looks at the
students in the bottom. The
primary problem with low
scores in the higher grades is
motivation, he said.
High school is a time
when social engagement is
far more important to a stu-
dent than the score of a test
taken once a year, which
drives the state school report
cards. Motivating students to
take that test seriously can be
difficult, he said.
Uptmor and his teach-
ers have undertaken a seri-
ous campaign to raise school
spirit, engage parents, and
use pride as a motivator for
excellence, he said.
To help reach all students,
She said the committee
had talked over the idea of sit-
ting down with someone who
is versed in computer aided
drafting and explain to them
the need.
“Then he or she could turn
it into the vision of what we’d
like it to be,” Brant said. “We
have a vision of nice seating
areas, and expanding toward
the alley. We’ve talked about a
deck area in the back with pic-
nic tables.”
Brandt said her husband,
who is a masonry and general
contractor, has agreed to talk to
the committee about the proj-
ect, and she hopes others will
join in.
“I have the feeling this
county is a ‘come together
and get things accomplished’
place,” she said. “My feeling
is that if the word is out there,
people will do some things
for money, but also in kind.
Maybe I’m being a Pollyanna
-- but I hope not.”
They get a
directive from
the chair of the
commission, then
you read what’s
in the plan, but
it’s not there.”
Todd Nash,
Rancher
with purchase and a
drawing
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JOSEPH
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idea means using the funds to
fix the current building and
perhaps add an addition.
“We have to have a lot of
challenges,” Shoudel said.
“If we’re going to do this, we
need one more bathroom, and
we’re 99.9 percent sure the
flooring is asbestos.”
Sally Brandt, one of the
few remaining members of
the Joseph Friends of the
Library, said that the decision
to downscale the library proj-
ect came about a year ago.
“We had a meeting, and
when it came down to costs
of raising that building versus
the cost of renovation, it just
seemed out of sight for our lit-
tle community,” she said.
She also mentioned the
Wildhorse grant that the
library had problems raising
the matching funds for because
of last winter’s severity.
“We matched it with the
super bingo night, and we
were really happy about that,”
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Supt. Lance Homan says that his school is
also working with programs similar to those
used in Wallowa in addition to making use of
the I-Ready and ALEKS programs, which help
identify students who are struggling.
“We split our algebra class into two classes
to better serve our students, created a math class
for high schoolers that need extra support, need
to recover math credits or need a different type
of math class,” he said.
Motivation of high school students remains
a challenge.
“Teachers and staff work really hard to
motivate students,” Homan said. “Motiva-
tion varies from class to class. We take the
assessments in smaller chunks of time in
order to try to keep them fresh and not feeling
overwhelmed.”