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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 27, 2020)
EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 27, 2020 Wi-Fi Hotspots available for Morrow County students Pilot in jet flyover has local connection ‘We hope we were able to boost spirits during these times,’ says pilot who flew F15 fighter over Heppner School buses are being used for Wi-Fi hotspots around the county. The COVID-19 pan- demic and subsequent school closures across Or- egon have required school districts to come up with solutions to various prob- lems. One of those issues is how to help students connect to state-mandated “distance learning for all.” In the Morrow Coun- ty School District, one of the challenges was how to provide learning to students without a reliable internet connection. According to Marie Shimer, Director of Educational Services, the district conducted a family survey in each of its communities – Boardman, Heppner and Irrigon – to determine how many stu- dents did not have a reliable internet connection. The re- sults showed that 40 percent of their students lacked re- liable internet connectivity. Morrow County School District and the InterMoun- tain ESD Information Tech- nology (IT) Department ob- tained Wi-Fi hotspots and installed them on school buses or in some cases, on houses, where the largest needs were. “We put the larger hotspots in locations with larger concentrations of students,” Shimer said. “The neighborhoods and Mid-Columbia Bus Com- pany have been very col- laborative with us in this process.” According to Patrick Kerrigan, IMESD Server Specialist, the hotspots grab a cell signal and turn it into a Wi-Fi signal that provides an internet connection to the Chromebooks that the district issued to students when remote learning be- gan in March. Kerrigan said the devices broadcast a signal of about a 100-yard circle and “they don’t push a signal into buildings very well so sitting outside on a doorstep is usually best.” The Wi-Fi hotspots are not accessible to the public, they only connect to the district’s Chromebooks, which helps with security, Kerrigan said. Kerrigan said the hotspots installed on houses run constantly, but the ones on buses run for about eight hours off a battery pack. Shimer said over the last week, about 16 GB of data has been used across the larger hotspots. The district also has 60 small- er hotspots on individual homes that provide a small- er area of connectivity. “We have definitely increased internet connections for many students who can continue their learning, be in touch with their teach- ers and simply know that the district is still here for them,” Shimer said. DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5PM Print & Mailing Services *Design *Print *Mail Sykes Publishing 541-676-9228 Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson got out of his office for a few minutes Friday to observe the two F15 fighter jets and the flyover of Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Heppner. -Photos by David Sykes. By David Sykes Friday’s flyover of Heppner and the hospital by two F15 fighter jets was meant as a spirit booster for our local health care profes- sionals, and it certainly was for all those on the ground. But there was also a local connection between the thundering jets in the sky and our small town that most people don’t know about. One of the National Guard pilots is married to the niece of local man Chris Rauch, and Friday after- noon when he got home Guard Pilot Josh Pfeifer took some time to speak with the Gazette-Times about the flyover, and his life-long passion for flying. “We really enjoy doing these flyovers and we hope it boosts the spirits of the people on the ground during these tough times,” says 35-year-old Oregon Air Na- tional Guard Pilot Pfeifer of the experience. Pfeifer’s wife, Allison, is the niece of Lexington farmer Chris Rauch. Pfeifer and his flying partner took off in their F15 Eagles from Portland Friday morning and then between 8:48 a.m. and 10:07 a.m., took a little spin around the northern part of the state doing flyovers at 10 hospitals all the way from Vancouver to Heppner, Hermiston, Pendleton, Bak- er, Madras and more. The pair were flying to “salute Oregonians on the forefront of the COVID-19 pan- demic, lift morale during a time of severe health and economic impacts, and remember those brave service members who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom,” the Nation- al Guard said in its news release about the flyovers. “We hope we can just make people feel a little better,” Pfeifer said succinctly. We asked Pfeifer a few things that people on the ground, who don’t get to fly these super-fast fighter jets, might wonder. Can The old Lott’s Electric building is currently being remodeled as a community fitness center. The Heppner Community Foundation purchased the building, located at 369 N Main St, in March and has begun demolition and cleanup. Alstott Construction, project manager, will in- stall new siding, roofing, windows and doors as well as a complete remodel of the interior which will in- clude a handicap accessi- ble restroom and assorted exercise equipment. The funding for the facility will be through monthly membership fees, which have not been determined at this time. The project was made possible through grant funding from the Howard and Beth Bryant Foun- dation, Morrow County Unified Recreation Dis- trict, The Wild Horse Foun- dation, Good Shepherd Community Foundation, Northwest Farm Credit Ser- vices, Willow Creek Valley the pilots see people on the ground? “Yes, we can see people on the ground,” Pfeifer says. He explains that in a two-plane forma- tion the pilot in the front has more of a chance to look around, but even though he was flying slightly behind the lead jet, he was also able to see people on the ground at all the hospitals they flew over. How fast were they going? He says on a trip like this the planes are “only” going about 400 miles per hour when they pass over the hospitals, but they are capable of much more. A google search says the plane can go up to 1,875 mph, so Pfeifer has a lot of power in his hands. Is it fun to fly? “When you take off and it throws you back in your seat, it is definitely a rush,” he says. “It’s like riding a roller coaster that doesn’t end.” How much fuel does one of these fast jets use on a trip like this? He said when they left Port- land, he had 21,000 pounds of fuel, and when he got home, he still had 8,000 lbs. “I had plenty of fuel for the trip,” he says. Pfeifer, who presently is on full-time military duty but normally flies for Alas- ka Airlines as his regular job, says he has done about “a half dozen” flyovers during his career, mostly for special occasions and holidays. “They are really enjoyable to me,” he says, adding that it usually takes 10 to 12 hours of planning to prepare for a two-hour flight like Friday’s. “I grew up in a small town; just a blue-collar kind of guy who is living his dream,” he says about flying jets. “It just goes to show that if someone real- ly wants something, with work and some God-given talent, they can achieve it. I hit the lottery and there is nothing else I would ever want to do,” he says about his love of flying. Community fitness center being built The store front sign that was discovered during demolition (featured in last week’s issue of the G-T) will be preserved and remain intact as part of the building. Economic Development to the project with a reduced Group and Wal-Mart. The price for the purchase of the Lott family also contributed property. NextEra Energy Resources is proud to support the Community Action Program of East Central Oregon. To donate to CAPECO and support those impacted by COVID-19 please visit: https://www.capeco-works.org/donate OR UNTIL FULL! Investing in Oregon. Local Investment. Jobs. Clean Energy. NextEraEnergyResources.com