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.
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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.
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support those impacted by COVID-19
please visit:
https://www.capeco-works.org/donate
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