SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 30 , 2022 Boardman city Boardman ambulance HHS selected as service OSAA STAR school council meeting -Continued from PAGE ONE would manage the patrol division and be a direct line supervisor over the patrol sergeants. There are 23 deputy positions that would fall in this division: 10 patrol deputies, two ser- geants, two school resource officers, one marine deputy and eight reserves. Bowles said the position is part of the MCSO restructure. The goal is to improve super- vision, process and overall public service. The sheriff’s office would be able to support the position with its current budget, since it would eliminate the opera- tions lieutenant and the new position would be a lower pay. The operations lieu- tenant position is currently vacant. The board agreed to a request from Morrow County Transit Manager Katie Imes to purchase dispatching software for Public Transit – The Loop. Morrow County had re- ceived funding for a one- time purchase of software in the amount of $55,723 for dispatching software and any equipment nec- essary to implement the software. Imes said the software would support the operation of the The Loop demand response service. A request for quotes was released Oct. 4 and closed Nov. 1. The review panel had chosen the quote from Ecolane at $42,310, a na- tionally renowned transit dispatching software sys- tem that she said many of the county’s counterparts use. “We’re very excited about this purchase. The Loop has been doing all of our dispatching manually, so that creates a lot of pa- perwork, a lot of time, a lot of data entry, and this will really streamline dispatch- ing and potentially increase our ridership,” said Imes. In correspondence, the commission heard from Nelson regarding Gov. Kate Brown’s recent par- don of certain marijuana convictions. The governor pardoned state-level con- victions for possession of one ounce or less of mar- ijuana. A total of 47,144 convictions were pardoned, though Nelson said Morrow County only had 15 circuit court cases pardoned. Nel- son said he was concerned about the repercussions of the blanket pardon, not the least of which was the time and manpower needed to track down old conviction records. He said Morrow County didn’t start digital case management until 2014, and the most recent case in the pardon was from 2010, with most dating back to around 2000. “It’s going to be diffi- cult or impossible to do,” he said. “It’s a huge amount of cases being pardoned, and about 14 million dol- lars potential fines not be- ing collected.” In commissioner re- ports, Commissioners Rus- sell and Lindsay report- ed that they had attended an Association of Oregon Counties conference the week prior. Russell took along commissioners-elect Wenholz and Sykes, and said he spent most of the time introducing the two men. Heppner High School Principal Ryan Gerry has announced that the high school has been chosen as an OSAA STAR school. According to Gerry, there are only around 10 schools in the state that are ap- proved STAR schools. STAR stands for safety, tolerance, acceptance and respect. It is a new initia- tive by the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) to provide a model for racial equity awareness, action and resources. The program provides train- ing and resources to help schools become more eq- uity-minded in events they host and eradicate discrimi- natory behaviors safely and respectfully. “The leadership you’re showing in your school community is commend- able and respected,” wrote K. T. Emerson, OSAA As- sistant Executive Direc- tor, in a letter to the high school. “By being one of the first S.T.A.R. schools of the OSAA, you also have provided a pathway for the others to follow.” STAR evolved in an- swer to Oregon House Bill (HB) 3409, which was passed and placed into ef- fect in the fall of 2019. HB 3409 stated that school districts can’t be members of an interscholastic asso- ciation unless that body has a process to sanction discriminatory behavior at events. OSAA worked with a number of state entities, as well as students, educators and administrators, on how to respond, create an action plan and move forward with the requirements of HB 3409. Each Oregon school will have the opportunity to opt in as an official STAR. school. As part of the STAR guidelines, schools are en- couraged to post signage to help visiting participants and spectators know where facilities are and how to navigate an event; read a required STAR public ad- dress at each OSAA-sanc- tioned event; and conduct a preseason meeting with student-athletes, coach- es and parents to review the STAR sportsmanship standards. Also part of the package is $1,000 from the OSAA Foundation Equity and Diversity Fund to con- tinue work on racial equity and a banner that will be displayed in HHS. Morrow SWCD to meet Morrow SWCD will meet Tuesday, Dec. 6, be- ginning at 6 p.m. at the Ag Service Center in Heppner. To join via Zoom or conference call, contact the SWCD beforehand at 541- 676-5452. Meetings of the Morrow SWCD are open to the public. time changed The Boardman City Council will hold a regular meeting and an executive session beginning Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 5:30 p.m. This is a change from the originally posted time of 7 p.m. that evening. The purpose of the meeting is to take public comment regarding the hir- ing process for the new city manager and to accommo- date an executive session to be held during this meeting to consider the selection of the semi-finalists for the city manager position. This meeting is avail- able to the public via Zoom, accessible at www.cityof- boardman.com. The meet- ing location is accessible to persons with disabilities. Individuals needing special accommodations, contact a city clerk at least 24 hours prior at 541-481-9252 or city.clerk@cityofboard- man.com. Hepper celebrates Christmas Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance at Celebrate Christmas last year and are expected to return again this year at the Dec. 15 event in Heppner. -File photo Heppner will be cele- brating Christmas Thurs- day, Dec. 15, starting at 6 p.m. at the Morrow County Fairgrounds. Admission is free, and community members are invited to visit Santa and Mrs. Claus, enjoy a cup of cocoa and bring the kids for some free games. Shopping reward cards are available from local businesses and can be used to enter drawings at the event. The Neighborhood Center will be doing a raf- fle, and the Heppner El- ementary Parent-Teacher Club will be putting on a bake sale to raise funds. To volunteer or with questions, contact Shelby Matthews at the Heppner Chamber of Commerce, 541-676-5536 or heppner- chamber@gmail.com.