Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current, November 30, 2022, Page 6, Image 6

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    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.