Dinning resigns from Ione school district 50¢ VOL. 143 NO. 15 8 Pages Wednesday, April 12, 2023 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Ione school a cut above in CTE training Ione senior Kalvin Rietmann works with the school’s new augmented reality welder, which allows students to practice welding through a combination of real objects and virtual reality. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo By Andrea Di Salvo On Monday afternoon, Ione Senior Kalvin Riet- mann set to work practicing his welding skills in the Ione High School shop. He secured the helmet on his head, picked up the torch and went to work on the t-joint in front of him. The torch had no flame, though. The t-joint wasn’t metal, and inside the helmet was a computer screen that showed Rietmann a differ- ent kind of reality. That’s because the Ione school’s new welding pro- gram includes a piece of ad- vanced technology that the young man’s parents and grandparents would barely have dreamed of in their school days—augmented reality, or AR. Augmented reality is a cutting-edge artificial vi- sion technology similar to virtual reality (VR). Unlike virtual reality, AR combines real objects with virtual, computer-generated images to create a kind of “mixed reality” in real time. In the case of the school’s AR welder, it’s used to help students learn and practice real welding skills without having to start out using dangerous and expensive materials. The school’s Miller AugmentedArc uses real welding implements so students become familiar with their look and feel. That helps them learn to master angle, distance and speed while grappling with hoses and electrical cables, all without the safety issues Ione student Khira Kreitzer manipulates an image on the computer as she prepares to engrave a wood paddle board. Ione students have used the laser engraver for everything from leather earrings to granite coasters. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo commissioners voted unan- imously to proceed with drafting a new ASA plan for the county. In a split vote, the commissioners also agreed to draft a letter of support for Boardman Fire Rescue District (BFRD) to pursue ambulance licensing in Morrow County. (See ‘County commissioners pursue new ambulance ser- vice area plan,’ PAGE ONE for more details.) After returning to open session and citing “immi- nent risk of harm to resi- dents of Morrow County posed by the Morrow Coun- ty Board of Commission- er’s recent decision that the Ambulance Service Area (ASA) plan is not in effect,” the MCHD board voted to authorize the district’s legal counsel to pursue “all possi- ble legal remedies” against BFRD and Morrow County to “protect public safety.” “On April 5, 2023, the Morrow County Board of Commissioners declared that the Oregon Health Authority approved Am- bulance Service Area Plan is not in effect. Due to the imminent risk of irrep- arable harm to residents of Morrow County posed by this decision, the Mor- row County Health District Board of Directors has vot- ed to pursue legal remedies against Morrow County and Boardman Fire Rescue District,” the health district CREZ III approves five new Amazon data centers By Andrea Di Salvo The Columbia River Enterprise Zone (CREZ) III board approved agree- ments with Amazon for five new data centers in Morrow County at a meet- ing last Friday. Three of the proposed data centers will be west of Boardman, by Boardman Airport, while two will be east of Board- man in the area of Gar Swanson Dr. The Amazon facility currently being built on Bombing Range Road is not in the enterprise zone but has negotiated a separate Strategic Investment Pro- gram (SIP) agreement with the county. (See ‘County approves new SIP agree- ment with Amazon,’ Page ??.) CREZ III Manager Greg Sweek told the board that all five enterprise zone agreements were identical except for the property de- -Continued to PAGE NINE Doherty announces run for state senate of a real torch flame. Students practice on a kind of “digital metal.” Workpieces are imprint- ed with coded patterns, which are captured by ste- reoscopic cameras on the helmet. Stereoscopic sim- Jim Doherty ply means that the cam- Former Morrow Coun- eras take separate images t y C o m m i s s i o n e r J i m -Continued to PAGE EIGHT Doherty has announced he intends to file for the Ore- gon Senate seat currently held by Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena). Hansell has stated he will not seek re- said in a statement. election in 2024. “MCHD’s decision was not made lightly, as the district has spent the past two years pursuing all pos- sible avenues to collaborate and resolve this dispute in a manner agreeable to all parties,” the statement continued. “Ultimately, MCHD has an obligation to protect public safety and preserve healthcare services for the entire county. Based on recent local decisions, a formal legal process is By Andrea Di Salvo now needed to resolve the In a split vote last week, situation. the Morrow County Board “MCHD will continue of Commissioners agreed to provide ambulance ser- to draft a letter of support vice countywide until this for Boardman Fire Rescue dispute is legally resolved.” District (BFRD) to pursue ambulance licensing in Morrow County. The board also voted unanimously to proceed with drafting a new tax for all 15 years of the Ambulance Service Area agreement is an estimated (ASA) plan for the county. $285,833,0233.39. While The April 5 decisions the sites will be exempt come after a series of tense from taxes, however, Ama- meetings in which both zon has agreed to pay some hefty sums in return. Over the 15 years of the exemption, Amazon will pay an estimated $63.8 mil- lion in annual improvement payments, $7.2 million in additional annual fees, more than $1 million each in public safety impact fees Neighborhood Center and student success fees. Program Coordinator Lisa Also included is an up- Patton resigned from her front $5 million community position last week. She had development contribution, been with the center since which Amazon has agreed 2014. to pay within 60 days of Neighborhood Center starting construction. board members say that Gorman estimated that will leave the center short- -Continued to PAGE SIX staffed, which will lead to Health district considers legal action against county, Boardman Fire By Andrea Di Salvo At a special meeting Monday, the Morrow Coun- ty Health District voted unanimously to pursue le- gal action against Morrow County and Boardman Fire Rescue District. Most of the discussion surrounding the decision occurred during an hour- long executive session via Zoom, but it comes in the wake of Morrow County Board of Commissioners decisions regarding the county’s Ambulance Ser- vice Area (ASA) plan. After seeking indepen- dent legal counsel on the issue and being told the 2021 ASA plan was not legally effective, the county Kevin Dinning Kevin Dinning has an- nounced his resignation from Ione School District. The Ione School District Board accepted his resig- nation at its March 2023 board meeting. Dinning is the Ione superintendent, secondary principal, and athletic director. The board unanimously approved Ione Elementary Principal Tracey Johnson to continue her leadership of the district from the seat of superintendent starting July 1 of this year. “I am deeply grate- ful for the opportunity I was awarded to lead Ione School District,” said Din- ning. “This was a heavy decision for my family, and we will continue to have a place for Ione in our life.” Dinning said the family looks to remain members of the Ione Education Founda- Hansell will have served 12 years in the state senate by the time he re- tires. He announced his retirement early in March, saying he wanted to an- nounce it early to give inter- ested individuals in Senate District 29 time to decide whether to seek the office. District 29 is the sec- ond largest district in Ore- gon and includes Wallowa, Union, Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam, Sherman and parts of Wasco counties. Also throwing his hat in the ring for the Republican nomination for Senate Dis- trict 29 is Wallowa County Commissioner Todd Nash. Doherty and Nash will face off in the May 2024 Repub- lican primary. County commissioners pursue new ambulance service area plan Board turns down request to repeal previous ordinance but agrees to support Boardman Fire pursuit of ambulance licensing BFRD and Morrow County Health District (MCHD) lobbied either for or against BFRD ambulance licens- ing, which BFRD says is needed but MCHD says will be detrimental to am- bulance services throughout Morrow County. The commissioners had previously tabled a request for the letter of support by BFRD Chief Michael Hughes, saying they wanted to seek independent legal -Continued to PAGE EIGHT Patton resigns from Neighborhood Center Thrift store to have some changes until at least May BOARDMAN AIRPORT scriptions. In fact, Sweek added that, from what he saw of the financials from the county’s SIP agreement with Amazon, it was also very similar to the enter- prise zone agreements. The exemptions are 15-year, long-term rural exemptions. The 15-year term will begin the first tax year in which the fa- cility becomes operational. According to Amazon’s enterprise zone application, each of the five properties will include a $2.37 billion investment and plans to employ 120 full-time em- ployees. “Hopefully you’ve each seen us grow with you in partnership and come out of our shell,” Amazon rep- resentative Hillary Lambert told the CREZ III board at Friday’s meeting, “and really make sure that our contributions are visible and that we’re listening to the community far more than perhaps we have early in the days.” She said learning about the county and its needs had at times been challenging, but she hoped Amazon was doing better at listening and responding. “We’ve without ques- tion always been clear that we don’t know, like the community does, how any of these proceeds should be spent or shared,” said Lambert. “Only you know what the right priorities are for you communities.” According to num- bers provided by Morrow County Assessor Mike Gorman, the total exempt some changes until at least May. Through the month of April, the center will be closed on Mondays and will open at 10:30 a.m. rather than 9:30 a.m. on other days. The thrift store will also be unable to take do- nations from now through the end of April. CALL 541-989-8221 ext 204 for more information