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