Students across the state participated in programs for Transgender Awareness Week to help raise visibility and awareness about transgender people and address issues that they face. In the Tigard-Tualatin school district, the schedule and unit plan indicate this was more than educational information.

Parents were notified of Transgender Awareness Week in a newsletter posted, but it made no mention of the activities and lesson plans. Students only needed to have their teacher's permission to get out of class, a parent’s permission was not required even for activities after school hours for making signs to hang around schools.

A Watch Party of the TV Show titled “First Day” took place in which twelve-year-old Hannah Bradford adjusts to school while dealing with the pressures of her gender identity.

The initial presentation was “Talking About Pronouns” with 78 gender identities and experiences of transgender and non-binary folk. The five-lesson slide presentation focused on empathy over hate lessons:

1. What is hate speech? What is empathy? Intent vs impact, stereotypes, and how hat speech has evolved over time.
2. Empathy stories and compassionate empathy.
3. Identities. What is my identity? Social vs self-construct vs genetics.
4. What can I do? How to call out, call in, and interrupt.
5. Activism choice project. Create a project that calls people into action.

Students in the “community” are asked to self-evaluate their feelings and suggest they take a risk and listen with empathy, acceptance, and nod and take note of what others have to say.

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They are taught that hate speech includes fearful attitudes against a particular group, race, religion or identity that is degrading. Exercises identified historical origination of race identifications that over time has taken on a derogatory connotation that has become a racist insult. To make it confusing, only members of those communities can say slur racist words without being hate speech.

The focus of the lesson appears to create empathy understanding and share the thoughts with compassion for underprivileged and transgender students that stirred them to take action. It might be a worthwhile lesson until the slide show identified the privilege as being “white, straight, wealthy man experiences more privilege than a black, trans woman.” The benefits a person gets is based on how close they are to this dominant culture. That lesson defines and asks the students to identify:

• Gender – cis, trans, non-binary, gender-fluid, inter-sex.
• Sexual orientation – LGBTQQIPP2SAADON-B.
• Race – divided into different groups based on physical characteristics that they are perceived to share.
• Ethnicity – cultural identification.
• Religious Beliefs – beliefs around finding meaning in the world.
• Other identifiers: appearance, abilities, Neuro-typical-divergent, social class/wealth, nationality/citizenship, age, language, trauma.

The lesson concludes by encouraging students to be an advocate. “The world is a dangerous place to live. Not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” That is used to motivate students to report what they perceive as hate speech they hear even if not directed at them. Students are asked to pledge to be an advocate.

In classes, lessons on social justice are being passed off as social studies and language arts. Students identify injustices including white privilege and express what they learn in art and language forms. Classical reading has been replaced with readings like ‘On Cracking White City,’ ‘Member of the Club,’ and ‘For My People’ poem.

Reactions from teachers that reached out to Northwest Observer were negative. One said they wouldn’t teach the material because “It was very biased, not educational/researched based, and contradictory”. Another teacher felt “uncomfortable teaching the material due to religious beliefs.” And another said, “Students are struggling academically in Oregon. Teachers are working hard to catch students up after Covid. Having students pulled from classes to engage in non-research based, biased political documentary is concerning.”

Jeanette Schade, high school teacher and university adjunct professor, works with teachers nationally and says Oregon is the epicenter and they all agree Oregon is the worst. She summarized the issue by adding, “I was appalled that students would be missing valuable instructional time to attend a showing of ‘First Day’. I am seeing a huge decline in analytical reading and writing skills. We can blame it on things like COVID lockdowns where children were not allowed to step foot in their schools to learn, but it runs deeper than that. My high school classes are supposed to be sacred learning space to learn skills to do well in post-secondary education or their future career, but it is being hijacked to allow them to watch tv shows or movies on social and political issues of the day. Parents need to get more involved and understand that they have more power if they stand together with one voice. Parents need to say 'No, my child needs to learn how to read and write more than about social political issues' and not allow schools to take over their roles as parents. We are seeing massive decline in reading, writing, and arithmetic skills across the board. When will people wake up and understand we have an educationally declining country?”


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-12-24 06:20:18

Last Update: 2022-12-25 14:27:23

Governor Kate Brown issued an order that remitted uncollected court fines and fees associated with certain traffic violation cases that resulted in debt-based driver’s license suspensions. This action creates a path for nearly 7,000 Oregonians to seek reinstatement of their suspended driver’s licenses through the DMV, and removes the associated collateral burdens that disproportionately impacted low-income Oregonians and people of color from a state statute that has since been rewritten.

Passed in the first Special Session in 2020, HB 4210 was sponsored by Governor-Elect Tina Kotek in an attempt to address protestors demand for police reform. The bill acknowledges that suspending driver’s licenses for nonpayment can set off a cascade of compounding harms impacting people’s lives and livelihoods, particularly for low-income Oregonians. While that legislation prohibited license suspensions for nonpayment of traffic fines moving forward, it left existing nonpayment-related license suspensions in place. Governor Brown’s action goes beyond reinstating driver’s license, she also granted these individuals forgiveness of the debt.

“The inability to pay a traffic fine should not deprive a person of the ability to lawfully drive to work, school, health care appointments, or other locations to meet their daily needs,” said Governor Brown. “We know that suspending driver’s licenses for unpaid traffic fines is bad public policy — it is inequitable, ineffective, and makes it harder for low-income Oregonians to get ahead. My action today will help alleviate the burden of legacy driver’s license suspensions imposed under a statutory scheme that the legislature has since overhauled.”

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Governor Brown’s remission order affects only those people who were sanctioned in traffic violation cases over two years ago, prior to the effective date of HB 4210. The order expressly excludes misdemeanor or felony traffic offense cases, and it does not forgive restitution and compensatory fines owed to victims. Beyond nonpayment-related sanctions, none of the affected individuals have suspended licenses due to public safety-related sanctions.

Approximately $1,800,000 was forgiven from circuit court cases in Oregon. The total amount of unpaid fines and fees that was remitted from cases in Oregon municipal and justice courts is unknown because neither the DMV nor the Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) has access to this information.

The vast majority of the fines and fees forgiven by the Governor’s order are considered uncollectible debt. According to OJD, about 84% of the liquidated debt on its books is uncollectible. Much of the debt forgiven by the Governor’s remission order is held by OJD. Their collections data show that most people who can afford to pay their violation fines do so right away, but for cases like those included in the Governor’s order, collections rates drop to roughly 10% in the second year of delinquency, and to 4% or lower in year three and beyond. Much of the debt forgiven by the Governor’s remission order has remained unpaid for three or more years and, as a result, is considered uncollectible.

If you believe that your driver’s license should be reinstated as a result of the Governor’s remission order, you may contact DMV at (503) 943-9000.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-12-23 16:40:05

Last Update: 2022-12-23 18:12:38

Christmas is a time for love, hope, happiness and excitement. The Staff and Reporters at Northwest Observer send lots of PEACE and JOY to you, our readers, and your families.

Have a

Merry

Christmas!


--Staff Reporters

Post Date: 2022-12-23 16:30:43

Last Update: 2022-12-23 18:09:03

The Oregon Secretary of State is inviting people to join the Oregon Elections Division for a training on what it takes to get on the ballot, how to get in the voters’ pamphlet, and how to navigate all the ins-and-outs of campaign finance reporting.

Navigating Elections Filings
Virtual via Zoom
Part 1: January 11, 2022, 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Part 2: January 18, 2022, 5:30 - 7 p.m.

The next election is already around the corner, and deadlines are coming up fast. People are invited to join a training by the Secretary of State Elections Division on navigating election filings. This training is for anyone interested in running for office or being a part of a campaign, whether they’re looking for a refresher or this is their very first time. The Elections Division encourages candidates, fundraisers, treasurers, and anyone involved in campaigning to join.

Spots are limited so interested people are encouraged to be sure to sign up soon.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2022-12-23 06:37:56

Last Update: 2022-12-23 17:28:21

Following California’s lead the Environmental Quality Commission adopted an Advanced Clean Cars II Rule, effectively banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 and requiring manufacturers to follow suit.

Senator Fred Girod (R-Stayton) and Senator Lynn Findley (R-Vale) released the following statement:

“This action was taken covertly behind closed doors by administrative rule using the Governor’s executive order , usurping authority from the Legislature. It appears to be a clear violation of separation of powers. DEQ is an agency that has gone amuck and shows a desperate need for administrative oversight. Almost all states require legislative oversight of administrative rule. That’s why I’m prepared to introduce legislation in the upcoming session doing just that,” said Senator Girod.

“Additionally, we have so much forest set aside in Oregon that the amount of carbon being sequestered by our forests comes close to compensating for the carbon shortfall that this new rule is intended to address. I plan to introduce legislation which would mandate that the stored carbon in Oregon’s forests be included in carbon emissions calculations,” concluded Girod.

“Oregonians everywhere deserve better than big, blanket mandates from unelected bureaucrats and interim directors,” said Senator Findley, who sits on the Joint Committee on Transportation. “This is an issue that requires greater input from the public and legislative review before being acted upon. Taking that authority away only exacerbates distrust in our state agencies.”

The Environmental Quality Commission voted to approve the Advanced Clean Cars II Rule at a special meeting on Monday, December 19th. The rule is based on vehicle emissions standards adopted by California in August.

The ban will not affect cars already on the road or the purchase of used gas-powered cars but will require those interested in purchasing a new gas-powered vehicle to take their business outside of Oregon. This rule is based on vehicle emission standards adopted by the State of California in August.

“This is the latest out of touch example of what our state agencies and commissions have become,” said Leader Breese-Iverson. “Once again, as Governor Brown’s days in office are winding down, she is working to solidify her progressive legacy without being held accountable. While this decision will disproportionately hurt working-class Oregonians, it also ignores the unrealistic and short-sighted goals of the battery powered manufacturing industry.”

“Unelected bureaucrats should not be making decisions for everyday Oregonians,” said Representative Boshart Davis, Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation. “Governor Brown continues to be the least popular governor in America because she chooses to put her ideology over what is best for Oregon. The Oregon House Republicans will continue to be a voice for hardworking Oregonians who don’t feel as though they have one.”

In 2020, Governor Brown signed Executive Order 20-04 which directed state agencies to drastically reduce emissions by 2035. In 2021, Governor Brown set the most unrealistic timeline for moving to unreliable electricity sources in the United States -- driving up costs for low- and middle-class families.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2022-12-21 10:59:58

Last Update: 2022-12-21 11:37:56

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality under the direction of Interim Director Leah Feldon has announced its Advanced Clean Cars II Proposed Rule which center around making the sale of internal combustion engines illegal by the year 2035.

The newly proposed rules are an update to an existing rule containing a leviathan list of definitions.

In a presentation to the legislature, The DEQ says that "These rules are a critical component to achieving state’s GHG reduction goals" and that these rules are "Closely linked to other DEQ programs" including Climate Protection Program, Clean Fuels Program and Advanced Clean Trucks

According to the presentation, the rules can be summarized:

• EVs must have a minimum electric range
  • Battery Electric Vehicles – 150 miles
  • Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles – 50 miles
• Durability – 80% of certified range value for 10 yr/150,000 mi
• Warranties – for parts and battery state of health (maintain 70-80% of battery range for life of vehicle)
• Charging cord capability (Level 1 and 2 capable)
• Increased charger size capability (to allow for faster charging)
• Battery labeling
  • Address battery recycling

The proposed rule is merely an update of the list of definitions from the current rule as well as the "cut-and-paste" adoption of California Non-Methane Organic Gas Test Procedures. It will limit and ultimately ban the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles by the year 2035 -- a mere 12 years from now.

The included graph shows the expected decline in sales and "on-road" operation of internal combustion vehicles in Oregon in future years. Experts have questioned the expectations behind the graph and the resulting trends portrayed.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2022-12-21 06:36:47

Last Update: 2022-12-20 15:51:59

Election fraud has been with us for a very long time. A hundred fifty years ago, a Democrat organization called Tammany Hall ran New York City with graft, fixed elections, and street power.  For almost a century, Tammany hand-picked the political leaders, with elections a mere formality.

In Georgia in 1962, Jimmy Carter struggled against widespread election fraud and the entrenched political machine. He proved his case in court and won a re-election.

The tricks for fixing elections are many: Artificial migration, disenfranchising voters through such devices as poll taxes and literacy tests, division of opposition support, intimidating voters, disinformation, vote buying and coercion, misleading or confusing ballot papers, ballot box stuffing, misrecording the votes, misuse of proxy votes, destruction or invalidation of ballots, electronic systems fraud, voter impersonation, ballot harvesting, registration of fake voters, ballot box stuffing--each a separate technique tuned to the times.

Many of those methods depend on a corrupt county organization: When the election staff is part of the government, anything can happen.

My wife and I spent some hours observing the County staff processing ballots during this election. We were lucky to be on a shift when temporary workers were being briefed and trained, so we could be trained in parallel.

This County usually receives more than a third of a million ballots by mail. That is a staggering number, easily said but difficult to comprehend. 333,000 inches is longer than five miles. 333,000 miles is the distance to the moon and halfway back. If one person tabulated that many ballots, one per minute, eight hours per day, he would finish the count in about two years.

How was ballot counting done before the age of computers?

The solution was borrowed from our friends, the ants. No single ant tries to dig a nest and build an anthill by herself. If the colony contains a million ants, half a million will undertake the project, one grain of sand at a time. The nest must be large to house many ants, but the size of the colony defines the workforce. The problem of providing for a large ant colony leads directly to the solution with a large supply of ant-power.

Similarly, before we had computers, no single person attempted to count all the ballots. The counties were divided into precincts, and each precinct had one or more polling stations. Each polling station was staffed with volunteers to manage the voting and count the ballots. The impossible anthill was manageable when undertaken by hundreds of willing hands, often producing an election result (in those distant times) within 12 hours.

I have observed a manual recount of ballots for selected precincts by a team of twelve workers with parity for opposing parties. On that scale, manual ballot counting for each position was 90 minutes of work.

The poll workers of old were comparable to jury members, drawn from the ordinary population, rather than government employees or teams of workers supervised by government employees. They were members of the community who came forward to enact the will of the community, where the majority of good will (hopefully) suppressed the minority of ill intent. The workers were paired from opposing parties so that no single individual need be trusted.

The station was set up in a public hall or a church. On entry, the voter was checked off on the voting list and issued a ballot. The voter went into a privacy stall, marked the ballot, dropped it in the sealed box, and left. Workers were stationed around the room to discourage funny business. In many localities, the pubs were closed to keep the voters sober. And as of 2014, seven states (Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia) still banned the sale of alcohol on election day.

When we say "secret ballot," we mean that no one knew how any particular voter marked his ballot. If a mobster attempted to bribe or intimidate a voter, the mobster could not verify that the voter followed through—because the voting was always done in the private booth (Secret A). And if a poll worker attempted to identify a ballot with a particular voter for later punishment or reward, identification was not possible because the ballots in the box were anonymous (Secret B).

With the small precinct and local workers, many of the voters were personally known to the workers and the chance of a voter registering to multiple precincts was reduced. It wasn't eliminated, but neither was any other form of secret double-dealing, such as bigamy.

Having hundreds of years of experience to draw on, the architects of our system knew that governments could not be trusted to conduct honest elections. When the mayor counts the ballots for the mayoral election, he enjoys a long and comfortable term of office and is rarely voted out.

In modern day, computers and "trust your government" propaganda have changed many things, and not all for the better. The mountains of ballots for all the precincts in the County are dumped into one office. They are zipped through high-speed sorting and computing machines operating on invisible instructions. Like a man at the carnival running a super pea-in-shell game, the size and speed of the operation defy meaningful observation.

The voter registration lists, though maintained by computer, are demonstrably error-prone. In one informal study conducted recently in Oregon, 26% to 30% of the households polled had "phantom" voters--names that were registered to those addresses even though no such persons were living there. An address within the County would enable a person to vote on a County ballot, but the voter may be out of state or even out of the country, as determined by a second address field in the registration. "One person, one vote" has become "One database entry, one vote." The integrity of that list is totally under the control of the government.

The voter completes the ballot at any time, anywhere. Sitting in the company of a mobster, the voter marks his only ballot, signs the envelope, and hands it over to be mailed by the mobster. Conversely, a group of workers meet their union boss in the pub with their ballots in hand, mark their ballots in company, sign the envelopes, and leave them with the boss to mail. Thus, Secrecy of the Ballot (Secret A) is lost.

At the other end of the process, we now trust the government to count our votes. The ballot contains the votes, and only the envelope contains the voter identification with the signature. Allegedly, once the ballot is removed from the envelope, the relationship is severed and the ballot becomes as anonymous as one dropped in the ballot box of an old-time voting station.

But the devil is in the details. Every ballot in our County has a unique number and bar code. The County Clerk explained to me that the number is generated by the Verity database and no one can map the number back to voter identity once the ballot is removed from the envelope. And even if that were true, I wonder. What prevents the County computer from recording the ballot number with the addressee when the envelope is originally assembled for mailing? We don't know.

Even more alarming, when the signature on the unopened envelope is verified by the elections worker, every state and County record going back decades is displayed for reference, from property records to political party affiliation and social credit score. At that point, a corrupt system could discard the voter's ballot and replace it with a pre-marked dummy to satisfy the audit. Who would know?

Thus, Secrecy of the Ballot (Secret B) is lost in the counting-house. Take note here that I do not accuse anyone of impropriety. But with all these "improvements," the people are obligated to trust the government, and that has rarely turned out well.

However, by maintaining the myth of the secret ballot, the processing is obscured beyond all tracking. Once the ballot is separated from the envelope, all hope of confirming that one's vote was correctly tabulated is also lost. The end-to-end process is concealed from the workers by highly specialized tasks. Observers are baffled by its complexity. The security of the bushels of ballots is guarded only by the lock on the office door—to which the County workers have weekend and midnight keys over the two weeks of processing and producing the election result. The internal operation of the computers is known only to the engineers, who are sworn to secrecy by non-disclosure agreements. The settings on the computers are known only by the technical staff. And the security on the computers is guarded only by the promise that they are not equipped with WiFi.

In Oregon, the whole process is so complex, the descriptive manual is 90 pages long (https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/documents/vbm_manual.pdf).

In simple terms, mail-in ballot elections rest on a fundamental contradiction: If we have the Secret Ballot because we don't trust the government, why do we trust the government to count our Secret Ballots?

--Mark DeCoursey

Post Date: 2022-12-21 06:29:46

Last Update: 2022-12-21 11:17:08

A complaint has been filed with the Oregon Elections division. According to the complaint, "There is evidence to suggest that Hai Pham does not currently live inside House District 36. His social media posts and photos on his campaign website seems to indicate that he lives in a house outside of the district, while claiming residency on official election forms that he lives with his parents at a house his parents own inside District 36."

The complaint further alleges that "[e]ven if it is true that he does live with his parents, (while his wife and newborn child live in a home outside of the district, as shown on her voter registration) he would need to prove that he has lived there for at least a year as prescribed by the Oregon Constitution. Voter registration records seem to indicate he updated his registration January 26, 2022. If that is the date he moved back in with his parents, that would not be long enough to establish one year residency within the district as required by the Oregon Constitution."

The complaint references a document full of evidence supporting the claims.

The Washington County Republican Party has posted an alert on their website asking people to contact the Secretary of State regarding this complaint.

Currently the Secretary of State website lists Democrat Hai Pham as defeating Republican Greer Trice by 19,629 votes to 12,272

This isn't the first time during this election cycle that the Secretary of State has failed to take action in a residency case involving a Democratic candidate. During the primary, the residency of Brad Witt was questioned and the Secretary of State failed to take action.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2022-12-20 12:29:03

Last Update: 2022-12-20 15:48:12

Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission and state leaders must focus more urgently on student performance at community colleges, student support, and the colleges’ financial stability amid persistent enrollment declines, according to an audit released by the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office.

“Education helped me break the cycle of poverty in my family,” said Secretary Fagan. “Our community colleges are important gateways for students from lower-income families, for older and rural students, for working parents, for workers needing retraining. They are also crucial for Oregon’s economy. State leaders need to focus on them now more than ever.”

The audit found improvements in key areas since HECC began overseeing Oregon’s 17 community colleges in 2015, including improved student performance and increased financial aid for students. Predictably, the audit clamors for more spending, though it does recognize that community college spending has risen. "Despite increased state funding, Oregon’s colleges face substantial threats to sustainability, including enrollment declines that outpace other states, with little strategic guidance or state oversight."

Auditors also found substantial deficits. Oregon’s community college student performance still lags behind other states and equity gaps in student performance persist. Accountability, effective public reporting of student results, and use of data to drive improvement are all limited. Crucial student support services are inadequately monitored and supported. State financial aid still has substantial gaps and an inequitable design. Monitoring of college stability is minimal, despite declining finances and enrollment drops that outpace the nation.

The audit includes five recommendations to HECC. It also recommends that the Governor and Legislature provide HECC with greater direction and authority, and that state leaders increase HECC and college staff in key areas as needed to help address the substantial risks the colleges face.

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As a coordinating agency with limited statutory authority, HECC cannot force colleges to make operational changes. Locally elected college boards are responsible for college operations. Instead, HECC’s role includes monitoring the system’s performance, reporting quality information on how the system is doing, and working with the colleges and state leaders to address problems that arise. HECC can take steps to improve in this role immediately, but also needs stronger support from state leaders to be more effective in spotlighting problems and providing solutions.

HECC is the statewide agency over community colleges, public universities and private colleges. The audit focused on its role with community colleges and their roughly 125,000 for-credit students. The state spent $700 million in the 2021-23 biennium to support community college operations. For 2023-25, HECC is requesting substantial increases in community college operations and financial aid funding. It is also requesting additional funding to help colleges and universities better serve students from underserved groups, such as students from low-income families, first-generation college students, and students from historically underserved races and ethnicities.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2022-12-19 22:51:42

Oregon Governor Kate Brown has announced that she will appoint judges to the Jackson and Klamath County Circuit Courts. Governor Brown will appoint Jeremy Markiewicz to the Jackson County Circuit Court to fill the vacancy created by Judge Lorenzo Mejia’s planned retirement, and will appoint Stephen Hedlund to the Klamath County Circuit Court to fill the vacancy created by the planned retirement of Judge Daniel Bunch.

Both appointments are effective on December 31, 2022.  

“Jeremy Markiewicz and Stephen Hedlund are talented lawyers, and are ready to make significant contributions to the trial court bench,” said Governor Brown. “Both will bring a passion for justice, devotion to their communities, and empathy for the litigants that will appear before them.”

Jeremy Markiewicz earned a bachelor’s degree from Willamette University, the first in his family to graduate college. He went on to earn his law degree from University of Colorado School of Law. After graduation, he moved to Southern Oregon, where his entire legal career was with the Jackson County District Attorney’s office, first as a deputy district attorney and, since 2013, as the Chief Deputy District Attorney. Markiewicz serves on the board of the Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon, the Southern Oregon Financial Fraud and Securities Team, and is a member of the Rotary Club of Medford. He also is active with the Southern Oregon Campaign for Equal Justice and the Classroom Law Project.  

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Stephen Hedlund graduated from Klamath Union High School and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University, and his law degree from Willamette College of Law. Upon graduation, he moved back home to Klamath Falls and began his legal career with the Klamath County District Attorney’s office. He then transitioned into private practice, with a focus on indigent defense work, including criminal and juvenile dependency matters. He also provides legal representation for public entities and public officials. Hedlund serves as the defense attorney in Klamath County’s behavior intervention court and veterans treatment courts, and as a member of the Local Public Safety Coordinating Council. Since 2016, Hedlund has served as a pro tem judge for the City of Klamath Falls Municipal Court. He also serves as an arbitrator for the Oregon State Bar Fee Dispute Resolution Program.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2022-12-19 21:00:08

Last Update: 2022-12-19 21:17:18

After over eight years of elected service the people of southwest Oregon, Senator Dallas Heard (R-Roseburg) announced he will be stepping down and retiring from his seat in the Oregon Senate effective January 1st, 2023. In a letter addressed "To the community I love" Senator Heard said,

After 8 years of serving as your voice and advocate in the State Legislature I have decided that I need to retire for now from this level of public service, until my children are at an age where they are more ready to face the world on their own.

This has proven to be the most difficult decision I have had to make. Ever since I was a child, I always dreamed of being your servant champion. Being a native son of the “Timber Capitol of the World” has always instilled tremendous pride in my soul for our community. You are a good, hard-working, and noble people. A people that I have always found easy to love with all my heart.

The past few years have been very hard on everyone. Thank you for being the kind of people who made it easy to stand up in Salem for the freedom and rights of all citizens during the COVID era. I never had to question if the overwhelming majority in my district was with me in standing up for the few, the weak, the poor, and the oppressed. I have wrestled with this decision for the past several months. In the end I decided that until my sons are several years older, they must be my full focus and priority. My family must have my undivided attention. I want to thank my bride Hannah for always being a true rock of love and support to our children and to me throughout the entirety of my time in Salem.

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The country as a whole has seen an ever-growing movement of evil rising that is determined to take our children’s hearts and minds away from their parents. I hope to see in the near future a new generation of freedom loving men and women rise and run for elected positions such as school boards and the legislature. If you can’t run for a position, please look for and support those who can. We have so many opportunities to do great acts of service for our children and neighbors, but it is going to take all of us doing our part to bring good things into reality. We have been losing this state and nation because collectively we are doing almost nothing to fight the good fight. Roughly 50% of conservative registered voters chose not to vote in this year’s Oregon General Election. We must do better than this if we hope to stand a chance. We can turn this culture around for the cause of freedom and what is good and right before God, but we must choose to care.”

Representative Brock Smith (R-Port Orford) has announced his plans to succeed Senator Heard after his retirement from the Oregon Legislature.

“It has been a privilege and honor to serve the people of House District 01 in the Oregon Legislature with Senator Heard,” said Rep. Brock Smith. “Our collaboration has stopped and/or modified bills that would have negatively impacted our district and has moved others forward that benefit the people of District 01 and Oregon as a whole.

Additionally, we have worked together to secure millions in resources for our District. This includes securing millions to Curry Health Network to help them open their life saving Emergency Department, millions to treat and stop the spread of Sudden Oak Death, that if left untreated, would be another huge blow to our timber industries.

Representative David Brock Smith has served in the Oregon House of Representatives since 2017 and is an Assistant Leader of the House Republican Caucus. He is a former County Commissioner, School Board Member, City Council President, Chamber President-Director and has held many other elected and appointed positions in his nearly twenty years of public service.

“I am honored to have the support of Senator Heard and look forward to continuing to forge a solid team with Representative Osborne, Representative Goodwin, Representative Wright, Senator Anderson and my successor, to bring the voices and values of the people of Curry, Coos and Douglas Counties to Salem,” said Rep. Brock Smith.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2022-12-16 23:16:37

Last Update: 2022-12-17 11:54:31

Oregon Youth Challenge Program (OYCP) is The Oregon National Guard's alternative high school, located in Bend, Oregon; it gives at-risk students a second chance to catch up on credits. In addition, the program allows attendees to re-enter high school, graduate on time with their peers, or graduate from OYCP with a state-accredited high school diploma. OYCP graduated 131 cadets from their 22-week program at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center on Wednesday, December 14, 2022.

Oregon has 4.7 percent of students enrolled in alternative programs with a 19 percent dropout rate according to a 2017 audit. In 2016 voters passed Measure 98, which helped to implement the High School Success Program that focuses on improving graduation rates. The Oregon Department of Education High School Success Program website still uses the 2017 report for graduation rate data. The 2022 audit not only evaluates Measure 98 and the five funding programs implemented, but five additional related programs. The dropout prevention strategy for these programs is based on activities to reduce chronic absenteeism for students at risk of dropping out and giving them academic and social support and providing them with early exposure to employment opportunities and options for post-secondary education.

In 1999, the Oregon National Guard established the OYCP in Bend as the only accredited statewide alternative high school as an intervention program to reclaim the lives of Oregon teens who had dropped out of high school or were not on track to graduate. To help at-risk students, the Department of Defense invested in the OYCP style challenge model for youth development and community outreach.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

OYCP graduation guest speaker, Oregon National Guard Assistant Adjutant General Brig, General Eric J. Riley said, "You are the future leaders of our communities...we believe there is no better program or alternative school to meet the needs of our students who might otherwise drop through the cracks."

The stated mission of OYCP is: To provide opportunities for personal growth, self-improvement, and academic achievement among Oregon high school dropouts, teens no longer attending, and those failing in school through a highly structured non-traditional environment, integrating training, mentoring, and diverse educational activities.

OYCP Director Mr. Daniel Radabaug said, "We want to help students get back on track to be productive citizens for the State of Oregon. OYCP is free to attend for any Oregonian that qualifies; cadets live here at no cost during the 22 weeks while they catch up and learn valuable life skills."

OYCP attendees must be 15 to 18 years old, a legal United States and Oregon resident, and academically deficient (behind in high school credits) or in danger of not graduating high school. The next class begins January 11, 2023. OYCP can be contacted through their website, or by calling 541-317-9623.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-12-16 20:00:39

Last Update: 2022-12-17 14:06:58