PENDLETON â Mental health issues and protections for family farms were some of the starter topics during a virtual town hall Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden held Sunday, May 2, for residents of Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties.
The Democrat broached the topic during the first question of the day, asked by Umatilla School District Superintendent Heidi Sipe, about federal support for students as the country rethinks ânearly every aspect of educationâ following the pandemic.
Wyden addressed standardized testing, saying this year it seems best for teachers to address learning loss in the classroom rather than taking time out for standardized testing. He said schools will need additional funding to help students catch up after lost learning opportunities, and pointed out the American Rescue Plan includes funding for schools to do just that through summer learning opportunities and other strategies. He said he is also concerned about studentsâ mental health and wanted to se
Mental health issues were top of mind for the first half of a virtual town hall that Sen. Ron Wyden held for Umatilla, Union and Wallowa County residents on Sunday, May 2.
Wyden broached the topic during the first question of the day, asked by Umatilla School District Superintendent Heidi Sipe, about federal support for students as the country rethinks ânearly every aspect of educationâ following the pandemic.
Wyden addressed standardized testing, saying that this year it seems best for teachers to address learning loss in the classroom rather than taking time out for standardized testing this year. He said schools will need additional funding to help students catch up after lost learning opportunities, and pointed out the funding included in the American Rescue Plan for schools to do just that through summer learning opportunities and other strategies. He said he is also concerned about studentsâ mental health, and wanted to see funding to adequately address those n
PENDLETON â Umatilla County Commissioner John Shafer wants to send a clear message â heâs a Republican man choosing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In response to the countyâs low vaccine rates, officials recently convened to discuss new ways that they could encourage residents to get a shot. Shafer, who has voiced frustration in the past regarding the politicization of vaccines, volunteered to endorse the shot by having a photo taken of him while getting his second jab.
âI want people to know â donât be afraid of the vaccine,â he said. âIâm getting it. And one of the things is that the Republican males seem to be one of the worst at getting vaccinated.â
SALEM â The fuzzy future of Oregon politics east of the Cascades went public last week â no diagrams, charts, data â really nothing tangible at all to show how new legislative and congressional districts will be drawn.
âWe donât have any maps,â said Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego, chair of the House Redistricting Committee. âWe donât have any numbers from the census.â
Salinas and her Senate counterpart, Sen. Kathleen Taylor, D-Milwaukie, said they were making a good faith effort to hold the legally required 10 public hearings on new political maps.
Maps that donât exist â at least, not yet.
The hearings are collateral damage from the constitutional car crash headed to the Oregon Supreme Court.
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