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Look for jail levy election results online Tuesday, Nov. 5. Project2:Layout 1
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
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The St. Helens High School volleyball tean wins its first league title since 1989. See page A13
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The Chronicle
TODAY’S WEATHER Mostly cloudy Highs to 57 72 Page A14 Lows to 44 49
$1.00 Vol. 131, No. 44 16 Pages
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Global seeks to double oil shipments BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
The Port of St. Helens is considering a request from Global Partners, the company that purchased the ColumbiaPacific Bio Refinery last January, to increase its production from 17 trains a day to 34 trains a day. Those additional trains would likely be used to transport crude oil, rather than ethanol, which the bio-refinery was originally built to produce. Global Senior Vice President Bill Davidson told the port commissioners during an Oct. 23 work session that the company is looking to invest $50-70 million at the Port Westward facility to allow for extra storage and on dock improvements that would allow for larger Panamax-sized ships. See PORT, Page A4
Columbia City School may reopen as STEM academy BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
The St. Helens School District recently held an informational meeting to review and consider a proposal to re-open the Columbia City School as a magnet STEM academy. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and is a concept under way across the nation. There are several STEM programs already available in Oregon. “Going back to my first year when they asked me to look at closing a school – and Columbia City became
the one – we made the decision to that and then we reconfigured. We said then the building was too nice of a school to let go without students for too long,” said District Superintendent Mark Davalos. “We stated back then it was always our intent to get back in as soon as the economy started to turn. I got a sense in this last year, especially after the last legislative session, that maybe the economy is finally turning.” The district reconfiguration, which was completed before the start of the 201213 school year, along with the new bus routes that were also put into effect last year,
played a part in determining what kind of program would be feasible for the Columbia City location. With now having two K-6 schools, a middle school and a high school, the district looked at putting a program in place that would benefit students in second or third-grade through eighth grade. “The whole idea of a magnet school is to try to develop something that’s going to increase some rigor and some of the excitement about schools in St. Helens; something that will help us move the bar higher on achievement and expectations,” said Davalos. Students would enroll by
application with possibly a lottery process also used. Davalos said if the program is successful, an arts component could later be added making it a STEAM Academy.
WHY A STEM SCHOOL? In a letter that went to out to parents on Oct. 11, Davalos said, “I believe our students are capable of competing with all others for college studies and the best jobs out there. Therefore, we need to raise rigor to provide our students with the needed skills to prepare them for college and the workforce.” Davalos also cited the success of the high school’s
robotics team as demonstrating both a need for and the ability to succeed in STEM programs. Like anything, finding the funding to create and operate a STEM Academy will be one of the biggest hurdle’s the district will face. “Right now there are initiatives going on at the state. There are some new monies the governor is making available and the [Oregon Department of Education] is making available for STEM education,” said Davalos. “We’re going after some of these grants and some of See STEM, Page A4
Gnome for the holiday!
School board repeals gun ban, funds sports BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
As expected, the St. Helens School District board of directors has repealed a policy that banned teachers, staff, volunteers and contractors from carrying a concealed weapon on school grounds. The decision was made at the board’s Oct. 23 meeting with a 4-to-1 vote in favor of repealing the policy. Oregon School Board Policy GBJ was passed by a vote of 3-to-2 last March. Board member Ray Biggs, who was one of the two votes against passing the policy at the time, asked to have the issue addressed at an Oct. work session. “We took an oath to uphold the constitution, we did not take an oath to uphold a judge’s decision; we did not take an oath to uphold case law,” said Biggs. “It’s two sentences… it’s fourth-grade English.” See BOARD, Page A4
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Marla Meadows took the $250 first prize for the garden gnome costume she created for her baby’s entry in the 2013 Little Spooks Parade and Children’s Costume Contest. For more pictures and a video of the parade, go to TheChronicleOnline.com. Courtesy photos.
Early morning fire guts St. Helens home BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
ST. HELENS — Twodozen fire personnel spent more than an hour battling an early morning blaze the destroyed the home at 35254 Hazel Road. Just before 3 a.m., homeowner Patricia Oberndorf said she was wakened by smoke alarms going off in her house. She said she checked the garage and found flames coming from the hood of her 2004 Honda Pilot, which had not been driven for more than 24 hours. She then grabbed her two small dogs and a coat before evacuating the home. Neighbors in the area reported hearing small “explosions” as what was likely paint cans used during a very recent remodel of the home likely caught fire. Firefighters from both Columbia River Fire & Rescue and Scappoose Fire were called to the scene. Crews arrived to find the
single-story residence with extinguished. $150,000 for the home and nel were on scene with no heavy flames showing in The American Red Cross another $75,000 for the reported injuries. the area of the attached was contacted to help with contents. Tappan urges homegarage and extending to the emergency assistance for CRF&R and Scappoose owners to regularly check attic. the owner. responded with four fire their smoke alarms to CRF&R Chief Jay TapThe cause of the fire is engines, a medical unit, and ensure they are operating pan said the firefighters under investigation. Damseveral support vehicles. properly and the batteries went to work fighting this age is estimated to be about A total of 24 fire personare fresh. very hard-to-extinguish fire and were able to confine the fire to the building of origin. Crews had to use chainsaws to cut away part of the roofline as flames emerged from the attic. After emptying four water tanks on board the fire trucks, firefighters then had to run a hose line to the closest fire hydrant on Firlok Park Boulevard. “This was a close call for Oberndorf,” said Tappan, who credits her quick actiions and the home’s smoke alarm system with preventing any loss of life or injuries. While the fire was officially declared under control after an hour, personnel remained on the scene SHARI PHIEL/Chronicle photo for another three hours to ensure all hot spots were Firefighters spent more than two hours extinguishing this St. Helens blaze.