Good morning….
For Malheur County, a meeting held last Wednesday was to give some indication of the fate of the Treasure Valley Reload Center.
Local representatives of Malheur County Development Corp. culminated six months of work to pitch a new plan to the Oregon Department of Transportation. You may recall the agency laid the future on the line last fall, saying it might pull the plug on any more funding.
MCDC was to propose a way to finish the moribund Nyssa project and get it operating without using more public money.
Our news team has reached out to both MCDC and ODOT to ask: What happened? Local officials were optimistic that the state agency would see the sense of a new plan and agree to help the project move ahead.
Earlier, reporters Pat Caldwell and Steve Mitchell closely examined the new business plan in a detailed story last week. They found that those pushing the rail terminal suddenly find serious flaws in the last plan.
In other news from the Enterprise, the report about a Texas militia group coming to Malheur County to organize a chapter drew a lot of attention. The story resulted in the cancellation of a recruiting meeting planned in Vale.
In our latest report on the Ontario School District, Steve Mitchell compared public statements with what records actually showed about plans to close two schools. School district leaders have largely quit talking to the Enterprise but not because they have found any errors. The Ontario School Board this week is scheduled to formally decide on changing the school system. The meeting is open to the public.
Over in Nyssa, the school board there likes what it’s seen in the work of Ryan Hawkins, who is the interim superintendent. The board gave Hawkins high marks in its review.
Those who like soup and a good deal will want to be ready for the Soup’R Bowl in Ontario, which gets underway Wednesday.
And in sports, it’s an all-girl show going forward in the state basketball playoffs. The Vale Vikings beat Sisters 57-29 and advance to the state quarterfinals against Banks. The Nyssa Bulldogs beat Pleasant Hill 33-22 and face Amity. Quarterfinal play is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 29. Jordan Valley’s girls lost to Echo 51-41. In boys play, Vale lost to Burns 75-67 in overtime.
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