Good morning….
Derrick Draper sat down in Ontario not long ago to speak under oath.
Draper is a former member of the Ontario School Board, censured by his colleagues and then he quit the seat.
An attorney for Nikki Albisu, superintendent of the Ontario School District, had some questions for Draper.
Draper had answers, but not likely the ones the lawyer was after. The Enterprise obtained the record of that session – the transcript of a deposition where Draper swore to tell the truth.
Q. Do you have a temper?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Do you yell at women?
A. I don’t recall.
Recently, the school district offered to pay Albisu $50,000 to end her lawsuit. Reporter Steven Mitchell has our exclusive report on the end of years of legal strife.
And while we’re talking about the Ontario School District, the Enterprise also tried to determine what’s happening with the long-delayed ball field project. Donors have been chipping in for years but the project is maybe two years from being done. Those who know why aren’t talking, as our story chronicled.
Over in Nyssa, a new state report shows a climbing enrollment. That brings more state funding to the school system there. Other Malheur County schools reported fewer students.
Reporter Pat Caldwell has the story on a new manager at the Malheur County Fairgrounds while Gov. Tina Kotek makes her pick for a volunteer slot on the local Border Board.
In state news, the Oregon Department of Transportation has signed on for a plan to revive the Treasure Valley Reload Center. A lot of pieces still have to fall into place for onions to ship out of the Nyssa center.
With unusual harmony, Oregon legislators wrapped up their work last week. They passed major reforms to the state’s drug laws and put millions into new housing efforts. Many organizations and local governments across the state get a share of that new state funding, but Malheur County is absent. The Enterprise will soon examine why that is when the area is so desperate for more homes for families and workers. As a side note, the legislative session that just ended was the last for Lynn Findley, the Republican state senator from Vale. It looks like his seat will go to an experienced politician from central Oregon.
A lot of local people were upset when a moose seen around Malheur County was shot and left for dead. Now, police say they have charged a suspect.
On the good news front, the annual spelling bee hosted in Nyssa is coming up. On Monday, we’ll publish the names of the kids competing – about 100 students from first grade to eighth grade and from nearly every school in the county.
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