Letter to Editor on Bond Issue: Marnie Branstiter

Dear Editor:

The Lincoln County School District has placed a $63 million construction bond measure on the May 17^th ballot. After reviewing the proposed projects, I have to admit that there are some components that I do not agree are absolutely necessary… however, I do agree that our school buildings are in poor condition and need our support to fix and repair them.

As a graduate of Toledo High, I am most familiar with the schools in that area. There is no doubt that the students attending Toledo Elementary are housed in 11 portable classrooms that are old and deteriorating. These young students must walk in the wind and rain to the main building for lunch, P.E., to use the computer labs or the media center, and go to the office. These students need a real building that is safe and conducive for learning!

Toledo High school uses seven very old portables that I am very familiar with. I attended class in some of those portables over 25 years ago. Students there continue to move from class to class in our coastal weather without covered walkways as I did all those years ago. When they do have classes in the main building, they are often in a room that is very hot and then move to an adjacent room where the heat is not working. The locker rooms can only be described as dungeons and are in desperate need of remodeling. The middle school students are crammed into a single hallway. This system of educating students was tolerated all those years ago because we lost a school to fire but it is an inefficient way of educating our youth today!

I do not have children so am not directly involved with the Lincoln County schools and I do not agree with all the components of the proposed projects, but I will be voting YES for the Lincoln County School District construction bond. We need good solid buildings for our staff to provide a solid education for our youth of Lincoln County.

Marnie Branstiter, Toledo

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Editorial: Vote YES on School Bond Renewal

The Lincoln County School District has an opportunity in May to move forward with an ambitious, well-crafted and yet essential set of capital projects. Many of these are long overdue. But our students need your help. The district is asking for approval to issue up to $63 million dollars in general obligation bonds. The obligation would assess local property taxes, but does so as a previous bond is retired. The net result is no change, or even a slight decrease in your property taxes. The benefits will be immense. If you factor in historically low interest rates, the timing could hardly be better. Changes to District procurement policies facilitate maximized hiring of local subcontractors for improvement projects financed by the bond.

What students get for this money is impressive. If you’ve spent more than five minutes in a “portable” classroom at Toledo Elementary or other district facilities, you will want to vote yes on the school bond renewal. They are old, worn and not conducive to learning. If you have ever gone to a THS basketball game, a yes vote will be easy. That gym is long past retirement age. Other THS improvements are overdue, including an elevator for those with mobility challenges. Expensive artificial turf has been controversial, and the District heard the negative survey response loud and clear. It says this will pay for itself over time, be more useful, and reduce injury risk in our wet climate. We reluctantly conclude these fields are a good use of bond money. A “yes” vote on this measure will be one you can feel good about.

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The Wavelength is Now an Oregonian News Partner

(Updated 1:13 p.m. 5/6/11 to include link to an OregonLive story)

It’s good news for us,, and means more news for you.

The Wavelength is now a partner with The Oregonian and OregonLive.com in a venture called the Oregonian News Network (ONN). It’s a project to connect “traditional” media with start-up entrepreneurs like us. Our stories now stream live at OregonLive.com, and we’ll get tools and content from The Oregonian and six other (ONN) partners around the state. We’ll trade information, learn from one another, and collaborate on projects. The program is funded by a grant from American University’s Institute For Interactive Journalism.

What does this mean for you? Most important, our commitment to accurate and timely local news will not change. Just expect a wider range of coverage. We will continue to focus on Toledo, Siletz and Eddyville, But you’ll see more news about the entire Central Coast, and the region. You’ll see local news going to a statewide audience, and statewide perspectives coming to your local news. What does this mean for us? More visibility, more resources and faster growth. We want to publicly thank Tom and Celeste Mathews of Toledo for calling this program to our attention. We are also grateful to our advertisers and readers for their support, encouragement and enthusiasm during our inaugural year.

About the Project: ONN is a collaborative experiment between the Oregonian, OregonLive and ‘hyperlocal’ news sites like ours, and some special interest blogs, similar to a successful program in Seattle, which now boasts about three dozen partners. Other big-city newspapers are also moving in this direction. Partners will trade content, share other resources, engage in training, and work on collaborative projects. The selection criteria were: how well our work conforms to SPJ standards; that we cover a geographic area relevant to The Oregonian’s readership; and our business planning and performance. ONN Project Manager Cornelius Swart said, “Many of the applicants have a strong record of covering their communities. Others are doing great watchdog reporting. The partners chosen have the right combination of business planning, relevant coverage areas and quality news reporting needed for this early stage of the program.” The Wavelength and five others join MyEugene, which was announced as the first ONN partner on April 15. “We are very excited to be working with this initial group of strong hyperlocal and news topic sites,” Swart said.

Our Partners: OregonLive is the largest news website in the region, with about double the audience of its nearest rivals, OPB and KGW; North Coast Oregon of Astoria, one of Oregon’s pioneering hyperlocal news sites; The Lund Report, which has done uncompromising, award-winning investigative reporting about healthcare legislation and the insurance industry; Neighborhood Notes, Portland’s largest hyperlocal news site, which started as a blog focused on the Pearl District; BikePortland, one of Portland’s most widely read and influential news topic sites; and, the newly-established ClarkCountyBlog, founded by Jeff Bunch, the former Web Editor of The Columbian newspaper of Clark County, WA.

Here’s how the Oregonian reported the announcement Friday, May 6.

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Letter to the Editor: Jeanne St. John

Dear Editor,

The Lincoln County School District bond issue on the May ballot is an opportunity to support the stability of our schools and improve or replace their aging facilities. There’s little that local voters can do to increase funding to support programs and to rehire teachers and other staffing lost through budget cuts, but we can do this!

Our schools have suffered deep losses over the last decade, but we have a chance to make sure that our county’s children attend classes in schools that are safer, modernized, and will last for another generation. We can do that without raising our current tax bills — it’s the least we can do.

I urge you to show your support for the next generation and their hardworking teachers and support staff by voting YES on the school bond issue.

Jeanne St. John, Newport

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Our Subscription Drive Continues

You are helping us reach our voluntary subscription goals and we want to thank all of you who have donated online, or have taken the time to write us a check. We especially appreciate your supportive comments: “Keep up the great work.” “We love our Toledo news.” “You’re doing a great job.” “I find your paper VERY informative.” Knowing that our work is valuable to you is invaluable to us. Thanks for your support. If you are so moved, click our “Donate” button, or write a check to help us grow in 2011. Make checks out to “Yaquina Wavelength”, PO Box 432 Toledo OR 97391. We have a suggested voluntary annual contribution of $24 but encourage you to fit your own budget. More complete information is found on our website FAQ.

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