Union County voters that live within the Imbler School District boundries will begin receiving their ballots in the mail this weekend as the district seeks a $4 million bond levy to build a new school building to replace their nearly century old elementary school buildings. Superintendant Doug Hislop says the buildings have some serious structural problems that make them unsafe for children long term. He says they have a perfect opportunity to build something now that will meet kids needs for years to come: ***/Imbler bond/Doug Hislop/…The big drive right now is to get a facility built that’s going to fit our needs for the space and the needs of the elementary kids in those old buildings…/*** A new building would also cost the district less to operate because of upgrades in energy efficiency. And, to make the bond even more palatable for residents is a federal program that will pay the interest on the bond. That will cover nearly $3 million in interest payments. That means the bond will cost property owners $2.35 per thousand dollars of assessed value. The ballots go out today and are due back to the clerks office by September 21st.

For years Oregon students were given standardized tests in several subjects including writing where they were asked to write an essay on a given question. Those essays were then graded on six areas- things like sentence structure, organization and conventions- spelling, capitalization and punctuation. The conventions portion of the grading accounted for twice as many points as the other parts. But, starting next year, kids taking the tests in the seventh and tenth grades will get a pass on part of that writing test- spelling. State school officials yesterday announced that they would now allow the spell check features on computers to be turned on for those tests. Their reasoning- most people are now using spell check on their computers, so kids should be able to as well.

Despite the cooler, wetter weather over the past week, officials with the Oregon Department of Forestry warn that the risk of wildfires is still high- especially in Southern Oregon. Officials are asking anyone that will be camping or hunting over the holiday weekend to do their part to ensure there are no problems over the long weekend. The biggest cause of wildfire are unattended campfires. If you build a fire, douse it with water before you leave it and then stir the ashes to ensure there are no hot spots. And officials say you should never build a fire near tree roots where a fire can smolder for days. Off road vehicles need to have safety equipment such as spark arrestors and mufflers, and make sure exhaust pipes and catalytic converters on trucks are free of grass. Finally, if you smoke, make sure you take care of your cigarette butts so they don’t cause any fires.

Oregon’s farmers and ranchers are continuing to age as younger farmers leave the business for higher paying steadier jobs. That’s the results of a recently released report by the census of agriculture which showed the average age of Oregon’s farmers and ranchers is at an all time high- 57.5 years old. That’s up from 54.9 years old in the 2007 census. Katy Coba, director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture, says the statistic is a little disturbing. She says the ODA needs to focus on attracting younger people to the profession: ***/Gray farmers/Katy Coba/…I think we’ve got to focus on keeping agriculture in Oregon viable and showing that it is a job that young people should come into…/*** According to the census, the number of operators under the age of forty-five dropped 31% over a five year period while the number over sixty-five increased 22%. Coba says younger farmers need to feel farming and ranching can be a successful career for them.

Crews with the Oregon Department of Transportation are working to improve Highway 82 between Imbler and Wallowa. Those upgrades include repaving some sections of the road, enhancing the downtown areas, replacing and repairing bridges and some road realignments. And, while some of that work has already been completed, ODOT officials say motorists will still find some work ongoing. Crews have been striping the highway between Imbler at the Wallowa Lake State Park. That project will continue into next week. Work is also continuing in the Imbler downtown area and on the bridge over Indian Creek in outside of Elgin.