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Spring Home Improvement Guide Tips and tricks for every stage of homeownership Find this page A14

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FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2023

Brookings, Oregon

BHSD selects Johansson-Chirinian as new superintendent RYAN HOOVER Country Media, Inc.

looking forward to leading the work ahead,” Johansson-Chirinian said. Background

The Brookings Harbor School District (BHSD) Board has selected Helena Johansson-Chirinian as the district’s next superintendent. “I’m incredibly excited to begin my new role at Brookings-Harbor School District and am very much

Johansson-Chirinian’s roots with the school district run deep. Before retiring in June 2021, she served BHSD for 28 years, with 17 years spent in leadership positions.

She last served as the principal at Kalmiopsis Elementary School for 12 years. “The greatest strength we have is the connections we have with each other,” she said. “I’m going to challenge all of us to use those connections to work as a team, so that all out students can grow up to be happy and contributing members

of our community.” Since retirement, Johansson-Chirinian has worked part-time with the school district as a Positive Discipline Coach. The Positive Discipline Association states that positive discipline is a behavioral model that helps create “responsible, respectful, and resourceful relationships” by focusing on the

positive points of behavior rather than the negative points. In a release, the BHSD Board members said they are excited to start working with Helena. “Helena is deeply connected to our community and has spent years building positive relationships,” the release states.

Please see SCHOOL Page A11

On a wing and a prayer

Fast Fact The monarch population is found primarily in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington, and overwinters on the coast of California.

New efforts underway to protect the monarch butterﬂy in Oregon BY JEREMY C. RUARK

Country Media, Inc.

Brookings residents celebrate the Monarch Butterfly each year with a festival at Azalea Park. Now, additional protect for the butterfly is proposed in the U.S. Congress. Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) have introduced the 2023 Monarch Action, Recovery and Conservation of Habitat (MONARCH) Act. The bill introduced March 17 in the U.S. Senate will be introduced in the House of Representatives in the coming weeks. The bicameral MONARCH Act would help prevent the extinction of the western monarch butterfly and other critically important pollinators. The MONARCH Act would provide urgent protections for the struggling western monarch butterfly, an iconic and important butterfly whose population has dropped by 99% since the 1980s. The legislation would authorize $62.5 million for projects aimed at conserving the western monarch and an additional $62.5 million to implement the

Western Monarch Butterfly Conservation Plan, which was prepared by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in January 2019. The $62.5 million in funding for each effort would be divided into five annual installments of $12.5 million. “We’ve all experienced the moment of childhood joy and excitement when we spot a butterfly dancing in the air,” Merkley said. “Though western monarch populations were already in peril, this year’s extreme winter storms have hit overwintering monarchs hard and made addressing this threat even more urgent. Protecting monarch butterflies and other pollinators is a critical issue that requires sustainable solutions, and we must do everything we can to implement experts’ conservation plans and save these species before time runs out.” “Fortunately, we in California’s 19th Congressional District have long treasured the western monarch butterflies who overwinter in our communities. Unfortunately, we recently are experiencing the significant decline of their population partly due to the shrinking of their habitats,” Panetta said. “That’s why I’m continuing to lead the House effort to provide the necessary federal investments to restore their habitat and help save the western monarch Please see BUTTERFLY Page A10

Cape Blanco Lighthouse opening set for May 1 by Cape Blanco Heritage Society volunteers beginning on May 1. CBHS also plans to offer lighthouse tours on a limited schedule based on the availability of volunteer staff. In addition the historic Hughes House and the Port Orford Lifeboat Station Museum also will open on May 1. The days of operation for these sites will continue to be from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday — Monday. Tuesdays are reserved for cleaning and maintenance. For more details, or if you are interested in volunteering at one of the three sites this season, call 541-332-0521.

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The Cape Blanco Lighthouse will open on May 1 this year instead of its traditional opening day of April 1. The Cape Blanco Heritage Society (CBHS) board members have moved the opening due to problems related to the short road from the lighthouse gate to the lighthouse. The road has experienced considerable damage over time and the seasonal rains and unusual snowfall this winter has taken its toll on the road. The damage has led to the closure of the road to all vehicles. Oregon State Parks has made a decision not to provide docents for lighthouse tours this season, but the Lighthouse Greeting Center Gift Shop will be open and staffed

More information is available at www.capeblancoheritagesociety. com and the CBHS Facebook page.

The Cape Blanco Lighthouse is located at 91100 Cape Blanco Road in Port Orford.

Photo courtesy from Geneva Miller

Chetco Activity Center services nearly back to pre-COVID levels centers throughout the world, the COVID-19 pandemic brought a near halt to most of the Chetco Activity Center’s events and services. Today, over three years since lockdown immobilized the world for a short period of time, Chetco Activity Center is ﬁnally starting to near pre-COVID levels for offered

BY RYAN HOOVER Country Media, Inc.

Looking at the busy March 2023 calendar for the Chetco Activity Center, one will ﬁnd it hard to believe there was ever time the senior center wasn’t bustling with people and daily events. But like many community

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events and services. The Center, located at 550 Chetco Lane, is currently serving over 100 people a day. What’s ahead Kathryn Justman, a board member for the Chetco Activity Center who spends countless hours helping keep the Center’s operations run-

ning smoothly, said there are many activities this month. “The bridge club has also been very successful meeting here, and the Tai Chi is a long-time class that is so popular,” she said. “We have it on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with two classes a day on Wednesday and Friday.”

Chetco Activity Center will also offer a variety of other events this month and beyond, including a Ukulele class, a book club, and your classic BINGO nights. Chetco Activity Center is also expanding its hallmark Meals on Meals service as things start to pick back up. “We are now partnering with

the Veterans Task Force to expand deliveries to Veterans,” Kathryn said of the service. If you or someone you know is unable to leave home and needs a nutritionally balanced meal, be sure to call the Center at 541-469-6822. Please see CENTER Page A11

Phone Number: 541-813-1717 • Address: 519 Chetco Ave, Ste 7, Brookings, 97415 • Email: Circulation@CountryMedia.net

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