Thursday, January 17, 2019 • Vol. 134, No. 24 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
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Oregon Observer The
Oregon School District
CBD gets go-ahead in schools
Cannabis substance OK with parent, doctor letters SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
The school board unanimously approved a change in district policy Monday. The substance, known as CBD, is found in marijuana plants, but it is not the substance that causes a “high.” The state made it legal for treating seizures in 2014 and more
Photo courtesy Full Spectrum Solar
Todd Lund works on some wiring just before Christmas atop the Oregon Ice Arena. The solar array will cut about a quarter of the arena’s energy costs.
ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
While the sun has been doing its level best to hide these past few weeks, efforts to harness its power were on display just before Christmas at the Oregon Ice Arena. Full Spectrum Solar put the finishing touches on a 193 kW
photovoltaic system on the roof of the arena just before the New Year, hooking up a system with enough juice to cut about a quarter of the arena’s energy costs, manager Ben Cowan estimated. “The idea to help the environment and go green is obviously front of everyone’s mind these days,” Cowan told the Observer. “Anything we can do to offset our energy costs is a bonus.” The ice arena had been working with Full Spectrum for a couple
Turn to CBD/Page 5
‘Becoming an ally’
Powered by the sun
Private donation gets Ice Arena solar array installed
widely in late 2017. Oregon’s new policy allow CBD use by students while on school property with a written parent/guardian permiss i o n a n d c e r t i fi c a t i o n from a physician stating it’s needed during the day to treat a medical condition and that the student is able to self-administer the dose. The CBD is kept locked in the school, and there must be written confirmation from the manufacturer that the product does not contain any
Facebook group stirs up conversation about social justice
years to figure out how to finance the project, Cowan said, before a private benefactor stepped in to foot the bill, which he estimated at around $350,000. Cowan said the person preferred to remain anonymous, describing a philanthropist who “had some tax credits he needed to get rid of.” Those tax credits have turned into 560 modules on the roof of the arena, each with an individual collector
EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Two community memb e r s h ave b e e n u s i n g Facebook as a tool to promote diversity and support underrepresented groups in Oregon. Molly Dillman Vidal
Turn to Solar/Page 13
and Dana Kobernusz are administrators of the Oregon, WI Allies Facebook page, which has around 200 followers, and has focused on increasing the visibility of inclusivity challenges around Oregon. The pair began curating inclusive content on the page in April 2018, and also hold a biweekly book club to further conversations about social justice
Turn to Allies/Page 5
OHS graduate asks Oregonians for help in restoring Liberia
EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
An Oregon High School graduate returned here recently to get some help for her other home: Liberia.
Bulleh Bablitch-Norkeh is the founder of Girl Power Africa, which she started as she began efforts to restore Liberia after a 14-year civil war and Ebola outbreak left the Bablitch-Norkeh country devastated. The war destroyed 80 percent of the nation’s
schools, and 14 percent of Liberian girls ages 10-14 haven’t received an education since, according to the GPA website. The more Oregon community members heard about Bablitch-Norkeh’s project, the more they wanted to help, she said. Today, Girl Power Africa, funded through donations, is a non-profit organization with a mission to empower women and children
in a post-Ebola Liberia. Bablitch-Norkeh has been traveling around Oregon and to other parts of Wisconsin to spread awareness about the Girl Power Africa cause since September 2018. She most recently spoke at long-time friend and fellow Class of 1987 graduate Laura Groenier’s home Jan. 12 to say farewell before she returns to Liberia Jan. 20.
At her farewell event, Bablitch-Norkeh gave a presentation about Girl Power Africa, displayed a Christmas tree with 350 students the nonprofit has sent to school and mingled with students and community members who have contributed to the cause. The event also showcased crafts made by Liberian women GPA has helped. “We’ve just been like a ping pong ball, as we’ve
been speaking at different places (around Wisconsin),” Bablitch-Norkeh told the Observer. “It’s been making a lot of connections, especially in the Oregon area.”
Harsh reality B a b l i t c h - N o r ke h wa s born in Liberia, but came to Wisconsin in her late childhood. Her family moved to a
Turn to Liberia/Page 16
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Grassroots organization empowers Liberian women, children