Thursday, January 24, 2019 • Vol. 137, No. 27 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
BIG GAME SPECIALS
XL, 1-Topping Pizza $12.99 2 Gyros, 2 Fries, 2 Sodas $ 20.99 Online Ordering at oregonpizzapit.com
130 N. Main St., Oregon • 835-7744 Delivery charges extra. Not valid with other coupons or specials. Expires 2/4/19.
adno=51136
Oregon Observer The
Robot ‘Double’ brings Kendra to school Third-grader was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy as infant EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Photo submitted
Rome Corners Intermediate fifth-grader Anthony Norton reads to Pat Lindberg. BeeHive Homes of Oregon resident.
Reading to remember Wellness director says kids bring ‘liveliness’ to BeeHive
EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
One could say there have been some busy bees reading to residents at BeeHive Homes of Oregon, except the bees are fifth-graders from Rome
Corners Intermediate School. Students have been visiting the facility since November to read to residents, who have Alzheimer’s, Dementia and other conditions that affect memory. Two groups of RCI fifth-graders alternate Friday visits
three times a month, with each student pairing up with one of the 17 residents to read to them for 20 minutes. BeeHive Homes wellness director Kathleen Zelinski said the
Turn to BeeHive/Page 12
Technology is nothing new in classrooms in the Oregon School District. But for one Netherwood Knoll Elementary School third-grader, it’s her only connection to the classr o o m f r o m N ove m b e r through April. Third-grader Kend r a B a u s c h , w h o wa s diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy as an 8-month-old in 2010, was re-mobilized with a “Double” robot in fall of 2017. She maneuvers the $3,000 robot from her home during the winter months when viruses run rampant. It resembles a Segway personal transporter with an iPad attached to the top, and is controlled by a Chromebook laptop. A genetic condition, SMA is known to cause the loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord. It also causes muscle weakness, limited mobility, delayed motor skills, curvature of the spine and breathing problems that are exacerbated by minor respiratory viruses. Because a simple cold could mean a “two-week
Photo by Emilie Heidemann
Kendra Bausch is able to log into her remote double with the push of a button on her Chrome laptop. She can maneuver the Double around with her arrow keys. Her face appears on the iPad screen whenever she’s logged in and her peers/ teachers can interact with her as if she were physically there.
stay at American Family Children’s Hospital,” her mother, Kristin told the
Turn to Double/Page 10
Library Board picks OPN architects, review proposed contract ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
The Library Board has selected OPN Architects to conduct preliminary architectural work for the village’s new library just as the executive steering committee is set to meet for the first time.
The village attorney and administrator are reviewing the terms of a proposed contract, and the deal with the architects would have to be approved by both the Library Board and Village Board before its finalized. The steering committee, which will oversee the new library project, will meet for the first time next week and will lead a Campaign Committee in charge of fundraising that will convene later this spring, library director Jennifer Endres Way told the Observer.
The total cost of the preliminary design will be $46,550, the highest of the four finalists interviewed Jan. 7 and 8. The other firms were Dimension IV, Engberg Anderson and Plunkett Raysich. Each architectural finalist was “very impressive” in their hourlong interviews, and the village would’ve done well with any of them, Way said. What set OPN apart, Way said, was their community engagement and consensus-building skills,
as well as their “data-driven process.” The library board made its decision Jan. 9. The scope of this design is to establish a detailed budget and timeline for the library, as well as a good idea of what the inside and outside of the new building will look like and an update on the space needs the new building will serve, Way has said. “Hopefully we’ll have something concrete to show people what the new library would look like by summertime to get people
excited,” Way said. The village has committed to borrowing $6 million for the building and purchased the land for about $900,000. The library board has set a $4 million fundraising goal for its capital campaign, and the steering committee overseeing that fundraising effort will meet for the first time next week. The steering committee is made up of trustee Jeanne Carpenter,
Turn to Library/Page 3
COME GET TO KNOW “T HE SM A L L S C HO OL W I T H A BIG H EA RT” NEAR MERITER & ST. MARY’S HOSPITALS.
Join us for a
ST. JAMES SCHOOL
open house
Thurs JAN 31st 5:30-7:00pm BuS SERvICE AvAILABLE TO SOME pARTS Of fITCHBuRG! DROp-In TOuRS AvAILABLE! Contact Mary Corcoran at mcorcoran@stjamesschool.org or call 608-268-9935
adno=51580
OAYC designers to do preliminary work for next library