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Thursday, August 1, 2019 • Vol. 135, No. 5 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
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No quick fix for Jefferson Street flooding Dredging could be a temporary solution AMBER LEVENHAGEN Unified Newspaper Group
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Elliot Kopp, Anna Schwantes, Ethan Wilcox and Rowan Nelson all engage in a Hands On STEAM summer school class activity.
Summertime smiles Sessions provide a chance for both learning and fun
SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
It’s so much fun, sometimes kids (and teachers) forget it’s still school. Both inside and outside, the Oregon School District’s Summer School has offered students dozens of educational opportunities in its session, which
runs July 8 through Aug. 2. Held mainly at Oregon High School, four 60-minute courses are available to students each day, with breakfast and lunch offered during the four-week program. A total of 120 classes are offered (some with multiple sections), including traditional courses like math, language arts and
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math), but also ones that provide lots of chances for physical activity, like “Moving and grooving” for K-2 students. Students can let their creative sides out, with everything from glitter art to cup stacking.
Turn to Summer/Page 16
Scouts focus library on child literacy Junior Girl Scouts earn bronze award for little free library project CONNOR WOOD Observer correspondent
Six Oregon junior Girl Scouts found an appropriate setting for their bridging ceremony last weekend: next to a bridge in Jaycee Park where they debuted a new Little Free Library.
Members of Troop 1400 walked across the bridge to meet parents and community members and enjoy sweet treats while celebrating their project. Troop 1400 completed a “journey” for their bronze awards, the highest honor a junior scout can receive, by installing the library on Sunday, July 28. Along the way, they learned about their community, compromise and consensus. And power tools. “This journey is called ‘agent of change,’ so they
wa n t e d t o b r i n g a b o u t change in their community,” troop co-leader Jolene Wockenske said. “There’s three pieces, with the Girl Scouts in the center being the agent, but needing the team and needing the community to help.” Aurelia Wochenske, one of the Scouts and Jolene’s daughter, said the troop had also discussed creating bridges for wildlife to cross roads but decided the library was more feasible. “We had to find an issue in our community and find
a solution for it,” she said. “We noticed that a lot of younger kids in our community like to read but a lot of the little free libraries in our community have a lot of adult books so we wanted to make a little free library for kids only books.” Teamwork is central to the journey. They talked about the “power of one,” “the power of team” and the “power of community” as all coming together to achieve a goal. As
Around 20 Jefferson Street homeowners have complained in public meetings over the past few months about water issues plaguing their yards and basements, and the Village of Oregon has been working to come up with a solution. Village officials turned to members of the Dane County Drainage District for guidance, and while they disagreed with homeowners this spring about the cause of the flooding and jurisdiction over the land that is legally complicated, they are poised to
take some action. At one of the public meetings, May 29, drainage board representatives discussed the possible next steps for how to handle the overflowing Oregon branch of the Badfish Creek. While some homeowners said they feel the flooding is caused by that portion of the creek, public works director Jeff Rau said he and members of the Drainage Board feel the issue is high groundwater levels and the unprecedented rain that has hit the area over the past few years. Rau, drainage district representatives and village engineers walked through the affected area
Turn to Jefferson/Page 14
Senior center seeks re-accreditation Strengthens policy on commercial uses EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
In its year-long re-accreditation process, the Oregon Area Senior Center has mainly prioritized strengthening policies regarding commercial entities gaining access to its seniors. Senior center director Rachel Brickner told the Observer the center has undergone re-accreditation
every five years since 1994; the last in 2014. She said staff have been working on the latest process since last summer, using Wisconsin Association of Senior Centers (WASC) guidelines and a re-accreditation committee comprising seniors who work with the center’s Council on Aging. They, along with Brickner, have examined center policies “group by group,” making sure they accurately reflect what life is like for
Turn to Seniors/Page 5
Inside Oregon youth at the Dane County Fair
Turn to Scouts/Page 16
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