Thursday, September 6, 2018 • Vol. 134, No. 10 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
Oregon School District
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Oregon Observer The
Home run Family, coaching background key for new OHS AP SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Kimberly Wethal
Marjorie Torres and Asia Oats walk toward Rome Corners Intermediate after getting off of the bus on the first day of school on Tuesday, Sept. 4.
Back in session
Students in the Oregon School District returned to school for a new academic year on Tuesday, Sept. 4. Parents and students excitedly took first day of school photos outside of Rome Corners Intermediate prior to the beginning of the school day.
Inside More photos from the first day of school at Rome Corners
When Oregon resident Brad Ashmore saw the job opening, it was like a hanging curveball right down the middle of the plate. He swung hard and didn’t miss. The former area prep baseball standout and new Oregon High School associate principal is thrilled to be “coming home” to work in the district where he, his wife and two children have lived for the past decade. “It was just a huge part of my decision, to really get back and to be basically a servant of the district, and to try to make our schools as good they possibly can be and work in my hometown,” he told the Observer last week. “I felt the next edge of my growth as a leader was to come to my home district and really learn a lot.” A s h m o r e , p r ev i o u s l y the associate principal at Stoughton High School before starting here in July,
said from the first administrative team retreat this summer, he knew he “made a great choice.” “What I’ve learned so far is there are Ashmore just so many really, really intelligent people here who care passionately about education,” he said. “I’m excited.”
Passion for teaching A 1993 Madison Memorial graduate, Ashmore grew up with a mom who was a school principal and a dad who worked for the Department of Public Instruction. And while he said education was “in the genes,” it wasn’t until his senior year that he decided to follow their path, after taking a course where high schoolers got to talk to sixth-graders about drugs and alcohol. “I kind of new right there after taking that class that I wanted to teach,” he said. “It felt really natural and normal.” A two-time All-Big Eight outfielder at Memorial,
Turn to Ashmore/Page 14
Page 16
Brooklyn Police Department
Village helps former motel residents find housing Engelhart marks BILL LIVICK Unified Newspaper Group
When the Village of Oregon bought the former Waterfall Motel property on Park Street in January, it already had alerted motel residents they would have to move by July 9. Most left the humble dwelling in time, but over the last few weeks, village officials had to step in and help “the last three or four people” find housing, village administrator Mike Gracz told the Observer last week. Officials are planning to provide the building for a fire department practice burn in order to clear the land for redevelopment of the village’s southern gateway, where a new Sleep Inn hotel is expected to open
next month. Official notification to tenants happened the day after the village closed on the land purchase in January. Some of the tenants who remained “at the end” were elderly, and Gracz turned to the Oregon Area Senior Center to help them find housing. Senior center director Rachel Brickner confirmed that members of her staff assisted in relocating some people but said any help the center provided is confidential. “The village wanted to make sure that people didn’t end up in a situation where they didn’t have housing,” Brickner explained. “So they came to us and said, ‘Can you help the people who remain there locate housing so there’s a smooth transition for them?’ “We were fortunately able to assist the remaining tenants in locating housing,” she said, “which is not easy, given Dane County’s extremely
‘The village wanted to make sure that people didn’t end up in a situation where they didn’t have housing.’ – Rachel Brickner, Senior center director tight housing. The affordable housing situation is not good.” Gracz said between 10 and 14 people had been residing at the Waterfall. One had to be evicted because of failure to pay rent to the previous owner, he said. The village helped the others by returning both their security deposits and their last month’s rent payments, Gracz said.
Turn to Motel/Page 12
one year as chief Happy with progress, hopes to continue community outreach SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
When Wade Engelhart took over as interim chief of the Brooklyn Police Department Sept. 4, 2017, it was unclear if there would even be a department to chief for much longer. In the months that followed, Village of Brooklyn officials debated shuttering the department and
contracting for police services with the Dane County Sheriff ’s Office. A year later, Engelhart s t i l l s h ow s up to work in the BPD office at 102 N . R u t l a n d Engelhart Av e . ev e r y day, and is proud of the progress they have made since the Village Board decided to keep its local department. “It was a ton of weight
Turn to Engelhart/Page 12
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Waterfall to be burned for new TIF-supported Sleep Inn