Thursday, July 12, 2018 • Vol. 134, No. 2 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
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Oregon Observer The
Oregon School District
Exploring geography Board to consider supervisory district changes SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Bill Livick
The developer at Oregon Parks Neighborhood says the subdivision is keeping 70 percent of trees in the wooded development, while nearby homeowners have raised concerns.
If a Tree Falls...
Woodland preservation limits have some neighbors concerned Unified Newspaper Group
Despite what village officials call “aggressive” preservation rules, trees are coming down for development in the newly built addition to the Oregon Parks Neighborhood subdivision.
That has some west-side residents upset and feeling they were misled by village officials when told that at least 70 percent of the trees in the wooded area would be preserved. The subdivision, located on a wooded area along Alpine Parkway south of Netherwood Road, was
planned more than a decade ago, after the village passed a woodland preservation ordinance, though it took until this year for lots to be built there. Now that they are, neighbors have complained the preservation plan required of the developer is not meeting the standard they
expected. Two residents, Maria Dybevik and David Skripka, sent the village a letter detailing their concerns more than a month ago, and Dybevik spoke to the Village Board at its June 4 meeting about the matter. They were among a
Turn to Trees/Page 10
Oregon Special Olympians bring home hardware ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
Three Oregon athletes – along with dozens of teammates and coaches from Team Wisconsin – stood in the tunnel of a massive stadium, waiting their turn to enter the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics in Seattle. All of a sudden, “everyone was chanting ‘Team Wisconsin,’” David Thompson recalled. “Then we walked out there and 20,000 Photo by Alexander Cramer people welcomed us.” From left, Seth Rehrauer, David Thompson and Gabby Kelley Back home after the trip wearing the ribbons and medals they won at the 2018 Speof a lifetime, Thompson, cial Olympics USA Games in Seattle. Seth Rehrauer and Gabby
OHS grad awarded $100K grant Sharkus wins Thiel Fellowship for medical supply startup ALEXANDER CRAMER
Kelley agreed the opening ceremony July 1 was near the top of the list of memories they would cherish for years to come. “That was the best,” Kelley said. Elisa Ried, special education department chair at Oregon High School, went as both a fan and family member — she’s Rehrauer’s current teacher, Thompson’s former teacher and Kelley’s foster mother. Ried told the Observer the “messages of inclusion were incredible” in the speeches at the ceremony
Turn to Olympics/Page 9
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Unified Newspaper Group
Meghan Sharkus is no stranger to accolades, having started a company at 16 and has been nationally recognized for her accomplishments. But here’s one she probably wasn’t expecting: college dropout. No, Sharkus hasn’t hit the skids: She was awarded a Thiel Fellowship last month for the medical-supply company she founded in 2015, ExpressionMed, and a condition of the grant is that recipients must drop out of school.
A 2016 Oregon High School graduate, Sharkus was set to begin her junior year at the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities before she won the grant, founded by Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and the first outside investor in Facebook. T h e f e l l ow s h i p i s a “two-year, $100,000 grant for young people who want to build new things instead of sit in a classroom,” according to its website. In addition to the funding, recipients receive mentorship from the Thiel Fo u n d a t i o n ’s n e t w o r k of technology founders, investors and scientists, according to its website. The award is only offered to people 22 years o l d a n d y o u n g e r, a n d anyone who is in school
Turn to Sharkus/Page 9
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BILL LIVICK
Seeking to stay in step with expected growth, the Oregon School Board created a task force Monday to figure out if a new way is needed to represent district residents. And they’ll be getting help from some former colleagues. Former board presidents Deedra Atkinson, Dave Williams and Doug Kornetzke will comprise the new “Apportionment Task Force,” to be supervised by the board and assisted by district legal counsel Jina Jonen. The group, with Atkinson acting as chair, will submit a written report to the board on or before Sept. 30.
“Given the recent population study completed as part of the board’s Growth Task Force, it is an opportune time to review the district’s board apportionment model,” wrote district superintendent Brian Busler in the board’s packet. District superintendent Brian Busler said the goal is to have proper geographic representation from the community on the school board, and given the district’s recent population study, it was an opportune time for a review. “The board has talked about this task force for a few years,” he wrote the Observer in an email. “ I t i s a lwa y s g o o d t o have a periodic review of this board policy to ensure the representation matches the geographic