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Wednesday, August 19, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
LEGOs turn kids creative at library
By Diane goble
Correspondent
Sisters Library Summer
Reading Program wrapped up
on Saturday with a “LEGO
Block Party.” Over 30 kids
showed up to Read! Build!
Play! with a gazillion LEGOs
and multitudes of assorted
tiny critters, creatures and
shiny things.
Community Librarian
Paige Bentley-Flannery
handed each participant a
large plastic cup and said,
“There are only two rules.
Carry the LEGOs from the
bins in your cup and do
your projects on the green or
purple paper, not the carpet.
Otherwise there are no rules
or guidelines, instructions or
instructors.”
The children first spent
a lot of time rummaging
through the bins choosing
the LEGOs and other items
that caught their eye. Some
kids stayed to themselves
and did their own thing; oth-
ers broke into groups of two
or three and built more exten-
sive projects. Projects started
out small and grew in size
and scope; some were quite
involved. One small group
joined another small group,
combining their ideas into a
greater whole. Boys and girls
worked together. An observer
witnessed teamwork, collabo-
ration, cooperation, planning,
consensus building, inno-
vation, creativity in action.
There was no arguing, no yell-
ing, no fighting, no bullying,
no tears.
No one was bored.
“I’ve been doing this for
several years now,” Flannery
said, “and I’ve never had any
disagreements or discussions
I’ve had to step into.”
LEGOs are one of those
common playthings that
almost every child can relate
to and use to explore their
creative mind. It can be a soli-
tary activity, a contemplative
Growing number of
cities banning pot
By Jonathan J. Cooper
Associated Press
photo by diane Goble
Kids sparked their creativity with legos at sisters library.
practice, or group play for
all ages that starts children
on a path to figuring out how
things fit together and become
something bigger than the
sum of its parts.
Flannery is excited to be
able to offer these programs,
and hopes families will make
it part of their Saturday morn-
ing routines so their kids will
get to know the library as a
safe place to hang out, learn
new things, share experiences
and make new friends.
Wednesday night there will
be a “Pajama Party” starting at
6:30 p.m. for children up to 5
years old with stories, songs,
rhymes and crafts; and it’s
“Get Ready for Kindergarten”
with stories, songs, crafts, and
fun on Friday, August 21, at
10:30 a.m. Watch for Family
Board Games on October 3.
Plans for the future include
more family-oriented events
in the evening. Flannery says
they are not sure what yet, but
they will involve family enter-
tainment and interactive activ-
ities. If you have any sugges-
tions, next time you’re in the
library, let her know.
SALEM (AP) — At least a
dozen Oregon cities and coun-
ties have taken steps to ban
marijuana businesses from
their boundaries as the state
prepares to begin retail sales
in October.
Four counties and eight cit-
ies have informed the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission
that they plan to ban mari-
juana producers, processors,
wholesalers and retailers. In
some jurisdictions, the ban
must go before voters.
Oregon lawmakers gave
local governments the ability
to keep out marijuana busi-
nesses, which were authorized
by voters under last year’s
Measure 91. In counties
where at least 60 percent of
voters opposed the measure,
local governments can ban the
marijuana businesses outright;
elsewhere, a ban is temporary
until voters weigh in.
Even in jurisdictions that
opt out, adults can still grow
and use marijuana subject to
the same limits that apply in
the rest of the state. But if they
want to buy the drug from a
retail store, they’ll have to
travel to somewhere that
allows them.
The strongest opposition
so far has come from far-
eastern Oregon, where Mal-
heur County and three of its
five incorporated cities have
adopted bans.
“I think some of our prob-
lem here really is our proxim-
ity to Idaho, where it’s totally
illegal,” said Larry Wilson,
a Malheur County commis-
sioner. “We even had testi-
mony from police agencies
on the other side of the river
asking us to please opt out, or
restrict it as much as we can,
because that’s a problem with
people going back and forth
across the river.”
Elsewhere, Douglas
County opted out of allowing
marijuana businesses, but its
largest city, Roseburg, voted
to allow existing medical mar-
ijuana dispensaries to sell pot
to recreational users.
The cities that have noti-
fied the Oregon Liquor Con-
trol Commission that they’re
opting out are: Ontario, Vale,
Nyssa, Brownsville, Sandy,
Island City, Sutherlin and
Junction City. The counties
are Douglas, Umatilla, Har-
ney and Malheur.
State law gives local gov-
ernments until Dec. 27 to
adopt a ban, said Mark Pet-
tinger, a spokesman for the
commission.
Marijuana possession and
use became legal on July 1,
but the state won’t be ready
to begin regulated sales until
next year. As a temporary
stop-gap, medical dispensa-
ries are allowed to begin sell-
ing the drug in some forms on
October 1.
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