Our band-tailed pigeon
page 9
Outlaws dribble to second-place
tournament finish page 4
It’s hayin’ time!
The Nugget
Vol. XXXVIII No. 1
page 18
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
A spectacular start to 2015...
New city
council to
be sworn in
on Thursday
photo by Jay mather
the first sunset of 2015 was a beauty, captured in the lens of Jay Mather.
Three city councilors will
be sworn in on Thursday,
January 8.
I n c u m b e n t s We n d y
Holzman and David Asson
both won reelection in the
November election. Asson
received enough votes to
earn four more years on the
council; Holzman will serve
another two-year term.
Nancy Connolly is the
See CIty CouNCIl on page 30
Sisters figures in top
2014 weather stories
Ducks fans witness historic victory
Eight staff members of
the National Weather Service
in Pendleton voted on the
10 most important local
weather events of 2014. The
No. 1 weather story was the
December 11 extreme wind
which brought hurricane force
wind gusts and widespread
damage.
A summary of 2014’s top
10 local weather follows:
10. October warmth:
Summer-like weather contin-
ued into October. Monument,
Kennewick, and Walla Walla
had the warmest October on
record. Top 5 warm Octobers
were recorded at Yakima,
Whitman Mission, Trout
Lake, The Dalles, Pendleton,
Long Creek, Heppner,
Condon, Goldendale, Moro,
La Grande, Bend, Sisters,
Pelton Dam, Meacham,
Madras and Redmond.
9. Dry water year: From
October 2013 to September
2014, Kennewick had the
driest water year, receiving
only 3.81 inches. The previ-
ous record was 3.92 set in the
1963-64 water year. Walla
Walla had their fourth driest
When the Oregon Ducks
took the field in Pasadena on
Thursday, January 1, to battle
the Florida State Seminoles
for a slot in the college foot-
ball national championship
game, they had the backing
of a strong contingent from
Sisters.
NFL Hall-of-Fame quar-
terback and U of O alum Dan
Fouts was on the 50-yard-
line for the coin toss, named
the Ducks’ honorary captain.
On the sidelines, Thomas
Arends, a Sisters High
School graduate and former
Outlaws football player, kept
a watchful eye on the team he
helped build as the Oregon
Ducks’ assistant director of
player personnel.
And in the stands of the
venerable Rose Bowl were
other folks from Sisters —
ardent fans of a program that
has captured the hearts of
football fans all across the
country.
“The whole Rose Bowl
experience is like no other,”
said Fouts, who did not play
in the game but has broad-
cast many. He said that being
Inside...
water year and Redmond’s
water year was 10th driest.
8. Wildfires: Dry thunder-
storms and dry vegetation led
to numerous wildfires across
the Inland Northwest during
July and August. In the NWS
Pendleton Fire Weather ser-
vice area, there were 456,000
acres burned in 2014, com-
pared to 135,000 in 2013 and
182,000 in 2012.
7. Damaging winds,
January 11-12: Wind gusts of
60-90 mph led to trees down,
power outages, and roof
damage. A semi-truck was
blown off the road near West
Richland.
6. Severe thunderstorms
August 12-14: Thunderstorms
with heavy rainfall, dam-
aging winds, and blowing
dust hit many areas of the
Inland Northwest. Hail up
to golfball size fell south-
east of Meacham. Over an
inch of rain in an hour or
less was reported southeast
of Cliffdell, in Bickleton,
east of Ellensburg, and west
of Hermiston. A mudslide
See top Weather on page 25
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
photo provided
ryan Burbank, dan fouts, and thomas arends were ready for game time.
named honorary captain “was
an amazing honor.”
Fouts enjoyed reconnect-
ing with fellow former Duck
players in a pre-game tailgate
party.
“That’s always the best,”
he said.
While many saw Oregon’s
crushing victory and Ohio
State’s upset of Alabama
in the Sugar Bowl as stun-
ning, almost unbelievable
developments, Fouts found
both outcomes “completely
believable.”
“At this point in the sea-
son, those are the four best
teams,” he said. “Oregon is
a momentum team, and when
they get it, they go off.”
As for Ohio State, they
had already showed the
capacity to put up points in
beating Wisconsin to get a
crack at Alabama.
“That didn’t surprise me,
them beating Alabama,”
Fouts said.
The atmosphere at the
See duCk faNs on page 22
Letters/Weather ................ 2 Sisters Salutes .................. 5 Business at Glance............11 Movies & Entertainment ....13 Classifieds .................. 27-29
Meetings ........................... 3 Sisters Naturalist ............... 9 Announcements ................12 Crossword ....................... 26 Real Estate .................29-32