22
Wednesday, February 25, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
DONATION: SPRD
depends on donations
to fund scholarships
Continued from page 1
and in nature at SPRD was an
easy choice. It is nice to add
to scholarships that will help
more children and teens par-
ticipate in programs.”
Sisters Park & Recreation
District needs about $40,000
annually for scholarship
assistance in youth and pre-
school programs. Scholarship
funds are 100 percent depen-
dent on donations, either
FOREST: Sale won’t
derail Land Trust
efforts
Continued from page 1
really changed other than that
we’re going to be talking to
somebody different — and
hopefully more responsive.”
As far back as 2007,
Fidelity was offering the pos-
sibility that DLT would be
able to acquire and preserve
28,000 acres of their 33,000-
acre parcel as a community
forest. But negotiations never
really got off the ground. Nor
did legislation that would
have allowed some intensive
development of a portion of
the property.
Chalfant told The Nugget
that intense community inter-
est in preserving the forest
might have led Fidelity to
think that DLT would “pay
a king’s ransom” for the
by individuals or chari-
table grants. In 2014, about
$20,000 came from outside
grants while the remaining
$20,000 needed to be raised
through individual donations,
according to Liam Hughes,
SPRD executive director.
With a tax base that is the
third lowest in Oregon parks
and recreation districts, SPRD
is in a constant drive for
sports, programs and admin-
istrative funding. In compari-
son to other small community
recreation districts, SPRD
receives less than half the tax
funding of Dufur, Hood River,
Clatskanie and La Pine. The
district therefore must rely on
“pay-to-participate” funds for
all activities.
“We greatly appreciate
all the donations we have
received so far. Donations are
key to keeping SPRD run-
ning. In addition, the Bonnie
Malone Scholarship fund
allows children from families
in financial need to participate
in our programs who might
not otherwise be able to do
so,” said Hughes,
Donations to the Bonnie
Malone Scholarship Fund
are tax-deductible through
the charitable foundation of
SPRD.
property, but that was never
in the cards.
Legally and ethically, “we
can only pay what something
is worth,” Chalfant said.
In most cases, DLT only
announces their efforts to
acquire a specific property
when a deal is done. Many
times, those deals take years
and considerable negotiation
to come to fruition.
“Skyline was so big and
so complicated that we felt
we had to announce early,” he
said.
That gave the public a
peek behind the curtain at
how these kinds of land
acquisitions roll out. If they
roll out.
“It ain’t pretty and it cer-
tainly isn’t fast,” Chalfant
said. “It only happens when a
landowner is ready.”
Chalfant is hopeful that the
new owners will be ready, and
receptive to working with the
land trust.
“We’ll be contacting them
in the near future,” he said.
There is an incentive to
work with DLT. Development
of the property is not an easy
hill to climb, as has been
demonstrated by years of
false starts.
“The pathway to break-
ing it up and developing it,
while possible, is arduous,”
Chalfant said.
So, with new ownership,
the forest that sweeps across
the high ground between
Sisters and Bend may yet wind
up being a community forest.
New oregon governor takes
office with ethics pledge
By Jonathan J. Cooper
Associated Press
SALEM (AP) — Kate
Brown became Oregon’s
governor with a pledge not
to accept money from outside
sources and to ensure anyone
who pays her family and staff
does not have business before
the state of Oregon.
Brown took the oath of
office in a short ceremony at
the state Capitol Wednesday.
The Democrat, formerly the
secretary of state, becomes
the first openly bisexual gov-
ernor in the nation.
Brown replaces fellow
Democrat John Kitzhaber,
who was Oregon’s longest-
serving chief executive before
his swift fall from grace in an
ethics scandal that culminated
with his announcement Fri-
day that he’d step down.
In a speech to the Legis-
lature after her swearing-in,
Brown praised Kitzhaber for
his contributions but said “we
must restore the public’s trust.”
“There is a great deal of
work ahead of us, and I’m
ready to roll up my sleeves
and get to it,” she said in a
brief address.
Meanwhile, Kitzhaber, in
one of his final acts as gov-
ernor, commuted the prison
sentence of a young inmate
who’s serving a 12-year sen-
tence for attempted murder
and other charges.
The commutation docu-
ment doesn’t reveal why
Kitzhaber decided to release
Sang Dao, 25, more than three
years before his earliest pos-
sible release date. The Mult-
nomah County District Attor-
ney, whose office prosecuted
Dao, supported the clemency,
noting that Dao had turned his
life around and earned a bach-
elor’s degree while locked up.
Last summer Kitzhaber’s
fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, who’s
at the center of the ethics
scandal that prompted the
governor to step down, spoke
at a graduation ceremony for
Dao and others at a youth cor-
rectional facility, according
to a report in the Woodburn
Independent.
Lake in the Dunes
Private lake access
March thru mid-June OK
O
Looking for good news?
– We can straighten ‘em out –
Quality Truck-mounted
CARPET CLEANING
Quality Cleaning 13 years in
!
Reasonable Prices Sisters
ENVIROTECH
541-771-5048
Loaner Cars
Deductible Assistance
Windshield Replacement
p
Licensed • Bonded • Insured • CCB#181062
541-549-DENT
— 541-549-3368 —
RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL
332 W. Barclay Dr., Sisters
Relief Is Available
For Your Auto, Sports
& Workplace Injuries
Do you suffer from...
Neck & Back Pain, HEADACHES ,
Numtness, Shoulder Pain, Knee Pain,
ARTHRITIS , Plantar Fasciitis,
Carpal Tunnel, SCIATICA
Dr. Robert Jeffrey,
Chiropractic Physician
541-318-1632
www.spinehealthbend.com
Located atove the Rio Restaurant on the
FivePine Campus in Sisters.
!
151 W. Main Ave., Sisters B NOW
541-549-FISH | Open 7 days a week
Send them the local
news from Sisters!
A gift subscription to The Nugget is a
thoughtful gift for loved ones far away.
Subscriptions start at just $25 and are looked forward to every week!
To order a gift subscription call 541-549-9941.