Wednesday, January 6, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
31
kitzhaber scandal, mass shooting top Ore. stories Canadian
By Steven Dubois
Associated Press
PORTLAND (AP) — Gov.
John Kitzhaber’s unprec-
edented fourth term turned
into an unprecedented short
term, and his abrupt February
resignation was selected
Oregon’s story of the year in
the annual vote conducted by
The Associated Press.
Every editor or news
director who submitted a
ballot of 10 top stories had
the governor’s downfall as
either the biggest or second-
biggest story of 2015. Those
who didn’t put Kitzhaber in
the top spot chose the mas-
sacre at Umpqua Community
College, which finished in
second place, just ahead of
the legalization of recre-
ational pot.
Those were the only sto-
ries named on every ballot as
editors went all over the map
with their remaining picks.
Reflecting the variety of opin-
ions, the three stories that just
missed the top 10 included
the rollout of Common Core-
aligned testing, the Portland
Timbers winning the Major
League Soccer champion-
ship and — of course! — the
improbable stardom of the
Portland International Airport
carpet.
Here are 2015’s top 10
stories:
1: Governor resigns: Just
weeks after being sworn in
for his fourth term, Oregon
Gov. John Kitzhaber surren-
dered to political pressure
and quit over allegations his
live-in fiancee, Cylvia Hayes,
used their relationship to win
contracts for her consulting
business and failed to report
the income on her taxes.
625 N. Arrowleaf Trail, Sisters
Principal Broker
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Licensed Broker in the State of Oregon
Federal agents launched a
criminal investigation in
February, but no charges had
been filed as 2015 drew to a
close. Kitzhaber has denied
wrongdoing. Secretary of
State Kate Brown assumed
Oregon’s highest office after
Kitzhaber ended his four-
decade political career.
2: College shooting: A
26-year-old gunman opened
fire at Umpqua Community
College, fatally shooting
nine people before killing
himself. The Oct. 1 attack
shattered the Roseburg com-
munity and immediately reig-
nited national debates about
gun violence, school safety,
mental health and media
coverage. President Obama
lamented that mass shootings
and the reaction to them have
become “routine.” He visited
the timber town to meet pri-
vately with grieving families,
ignoring protests from gun-
rights activists.
3: Marijuana legalization:
The decision by Oregon vot-
ers to approve recreational
marijuana was last year’s No.
1 story. The process of put-
ting legalization into prac-
tice remained a major topic
throughout 2015. The high-
light day was Oct. 1, when
medical pot dispensaries
began selling to recreational
users over 21. Some shops
opened at midnight, giving
away free food and T-shirts,
and offering discounted
marijuana.
4: Drought: Last winter
saw a dreadfully low snow-
pack, and the continuing dry
weather led Gov. Kate Brown
to declare drought emergen-
cies for more than two dozen
counties. Record December
precipitation that triggered
flooding and landslides eased
the drought, with much of the
rain and snow occurring after
the ballots had been sent.
5: Houses burn: Officials
and rural homeowners feared
a bad wildfire season because
the land was so dry. Their
fears were realized in many
parts of the state as flames
raged through parched forests
and grasslands. A lightning-
sparked blaze near John Day
burned 172 square miles
and destroyed more than 40
homes. No Oregon wildfire
since the Great Depression
has destroyed more homes.
6: Public pensions: The
Oregon Supreme Court ruled
in April that some cuts to
public-employee retirement
benefits are unconstitutional,
wiping out much of the sav-
ings lawmakers were trying to
attain. The justices said work-
ers were promised an annual
inflation increase of up to 2
percent, and the Legislature
couldn’t scale it back retroac-
tively. It was the second time
in a decade the court rejected
legislative efforts to cur-
tail pension benefits already
accrued.
7: Guns — background
checks: Oregon legislators
approved a law requiring
background checks for pri-
vate gun transactions. The
law requires gun buyers and
sellers who aren’t related to
visit a licensed gun dealer
who can run a background
check. Republicans opposed
the measure, saying it would
burden gun owners who are
committed to following the
law without changing the
behavior of people willing to
break it.
8: Oregon Ducks foot-
ball: Heisman winner Marcus
Mariota led the University of
Oregon to the first College
Football Playoff national
championship game, but
dreams of bringing a national
title back to Eugene crumbled
in a 42-20 loss to Ohio State.
Mariota passed for two touch-
downs, but the Ducks were
held to their lowest point total
of the season.
9: Port of Portland: Two
major shipping companies
stopped serving the Port of
Portland amid labor turmoil.
Hanjin and Hapag-Lloyd,
which represented more than
90 percent of container traf-
fic at the port, said their move
was based on low productiv-
ity. Businesses that relied on
the container terminal for
international shipping are
now paying more to send
their goods to out-of-state
ports via truck or rail.
10: Drilling protest:
Greenpeace activists rap-
pelled off Portland’s St. Johns
Bridge this summer in a dra-
matic attempt to stop a Royal
Dutch Shell icebreaker from
leaving the city to join an
Arctic drilling operation. The
vessel eventually threaded
its way past the dangling
demonstrators. But late in
September, Shell announced
it was ending further explo-
ration in the Chukchi and
Beaufort seas because of dis-
appointing results from an
exploratory well.
co. plans
10-megawatt
solar farm
in oregon
BEND (AP) — A
Canadian renewable energy
company is planning to cre-
ate a solar farm in Oregon.
The Bend Bulletin reports
that Saturn Power Corp. of
New Hamburg, Ontario,
submitted a permit applica-
tion to Deschutes County
in November for a nearly
10-megawatt facility near
Redmond.
The plant could poten-
tially generate enough power
for about 1,500 homes a
years.
County planners have
requested more information
from Saturn Corp. before
they can consider the appli-
cation complete. The com-
pany is expected to submit
additions by early January.
Klamath Falls-based envi-
ronmental consultant Andrea
Rabe says Saturn Corp. has
several renewable energy
facilities in Canada, the
United States and Turkey.
The application says
the land was developed for
agriculture but not produc-
tive because of “marginal
soils.”
Two similar solar farms
have been approved east of
Bend.