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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2016)
6 Wednesday,January6,2016The Nugget Newspaper,Sisters,Oregon Oregon Teacher of the Year to be celebrated New Oregon laws in effect for 2016 BEND(AP)—Afourth- grade teacher in Central Oregon recently named the state’steacheroftheyearwill becelebratedatacommunity eventinBendnextweek. Heather Anderson, who teachesataBendelementary school,wasnamedOregon’s 2016TeacheroftheYear. K T V Z r e p o r t s t h a t Bend-La Pine Schools S u p e r i n t e n d e n t S h a y Mikalson will recognize Anderson at the Jan. 12 PORTLAND (AP) — Oregon lawmakers enacted more than 600 bills in the 2015 legislation session. About half of them took effectJanuary1. Hereareafewofthemost consequentialnewlawsthat will greet Oregonians in 2016: Paidsickleave: Workerswillbeentitledto atleastaweekofsickleave eachyear.Iftheiremployer has at least 10 workers, the leavemustbepaid.Smaller employers must provide unpaid leave. The bill was backed exclusively by Democrats, who said peo- ple shouldn’t feel forced to choose between caring for theirhealthandmaintaining their paycheck. The bill’s criticssaiditwouldmakeit harderforbusinessestosuc- ceedandhiremoreworkers. “Banthebox”: Employerscannolonger ask about criminal records onjobapplications.Theycan still ask during a job inter- view,butthebill’sproponents hopepeoplewithconvictions will get a chance to build a fuller picture of themselves gathering. Thanks to Anderson and her colleagues, Juniper Elementary ranks in the top 5 percent of high-pov- erty schools in Oregon when it comes to student achievement. Anderson is a native Oregonian who began her career as a student-teacher inMexico.Asteacherofthe year,shegets$5,000andwill meet President Obama next springinWashingtonD.C. Debut novel set in Central Oregon Writing is not as popu- lar a NewYear’s resolution as exercising, but you can findwould-beauthorsinall sorts of unexpected places. Forthem,themostimportant step is to practice, practice, practice. “Ithinkallaspiringwriters cherish the tales of authors who burst into fame from obscurity, like JK Rowling. Butamorecommonstoryis oneofalong,slowjourney,” says Portland-based author Jim Stewart. Stewart spent decadesbuildingexperience in writing jobs before his crimenovelwaspickedupby WordHermitPress. InStewart’sdebutnovel, “OchocoReach,”theaction followsaPortland-basedpri- vateeyefromthemomenthe isapproachedbyalovelynew client.Sheaskshimtogetto thebottomofsuspicioushap- peningsonhercattleranch. The land is not far from Prineville, in the Ochoco mountains, where the smell ofjuniperandsagewrapthe charactersinplace.Thecase is intriguing, andWillimina even more so. Six days in, thecasehasturnedupthree deadbodies,analphabetsoup of secretive federal inves- tigators, and Mike is think- ingthatWillyjustmightbe TheOne. When she is kidnapped byacorruptDEAagent,the storyheatsup. “Ochoco Reach” betrays theauthor’sobviousaffection for the forested mountains andhighprairies of Central Oregon, and for the people who live there. The sec- ondinstallmentoftheMike Underwoodseriesisalready underway, and the third is taking shape in Stewart’s imagination. A professional writer for over 25 years, Stewart has published dozens of stories andessays,technicalmanu- als, and poetry. He lives in Portland with his wife, Laura.“OchocoReach”will be released in January by WordHermitPress,available inpaperbackandonKindle fromAmazon. G S H Felt and Wool by Stetson Pendleton Wool Crushables Tin Cloth by Filson 541-549-6451 100 E. Cascade Ave. Sisters, Oregon By Jonathan J. Cooper Associated Press forapotentialemployer.They sayit’sextremelydifficultfor peoplewithacriminalrecord tofindworkbecausethey’re automaticallyexcludedatan earlystage.Criticsworrythe measurewillputbusinesses atriskoflawsuits. Birthcontrol: Oregonbecomestheeasi- estplaceinthenationtoget birthcontrolundertwonew laws that vastly expanded accesstocontraception.One measureallowspharmacists towritewomenaprescription for birth control after they complete a risk-screening assessment, eliminating the need to see a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. Another new law requiresinsurancecompanies tocoverupto12monthsof birthcontrolatatime. Gaspumps: Oregon and New Jersey aretheonlystatesthatdon’t letdriversfilluptheirtanks bythemselves,butOregonis easinguponitsprohibition. Self-service pumping will now be allowed between 6 p.m.and6a.m.,butonlyin smallcounties—thosewill lessthan40,000people.That coversawideswatchofthe stateincludingalmostallof eastern Oregon. The bill’s proponents say gas stations in sparsely populated areas can’taffordtostayopenall night,makingitdifficultfor motoriststofuelup. Voterregistration: Oregon becomes the first state to use driver’s license records to automati- callyregisterpeopletovote. Starting Monday, the DMV willsendrecordsofeligible Oregonianswhosignupfor anewdriver’slicensetostate electionofficials.Registered voters who move will also havetheirvoterinformation updated when they change theiraddressontheirdriver’s license. Marijuanataxes: BeginningJanuary4,the statewillcollecta25-percent salestaxonmarijuanaprod- ucts sold to people without medical cards. That means pot will become one of just three products with a tax applied at the point of sale. The others are hotel rooms and prepaid mobile phone credits. Oregon marijuana storeshavebeensellingtax- free pot in limited quanti- tiessinceOctober1duetoa quirk in the voter-approved initiativethatallowedadults tobuythedrugfromlicensed stores.
