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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.