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Wednesday, May 18, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Hit barrage not enough Nelson seeks to continue as sheriff
for Outlaws softball
By Craig Rullman
Correspondent
The Sisters High School
varsity softball team closed
out the 2016 season by honor-
ing its three seniors and out-
hitting Sutherlin in a Sky-Em
League double-header.
However, the hitting dis-
play wasn’t enough to send
seniors Leah McIntosh, Zoey
Nason and Marie Coffee
off on a winning note, as
Sutherlin prevailed 18-4 and
15-5.
Smith praised his three
seniors, noting that catcher
photo by Jerry balDock
McIntosh and third-baseman
Nason, will be hard to replace. Grace Maiden with a catch.
And that mid-season addi-
tion Coffee was making great these kids are starting to come
progress. She singled in her alive with their bats and the
final game.
season is ending,” said Smith.
“There were several posi- “I have a lot of faith in these
tive notes in both games young girls because they are
despite our losses,” said always asking to stay after
Coach Dave Smith. “The practice and work on the
freshman are really stepping
areas where
up.” He sin-
they need
gled out the
to work. A
play of short-
lot of them
I have a lot of faith
stop Grace
have asked
Maiden and
if we could
in these young girls…
second-base-
continue
man Sophie
to prac-
— Coach Dave Smith
Affatati.
tice (even
In
the
though the
18-4 loss, the
season has
Outlaws col-
ended).”
lected 16 hits and Amanda
For the day, Smith, a junior
Smith struck out 11, but 13 lefthander, had 18 strikeouts
errors were costly for the in 11 innings pitched.
Outlaws. By comparison,
The Outlaws finished
Sutherlin committed just one Sky-Em League play with
error in the two games.
a 2-13 record and were 2-16
In the second game, Sisters overall.
committed just four errors, but
Elmira (24-1 overall) cap-
managed seven hits as com- tured the league title with a
pared to 16 in the first game.
14-1 mark, one game ahead of
Junior Kylie Steiner was 13-2 Sweet Home (18-6 over-
the big hitter on the day with a all). Junction City was 9-6,
single, double, and triple.
Sutherlin 6-9, and Cottage
“I think the hard part is Grove 1-14.
The Nugget recently sat
down with current Sheriff
Shane Nelson, and asked him
why Deschutes County vot-
ers should consider him when
they cast their ballots this fall.
Nelson told The Nugget,
“I’m always going do the
right thing, and I hope my
actions, over the last nine
months that I’ve been serv-
ing our community as their
sheriff, have shown that
when we need to take care of
business, we’ll take care of
business.”
Asked directly if the recent
string of high-profile resigna-
tions and firings at DCSO
were evidence of a failed
leadership culture, Nelson
said, “Every agency is going
to have challenges. I think it’s
how you react to those chal-
lenges, and how you handle
those specific incidents, and
move forward, is what is
important.”
Sheriff Nelson told The
Nugget that as part of the
fallout from those incidents,
“We do take a look at our hir-
ing practices, our background
practices … can we adjust,
do we need to adjust? We can
always be better at what we
do.”
Sheriff Nelson was born
and raised in Central Oregon,
and has been with the sher-
iff’s office for 22 years, serv-
ing in all three divisions of
the agency. He believes that
his experiences have helped
him develop outstanding
community relationships and
have helped him “be the best
sheriff I can be.”
Sheriff Nelson told The
Nugget that one of the big-
gest issues facing the sheriff’s
office is the growing problem
of mental health patients cir-
culating in the criminal jus-
tice system.
“Right now we have some
vulnerable inmates that we
serve in our jail,” he said.
“We do the best we can to
serve them, but some of these
people, when appropriate,
should be diverted from the
criminal justice system. They
don’t belong in jail. That’s
not the best thing for them.”
Nelson told The Nugget
that the Medical Mental
Health Unit is now releasing
vulnerable inmates with two
weeks worth of prescriptions
so they can make their next
appointment.
“That’s an investment
worth making,” Nelson said.
“If we don’t make it, we’re
going to see them again in
five days.”
Nelson also cited the
legalization of marijuana as
an issue facing his depart-
ment, noting that legalization
on the state and local level
puts local law-enforcement in
a predicament, when it is still
illegal under federal law.
“I don’t think anything
good can come from it,”
Nelson said, noting that local
emergency-room visits have
surged due to the availability
of powerful edible marijuana
products.
He also expressed concern
that the particular potency of
edibles may have an impact
on mental health at a time
when the DCSO is struggling
to best serve those with men-
tal illnesses.
Nelson told The Nugget
that more access to mari-
juana would mean more use,
and that the DCSO is noting
a noticeable uptick in DUII
cases involving marijuana.
The sheriff also pointed to
heroin as an increasing prob-
lem in Central Oregon, noting
that DCSO deputies are now
being trained and equipped
with Naloxone, better known
as Narcan, which is used to
block or reverse the effects of
opioids such as heroin.
Asked about response
times for calls for service in
Sisters, the Sheriff said that
due to the recent shuffling of
captains, he would need some
time to compile the informa-
tion, but felt confident the
city is being served appro-
priately. The sheriff noted
that he enjoyed the DCSO’s
partnership with Sisters, and
could foresee no issues in
contract renewal.
Sheriff Nelson praised the
hard work of his department
through recent public embar-
rassments and in the face of
challenging circumstances.
“I work with excellent
people here,” he said. “It’s
our teammates that are out
there delivering customer
service and serving our citi-
zens on an everyday basis
to establish our professional
reputation.”
The sheriff was can-
did with The Nugget about
the agency’s problems, but
feels his handling of diffi-
cult situations should inspire
confidence.
“I hope people see by my
actions, by what I’m doing,
it doesn’t matter much what
the challenge will be, we’ll
evaluate it, we’ll take a
look at it, we’ll take input
on it, and we’ll be better at
what we do. We don’t ever
want to rest as an organiza-
tion, or be comfortable with
how we perform. We always
want to reach a little bit
further.”
T hanks to everyone who helped make
Women Build 2016 a huge success!
S
Sponsors:
Lowe’s
L
Western Title
W
Ninkasi Brewery
N
Women Build
W
Committee:
C
J Jeannie Sandecki
Toni Landis
T
Terry Buchholz
T
Ellie Hammond
E
Lynn Jones
Larry Lennon
Dennis Mills
Darleene Snider
Building Homes, Building Lives, Building Community.
P.O. Box 238, Sisters, OR 97759
541-549-1193 | www.sistershabitat.org
Food and Beverage
donations:
Melvin’s Fir Street
Market
Cork Cellars
Ninkasi Brewery
Sisters Bakery
Eloise Barry
Jeannie Sandecki
Lynn Durant
Jeanne Holcomb
Marsha Lewis
Nan Daschel
Participants:
Margie Lombardo
Norine Hegy
Judy Osborne
Holly McIntosh
Becky Conner
Joyce Donaldson
Marla Brinkman
Vicki Bugbee-Reed
Kathy Magnum
Ali Lantaler
Patricia Bricker
Pam Arsenault
Darcy Johannsen
Holly Foott
Linda Borquist
Julie Grace
Claudia Williams
Matt Williams
Selah Broderick
Wendie Vermillion
Paula Reents
Betty Shuler
Pat Woollard
Margaret Doke
Dixie Fairfi eld
Karen Waddell
Amanda Jamison
Chelsea Bradley
Jasmine McCool
Signe Johnson
Ashlee Sullens
Mari Angel
Gaby Cohetzaltitla
Kris Howtopat
Alyssa Culps
Chelsea Anttila
Donna Kennedy
Emilie Hartvig
Dechen Dawkins
Kit Thomson
Tana Sproat
Angel Haney
Ali Assum
Audra Garbrecht
Sam Garbrecht
Alex Garbrecht
Angie Parks
Angie Bird
Mandy Pierce
Angela Lund
Heart t of f
H
Oregon
Youth Build
The Regular
Building
Crew that
Other Helpers
make things
and Supporters:
happen!!
Jerry Hanford
Tony Cosby and the SHS Larry Lennon
Bob Harris
Construction Class
Dennis Mills
Sisters Habitat ReStore
Steve Madsen
Sisters Habitat
Bob Cole
Thrift Store
Dave Clark
Jerry Baldock -
John Milne
Outlaws Photography
Mike Anglea
The Nugget
Sisters Public Library