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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2016)
30 Wednesday,June29,2016The Nugget Newspaper,Sisters,Oregon state police probe fingerprint alteration BEND (AP) — Oregon StatePoliceareinvestigating the agency’s own Portland- arealabaftertheysayafin- gerprint analysis appears to have been improperly altered. OregonStatePoliceCapt. Alex Gardner informed Crook County District Attorney Daina Vitolins abouttheinquiryinaJune17 letter, The Bulletin of Bend reported. Accordingtotheletter,a forensicscientistmatcheda fingerprint to a database in a way that violated normal procedure. Normally a print is run through an Oregon data- base, then if no match is made a second search is made against a regional database. If no regional match is made, the analyst willrunanationaldatabase search. The analyst appears to have missed a match at the statelevel,butthenmatched the fingerprint to the same individual after moving up thesearch,accordingtothe letter. Thescientistthenaltered a report to make it appear he had followed appropri- ate procedure, the letter said. Gardnerwrotethatnoth- ing about the incident sug- gest this error would have resultedinunjustifiedpros- ecution. He said every fin- gerprintmatchisverifiedby asecondanalyst. Theanalystwhoisbeing investigatedhastestifiedfive timessince2009. Capt. Bill Fugate, state police spokesman, would not identify the examiner Wednesday, saying the inquirywasinternalandnot criminalinnature. Vi t o l i n s c o n f i r m e d Wednesdaythatshereceived the letter from Gardner but said it would be “inappro- priate” for her to comment because the investigation is pending. The internal investiga- tion comes as the Oregon Department of Justice is investigating Bend lab ana- lyst Nika Larsen, who is on leave and suspected of removingdrugs and replac- ingthemwithover-the-coun- termedications. Land use: Project hasbeendelayed byappeals Continued from page 1 McKenzie Meadow Village (MMV). The modification would accommodate shifting the location of the proposed assisted living facility by more than 25 feet to allow for the construction of a smaller facility than origi- nallyapprovedin2010.The modificationofthesiteplan would entitle the develop- ment details associated with theassistedlivingfacility. Council’s prior approval had been appealed by PAG to LUBA and due to some technicalities and missing documentation, it had been remandedtoCounciltorecon- siderandcorrect. A letter was received on June23,thedayofthehear- ing, from PAG’s attorneys, Perkins Coie of Portland, requesting that the City CouncildenyMMV’sappli- cationsforthemodifications. Theletterbasicallyreiterated theargumentsmadebyPAG in their original appeal to the Council in July 2015 of the Planning Commission’s decision, which they later appealedtoLUBA. They argued that new i m p a c t s t u d i e s s h o u l d have been required for the requested modifications. Therewillbefewerunitsin theassisted-livingfacilitythan originallyproposed—57vs. 82.TheCitystaff,trafficengi- neer,publicworksstaff,and assisted-livingfacilitydevel- operKevinCoxallprovided information and data neces- sarytosupportthedecreased impactofthemodifiedplan. MMV’s attorneys pre- sented detailed findings of fact to counteritem-by-item PAG’sassertions.Noonerep- resentingPAGwasinatten- danceatthehearing.Council voted 5-0 to deny PAG’s appealandapprovedamended conditions of approval for theiroriginaldecision. TheballisnowinPAG’s court. They can accept the Council’s decision or they can appeal again to LUBA. If LUBA were to dismisses theirappeal,PAGcouldtake it to the Court of Appeals and eventually all the way to the State Supreme Court. Iftheyweretogothatroute, development of the MMV assisted-livingfacilitycould bedelayedindefinitely. MMV attorney Laura Craska Cooper told City Council that MMV partner Bill Willitts told her, “Not asingleweekgoesbythatI don’tgetaskedwhenwewill bebuildingtheassisted-living facilitysothataSistersresi- dentcanmovetheirfatheror motherheretoSisters.” Also delayed is cot- tage housing and afford- able apartments for seniors plannedaspartoftheMMV development. Still to be considered by LUBAisPAG’sthirdappeal regardingthePlanningCom- mission’sextensiongrantedto theMMVsubdivision. In the meantime, no work has begun on PAG’s own assisted-living facility approvedforthepropertynext to the post office, between LarchandLocust.Noexpla- nationforthedelayhasbeen offeredbyPAG,despitepast attempts by The Nugget to contactPAGdeveloperMark Adolf. Spectacular Horse Property 18357 Fadjur Lane • Sisters, Oregon Simply spectacular 40-acre horse property near Sisters. Single-level main house designed by Robert Thompson with massive windows framing majestic Cascade mountain views and pristine views of the natural high desert landscape. Home sold furnished. Equine facilities include a 4-stall barn with tack room, horse run-in shelters, hay barn, exterior riding arena, pens and grazing paddocks. A studio/shop building and an additional storage building round out the amenities. Gated and fully fenced. It just doesn’t get any better! $1,895,000 Call Jeff Jones to learn more! Jeff Jones Principal Broker 541-480-7201 jeffjoneslcl@gmail.com 290 E. Cascade Ave., Sisters Offi ce: 541-588-6614 Fax: 541-549-6339 metoliuspropertysales.com
