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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2016)
16 Wednesday, September 21, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Bookstore Oregon standoff trial is underway hosts author events By Steven Dubois Associated Press Pamela Royes will visit Paulina Springs Books on Friday, September 23 at 6:30 p.m. to talk about her mem- oir, “Temperance Creek.” This beautifully crafted book tells the story of Pamela and her family’s adventur- ous existence in the remote Hell’s Canyon of Eastern Oregon. As they faced many challenges together their perseverance and faith in one another helped them through some very difficult times. Former Oregon governor Barbara Roberts will visit the bookstore on Saturday, September 24 at 6:30 p.m. Paulina Springs and Partners in Care welcome Roberts as she discusses her book “Death Without Denial, Grief Without Apology.” Written for both the indi- vidual facing death and for those who must grieve after a death, Roberts offers read- ers enthusiastic support to abandon the silence that too often accompanies impend- ing death and those who must grieve. Local author Jill Stanford returns to Paulina Springs Books Saturday, October 8 at 6:30 p.m. with an anthol- ogy of cowgirls poets. Stanford has edited a delight- ful book featuring the poems, thoughts and musi- cal lyrics of real ranching women and cowgirls who have lived the true Western experience. Refreshments will be served at all events and a $5 admission will be refunded upon purchase of the featured book. PAIN? I CAN HELP! Taya Newton Massage Therapist #22458 Effective massage for acute & chronic pain, sport injuries, and relaxation. 541-550-0257 PORTLAND (AP) — The leaders of an armed standoff at a rural wildlife refuge say they came to Oregon’s high desert country to help locals deal with an overreaching federal government that has abused people’s land rights for decades. “I felt we were not there to break the law but to enforce the law,” said occupier Ryan Bundy, referring to the U.S. Constitution. Bundy, who acted as his own attorney Tuesday, September 13, as a trial began for him and six others accused in the stand- off, told the court he wasn’t anti-government, “as long as it’s done correctly.” But in opening statements prosecutors said Bundy and the other protesters broke the law when they threatened and intimidated federal employ- ees during the 41-day take- over of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. “Everyone in this great nation has a right to his or her beliefs. We are not prosecut- ing the defendants because we don’t like what they think or said,” federal prosecutor Geoffrey Barrow told jurors. “We are prosecuting them because of what they did.” Barrow dismissed claims by group leader Ammon B u n d y, Ry a n B u n d y ’s brother, and others that the takeover was a legitimate protest of federal land man- agement. The Bundy brothers are part of a Nevada ranching family embroiled in a long- running dispute over land use. The standoff began as a protest against the imprison- ment of two Oregon ranchers convicted of setting fires and quickly grew into demands for the U.S. government to turn public lands over to locals. The issue traces back to the 1970s and the Sagebrush Rebellion, a move by Western states to win more control of vast federal land holdings. The seven on trial are charged with conspiring to impede Interior Department employees from doing their jobs through intimidation or threats. Five are also charged with possession of a firearm in a federal facility. Barrow said he will detail how the occupiers were divided into squads and drilled in hand-to-hand com- bat. He also said one of the participants in the standoff will testify against his former allies. Marcus Mumford, the defense attorney for Ammon Bundy, said in his opening statement that the occupa- tion had nothing to do with impeding federal employees. Ammon Bundy “did what he did to demand account- ability from the federal gov- ernment,” Mumford said. “He demanded the federal government obey the law — the nerve.” Bundy grew up the son of a rancher, Mumford said, and became a “reluctant activist.” Mumford repeatedly asserted that Bundy was try- ing to take the refuge land legally by a practice known as adverse possession, which is a way to gain title to land by occupying it for a period of time. Mumford ended his state- ment by noting that Bundy and his followers never aimed a gun at anyone. Referencing the fatal shooting by police of occu- pation spokesman Robert “Lavoy” Finicum, he said only one side of the standoff shot someone. “And it wasn’t Mr. Bundy.” At the refuge near Burns, Oregon, protesters mostly came and went as they pleased. They changed the signs to “Harney County Resource Center” and said they would give the land to local officials to administer. The occupation roiled the surrounding area, with some locals supporting the move- ment and others denouncing the occupiers as unwanted outsiders. Counterprotesters, includ- ing environmentalists, trav- eled to eastern Oregon and urged the federal government to administer public lands for the widest possible uses, for everyone from ranchers to bird watchers. The Bundys were arrested in a Jan. 26 traffic stop that included the fatal shoot- ing of Finicum, an occupa- tion spokesman. Four hold- outs stayed at the refuge for another 16 days. On Tuesday about a dozen protesters showed up out- side the federal courthouse in downtown Portland. They waved an upside-down American flag and marched around the building during the trial’s lunch break. “We’re slowly losing our rights, whether it’s our rights to farm, our rights to fish, our rights to have ponds on our property, water,” said John Lamb, a protester from Bozeman, Montana. “I just see that we’re losing them all, slowly but surely — and we don’t even have a say-so in it.” PARK IT IN STYLE! Bike racks... we’ve got ’em! 541-549-9280 • Sisters Industrial Park www.PonderosaForge.com | CCB# 87640 Free Gift When You Book A Celebration! Weddings • Anniversaries Birthdays • Offi ce/Holiday Parties More! New Client Special! 1-HOUR MASSAGE - $55 New Hours: Breakfast & Lunch, Wed.-Sun. Dinner by reservation, Wed. - Sun. Reservations required d hair | massage | nails | facials | makeup 161-C N. Elm St., Sisters 541.516.3030 www.lakecreeklodge.com — Dr. Denise Hicks —