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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2016)
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 2 O P I N I O Editorial… Eleit Sheriff Shane Nelson Sisters depends upon the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office for its law-enforcement ser- vices — from patrol to criminal investigation to animal control. We need to be sure that those law-enforcement services are in sure, steady hands. That makes it an easy decision to support the election of Shane Nelson as Deschutes County sheriff. Nelson inherited some bad actors and nega- tive circumstances involving various forms of misconduct when he was appointed to the office by retiring sheriff Larry Blanton. His forthright and effective handling of those situ- ations indicates that he is committed to fixing what is wrong with the department — and capable of swift, effective action to do the hard right thing. The overwhelming 94-2 vote of confi- dence Nelson received from the sheriff’s office employees association is evidence that the personnel there believe that the troubled agency is now on the right track. Eric Kozowski is to be commended for his willingness to step up to challenge an appointed incumbent, but the campaign has demonstrated that he is in no way prepared to take on the varied and complex duties of sher- iff. He has not held leadership positions in law enforcement, nor has he sought out education and training for management and leadership roles. That lack of preparation for the job means that he is not a viable choice. Nelson recognizes that his agency faces multiple challenges in a rapidly growing and changing Deschutes County. He has the strate- gic vision and the administrative skills to meet them. The voters should provide him with a mandate to continue the work. Jim Cornelius News Editor Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let- ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: How much do you know about your national congressmen and the way they vote on the issues? Instead of voting based on a TV ad or on a single issue, one can Google “On The Issues” followed by the name of represen- tative Greg Walden or senator Ron Wyden, and it will enter a website in which that per- son’s voting in 20 separate categories is listed. Examples of categories are economy, budget, corporations, crime, energy, environment, edu- cation, foreign policy, gun control, health care, jobs, social security, tax reform, welfare and others. In each category it lists a one-line summary of what bills the congress-person voted on and how he voted, yes or no. One can, by doing this, decide if the person is voting in the man- ner which represents your preferences. B. Graham s s s To the Editor: I believe the citizens of Deschutes County deserve better representation than has been provided by Alan Unger. Citizens that reside in Deschutes County, but not within any city limits, must rely on our county commissioners to look after our interests. In my opinion, Alan Unger has failed to do that job. In 2014 the small, local airport located in the county just outside the limits of the city of Sisters was a rarely used airstrip. It worked well within its residential neighbor- hood, providing service for local pilots. The airport was purchased by Benny Benson, a prominent businessman who convinced the City of Sisters to annex it so he could See LETTERS on page 16 Sisters Weather Foreiast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Increasing clouds Chance rain Mostly sunny Mostly sunny Partly sunny Partly sunny 58/40 60/40 60/38 59/37 57/35 56/na The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson News Editor: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Williver Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Advertising: Karen Kassy Graphic Design: Jess Draper Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Accounting: Erin Bordonaro The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $45; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. N The real threat isn’t about guns By Steve Nugent Correspondent No democrat that I am aware of feels that people are violent just because they own guns. Hillary and the democrat lawmakers have no intention of taking away your guns. No one has the right to search your house or ask you to give up your guns. We have laws and a Constitution that protect us from this. She has only proposed, with the approval of congress, to ban sales of new guns to suspected ter- rorists and assault weapons with large magazines, along with improving background checks for newly purchased handguns. Handgun ownership is like a car license, in my view. It’s not a right, it’s a privilege to be earned and a serious responsibility. I am a gun-owner and a propo- nent of nationwide uniform concealed-carry laws. This is common-sense legislation. Historically laws like Hillary is proposing do not result in even more restric- tive laws, and there is no rea- son to believe these will. The lunatic fringe in the U.S. has propagated this ridiculous notion, along with the NRA, along with some white supremacist radical groups. The proposed assault- weapon ban is no different than laws already on the books limiting ownership of automatic weapons and pro- hibiting grenades, rocket- launchers and RPGs. I would hope that you don’t feel the need to own any of these for purposes of hunting or per- sonal security. Freedom in the U.S. does not include the right to own a large arsenal powerful enough to take on the government. The critical thing that many people in the U.S. have not recognized about the 2016 presidential elec- tion is that our democracy as we know it is truly in jeopardy. This election is not just about two imperfect candidates and choosing the lesser of the two evils. This is about choosing between a democracy and an authori- tarian dictatorship. If you believe your right to bear arms is in jeopardy now, you have much more to fear from Mr. Trump. Trump is a man that only cares about himself and his own wealth and power. He has no respect for anyone except himself, and certain dictators including Saddam Hussein, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Eun — all of whom he admires. He is on record saying this during his campaign and debates. These are all ene- mies of this country, and any candidate that treats them as role models and not adver- saries should be suspect. Trump has all the hall- marks of a dictator like Hitler or Mussolini. He has said that the media are con- spirators, and he wants to censor anyone that publishes negative things about him. He is even now laying the groundwork for multiple frivolous lawsuits against the media. Once elected, he could actually censor and shut down media outlets, even jailing the editors like he wants to do with Hillary. Jailing or executing oppo- nents is a classic dictator tactic. He says that he will fire the military chiefs of staff and replace them with his “own” generals. He has said that he has no problem occupying other countries and taking their natural resources. He is using immi- grants as tools to pit citizens against one another and cre- ate distrust for the current government. He incites vio- lence at his rallies. He has asked citizens to inform on each other. He has talked about “tough” policing, which is nothing more than a veiled attempt at a police state, which violates the Constitution. Read the history and you will find that Hitler used all of these tactics to gain power. Its almost as if Trump is using the rise of other past dictators as his play- book. Incredibly, one GOP lawmaker actually said last week that maybe we need to change the Constitution to give the president more power. This of course comes after major groaning by the GOP that Obama over- stepped his bounds using executive orders. This is how broken the GOP is. I used to be a republican myself. The GOP values of Lincoln have totally cratered over the past eight years, and the ship is sinking now thanks to Trump. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.