Wednesday, May 17, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Man charged
in Oregon cliff
death strikes
plea deal
HOOD RIVER (AP) —
A Bend man charged with
pushing his girlfriend to her
death off a trail in the Colum-
bia River Gorge has pleaded
guilty to criminally negligent
homicide and coercion after
striking a plea deal.
The Oregonian/Oregon-
Live reports that Steven P.
Nichols had increased the life
insurance policy on 23-year-
old Rhonda Casto to $1 million
months before her 2009 death
and was charged with murder.
But evidence problems
created challenges for pros-
ecutors. The Oregon Supreme
Court ruled an interview with
Nichols after his arrest was
inadmissible. A lead detective
also destroyed crime scene
and autopsy photos.
Nichols was secretly
indicted while living in China
and was arrested in San Fran-
cisco in 2015.
He received three years
of probation, with credit for
19 months of jail time while
awaiting trial.
CIVIL WAR: Some
700 students will
visit encampment
Continued from page 3
it was back home while
the men were away at war.
The event closes at 5 p.m.
on Saturday and 4 p.m. on
Sunday.
General admission is $8;
seniors, active military and
students, $5. Family maxi-
mum is $25. Parking is $5
per vehicle and supports the
Boy Scouts.
In the spirit of making
history come alive for stu-
dents, about 110 students,
parents, and teachers from
Sisters Middle School and
from a Sisters homeschool
group and schools outside
the Sisters area will attend
a private School Day on
Friday at the Civil War
Reenactment. In total, about
700 students, teachers and
parents will experience the
event.
House on Metolius
(http://www.metolius.com)
is located off Highway 20
north of Camp Sherman, off
road 1420.
The event is put on by
the Northwest Civil War
Council (http://nwcwc.org)
a nonprofit, living-history
organization.
21
New emergency information network
Local, state, and fed-
eral agency partners in
Central Oregon are work-
ing together to provide the
public easy and quick access
to joint emergency updates
and preparedness/hazard
information.
T h e s e l o c a l e ff o r t s
started during the Two Bulls
Fire in 2014 and are now
being expanded as agencies
launch the Central Oregon
Emergency Information
Network, a coalition of part-
ners whose purpose is to pro-
vide emergency public infor-
mation. The network will
serve as Central Oregon’s
official source for multi-
agency emergency updates,
preparedness, and hazard
information.
In the event of an a multi-
jurisdictional emergency,
Central Oregon Emergency
Information Network updates
will be posted online at
coemergencyinfo.blogspot.
com and on Twitter @
COEmergencyInfo.
The Central Oregon
Emergency Information
Network will be coordinat-
ing messaging related to pub-
lic safety and governmental
response to the 2017 Solar
Eclipse.
The network’s partner
agencies include local, state,
and federal agencies involved
in public safety, health
care, land management and
education.
Central Oregon Emergency Information Network
http://coemergencyinfo.blogspot.com
Twitter @ COEmergencyInfo
American man slain in Mexican state
MEXICO CITY (AP)
— A U.S. citizen and envi-
ronmental activist has been
killed in the Gulf Coast
state of Veracruz, a hotbed
of violence and extortion by
drug gangs, authorities and
Mexican media said.
The U.S. Embassy con-
firmed on Tuesday the
death of Gordon Strom and
declined to comment fur-
ther out of respect for his
family.
T h e Ve r a c r u z s t a t e
prosecutor’s office said the
male victim it identified only
by his initials was found
dead May 4 in a home in El
Zapote, in the municipality of
Teocelo, with head wounds
caused by a firearm.
La Jornada newspaper
reported that the 58-year-old
man was discovered at his
ranch with his hands and feet
tied, and that he had been
beaten.
The newspaper said
Strom arrived in Teocelo six
years ago and participated in
environmental conservation
projects such as recycling
and water filtration, ran a
meditation group for children
and adults and advocated for
urban gardening and water
rights.
On a Facebook page in
Strom’s name where people
left messages of condolences,
it said he had attended high
school and community col-
lege in the Portland, Oregon,
area.