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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2019)
2 Wednesday, September 25, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O Editorial… Free speech and civility <Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.= The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America is the bed- rock on which our political, social and cultural discourse rests. In the coming weeks, readers of The Nugget will find in these pages com- mentary on the nature and meaning of these 45 crucial words, starting in this edition with some challenging thoughts from retired attorney Pete Shepherd of Sisters (page 21). Should robocalls be considered <free speech= under First Amendment protection? The impli- cations of how we look at that everyday ques- tion are& interesting. Shepherd is one of four panelists who will lead a lively 4 and entertaining 4discussion of the First Amendment on Thursday, October 24, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Sisters Fire Hall. Freedom of expression, freedom of con- science 4 how do these play out in law? How do they play out in a culture where some attempt to silence or <cancel= expression they don9t like? How do we promote civility in our discourse without shackling free speech? These questions are trickier than they might first appear. The forthcoming columns and the community discussion will wrestle with them 4 and the Sisters community is invited to par- ticipate. After all, it9s OUR right. Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s 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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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: There is something fundamentally wrong with our police protection in Sisters. When we need volunteer vigilante neigh- bors to patrol our streets at night due to break- ins and vandalism, and when it takes 20 min- utes for the police to respond to a major break- in crisis where the intruder was only a step or two away from being shot, such has what hap- pened on Monday, September 9, on W. Carson Ave. at 2 a.m. here in the Hayden subdivision (see full story in the September 18 edition of The Nugget), basic and adequate protection of our city is not happening via the contract with Deschutes County Sheriff9s Department. A 20-minute response indicates there was NO police officer in Sisters city limits at the time the 911 call was placed. We have our own fire and EMT department, our own planning department, our own public works department. Why do we not have our own police depart- ment that assures that residents can get emer- gency help in the middle of the night? This is unacceptable! The City just approved another 160 homes to be built by Hayden next to the high school, not to mention the added homes and multi- ple-unit apartments it is building across from McDonald9s and Ray9s market which will add several hundred more residents to our city. We cannot sustain all the added growth without also expanding our police protection. It9s time for the Sisters City Council to act on re-estab- lishing a Sisters city police department, sooner rather than later. William Carmichael s s s See LETTERS on page 14 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy AM Shower/Snow Partly Cloudy 72/51 73/47 63/39 52/34 47/31 47/29 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC 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. Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Graphic Design: Jess Draper Community Marketing Partners: Vicki Curlett & Patti Jo Beal Classifieds & Circulation: Lisa May Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Owner: J. Louis Mullen 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. ©2019 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. 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 Newspaper9s 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 Politicizing climate change By Eric Knirk Guest Columnist The climate changes 4 and always has and always will. This subject has been politicized, monetized and weaponized to the point where in the public domain it cannot be exam- ined, debated scientifically and rationally. Most data that the media and politi- cians use to push this sub- ject is found in global cli- mate computer MODELS, that by the way, have been incorrect and adjusted many times. For example, since 1998 the data has not shown a strong warming trend, and it9s right about the time this information was released the term was changed from <global warming= to <cli- mate change.= The fact is, politicians and advocacy groups have popularized the terms <settled science= and <scientific consensus.= Anyone that knows about science, or the scientific method, knows that these terms are antithetical to sci- ence. These terms are used to shut down debate and the presentation of contrary facts, opinions and theories. In 1976 there was a major study that appeared in Time and Newsweek maga- zines that declared with all <scientific= proof that we were in a global cooling trend which would be disas- ter for man. At the same time there were claims of disaster if the earth9s popu- lation exceeded 5 billion. Then in the 1990s global warming became the fear and the UN climate report and model was polarized, resulting in calls to rein in the U.S. lifestyle, economy and capitalism in general. This is the heart of this movement9s agenda. With climate change they can never be wrong: record warm weather, it9s climate change; record cold, it9s climate change; record drought, it9s climate change; record floods, it9s climate change... The empirical historic data demonstrates that, NO, in fact hurricanes are not worse, nor more fre- quent than ever. But every time there is a WEATHER event, it is now catastrophic man-made climate change involved. Greenland used to have Nordic peoples farming it before it became covered in ice and snow; yes the climate changes. Several times, in cycles, the entire northern portion of America was a massive glacier that melted, created the Great Lakes and carved the Grand Canyon; yes the climate changes. There used to be huge interior seas covering portions of the continents; yes the climate changes. What farting cow, power plant, or SUV caused those epic events? Ancient gla- cial ice-core studies, geo- logic evidence, and tree- ring studies demonstrate significant global warming and cooling cycles existed long before man9s influence was a part of the ecosys- tem. These ancient climate changes involved tempera- tures much more significant than anything predicted in the UN climate computer model. One solar event can change the climate more than any of the tempera- ture changes predicted/esti- mated in the UN model. So logically this all begs the following questions: " Are the models accu- rate (honest)? " There is not scien- tific consensus, so why are we not allowing the entire fact-set to be disseminated and examined? Why do we allow this subject to be so politicized and one- sided? Why don9t we allow our students to receive the entire set of facts and debate? " To what extent does man9s activity change the climate? To what extent can mankind realistically mod- ify its activities to effect any changes? " Is .05 to 2.0 degrees in warming over 100 years a net negative world-wide? Because there are studies that show more CO 2 and warmer temps will cause more greening of the planet, which in turn may off-set the removal of rain forest in some regions, off-set warming and be more <food productive.= Does this contempla- tion and information come as a surprise to our kids and most of the public? Unfortunately, yes it does. I fear a world where science and debate are overtaken by propaganda and politics. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.