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in other words march19 2020 17 The Residual Power of Ammon Bundy continued from page 11 representatives open their doors to us, and the sheriffs and bureaucrats. In Orofino, we went to the county courthouse. They were as cordial and helpful as anybody could possibly be,” he said. Peter Walker, author of Sage- brush Collaboration: How Harney County Defeated the Takeover of the Malheur Refuge, thinks counties across the West closely watched the 2016 occu- pation and won’t stand for anything like it. “People in (Clearwater County) pretty quickly — and these are very conserva- tive people — said, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about, this isn’t your community, go away,’ ” he said. Still, Bundy has power he didn’t have before the 2016 occupation, Walker told me, particularly among people al- ready inclined to anti-government senti- ment. And David Neiwert, author of Alt- America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump and an expert on right-wing extremism, agrees. “I think that the entire Patriot movement is con- stantly looking for situations like this where they can create these standoffs,” he said. “It’s mostly a matter of being a situation where they feel like they can make a public justification for it... and also it has to be one where they can actu- ally succeed.” In Orofino, a woman behind a cash register at a gas station said ev- eryone in town heard Bundy was on his way. But “there was no trouble with the gentleman at all,” she said. He was there, and then he was gone. He looked into the case. And that says a lot about the source of his power. It comes from fear — a fear that he and the militia could strike anywhere, anytime. If the conditions are just right, if the lie is compelling enough and enough people want to believe it, maybe he’ll lead gun-toting people to take over your town, too. “People in (Clearwater County) pretty quickly — and these are very conservative people — said, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about, this isn’t your community, go away.’ ” Nickerson case and concluded they were “just a bunch of bums sitting up there.” And so, as the Los Angeles Times reported, “Ammon Bundy’s rush to save an Idaho ranch ends without a standoff.” That Ammon Bundy did not lead people to take up arms against the government again is now a newsworthy event. But what didn’t make headlines was the hypocrisy that informed his de- cision: How Bundy, in the past, has led two standoffs under the guise of a lie about the government, and yet chose not to indulge a new lie in the Nickerson But the Nickerson case wasn’t right. So there the family was: camping on the rocky shoulder of a steep moun- tain road. No snow was on the ground yet, but the November breeze cut like razors. Bare hands found their way into sweatshirt pockets, and the first em- This article was originally published in High Country News on February 21, 2020. Leah Sottile is a correspon- dent at High Country News. She writes from Portland, Oregon. Don‛t worry. We‛ll go to Meyer‛s Auto Body. I hear they‛re out of this world. Meyer’s Auto Body 493 Bridge Street VERNONIA • 503-429-0248 IT’S TAX TIME Don’t Sell it! Pawn it! bers of a campfire snapped. “(Bundy) spent just minutes with us. He spent all his time in town making deals? I don’t know,” Donna Nickerson said. “We are the victims here, but he tried to change that.” The Nickersons continue to add new videos to their website. In one, the family, wearing jet-black fake beards and thick black eyebrows, sings a song about Chase Bank. “We’ll fight all the way for our home,” they sing. “Yes, we’ll fight all the way for our home.” At the end of January, the Nick- ersons were still out there on the side of the road. Call your LOCAL tax preparer FOR TOWING EMERGENCIES IN AND AROUND THE VERNONIA AREA R Y OLL A P PLUS LLC Police and County personnel are required to use a rotation of available providers, UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY ASK for a service by name. For fast cash! Edi Sheldon 503-429-1819 edisheldon@gmail.com Baseline Pawn, Inc. Licensed tax consultant • Full service payroll Personal & small business bookkeeping • QuickBooks assistance CORPS, S-CORPS, LLC, Partnerships • Personal one-on-one service 2245 Baseline St., Cornelius (Across from Fred Meyer) 503-530-8119 State Licensed PB-0388 REQUEST TOWING SERVICE FROM Open everyday at 10 a.m. LTC #29629 - Oregon licensed tax consultant RTRP #P00448199 - designated as a registered tax return preparer by the Internal Revenue Service The IRS does not endorse any particular individual tax return preparer. For more information on tax return preparers, go to www.IRS.gov. Church Directory Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Sunday Schedule: Sacrament Meeting: 10:00 am Sunday School & Primary: 11:20 am Relief Society, Priesthood and Young Women: 12:10 pm Roger Cook, Branch President 1350 E. Knott Street 503-429-7151 Grace Family Fellowship Sunday School: 9:00 am Worship Service: 10:30 am Thursday Prayer: 6:00 pm Greg “Mac” McCallum, Pastor 957 State Avenue 503-429-6790 Nehalem Valley Bible Church Sunday School: 9:45 am Worship Service: 10:45 am Tues. Ladies Bible Study: 9:30 am Wednesday Service: 7:00 pm Sat. Men’s Prayer Meeting: 6:30 am Gary Taylor, Pastor 500 North Street 503-429-5378 Open Door Gathering Place Service: Sunday 6:00 pm Grant Williams, Pastor 375 North Street 503-702-3553 Bible Study: Sunday 9:00 am at Mariolino’s St. Mary’s Catholic Church Sunday Mass: 12:00 pm Fr. Josh Clifton, Administrator 960 Missouri Avenue 503-429-8841 Vernonia Christian Church Sunday School: 9:45 am Worship Service in Youth & Family Center: 10:00 am www.VernoniaChristianChurch.org Sam Hough, Pastor 410 North Street 503-429-6522 Vernonia Seventh-day Adventist Church Sabbath (Saturday) Services Sabbath School: 9:30 am Worship Service: 11:00 am www.VernoniaSDAC.org Larry Gibson, Pastor 2 nd Avenue and Nehalem Street 503-429-8301