The Nugget Vol. XLV No. 33
POSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Blues festival rocks Sisters
City plans for water system upgrades
By Ceili Gatley Correspondent
After a two-year hiatus, the Sisters Rhythm & Brews Festival graced the Village Green stage in downtown Sisters last weekend. The weekend was full of blue skies, cold brews, and some of the best blues artists in the country. Founders Joe and Jennifer Rambo have a heart for giving back to their community, with part of the Festival proceeds contributing to Habitat for Humanity programming, Heart of Oregon Corps, and Sisters Gro scholarships — local programs the Rambos support. Many attendees carried over their tickets from 2020 for the 2022 shows, including Brad and Teresa Bowman from Seattle. “We came to the fest three years ago and then bought our tickets for 2020, and obviously that didn’t happen, so we decided we would roll them over for 2022. It’s a great festival, great blues, great food, and we love
PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15
By Sue Stafford Correspondent
developed a passion and drive to play the blues,” Willis told The Nugget. Willis plays an old style of acoustic blues — just
The critical concerns for Sisters’ water system are storage capacity, transmission-line capacities, and aging/undersized infrastructure. Over the next two decades, the City projects investing millions of dollars in the water system. The Sisters City Council has received a system evaluation and recommended capital improvement projects to the City water system from Anderson Perry & Associates Consulting Engineers and Public Works director Paul Bertagna. The water system overview evaluated the City’s current capacity to determine
See BLUES on page 8
See WATER on page 23
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Southern Avenue turned in high-energy performances during the Sisters Rhythm & Brews Festival last weekend. The festival returned in fine form after a two-year hiatus. Sisters,” said Brad Bowman. The Festival kicked off Friday evening at 4 p.m., starting with new-on-thescene Jontavious Willis, hailing from Greenville, Georgia. This is Willis’ first
time to Sisters while on tour across the nation. Willis grew up listening to old blues musicians from Mississippi and taught himself to play guitar. “I taught myself and
Controversial fire risk map shelved By Bill Bartlett Correspondent
In a surprise move, the Oregon Department of Forestry has withdrawn its wildfire risk map after receiving criticism from the public. People who own property in “high” or “extreme” wildfire risk areas may face new requirements under Senate Bill 762. The map was part of the implementation of SB762. Last month the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) released the new map, created with Oregon State University, that outlined wildfire risk statewide, in the first step toward requiring new fire-resistant codes in areas of high or extreme risk. Following a sizable amount of pushback, some quite heated, the agency said it’s going to “remove the current iteration of the wildfire
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risk map.” Many in southern Oregon in particular were angered that they might have to abide by new codes for fire-resistant homes or defensible space under what they viewed as a misguided and illogically created map, according to public comments. An area of concern around the map was potential impact of risk classification on homeowners insurance. “We’ve received specific feedback from nearly 2,000 Oregonians that has helped us understand the key areas of concern related to risk classification,” ODF said in a news release. “We have a window of opportunity before the new codes go into effect to take some immediate steps toward addressing those concerns, and we will be taking full advantage of the opportunity. See RISK MAP on page 23
Junior rider Joslynn Terry (front) and her sponsor, Kristen Grace, rode through Sisters forests during an endurance event last weekend. PHOTO BY BILL BARTLETT
Riders in Sisters test endurance By Bill Bartlett Correspondent
Saturday saw 61 equestrians from four states gather at Sisters Cow Camp for a day of endurance riding competition. There was a 50-mile course run by 18, a 30-mile
limited-distance route that had 36 riders, and seven riders who came out for a 12-mile introductory course. Known as the Historic Santiam Cascade Endurance Ride, the Sisters-based group has been around for 58 years, with over 300
members on social media. The ride was AERC sanctioned (American Endurance Ride Conference). The event took place in spectacular weather, cooler than forecast, with bright, See ENDURANCE on page 16
Letters/Weather ............... 2 News Nuggets ................... 6 Entertainment ................. 11 Obituaries .......................19 Classifieds................. 20-21 Meetings .......................... 3 Announcements...............10 Sisters Country Birds ....... 11 Crossword .......................19 Real Estate ................ 22-24