The Nugget Vol. XLVI No. 2
POSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Wildlife census could impact Sisters Country By Bill Bartlett Correspondent
Oregon has one of the most robust land use and planning protocols in the nation, and LUBA — the Land Use Board of Appeals — has been the center of disputes for decades between advocates and opponents of growth. The year 2023 will no doubt be a year of controversy in the long running debate about best stewardship practices when Deschutes County resumes consideration of updating its wildlife inventory. In the face of declining mule deer numbers, and greater concern for the protected range of elk and bald and golden eagles, biologists are signaling the possible need for more restrictions on private property owners. In 2021 an interagency working group in collaboration with Dr. Wendy Wente under a grant from Oregon Department of Land Conservation undertook the initial phase to update Deschutes County’s wildlife inventory last taken some 30 years ago. The group’s assessment was that all three of the County’s current data sets did not currently align with the best available
PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15
Sisters embraces bereaved family By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief
The project’s priority was pushed downward as in 2022 staff had to respond to Ballot Measure 9-152 regarding psilocybin therapy or production in the County, which passed. Additionally the impact of SB 391 that went into law
The family of Maria Aviles Tapia, who died in a single-vehicle car accident on Thursday, December 23, is profoundly grateful to the Sisters community for the outpouring of support the family has received in the face of their tragedy. “They’ve been doing such a good support for the family and the kids,” said Maria’s brother Jaime Tapia. “I really, really want to say thank you.” Tapia, 38, died when the vehicle she was a passenger in slid on ice heading west toward Sisters just before 4 p.m., left the roadway and struck a tree. The incident occurred near the Sisters Rodeo Grounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Maria was the mother of five children, ranging in age from three to 19.
See CENSUS on page 22
See FAMILY on page 12
PHOTO COURTESY ODFW
A county wildlife overlay zone is likely to be a contentious land-use issue in coming months. science. “They are out of date and land use changes can conflict with the long-term maintenance of these wildlife resources,” their summary report said. There were two public open houses, April 15 and April 20, 2021. A summary
report was issued the following month. In November 2021, based on the results of Phase 1, the Board of County Commissioners directed Community Development Department staff to initiate a pilot project updating the proposed new inventory only for mule deer winter range.
Temporary Sisters Library arrives Gun measure on hold following judge’s order By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief
By Bill Bartlett Correspondent
A circuit court judge in Burns in Harney County has temporarily blocked the entirety of Ballot Measure 114, a controversial gun control law narrowly enacted by voters last November. Presiding Judge Robert Raschio of the 24th Judicial District ruled: “The court declines to remove the background check provisions from the [temporary restraining order] as the provisions are intertwined with the permit-to-purchase program and the court has made no final determination on constitutionality of the program.” Arguments were made
Inside...
before the judge on December 23 and he took a week to deliberate. The core of the arguments were languagebased, and dealt primarily with the background check provisions of the law. The arguments were highly technical in nature, and not made-for-TV courtroom drama. Opponents of the measure have long argued before and after passage that the wording of the measure was fraught with misleading and confusing verbiage. An example of the complexity of the debate was demonstrable: “The court would be See MEASURE on page 9
Back in 1980 the original Sisters Library—630 square feet and built in the 1930s—was lifted off its foundation, loaded on a trailer, and moved a few blocks to a new location. It was not long, however, before the community outgrew that building, as well as another 2,600-square-foot space built in 1989. In 2005, the current 8,300-square-foot Sisters Library began serving the public as part of the Deschutes Public Library System. Almost 20 years later the Sisters Library is about to undergo a significant remodel, and in a moment of déjà vu, yet another library building was loaded
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
The public will be able to access library services through a temporary site that will be in place until a remodel of the Sisters Library is completed. on the back of a trailer and brought to the site of the current facility on the corner of Cedar and Main. This time,
however, the mobile building is a temporary space intended See LIBRARY on page 16
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Roundabout Sisters .......... 6 Entertainment ................. 11 Fun & Games ....................18 Classifieds................. 20-21 Meetings .......................... 3 Announcements...............10 Obituaries .................. 14-15 Crossword .......................19 Real Estate .................21-24