The Nugget Vol. XLVI No. 35
Council will hold hearing on homeless shelter
POSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
On the run in Sisters…
Housing could lead to teacher shortage By Bill Bartlett Correspondent
By Ceili Gatley Correspondent
The Sisters City Council will hold a hearing on Tuesday, September 5, at 5 p.m. on a proposed emergency shelter for the homeless at 192 W. Barclay Dr. in Sisters. A local nonprofit organization, Sisters Cold Weather Shelter (SCWS), advocates for the houseless community. The organization was awarded funding from the State through the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC) to purchase and operate a shelter at a permanent location within Sisters. The SCWS board has reapplied for the emergency shelter first proposed by the board to the City of Sisters on June 27. The new application is under
PHOTO BY BILL BARTLETT
Some 264 runners ran the Oregon Cascades 100 that began in Bend Saturday morning and finished in Sisters Sunday. Runners aged 19 to 75 ran the 100-mile ultra marathon overnight gaining 12,000 rugged feet in elevation during the grueling trek, 95 percent of which was unpaved.
See HEARING on page 16
See TEACHERS on page 19
Explore Sisters laying tourism groundwork By Bill Bartlett Correspondent
Explore Sisters is tasked with promoting tourism that fits in well with the community values of Sisters. The work of the organization, which is one year old, has not been very visible to the public. The organization is funded through a lodging tax of 8.99 percent on room rates for overnight lodging of less than 30 days. Transient Lodging (Room) Tax (TRT or TLT) is the City’s second largest general fund income source. Despite the volatile economic environment for the last three years that included COVID, Sisters has retained its tourist popularity, resulting in the TLT exceeding conservative projections over prior fiscal years.
Inside...
The average schoolteacher in the U.S. can only afford to buy 12 percent of the homes for sale within a 20-minute drive of their school, down from 17 percent last year, according to a report from real estate broker Redfin. That’s less than half of the pre-pandemic levels, when 30 percent of homes near their workplace were affordable to teachers. Likewise, just 27 percent of the available rental properties near their school are affordable. “The shortage of affordable homes is exacerbating the shortage of teachers,” said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari. “Many teachers who can’t afford to buy a house near work are either renting and missing out
How much is that? $1.07 million of a total of $11.7 million in lodging revenue. Using an average of $150/ night, that works out to 78,000 nights spent in Sisters hotels, motels, cottages, inns, and licensed private homes. Looked at another way, if the average stay is three nights, then roughly 26,000 visitors paid for some kind of overnight accommodation last year. Thirty-three percent of that fund is earmarked for Explore Sisters. By state law, 33 percent of lodging taxes must be spent on promoting tourism. Explore Sisters is known in the tourism world as a DMO — destination marketing organization. Explore Sisters was See TOURISM on page 15
Sisters man wins Americana award By Ceili Gatley Correspondent
Kolby Knickerbocker is a multi-award-winning Americana singer-songwriter. His music has been featured in television, movies, and ads. Knickerbocker and his family relocated to Bend from the valley in 2017 after his wife grew up vacationing in Bend. Just last year, they decided to move to Sisters to raise their growing children and settle in Sisters Country as a young family. Knickerbocker has always loved to play music. He moved all over the country when he was young and found songwriting and music to deal with all the life changes. “I’ve always been able to predict where a song might go and have always been drawn to music. I didn’t grow up playing, but music became
PHOTO BY SHERI DETERMAN
Kolby Knickerbocker won Best Americana Song with “Friend Like You” at the Hollywood Independent Music Awards on August 17. a therapy for me,” he said. According to his website: “Regularly having to say goodbye to the friends and people he’s loved has been a defining aspect for him. Knickerbocker says,
‘Moving a lot can be painful for a young person growing up, finding out who they are. Because of it, my songs are usually tinged with a bit of See SONGWRITER on page 9
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Sisters Salutes ................. 5 Announcements...............10 Nugget Flashback ............18 Classifieds..................21-23 Meetings .......................... 3 Obituaries ........................ 6 Entertainment .................14 Crossword ...................... 20 Sudoku ........................... 22