The Nugget Vol. XLVII No. 18
POSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Banners honor Sisters Class of 2024 By Sue Stafford Correspondent
This year’s high school graduating seniors who live in Sisters Country are being recognized and celebrated with individual photo banners hanging on lamp posts along all of Cascade Avenue and parts of Main and Hood Avenues from April 22 through May 13. According to Citizens4 Community (C4C) executive director Kellen Klein, “The Banner Project was initially launched in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a way to acknowledge and honor graduating students when in-person festivities weren’t feasible. After a one-year hiatus, the Project is being relaunched for the Class of 2024.” All graduating seniors in Sisters Country are acknowledged, whether they attend Sisters High School, another high school or educational program, or are home schooled. Participation in the project is totally voluntary, and a few students opted out. There is no cost to the students or their families. The community support for the Project has
Sisters to take on housing challenges By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief
Sisters City Councilor Jennifer Letz makes a stark — but hopeful — assessment of Sisters’ housing situation. “I perceive it as bad, but salvageable,” she told The Nugget. “We’re not too far gone yet. I think we have the ability as a community to take charge of the housing situation and improve it.” The community will get an opportunity to share a situation report on housing, and ideas on how to address the challenges of affordability, at a forum sponsored by Citizens4Community (C4C) and The Nugget Newspaper on Sunday, May 5. The forum is set for 4 p.m. at SistersCamp Sherman Fire District
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fully funded with $3,525 in eight days. This shows how much the community supports each other and our students.” Vohs had worked with C4C on the banner project for the class of ’21. See BANNERS on page 18
See RV UNITS on page 12
PHOTO BY KELLEN KLEIN
Community Hall. Letz is one member of a panel who will kick off discussions. Letz says she has long been concerned that Sisters would go the way of other “gateway communities” in the West and become an exclusive enclave. Think Jackson Hole, Aspen, and their ilk. “That’s my fear,” she said. However, she believes that Sisters still has a window of opportunity to bring policy and funding tools to bear to alter that trajectory. “It’s not too late to change course and keep this a community for everybody — everybody who works here and is part of the community,” she said. See HOUSING on page 16
continue to happen in years to come. Kellen Klein jumped right in and took the reins! With our parent volunteers, Kellen, the City of Sisters, and assistance from SHS, the project took off again in full force. C4C set up a fundraising page to fund the project, and it was
County mulls RVs as rental units Should rural property owners be allowed to rent space to RV dwellers? That is the question that will come before the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on Wednesday, May 8. The Commissioners will hold a public hearing where residents can provide their input on allowing recreational vehicles to be used as rental dwellings. Following the adoption of Oregon Senate Bill (SB) 1013, which became law in January 2024, the BOCC is considering whether to amend Deschutes County zoning code and permit property owners in rural residential areas to rent out a location for an RV on their property subject to certain conditions. The baseline criteria for RVs as rental dwellings include:
City Public Works installers put up banners honoring each graduating senior of the Class of 2024. The banners will hang on Cascade, Main, and Hood avenues through May 13. been evident since parents Angie Bagg and Jamie Vohs wanted to bring the Project back. Bagg explained, “We reached out to C4C due to their previous involvement in the past, and we also wanted to find a ‘home’ for this project so that it would
PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15
CEC protects power lines in Sisters Keeping power lines safe from wildfire is a critical part of infrastructure protection in Sisters Country. Right of way (ROW) clearing can mitigate sources of wildfire ignition and improve worker safety for those who maintain power lines. Central Electric Cooperative (CEC) has begun a vegetation management project on approximately 3.5 miles of existing powerline along Forest Service Road 2058 (North Pine Street) — a road that connects the City of Sisters with Indian Ford Road to the north. Central Electric Cooperative (CEC) is completing this ongoing maintenance to ensure reliable electricity for the greater Sisters area. The work will include felling approximately 140 trees within 10 feet of the
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
Right of way clearing below power lines can help mitigate sources of wildfire ignition. power transmission line cor- felled. Hazard identification ridor. Trees alongside the includes trees or branches corridor may be trimmed, with the potential to come in and hazard trees outside the 10-foot corridor may be See POWER LINES on page 18
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Obituaries ........................ 8 Entertainment ................. 11 In the Pines......................13 Crossword ...................... 20 Meetings .......................... 3 Announcements...............10 The Bunkhouse Chronicle . 11 Portraits of Sisters ..........14 Classifieds..................21-23