The Nugget Vol. XLIX No. 25
POSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Annexation policy stuck on affordable housing
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
School’s out for summer!
By Susan Cobb Correspondent
The Sisters City Council has had four workshops and one joint meeting with the City Planning Commission on the annexation policy — a new chapter in Sisters Development Code. City Community Planning Director Scott Woodford said, “The sticking point in
Sisters Elementary School kids relished the annual tradition of getting a soaking from fire hoses to celebrate the end of the school year and the beginning of summer.
See ANNEXATION on page 12
PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15
PHOTO BY CHARLIE KANZIG
Camp Sherman man arrested twice A Camp Sherman man was jailed twice in the space of a couple of days in separate incidents that drew action from law enforcement. On June 15, Oregon State Police and Black Butte Ranch Police responded to Suttle Lake Lodge regarding a man causing a disturbance. The manager requested that the man, identified as Sheldon Samuel Prescher, 43, of Camp Sherman, be trespassed from the property. Oregon State Police reported that, “OSP and See ARRESTED on page 16
Woman offers warning about Recent work doesn’t affect Conklin’s excessive supplements By Bill Bartlett
By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief
Patti Jo Beal has faced death and made it through — but her road is still rough and rocky. On October 23, 2025, she underwent a life-saving liver transplant, after suddenly going into acute liver failure. “I was 48 hours away from dying if they hadn’t found a liver,” she told The Nugget. She recently spent days in the hospital in acute rejection — a hazard she will continue to face. “They had to suppress my immune system hard and fast so I don’t reject,” she said. “At any point for the rest of my life I could reject.” With bills piling up and limited ability to work, Beal is again making an appeal through her GoFundMe page for support from the community (https://www.gofundme. com/f/help-patti-jo-fight-forher-life-liver-failure-urgentt). “I’m frickin’ broke,” she said. “I hate to do the GoFundme, but my friends said, ‘You need the help.
Inside...
That’s what it’s there for.’” She said she is beyond grateful for the support she has received, including from people she doesn’t even know. Beal is well-known to many in Sisters. She ran Old West Collectibles on Hood Avenue on behalf of Len Gratteri for a number of years, and worked in advertising for The Nugget in 2018–2020. As important to Beal as keeping afloat financially is getting the word out on the potential dangers of excessive supplement intake. Beal suffers from celiac disease and was trying to get her gut microbiome in order. She began taking supplements to address her condition in July 2024. “I was working with a naturopath, and she had me on a whole bunch of supplements,” Beal told The Nugget. “I was taking 18 pills in the morning and 12 at night. My body just couldn’t handle it… “I was spending hundreds of dollars on the See BEAL on page 16
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Meetings .......................... 3
Correspondent
Drivers on Camp Polk the last three or four weeks were getting excited as they assumed construction work in front of the Conklin House was perhaps the start of restoration of the historic lodging establishment. It’s not. What passersby were actually seeing was work done by the City of Sisters, the construction of an eightfoot wide, paved multi-use walkway on the west side of Camp Polk Road between East Barclay Drive and an already completed walkway just south of Sun Ranch Drive. The dilapidated white three-rail fence that fronted the property was removed along with the removal of several unhealthy trees that had partially obscured the house. The old white house is now more visible as a result of the work. This was a particularly risky section of Camp Polk Road where pedestrians and bikers were squeezed onto the motoring roadway. There was, and remains, no sidewalk on the east Announcements...............10 Entertainment ................. 11
PHOTO BY BILL BARTLETT
The Conklin House has a long history in Sisters — but it has fallen into disrepair over the past decade. side of the road. Many readers have erroneously believed that the property located within the Sun Ranch Tourist Commercial District and sitting on nearly five acres was being developed as a 47-unit luxury RV park. Following a 2024 zoning change, the District does allow RV parks as an approved use. However, according to the City’s Associate Planner Sarah Vowell, the property owners have not made any development application of any kind to the City for the property, on which sits the fabled Conklin House.
What became known as the Conklin House began life in 1911 as a schoolhouse followed by a stint as the Hitchcock family residence and later to be occupied by the Barclay family. The old white house just north of East Barclay Drive on the west side of Camp Polk Road has had a history of ups and downs. It’s last life came to be in the 1980s when Frank and Marie Conklin turned it into a quaint bed-and-breakfast. It was described then in travel guides as, “Country elegance in a serene
Where in the world? .........16 Poetry Corner ................. 20
Crossword .......................21 Classifieds................. 22-23
See CONKLIN on page 14