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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2016)
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 9 Texas songwriter to play at The Barn Assisted living facilities still in limbo Texas songwriter Sam Baker will perform in con- cert at The Barn in Sisters on April 6, at 7 p.m. Playing with Baker will be longtime- sideman Chip Dolan, who has toured with him through- out the U.S., Canada, and Europe, providing accompa- niment on piano, keyboard, and mandolin. From small-town begin- nings in Itasca, Texas to headlining major music fes- tivals, Sam Baker’s music and story have been shared throughout the world by major media outlets includ- ing NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Rolling Stone magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. He is a true artist in every way, sharing amazing life experiences through music, story, and visual art. He was called the “Bard of the Workaday World” by The Wall Street Journal, and “perhaps the most captivating songwriter in America” by Lone Star magazine. NPR’s Robert Christgau describes his music as “simultaneously beautiful and broken … his is a story that must be told...” “Life is a gift,” Baker says. “Gratitude for what remains is more helpful than resentment for what was lost. Ultimately, I came to understand that these days are wicked short and terribly beautiful. All I’ve got is this one breath, and if I’m lucky, I get another.” Four albums into a career that was ignited by a tragic event in a foreign land, it is life and its precious value C By Sue Stafford Correspondent Photo Provided Sam Baker plays the Barn on April 6. that carries Sam’s songs and art into the hearts and minds of his adoring fans. Baker’s story includes surviving devastating inju- ries from a terrorist bomb on a bus bound for Machu Picchu, Peru in 1986. Most of the passengers were killed, including the German fam- ily that he had befriended. His injuries required him to relearn how to walk, move, and speak. Many years and over 15 operations later, the new Sam Baker sees beauty in everything around him and expresses his new-found life every day, sometimes with paint and canvas, a camera, or a guitar and song. Baker released his first record, “Mercy,” in 2004, the first in a trilogy of song paintings with sparse instru- mentation and poetic deliv- ery. It was followed by NING SERVICE A E L S Specializing In: Window & Screen Cleaning Home & Rental Cleaning CALL FOR YOUR FREE ESTIMATE! JEFF BLAKE • 541-549-0897 I NSURED , L ICENSED & B ONDED “Pretty World” in 2007, and “Cotton” in 2009. His latest release, “Say Grace,” was named one of the Top Ten Country Albums of 2013 by Rolling Stone magazine. Available at the show will be the long-awaited box set, “The Pretty World Trilogy,” which includes re-releases of his first three albums, art- work by Sam, and a record- ing of a 2014 interview by Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air. Suggested donation for the Wednesday, April 6 con- cert is $20 adult and $10 youth. The Barn is located at 68467 Three Creek Rd., three-quarters of a mile south of town. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. For show informa- tion call 541-408-0200. The saga of Pinnacle Alliance Group of Yakima versus McKenzie Meadow Village continues. The City recently received word that a decision has been reached on the first two appeals filed by Pinnacle with the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). The written decision should be received by the City sometime during the week of April 11. The third appeal is still to be heard by LUBA and there is no indication as to when that might occur. On June 18, 2015, the Sisters Planning Commission approved the site plan for MMV senior living facility consisting of 45 senior living units and 12 memory care units. They also approved the modification of the pre- viously approved MMV master plan, to accommo- date the site plan’s shifting of the location of buildings by more than 25 feet from where the buildings were originally approved to be located. These actions were nec- essary because a new plan and new developer were brought in by the owners of MMV after Pinnacle’s fail- ure to obtain financing for its assisted living facility in MMV. Mark Adolf of Pinnacle subsequently secured the empty property adjacent to the post office, between Larch and Locust streets, on which to build his larger facility. He applied for and received City permits for the project. The Planning Commission easily and quickly approved Adolf ’s application in 2015 and yet no construc- tion has begun on the proj- ect. Meanwhile, Adolf and his attorneys have been appealing every decision made by both the Planning Commission and the City Council regarding requested modification to the MMV site plan. Adolf requested that a new master plan for the entire development, which consists of numerous phases, and new impact studies be done. Given the change of cir- cumstances since the issu- ance of the original approval, staff believed it was desirable to approve the modifications requested by MMV. After the Planning Commission approved the modifications last June, Adolf appealed their decision to the Sisters City Council and a de novo (new) hearing was held in July 2015 regard- ing the matter. During the hearing before a standing-room-only crowd, See pINNAclE on page 21
