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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2016)
Marshall retires after 44 years page 10 Girls tennis doubles team earns win page 20 The Nugget Vol. XXXIX No. 14 Sisters Country birds: Great blue heron page 24 P OSTAL CUSTOMER News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon www.NuggetNews.com Wednesday, April 6, 2016 Starry Nights goes back to the future By Jim Cornelius News Editor The Sisters Starry Nights concert series, which has raised over $1 million for the Sisters Schools Foundation over nearly 20 years, came full circle Sunday night. The inaugural Starry Nights performer, Karla Bonoff, took the stage at The Belfry for an intimate evening of song. Her first appearance on the Starry Nights stage was in 1997, the year that Starry Nights was formed to raise funds to preserve pro- grams in the face of budget cuts. “To put it in perspective, I wasn’t even born in 1997,” said Sisters High School senior Maggie Bidasolo, who was master of ceremonies for the event. Bidasolo noted that Sunday evening’s event was the 39th Starry Nights show, the second held at The Belfry. Funds raised through the concerts — in which the per- formers donate their time and talents to the cause — have provided everything “from PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15 Council reviews manager report By Jim Cornelius News Editor — grateful for “community caring and commitment.” In her fourth Starry Nights appearance, Bonoff transitioned seamlessly between acoustic guitar and The Sisters City Council reviewed an investiga- tor’s report regarding work- place issues concerning City Manager Andrew Gorayeb in executive session on Monday. By statute, executive ses- sions held for such person- nel matters are closed. Media may attend in an observer’s role but are enjoined from reporting on the session. Mayor Chris Frye and City Attorney Steve Bryant told The Nugget that Gorayeb remains on paid adminis- trative leave while the City Council conducts its review. The Council received the report late last week from an independent investigation into employee complaints. See sTARRy on page 29 See GoRAyeB on page 29 photo by DIANE SILLAN ISAACS Karla Bonoff and Nina Gerber offered up an evening of song at The Belfry. a pitching mound to a saxo- phone,” Bidasolo noted. The concert series is run by volunteers, including co- chairs Jeri Fouts, Novella Swisher and Susan Arends. Schools Superintendent Curt Scholl noted, “These kinds of community partnerships and events are what make Sisters special.” Bidasolo concurred, not- ing that “I would not trade growing up in Sisters for any- thing.” And she says that her peers all feel the same way Sisters entering the burning season Winter weather defied El Niño Beginning as early as this week, fuels specialists on the Sisters Ranger District intend to ignite 500 to 1,000 acres of prescribed burns. Individual burn units are scattered across four sepa- rate project areas called Highway 20, Sisters Area Fuels Reduction (SAFR), McCache (Hwy 242) and Metolius Basin projects. All prescribed burn units will be scheduled to take advantage of spring weather and forest fuel conditions. This is a continuation of treatments utilizing pre- scribed fire in a historic fire- adapted ecosystem to reduce Old Man Winter officially departed the scene at 9:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, March 19. The weather he dished out this season, taken as a whole, turned out to be about normal with regard to temperature and precipita- tion. But, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details. Last fall climate scien- tists were watching a large mass of very warm water that was advancing eastward across the tropical Pacific Ocean. They warned that when this slug of unusually warm water reached the east- ern Pacific off the coast of South America, it very likely Inside... and remove hazardous fuels that contribute to high-inten- sity fire events which may occur during the normal fire season. The areas on the map are project units that are near or adjacent to Sisters communities. No road closures are anticipated with any of the projects, although drivers may expect traffic control on Highway 20 and Highway 242 during periods of time where dense smoke may limit visibility. Smoke from the Sisters Area Fuel Reduction (SAFR) may impact Sage See BuRNING on page 31 By Ron Thorkildson Correspondent photo by JIm ANDErSoN Active winter weather provided the central Cascades with an average snowpack. would trigger a super-strong El Niño that would domi- nate the upcoming winter’s weather worldwide. In fact, it had the potential to become the most powerful El Niño in more than 65 years, they said. This pronouncement was regarded as bad news indeed See WeATheR on page 19 Letters/Weather ................ 2 Of A Certain Age ................11 Movies & Entertainment ....13 Sisters Salutes .................21 Classifieds ..................26-28 Meetings ........................... 3 Announcements ................12 Obituaries ................... 16-17 Crossword ....................... 23 Real Estate .................29-32