Sisters native lives
by the lance page 5
Pollard’s win highlights
home meet page 13
The Nugget
Vol. XXXIX No. 37
Middle schoolers can
‘take a hike’ page 24
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
World-class festival entertains Sisters
By Jodi Schneider McNamee
Correspondent
The theme for this year’s
Sisters Folk Festival poster
“Hot Dogs,” an original paint-
ing by Dennis McGregor,
portrays an eclectic bunch of
dogs sitting around a camp-
fire enjoying music together.
Sharing music together
around a campfire shaped
cultures and maybe even
helped develop our ability
to understand one another.
McGregor captures the com-
munal feeling of the musi-
cal experience that happens
to all of us during the three-
day weekend at Sisters Folk
Festival (SFF).
It’s the connection with
the soulful music, with the
original artists, and with each
other that keeps the fans com-
ing back.
Last weekend 45 incred-
ible acts performed through-
out Sisters at 11 venues —
ranging from the sweet coun-
try folk music of The Novel
Ideas with their harmony-
driven sound, to the music
of Baskery, three sisters
from Sweden with a unique
Correspondent
Sisters City Council
approved $300,000 in fund-
ing support for an affordable-
housing project in Sisters in a
3-1 vote last Thursday.
There was strong disagree-
ment in the Council chambers
as to whether the financial
commitment is either afford-
able for the City or the right
allocation of funds.
Tom Kemper, executive
director of HousingWorks,
has been working with City
Council and City staff this
year to bring an affordable
townhouse rental project
Inside...
School
board
approves
teachers’
contract
By Steve kadel
Correspondent
Aaron and Ashley Okura
did renovations of the his-
toric building last November
and added a small stage in
the main dining room and
recently redid the whole patio
and built a new stage as an
The Sisters School Board
has voted unanimously to
approve a new two-year con-
tract for the district’s teachers.
The pact OK’d on
Wednesday, September 7,
includes a 1.5 percent cost-of-
living salary increase this year
and another 1.5 percent boost
in 2017. The contract becomes
effective this month.
“It’s a fair deal, given the
(financial) circumstances,”
said Shawn Swisher, attorney
for the High Desert Education
Service District, who helped in
negotiations. “Hopefully this
will see us through until the
economic climate improves. It
gives some labor stability for
See Folk FeStIVAl on page 21
See CoNtrACt on page 14
photo by Jay Mather
A multitude of musicians gathered in town last week for the annual Sisters Folk Festival.
energetic pace.
Elements of folk, rock,
country, soul and bluegrass
filled the air and all the town
once again became a stage.
There was something for
everyone’s taste.
Many of the artists were
new to the SFF, but some
Council earmarks
$300k for housing
By Sue Stafford
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
similar to Tamarack Village
to Sisters.
In previous workshops,
Kemper presented to the
Council information regard-
ing the LIFT program (Land
Innovation and Fast Track
Housing Program) as well as
concept drawings of the units.
If built, the project will be on
currently vacant land behind
the shopping center where
Ray’s Food Center is located.
A similar project is currently
underway in Bend.
In 2015, the Oregon leg-
islature committed $40 mil-
lion of general obligation
See hoUSINg on page 19
were returning from previous
years. The Ballroom Thieves
returned and filled one of the
late-night dance venues at
Sisters Saloon.
After a five-year hiatus
from the festival, Sisters
Saloon & Ranch Grill was
back as a venue. New owners
County to address airport questions
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
The Deschutes County
Board of Commissioners will
grapple with several ques-
tions related to the operation
of Sisters Eagle Airport at
a work session on Monday,
September 19.
According to a mem-
orandum from Senior
Transportation Planner Peter
Russell prepared for the ses-
sion, the commissioners will
discuss a paved “runout” on
the airport runway; a pend-
ing request by the airport
to be added to the Oregon
Department of Aviation’s
(ODA) list of recognized air-
ports; and the use of a prop-
erty on Barclay Drive as a
photo by JiM Cornelius
the county commissioners will discuss several issues related to Sisters
eagle Airport on September 19.
landing site for skydivers.
Contacted by The Nugget
for the airport’s point of view
on the matters up for discus-
sion, airport manager David
Campbell said he was out
of town and referred The
Nugget back to Russell.
According to Russell,
the paving of the runout in
2015 poses several “chal-
lenges” for the County
See AIrport on page 31
Letters/Weather ................ 2 Announcements ............... 10 Obituaries ....................... 16 Sisters Naturalist ............. 22 Classifieds .................. 27-29
Meetings ........................... 3 Movies & Entertainment ....11 Bunkhouse Chronicles ..... 18 Crossword ....................... 26 Real Estate .................29-32