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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2017)
2 Wednesday, February 22, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Airport has many economic benefits By Jack Addison Guest Columnist Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let- ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: This is in response to the February 15 letter to the editor by Paula Surmann. I don’t know about the rest of you out there who voted for our new President, Donald Trump, but … actually I do. All the people I know DID vote for him and are really weary and bothered by all this destructive rhetoric, the rioting in the streets, and the lies being said to halt his appointees’ nominations. All of you who think you need to get together and have meetings on how you feel so “appalled,” “depressed,” and “terrified” should stop your whining, boohooing, and feeling sorry for yourselves. Put your big girl pants on and grow up, stop the childish pout- ing and temper tantrums. All that malaise is not in the best interest of your physical well- being. You would do yourselves a great deal of benefit if you would look on the bright side of the morning sunrise and realize that he was voted for by the majority of our nation and IS our new President! He will do great things for our country, and you sitting around in sorrow groups is not going to change that or help you feel better about yourselves. No matter what you think, Trump will do an amazing job of getting this country off this reckless downhill train-ride into oblivion of trillions of dollars of debt. He will secure our borders to protect us from the hate-filled terrorists who think nothing of driving a huge delivery truck full-speed into a group of tourists vacationing and enjoying an evening of celebration, or blow up buildings with thousands of people into destruction to make a statement of misguided hatred for the American people. See LETTERS on page 22 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Chance rain/snow Chance snow 36/17 33/18 Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Partly sunny Partly sunny Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy 33/18 37/18 36/19 33/na The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson News Editor: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Williver Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Advertising: Karen Kassy Graphic Design: Jess Draper Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Accounting: Erin Bordonaro The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $45; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. Regarding the recent public meeting held by the Oregon Department of Aviation at the Sisters High School: I expressed support for the move to be listed in “Appendix M” because the location and the potential benefit for the community support that listing. I still support that listing after attending the meeting. The primary attraction I have to the airport is not the fact that I have an airplane (which I keep at Prineville), but it is the important com- plement it offers to the 44 or so business park lots available for good-paying jobs, much like Benny and Julie Benson’s engineer- ing company. If one looks up Chapter 8 listed in the Oregon Department of Aviation document, one sees economic benefits in the millions of dollars, for communities having airports similar in size to Sisters Airport. An even more detailed study spon- sored by the City of Sisters and the airport administra- tion would suggest eco- nomic avenues to aid the attraction of appropriate business for the business park and nearby light- industrial area for the development of clean, sub- stantial, year-round, fam- ily-wage businesses. Businesses are often in need of a close-by airport to reach out to their cus- tomers and clients, or even their headquarters say in Portland, Boise, or the Bay Area. A typical business aircraft, even propeller- driven, can economically reach the western states in a few hours with no delays for parking, “check- ing in,” or very unpredict- able security lines. Denver or Phoenix in four to five hours is very doable, which is the time it takes to check in at Redmond, fly to Portland, and then connect in a regional car- rier. But the IMPACT! No, actually this type of busi- ness flying is quite low- profile and typically would entail only a few departures a month. Fewer in the winter. The other issue of inter- est stated by ODA was “essential safety of emer- gency services.” To that, witness the recent State concerns in the form of public meetings concerning the Cascadia Event or similar emergency affecting power and trans- portation issues. Sisters is strategically located as the first town on this side of the mountains that would greet a mass exodus from Portland to Eugene. The choke of traffic entering Sisters would be in need of services including fuel and food despite the grid being down. Persons need- ing medical attention could be flown by helicopter or fixed-wing to cities still receiving power from the electric grid. Sisters is easily a first-demand stop for road traffic coming from the Valley during an evacuation, and provides the first outpost for law enforcement through the Sisters Sheriff’s Substation. Additionally, aircraft under FAA Seattle Center con- trol will be diverted to Redmond, Bend, Madres, Sun River and, yes, Sisters, too, if we are listed in Appendix M. The DOA meeting included lots of support, and there was a repeated significant community con- cern regarding the noise, in particular from the skydive aircraft. I have concern for the noise from all aircraft. The issue of noise is impor- tant. I strongly encourage the principals to seriously engage the issue, and I have items that can and should be included in such a dis- cussion. I’ll include these in a future letter to address the justifiable concerns of all the Sisters residents, whether under the flight path or not. Listing the Sisters Airport under Appendix M would benefit the commu- nity for emergency services and provide enhancement opportunities for the busi- ness park and unrelated to the important but separate issue of noise control and abatement. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.