Smith plays tough for
Outlaws softball page 7
Powerlifting event a
hit in Sisters page 24
An unexpected
encounter page 30
The Nugget
Vol. XXXX No. 15
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NtggetNews.com
Beginning as soon as this
week, fuels specialists on the
Sisters Ranger District will
begin prescribed burning
throughout the district.
Depending upon weather
conditions and resources,
fuels specialists hope to ignite
1,200 acres of prescribed
burns this spring. Burn units
are located in four separate
project areas called: Highway
20, Sisters Area Fuels
Reduction (SAFR), McCache
(Highway 242) and Metolius
Basin projects.
More detailed informa-
tion, through future press
releases, will be provided
to the public and media as
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
On the run...
Sisters
Country set
for spring
burning
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
More than
40 apply
for city
manager
post
By Ste Stafford
Correspondent
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Some 400 rtnners hit the trails arotnd Sisters for the Peterson Ridge Rtmble, which feattres 20- and
40-mile races. (See story, page 19.)
See BURNING on page 26
The search for Sisters’ new
city manager is moving for-
ward and on schedule, accord-
ing to recruiter Erik Jensen of
Jensen Strategies in Portland.
The names of all the can-
didates will remain confiden-
tial until the finalists come to
Sisters for a series of meet-
ings with the Sisters City
Council and senior staff, the
community, and active and
retired local government offi-
cials. Many of the applicants
See APPLICANTS on page 31
ODOT extends deadline Flying out on missions of mercy
on grant demand
By Jim Cornelits
News Editor
By Jim Cornelits
News Editor
The Oregon Department
o f Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n h a s
extended the deadline on their
demand for repayment of
$377,152 in ConnectOregon
V grant funds and payment
of an additional $13,033 to
meet the minimum require-
ment for matching funds for
grants entered into in 2015 by
Sisters Eagle Airport.
The state agency alleges
that the airport “misex-
pended” grant funds allo-
cated for specific airport
improvement projects. Benny
Benson told The Nugget
earlier this month that “the
Sisters Airport and its prin-
cipals, Benny and Julie
Benson, will follow Oregon
Inside...
Administrative Procedures in
the review and response.”
“The Sisters Airport man-
agement retained an attorney,
who asked ODOT for two
more weeks to get up to speed
with our dispute claim,”
ODOT spokesman David
Thompson told The Nugget.
“We certainly granted that. So
the new deadline for response
is April 20.”
ODOT’s Thompson says
that the agency has no further
comment on the grant repay-
ment demand for the time
being.
“…Now that the two sides
are about to engage in discus-
sions of the dispute, we’re
not going to say anything
else about it until something
See DEADLINE on page 25
There are children living
in the hinterlands of Oregon
who have never had their
teeth brushed, who go to bed
at night with a bottle full of
juice or soda; children whose
teeth are in terrible shape.
They need dental surgery, but
there’s no way their parents
will ever get them to a dental
clinic or hospital.
So, early in the morning,
often several times a week,
Jessica Slaughter flies out of
Sisters Airport to reach these
children and bring dental sur-
gery to them.
Slaughter is a Certified
Registered Nurse Anesthetist
(CRNA). She contracts with
Advantage Dental and trav-
els with dental surgeon Sarah
Post to provide services to
rural pediatric patients who
PHOTO PROVIDED
Jessica Slatghter flies ott from Sisters Airport several times a week to
provide dental strgery services to rtral children.
are enrolled in the Oregon
Health Plan. They travel to
dental clinics in rural areas
across the state, where par-
ents bring their children in for
help.
“I bring in the supplies
and make an operating room
out of a clinic,” Slaughter
explained. “Basically bring
an operating room to a dental
clinic.”
Slaughter uses medica-
tions rather than gas to put
patients to sleep. Over 4-1/2
years, “it’s been super safe,”
See RURAL DENTAL on page 18
Letters/Weather ................ 2 Announcements ............... 10 Bunkhouse Chronicle ........12 Crossword ....................... 26 Sisters Naturalist .............30
Meetings ........................... 3 Movies & Entertainment ....11 Focus on Health ...........13-18 Classifieds .................. 27-29 Real Estate .................30-32