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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 2017)
22 Wednesday, September 6, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon FOLK FESTIVAL: Nugget will update status of festival online Continued from page 1 forecasts and making con- tingency plans, assum- ing that smoky conditions will continue to impact Sisters to varying degrees as the September 8-10 event approaches. In a Facebook post and email to patrons, the Festival announced: “Folk Festival board & staff, in close consultation with local, regional and state health, fire and weather offi- cials, are continuing to moni- tor the air quality and espe- cially the weather forecast for our area. “We want to hold a Festival as much as you all want to attend. We have a contingency plan to move our outdoor/open air venues to indoor locations, but we hope we don’t have to do that. “We are watching a weather system that could improve air quality towards the weekend. We expect to have the best weather infor- mation by late Wednesday morning and will make a final decision mid-day Wednesday regarding any changes to the Festival. “Right now we ask for your patience and under- standing as we take the time to make the best deci- sion possible for our art- ists, patrons, volunteers and community.” The Nugget will provide updates on the status of fes- tival events and venues at www.nuggetnews.com and on The Nugget’s Facebook page. The festival has a diverse lineup of musical styles — ranging from the blues of Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton to the Western Swing of Hot Club of Cowtown; from the bluegrass-hip-hop mash- up of Gangstagrass to the Mexican-American infused music of L.A.’s Tremoloco. Island music from Hawaii and Cuba will fill the air, along with the music of some of North America’s finest singer-songwriters, includ- ing Justin Townes Earle and Grammy-winner Sarah Jarosz (see related stories, pages 10 and 7). The festival is sold out, but free performances will be hosted at Fir Street Park and a workshop venue at Sisters Coffee Co. For more information on the Sisters Folk Festival and a complete lineup, visit www.sisterfolkfestival.org. Oregon hazelnut company celebrates shift to solar HUBBARD (AP) — A hazelnut company in north- west Oregon has been push- ing out nuts on nothing but the power of the hot, summer sun. The Statesman Journal reports NW Hazelnut Company’s plant is operat- ing entirely on solar panels. The company on Friday held a ceremony to celebrate its sustainability shift, which was attended by Gov. Kate Brown. The panels come from Earthlight Technologies, which produces solar panels from recycled material. Company co-owner Larry George says the project, including the replacement of halogen lights in the facility with LEDs, ran up a bill of roughly $1 million. With the energy savings and govern- ment incentives, however, George plans to offset the costs within five years. Task force seeks pension deficit ideas EUGENE (AP) — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s special task force is looking at ways to ensure the state has enough money to pay pensions for eligible state employees amid a multi-billion-dollar pension fund deficit. The state is considering commercializing its state-run liquor system, pulling money from public reserves or imposing new surcharges of up to 10 percent on all state- issued permits, licenses and registrations, The Register- Guard reported Tuesday, August 29. The advisory task force, made up of seven private- and public-sector executives, is charged with drafting a plan to take $5 billion off the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System’s $24.5 billion unfunded liability without touching govern- ment workers’ retirement benefits. The task force stressed that Oregon school dis- tricts, local governments and universities should take a greater stake in paying down individual pension unfunded liability. “I know some of these things are very sensi- tive,” said Don Blair, a former Nike chief finan- cial officer. “I think that’s unavoidable.” The task force is floating a new state tax of between 1 percent and 10 percent on liquor sales with the proceeds — between $10 million and $50 million — being dedi- cated to the pension fund. The task force also is looking at state govern- ment’s two big reserve funds — the Rainy Day and Education Stability funds — that currently contain more than a combined $1 billion. Between $100 million and $500 million of that could be used for a pension down payment. Traditionally, however, those funds have been left untouched in good times, so the state can tap them to temper budget cuts during downturns. “None of our choices are free from down- sides,” task force member and former state agency director Cory Streisinger said. “I was just going in for 10 minutes.” But then the check-out line was so long. Even with the windows partly down, the heat can rise from 80º outside to 102º inside the car in a short time.* Parked cars are deathtraps for dogs: On a 78-degree day, the temperature inside a parked car can soar to between 100 and 120 degrees in just minutes, and on a 90-degree day, the interior temperature can reach as high as 160 degrees in less than 10 minutes. Animals can sustain brain damage or even die from heatstroke in just 15 minutes.* FURRY FRIEND S 501 ( c )( 3 ) FOUNDATION www.furryfriendsfoundation.org t ’ n o d s d n e Fri friends in leave ked cars! par *www.peta.org
