The Nugget
Vol. XLI No. 32
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Blues festival rocks in Sisters
Vandals
hit forest
operation
By Jodi Schneider
Correspondent
A new festival blew into
Sisters this summer with a
combination of high-quality
jazz, blues, R&B and soul-
ful rock. Sisters Rhythm and
Brews Festival unfolded on
Friday and Saturday with
an open-air stage in Village
Green Park and at Sisters Art
Works.
The event, organized by
Sisters residents Jennifer and
Joe Rambo, brought together
hundreds of folks celebrating
music, local food and crafted
libations in the park, over-
flowing with all the elements
that make summertime great
in Sisters.
The Rambos were excited
about adding this new musi-
cal event that helps stimulate
the local economy.
“Our vision is to bring
high-quality musicians to
Central Oregon while sup-
porting the local community,”
Jennifer Rambo said.
The Rambos provide elec-
trical and equipment support
to many Central Oregon fes-
tivals, including the Sisters
Folk Festival. This is their
first time producing and
Editor in Chief
Sisters Middle School
will be a different place
when it opens for classes this
September.
The middle school has
been the focus of the school
district’s bond-related con-
struction through the sum-
mer. From repairs to the park-
ing lot and a new paint job to
remodeling of the commons
and a fire system upgrade,
the school, originally opened
in 1992, is getting significant
improvements.
The most obvious changes
for the public are at the entry
of the school. An entirely
new, secure entryway with
controlled doors and cameras
Inside...
See BLUES on page 21
See VANDALISM on page 28
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
SMS construction
project rolling along
By Jim Cornelius
that the area had multiple fes-
tivals coming to town.”
Vandals stole tools and
shot holes in equipment last
weekend at the site of a local
forest project.
Dave Elpi of Sisters Forest
Products told The Nugget that
sometime during the weekend
vandals stole tools and shot
up his log skidder in the forest
northeast of Sisters.
For the past four years,
Elpi has been working on the
Bend Municipal Watershed
project, helping to create a
fire break in the popular rec-
reation area running between
Three Creek Lake and Todd
Lake. The project is supposed
to help keep firefighters safe
in the event of a wildfire in
the area.
Elpi noted that “there are
hundreds of people through
here on weekends” during the
summer.
The vandalism was a blow
to the long-time forester.
“Obviously, I’m sick to my
stomach,” he said.
Mr. Siuu tore it uu at the Sisters Rhythm and Brews Festival last weekend.
promoting their own event.
“We’ve both been pas-
sionate about music, and we
wanted to bring something
is being constructed at the
center of the front façade of
the building. The old entries
will be locked after school
starts, so any visitor to the
school will have to come
through a single, controlled
entry point.
The construction team
removed the school’s giant
diesel storage tanks, mov-
ing to a more efficient liquid
propane heating system. The
gym floor was sanded out
and refinished and the facil-
ity repainted.
Project Manager Brett
Hudson led a small tour
of the project on Monday
afternoon. He and school
board member and bond
See PROJECTS page 29
a little different to Sisters,”
Rambo explained. “And
after spending time in the
Southwest, we liked the idea
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
Firefighters, deputies clean Portal
The East Portal site at the
intersection of Highways 20
and 242, just west of down-
town Sisters has been a mess.
The Forest Service prop-
erty, which offers parking and
public bathrooms for the trav-
eling public has been “littered
with human waste, soiled
clothing, discarded luggage,
broken camping equipment,
alcohol containers and drug
paraphernalia,” accord-
ing to Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Sgt. Kent Vander
Kamp. “Most recently, a city
cleaning crew interrupted
a transient attempting to
light a warming fire inside
the bathroom. Overall, the
East Portal Interpretive Site
became uninviting and citi-
zens reported feeling unsafe
approaching the site or using
the facilities. Additionally, it
was not representative of our
PHOTO PROVIDED
Firefighters and sheriff’s deuuties cleaned uu the East Portal Interuretive
Site in Sisters, after it had was trashed by slobs and vandals.
Sisters community.”
Early this summer, DCSO
deputies assigned to the City
of Sisters have been investi-
gating an increase of criminal
mischief, trespassing, and
other criminal activity at the
site. In June, deputies and
USFS law enforcement offi-
cers began enhanced patrol of
the area during the late-night
hours and contacted teens,
transients, and hitchhiking
campers.
See EAST PORTAL on page 30
Letters ............................... 2 Meetings ........................... 3 Entertainment ..................13 Obituaries ....................... 24 Classifieds ..................26-28
Weather ............................. 2 Announcements ................12 At Your Service............. 14-17 Crossword ....................... 25 Real Estate .................28-32