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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 2018)
The Nugget Vol. XLI No. 35 P OSTAL CUSTOMER News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon www.NuggetNews.com PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15 Wednesday, August 29, 2018 It’s like herding geese...... The cattle on the Cole Ranch made plain their claim to their pasture and saw off a gaggle of geese last week. PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS Fires, wreck closed two highways Sheriff addresses policing issues A series of small but active fires along Highway 126 — likely sparked by a mechani- cal problem with a passing vehicle — led to the closure of Highway 126 between Sisters and Redmond on Friday afternoon. Quick attack from ground and air quelled the fires before they grew too large, but their location meant that traffic east of Sisters was dis- rupted severely for much of the afternoon. The traffic situation was Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson came to last Wednesday’s City Council meeting to address a concern raised by Mayor Chuck Ryan in an August 15 story in The Nugget regarding record- keeping by the DCSO of their patrol activities in Sisters. Nelson acknowledged, “I always say, whenever the sheriff’s office makes a mis- take, my face will be the first one you see; and we have made an error on these statis- tics we have been providing worsened by a traffic colli- sion at Fryrear and Highway 20 that same afternoon. The crash, which caused seri- ous injuries and required extrication from one of the vehicles involved, closed Highway 20 from Cloverdale east. The fires, which appeared to have three to five ignition points, burned about 11 acres before being corralled and mopped up by firefighting crews. City looking for new City Manager By Sue Stafford Correspondent An application process is underway through August 31, following the departure on August 16 of Brant Kucera from his position as Sisters city manger. Kucera accepted the position of city adminis- trator in Ashland, Wisconsin, a town of 8,000 on Lake Superior. There will be no interim manager between now and when Kucera’s replacement is chosen, as he felt strongly — and the City Council agrees — the City staff is Inside... totally capable of running the City while the search takes place. Each department head will continue to make the day-to-day decisions neces- sary to keep the City func- tioning properly. According to Mayor Chuck Ryan, “Staff gives me a heads-up on all key issues, and I give them guidance if needed. If a big decision needs to be made, that will go to the full Council.” Ryan said he meets with City Recorder Kerry Prosser every Tuesday, like he met See MANAGER on page 18 By Sue Stafford Correspondent you over the last few months … We’ll continue to work that out, but the last three months he (Capt. Paul Garrison) has provided you tonight are the updated numbers that are an accurate count. That’s just something we need to get dialed-in to the best of our ability.” He expressed frustration with hearing about the con- cern via the media, rather than with direct communication from the mayor. However, his officers have been aware of the Council’s concerns. At issue for the past several months have been inaccurate monthly reports presented to the Council by Deschutes County officers regarding traffic-stop warn- ings and citations issued. There have been complaints from citizens about speeding in town, and the Council has made repeated requests of the reporting officers for stricter enforcement of speed limits in Sisters. Requests were made for physical presence of a patrol car and the blinking speed monitoring equipment to hopefully slow drivers down. See SHERIFF on page 9 Quilters earn national recognition By Jodi Schneider Correspondent East of the Cascade Quilters (EOCQ) in Sisters was invited by the U.S. Forest Service to send 15 Christmas and/or Western- themed tree skirts to go inside Federal building lobbies in Washington, D.C. Each of the quilted tree skirts will be labeled with the maker’s name, city, and state. “The quilters were busy but took time to quilt such a wonderful variety of tree skirt styles to represent our community,” said Jean Wells, owner of Stitchin’ Post and founder of Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. “This is such a PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER Quilts from Sisters will adorn the nation’s capital. Mecca for quilting.” Early in 2018 Jeanette Pilak, Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show executive director, received a phone call from Catherine Bell, a See QUILTERS on page 17 Letters/Weather ................ 2 Jim Anderson ................... 10 Entertainment ..................13 Hike ................................. 16 Classifieds ..................24-26 Meetings ........................... 3 Announcements ................12 Obituary ...........................17 Crossword ....................... 23 Real Estate .................26-32
