Holidays in Sisters Pages 16-24
The Nugget
Vol. XLI No. 47
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Limiting entry to the Sisters wilderness
By Jim Cornelius
Correspondent
How does the Forest
Service manage the Sisters
backcountry when all the peo-
ple who run to it to escape the
maddening crowd become...
a maddening crowd? Starting
in 2020, they plan to limit
access to the most heavily
used parts of the wilderness.
Under a draft decision
issued last week by the
Deschutes and Willamette
national forests, wilder-
ness day-use would be man-
aged with a limited-entry
permit system at 30 of the
80 trailheads across the
Mount Jefferson, Mount
Washington, and Three
Sisters wilderness areas from
the Friday before Memorial
Day through September 30
every year.
Some portion of next-day
or same-day permits will
continue to be available for
individuals to spontaneously
enjoy wilderness access at
the limited-entry trailheads,
the Forest Service reported
Inside...
Council
split on
short-term
rental
policy
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
have free, self-issue, same-
day permits available.
“ We a r e d e l i g h t e d
to see that a portion of
Just like the community
it represents, the Sisters City
Council is split on how best
to manage short-term rentals
in the city.
The Sisters City Council
will hold a second reading
at their November 28 meet-
ing of proposed Ordinance
#489, amending the City’s
Development Code to update
provisions for short-term
rentals (STRs) and make
other changes.
Councilors split their
vote on the ordinance, three
for and two against, which
See WILDERNESS on page 38
See RENTALS on page 37
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
The Central Oregon wilds lure so many visitors that there is concern about the wilderness being “loved to death.”
on Thursday, November
15. Overnight backpack-
ing will be managed with
a limited-entry permit sys-
tem at all trailheads across
the Mount Jefferson, Mount
Sisters man arrested
in road rage incident
A 71-year-old Sisters
man was arrested in Bend
on Thursday, November 15,
after he allegedly pointed a
firearm at another driver in an
incident Bend police describe
as “road rage.”
According to Bend police,
officers were dispatched at
about 2:39 p.m. to a reported
incident near NE 8th Street
and NE Olney Avenue
Officers learned the victims
in this incident, Kory Allen
and Brittani Williamson,
called to report a man later
identified as Zeke Duge
pulled a gun and pointed it
at them near the intersection.
Two small children were in
Allen’s vehicle at the time of
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
this incident.
Officers located the sus-
pect vehicle near NE Neff
Road and NE Purcell Avenue
and took Duge into custody
without incident.
Law enforcement officials
report that officers confirmed
that Duge did point a loaded
firearm at Allen’s vehicle
and all four occupants. A
firearm was recovered from
Duge’s vehicle and he was
transported to the Deschutes
County Adult Jail where
he was lodged on charges
of Reckless Endangering;
Unlawful Use/Carry of a
Weapon; Disorderly Conduct
II; Menacing; Driving Under
the Influence of Intoxicants.
Washington, and Three
Sisters wilderness areas.
Waldo Lake and Diamond
Peak wilderness trailheads
would not be impacted by
this decision and will still
Hot tub blamed in structure fire
A glow through the
bedroom window early
We d n e s d a y m o r n i n g ,
November 14, alerted an
occupant of a vacation rental
in Sisters to a hot tub on fire
outside the residence. The
first fire units to arrive found
the hot tub and a corner of the
structure on fire and quickly
extinguished the blaze.
The occupants, a family
of four, evacuated the home
when they discovered the
fire and attempted to alert the
neighboring residents. The
fire, approximately seven by
14 feet in area, was confined
to the exterior wall and the
hot tub. Damage is estimated
to be approximately $10,000.
Fire crews removed burnt
siding and applied plastic to
the damaged area to protect
PHOTO PROVIDED
Firefighters quickly extinguished a blaze that apparently started in a hot
tub and caught the exterior of a house on fire.
the structure from weather.
The cause of the fire is still
under investigation, but
is believed to be a hot tub
malfunction.
Sisters-Camp Sherman
See FIRE on page 38
Letters/Weather ................ 2 Bunkhouse Chronicle ......... 7 Entertainment ..................13 Of a Certain Age ............... 22 Classifieds ..................33-35
Meetings ........................... 3 Announcements ................12 Fit for Sisters ....................15 Crossword ....................... 32 Real Estate .................35-40