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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2020)
2 Wednesday, March 4, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Is Sisters a welcoming community? Mush! Dog mushers were out for a training day on a beautiful Sunday morning in Sisters. By Kirstin Anglea Correspondent PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is 10 a.m. Monday. To the Editor: With great sorrow we watch as the star- filled nights of Sisters dim and fade into history. The grandeur and beauty of this awesome mountain range will rise above 4 that9s if you can still see them. The incredible peace and quiet of the wilderness will remain 4 if you can still hear it. The pure cold waters and clean mountain air 4 the incredible wildlife still here 4 all are doomed. Not long ago men and women of vision set aside these lands for future generations. We should honor and continue to invest in that vision. It is time to stop the unnecessary pro- motion of rabid growth in Central Oregon. End of story. Dave Elpi <Is Sisters a Welcoming Community for All?= That was the focus of February9s Let9s Talk 4 a monthly community conver- sation sponsored by Citizens 4Community. Twenty-two community members joined in the evening to reflect on a topic that relates directly to a priority noted in the Sisters Country Vision Action Plan. As participants arrived for the talk they were asked to consider three questions (posed in English and Span- ish): <What does it mean to be welcoming?= <What does 8community9 mean to you?= and <When we say 8all,9 who do we mean?= Participants wrote their answers on a poster (see responses below). When you ask yourself these questions, what comes to mind for you? Do you find your answer with the lists below or would you have added something else? eets the of most of the citizens as long as it meets When we say “all,”, requirements of the zoning. At that does it mean What does “community” what do we mean? at Wh stage the City Council becomes a mean to you? to be “welcoming”? rubber stamp and citizens9 objections Cuando decimos “todos”, ¿Qué significa ¿Qué significa to the project are futile. Indeed, the ¿qué queremos decir? “comunidad” para ti? “dar la bienvenida”? notion of a <vision= for the devel- People, pets, wildlife, Unconditional support, opment of the city becomes moot. Open to all for inclusion nature e, spac groups sharing There is no brake on this process in community events. inclusive Humankind, me and you! unless a group of organized citizens Open-armed, making All is all - Working together to follow the development pipeline space for difference, a , kind , safe exceptions a no beginning with the zoning and ques- smile, sincere interest build/create all for e plac supportive tion everything. How many of us People who live here and Escuchary, entender ve and grow. thri to have time for that? Meanwhile the those passing through su perspectiva pressure from developers is relentless belonging of se Sen Those from all walks Noticed, acknowledged, and the planning commission tends of life, perspectives, Being valued honored, kind to favor development as if it were a worldviews Helping each other board game. This process is not fol- Inviting…a place to solve , Those who moved here celebrate joys lowed precisely in certain other states, raise your family ows sorr from other places problems, grieve such as California (gasp). Open-minded ó ó ó There a City can reject tract hous- As is true for all Let9s Talks, be truly seen and known by To the Editor: ing, apartment complexes, and runaway strip we began with a short skill- someone else. Yet 40 percent Jim Cornelius, the editor of The Nugget, malls despite the proffers of developers, albeit builder session. This month of Americans report feel- has made an important point with respect to when it comes to zoning. So, unless Oregon9s we focused on listening4 ing loneliness; and research development in Sisters (The Nugget, February zoning and land-use laws are changed to allow listening with curiosity and says that stems from a lack 19 page 2): If a developer acquires a piece of municipalities to really control their devel- openness and without inter- of meaningful social inter- property with a certain zoning and prepares a opment by being able to be selective and to ruption. We practiced using actions4among families, project that meets the requirements of that zon- maintain their character, Sisters will devolve this skill as we created lists friendships and communities. ing, then by state law the City must approve it. into a Beaverton. of what we love most about Is Sisters a welcoming The city can approve it <with conditions,= but The City Council took a step in that direc- our community of Sisters. community for all? What do with persistence the developer will ultimately tion last week when it approved <with condi- We then shared our own sto- you think? As you consider get his way. tions= the Threewind project at the strip mall. ries of feeling <welcome= this, I encourage you to ask The City cannot pick and choose projects This summer when the city is choked, we and <unwelcome= in differ- yourself: <Where are there per se. It cannot reject a project that is of no use should remember this. ent spaces. opportunities for Sisters to to the city, is unwanted, or is not to the benefit Gary Leiser The evening9s final ques- become more welcoming tion further explored Con- for you? For all? What9s the nected Sisters Strategy 4 story we want to tell about from the Vision Action Plan. Sisters in five, 10 and 20 Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Centered around diversity years? What is one thing and inclusion, the strategy is you might do to help Sisters Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday to: Bring our less-frequently continue its journey toward heard voices into a more being a welcoming place for Showers/Wind Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy PM Showers Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy diverse, welcoming and all? 43/24 55/33 59/36 51/28 44/26 46/28 inclusive community con- Let9s Talk runs 5:45 to versation, fostering greater 8 p.m. the third Monday tolerance in the community, of each month at Paulina helping newcomers as well Springs Books, 252 W. Hood as longtime residents to feel Ave. For the March 16 talk, valued and supported. When participants voted to discuss asked where there are oppor- the topic, <How Can Sisters tunities for Sisters to become Maintain its Authenticity Website: www.nuggetnews.com Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius more welcoming, participants While Embracing Change?= 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Production Manager: Leith Easterling expressed a desire to raise Want to attend? Please go Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Graphic Design: Jess Draper & Lisa May awareness of the lived expe- to the C4C website, http:// Community Marketing Partners: riences of our youth, home- citizens4community.com/ Postmaster: Send address changes to Vicki Curlett & Patti Jo Beal less, Latinx and LGBTQ events, to RSVP and save The Nugget Newspaper, Classifieds & Circulation: Kema Clark communities in Sisters. your seat. P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Brené Brown speaks of Kirstin Anglea is a board Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Owner: J. Louis Mullen the <high-lonesome= culture member of C4C, Dare to we are living in right now. Lead trained (Brené Brown), The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Humans are hard-wired for a facilitator with the Center Third-class postage: one year, $55; six months (or less), $30. First-class postage: one year, $95; six months, $65. belonging, relationships and for Courage and Renewal Published Weekly. ©2020 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which community. We yearn to and licensed educator. appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for Sisters Weather Forecast The Nugget Newspaper, LLC information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. 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