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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 2020)
The Nugget Vol. XLIII No. 11 P OSTAL CUSTOMER News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon www.NuggetNews.com Local healthcare providers act on COVID-19 PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15 Wednesday, March 11, 2020 Rental regulations having an effect Women build... By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief In response to the emerg- ing risk associated with the spread of COVID-19, local first responders and health- care professionals are taking protective steps. Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District personnel are pre- paring for the possibility that infected patients may call 911 and request ambulance trans- port to the hospital. The Fire District has recently provided enhanced training for its emergency responders on appropriate infection control measures, including personal protec- tive equipment and safe work practices. The Fire District has also made some operational changes to protect emergency Sisters Habitat for Humanity and Lowe’s of Redmond partnered for a work project on local homes last week. See story, page 11. See COVID-19 on page 22 New rules created in 2019 to regulate short-term rentals (STR) in Sisters are having an impact. The Sisters City Council received an update on those impacts at their Wednesday, February 26 workshop. According to planner Patrick Davenport, current active licenses for short-term or vacation rentals in town stand at 88, down from more than 100 a year ago. Eleven per- mits were issued in 2019, down from a high of 44 in 2018. Davenport noted that there was <a flurry of activ- ity= in 2018 because property owners were aware that new regulations were coming. See RENTALS on page 8 PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK Partnerships key to protecting forest Historical Society announces new museum By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief By Helen Schmidling Correspondent The historic bungalow at 410 E. Cascade Ave. (next to Suttle Tea) will be the new home of the Three Sisters Historical Society. A museum, office and gift shop will open in late spring or early summer in the build- ing most recently occupied by Sisters Dental, which has moved its offices to 491 E. Main Ave. Floyd Leitheiser, presi- dent of the Historical Society, made the announcement at the organization9s annual meeting Thursday night, following a Fireside Talk at FivePine by Jarold Ramsey of Madras. Ramsey, a long- time board member of the Jefferson County Historical Society, embraced the idea of Inside... a museum in Sisters. <I commend your tim- ing, as there is a real sense of local history in the three counties of Central Oregon,= Ramsey said. George and Virginia Wakefield, who originally purchased the property on the corner of East Cascade and Larch from R.J. Skelton, built the home in the mid- 1930s. Chris Boxwell and Belita Palu-ay now own the property, and will rent a por- tion of the historic home. The museum will occupy four rooms, and will feature a display of local history, a museum gift shop, and the organization9s office. A gen- erous gift from John and Jan Hodgers is making the museum possible. See MUSEUM on page 14 As Fred Perl moves on from a 32-year career in law enforcement with the National Parks Service and the U.S. Forest Service, he offers a singular takeaway: partner- ships are the critical element in protecting and preserv- ing America9s public lands. Those partnerships are not only between and among agencies tasked with protect- ing public lands; partnerships with members of the public are equally important. <It9s incumbent upon the community to take care of public lands,= Perl told The Nugget. <There are warriors and guardians in the commu- nity, and they do incredible things.= It was a love for the out- doors that drew Perl into public-lands stewardship 4 starting with seasonal work PHOTO PROVIDED Fred Perl has retired after serving as the USFS law enforcement officer for the past 17 years. at Crater Lake National Park. <It was actually a classi- fied ad that my mom found in the newspaper about Crater Lake National Park hiring,= he recalled. While working in visi- tor services, he saw rangers patrolling the Park and it set his feet on a particular path. <I thought, 8Well, that9s kind of a cool job,9= he said. He entered college at Southern Oregon University with an eye to a career. <It was through that See FOREST on page 17 Letters/Weather ................ 2 Stars Over Sisters .............. 8 Entertainment ..................13 Crossword ........................17 Sisters Job Walk ...............20 Meetings ........................... 3 Announcements ................12 Obituaries ....................... 16 Classifieds .................. 18-20 Real Estate ..................21-24