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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2021)
2 Wednesday, February 24, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O Keeping them active… N Transportation improvement underway in Sisters Country By Emme Shoup & Janel Ruehl Guest Columnist PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK Sisters Park & Recreation District is finding ways to keep young folks in Sisters active and happy. Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer¾s 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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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: In response to the letter from Mr. Baldwin on February 10: Even though I support Biden and his policies, I agree the landslide of exec- utive orders is disconcerting in view of his stated goals of promoting unity. However, Mr. Baldwin falls into a danger- ous “fake news” format, which has fed the extreme conservative movement. Saying that Biden has a “long history of graft” is called libel unless you can produce facts that prove this statement. An extremely important improvement in the current divisiveness of our social fabric will be to stick to the facts. Otherwise there can be no trust between different groups and followers will believe whatever they are told without thinking about it. Sharon Booth ó ó ó To the Editor: A big thank you to AirLink and Life Flight, for getting the COVID-19 vaccines from Portland to Redmond. Heroes, all. Judy Bull See LETTERS on page 7 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Mostly Sunny Rain/Snow Showers Rain/Snow Mostly Sunny 42/26 42/32 38/24 41/23 Sunday Monday Tuesday Partly Cloudy Few Showers Partly Cloudy 48/30 43/27 45/27 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Email: editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Creative Director: Jess Draper Community Marketing Partner: Vicki Curlett Classifieds & Circulation: Lisa May Owner: J. Louis Mullen The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $55; six months (or less), $30. First-class postage: one year, $95; six months, $65. Published Weekly. ©2021 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is pro- hibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. The Sisters Country Vision is a community- led vision project, created with extensive commu- nity engagement in 2018. In the Vision, “Integrated Transportation Options” is prioritized as one of five strategies to cre- ate a more livable Sisters Country. In 2021, the Vision Implementation Team (VIT) — representing local gov- ernment, agencies, nonprof- its, and community members — is collaborating with sev- eral key players to address the evolving transportation needs of the community. Andrea Breault, the Transportation Director of Cascade East Transit (CET), is working in collabora- tion with Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC), the City of Sisters, and AFSC (Age Friendly Sisters Country) to expand alternative transportation options for the residents of Sisters Country. “Alternative transporta- tion options are any mode of transportation that is not sin- gle-occupancy vehicle use. This can be biking, walking, carpooling, or taking the bus,” Breault says. “CET is the buses part of that equa- tion, and collaborates with other planning efforts on the city and county level to ensure they coincide. Working as a network, we can go above and beyond.” In Sisters Country, CET offers two fixed bus routes that connect Sisters to Redmond and Bend Monday through Friday: the Sisters Dial-a-Ride, which runs one day a week to the grocery store or the phar- macy (and offers free fare during COVID-19); and the Sisters Shopper Shuttle to Bend on Thursdays that takes Sisters residents to Walmart, Costco, and the Cascade Village Shopping Center in Bend — all funded by the State Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF) Tax. The Shopper Shuttle is brand new, having just launched on the first Thursday of January 2021. Through collaboration with AFSC, CET is focused on getting the word out to help this new service be success- ful. Breault emphasizes, “The more successful it is, the more programs like it can be expanded!” Looking ahead, CET aims to expand services to the weekends, increase the frequency of buses on the fixed-route schedule, grow services within the existing boundaries of Sisters, and reach new tourist riders. To support these goals, VIT member and COIC Executive Director, Tammy Baney, is coordinating a CET optimization study on alternative options for on- demand transportation. This study serves as a snapshot of the CET agency, including its funding sources, how to use those funds most effi- ciently, and how to stay in alignment with the commu- nity’s needs. Other local agencies and organizations are working to improve transportation in Sisters Country. The City of Sisters is working to secure funding for the Locust- Highway 20 Roundabout construction project. When complete, this project will serve to better manage traf- fic flow for not only vehi- cles, but also bicyclists and pedestrians. The City also is in the process of com- pleting a new traffic-safety audit, which will be incor- porated into the new Sisters Transportation System Plan. The City has some other exciting transportation- improvement projects in the works this upcoming fiscal year, including completing the design of the Adams Avenue streetscape improve- ment project, which will add bicycle and ADA-compliant routes through the Adams Avenue corridor. “We will also be design- ing and building the North Pine Street multi-use path in coordination with the new developers of the old Forest Service property, to provide a continuous bicycle and pedestrian path from Main Avenue to the northern city limits,” says Public Works Director Bertagna. A F S C ’s Sisters Transportation and Ride Share (STARS) ride-share program continues to serve the Sisters community in a variety of ways. They recently added a new service: meal delivery through the Meals on Wheels Program! STARS is available to trans- port people to their COVID- 19 vaccine appointments, and other important medi- cal and dental appointments around town, in Bend, and Redmond — all at no cost! “STARS is really doing a lot for the residents of Sisters Country and we encourage others in the community to join us!” says Dixie Eckford, co-founder. If you are inter- ested in getting involved as a volunteer, or would like to schedule a ride, visit www. starsride.com/home. Learn more about Sisters Country Vision projects at www.sistersvision.org.
