The Nugget
Vol. XLIV No. 29
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
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Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Community steps up in fire response
Sisters
community
grapples
with
bullying
By T. Lee Brown
Correspondent
Fire companies came from
all over the Pacific Northwest,
some from as far away as
Whidbey Island and Chelan,
Washington. Now that the
Grandview Fire is contained,
some personnel are leaving to
return home and wait for the
next assignment.
The high school commons
While school is on its
annual summer hiatus, folks
in Sisters continue to discuss
larger social issues relevant
both inside and outside the
schools. The Nugget previ-
ously spoke with Sisters
School District superintendent
Curt Scholl about issues spe-
cific to equity and racism.
The conversation con-
tinues, discussing bullying
and how community mem-
bers can get involved (see
<Responding effectively to
bullying,= page 3).
<We want to make sure
that all of our kids have a
voice and that we9re sup-
porting them along the way,=
Scholl said.
If a child or adult witnesses
See COMMUNITY on page 15
See BULLYING on page 14
About 40 adults and children gathered
at Sisters High School last Friday morning to paint
signs of gratitude to those who worked the Grandview Fire.
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
For a week, the sky over
Sisters has been crisscrossed
by helicopters towing buck-
ets of water and tanker planes
carrying fire retardant to slow
the Grandview Fire and keep
it from spreading through
Squaw Creek Canyon Estates
and vicinity and into Sisters.
All the efforts by 55 fire
companies and seven agen-
cies, amounting to 822 per-
sonnel at the peak of the fire,
were successful in stopping
the blaze at 6,032 acres, as of
July 19. Not one structure or
life was lost.
The spirit of cooperation
and generosity was apparent
in Sisters Country in response
to the fire and the efforts of
Local trekkers pass
halfway mark of PCT
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
Melissa Stolasz and her
daughter Sasha set out April
12 from the California/
Mexico border with the inten-
tion to through-hike the entire
2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail
(PCT) with an eye to finish
by August 27 in order to get
back in time for both to return
to school.
Melissa teaches science
and math at Ridgeview High
School and Sasha is a senior-
to-be at Sisters High.
At the end of June they
passed the halfway mark
and took a break in Shasta,
California for a resupply.
While on the rest day the pair
took a few minutes to check
in with The Nugget.
Melissa feels that the
journey has gone very well
so far, but dealing with the
Inside...
recent heat wave encompass-
ing the west, the hikers made
the decision to skip a three-
day section in order to move
northward toward the Trinity
Alps to escape the triple-digit
temperatures.
<We couldn9t afford to
sit and wait for the tempera-
tures to cool, so at this point
our plan is to come back to
this area over Labor Day
and finish this section so we
can truly complete the entire
trail,= said Melissa.
Adjusting to conditions,
circumstances, and personal
needs is the name of the game
on the PCT. A big adjustment
came early in the trip when
Brittany Terra, a cousin of
Melissa9s husband Jeff, who
had started out with Melissa
and Sasha, decided to head
home to Rhode Island 12
days into the venture.
See TREKKERS on page 9
Letters/Weather ............... 2
Meetings .......................... 3
those who fought it.
As with previous fires, the
Sisters Rodeo grounds hosted
the fire camp, where per-
sonnel slept and ate. Sisters
High School opened their
air-conditioned gymnasium
for sleeping during the day
for those on the night crews.
While there, they could avail
themselves of showers in the
locker room.
Drought worsens across county
By Bill Bartlett
Correspondent
U.S. Drought Monitor Oregon
It does not take a hydrolo-
gist to know that Sisters is in
the midst of a drought. By
the numbers, 100 percent of
Deschutes County is affected
by the drought 4 all 157,733
persons. June was the 38th dri-
est for that month in 127 years
and the eighth-driest year to
date since records began in
1894. On the Palmer Drought
Severity index Sisters was at
93 4 <severe.= It is expected
to reach a level of between 95
and 98 within four weeks 4
identified as <extreme.=
Roughly a quarter of
Deschutes County is already at
the <D4 Exceptional Drought=
level, the highest ranking on
the Drought Monitor scale
produced by University of
Nebraska at Lincoln, the
GRAPHIC CREATED BY DEBORAH BATHKE, NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER
nation9s definitive source.
Deschutes County is all in drought, ranging from “moderate drought” at
The accompanying graphic
the western edge, to “exceptional drought” across a wide swath of the
tells the story convincingly.
region. Data generated July 6, 2021. The Drought Monitor focuses on broad-
scale
conditions. Local conditions may vary.
See DROUGHT on page 8
Announcements ...............10
Entertainment ................. 11
Water Safety Fun ..............18
Crossword .......................19
Classifieds ................. 20-22
Real Estate ................ 22-24