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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 2021)
The Nugget Vol. XLIV No. 36 P OSTAL CUSTOMER News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon www.NuggetNews.com PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15 Wednesday, September 8, 2021 20 Oregon Flight for Freedom .................. pg. 12 Y E A RS REMEMBERING 9.11.01 pg. 14 Looking back on September 11 By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief Twenty years have passed since September 11, 2001, when 19 terrorists affiliated with the radical Islamist ter- ror organization al Qaida flew hijacked aircraft into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Passengers in a fourth plane attempted to take it back from the hijackers and it plummeted into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Some 2,977 Americans were killed in the attacks, and many others later suc- cumbed to injury or illness sustained on that terrible day. The United States invaded Afghanistan, from whence the attacks originated, and overthrew the Taliban regime that had sheltered al Qaida’s leader, Osama bin Laden. In March 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq. The march of time has made the events of that September day recede from memory, as the intervening years brought other challenges — a severe recession, deepen- ing political and cultural divi- sion, a global pandemic — and the accumulated joys and pg. 14 Eleven Tears Memorial .....pg. 12 burdens of everyday living. The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban has brought the global war on terror back into focus in recent weeks, but in large part, America has moved on. Yet, for some Sisters resi- dents, the events surrounding September 11, 2001, mark major milestones in their lives. Some would fight to stave off the threat of further attacks; some would work to pg. 13 heal the wounds and salve the scars left by the attacks. Some have played significant roles in shaping a post-9/11 world. Their memories remain sharp and strong. In this edition of The Nugget, we tell the sto- ries of several of those local people, and we thank them for sharing their memories of events that shaped the lives of every one of us living here in Sisters today. ODOT has plans for cinder pit City won’t support shelter funding request By Sue Stafford Correspondent The city government is not supporting the local Cold Weather Shelter’s effort to purchase a house in Sisters. The Sisters City Council will not send a letter of sup- port regarding the Cold Weather Shelter’s request to Deschutes County for $1 mil- lion to purchase a building on Tall Fir Court. A letter fro m C ity Manager Cory Misley to the Cold Weather Shelter board last week outlined several reasons why “at this time, the City will not provide a letter of support for this specific request.” Misley wrote, “To our knowledge there has not been outreach to the neighbor- hood or a broader commu- nity conversation regarding a Inside... permanent shelter in Sisters. It is critical that we best understand the needs…of our homeless population and in the almost three years I have been here that question is unanswered. Those answers help us to understand what we need versus what we want and the size, form, and arrangement of how it...is provided.” Misley noted the “suc- cessful, right-sized approach” of the local churches hosting the shelter prior to COVID- 19. He indicated also that the City has “not been involved in the development of this application (to the County) and the thought process behind its specifics.” The City has a “steadfast commitment to supporting and expanding affordable See SHELTER on page 23 The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) wants to store highway maintenance materials at Zimmerman Cinder Pit, which is a popular recre- ational shooting area west of Sisters. The Sisters Ranger District is inviting citizens to review and comment on the Zimmerman Cinder Pit Storage project proposal. Information on how to pro- vide comments and a map of the proposal is available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/ project/?project=60729. The Zimmerman Cinder Pit is under contract with ODOT. The site has been used as a material source for road building and main- tenance material since the 1950s. More recently the Sisters Ranger District has authorized ODOT’s contin- ued use of the site to produce winter traction aggregate — the red cinders that are spread on Sisters’ roadways. Deschutes County Road Department and permitted private users have removed cinders at this site for local road improvements and win- ter traction, as well as land- scape and driveway aggre- gate for many years. The current project pro- posal is for ODOT to store various highway mainte- nance-related materials within the designated project site. Asphalt concrete grind- ings as well as soil and rock materials would be tempo- rarily stockpiled at the site. No structures would be con- structed, however a loading ramp may need to be located on site. Some areas used would be fenced to protect the stockpile against unau- thorized removal of commer- cially valuable aggregate. Placement of the storage piles of construction aggre- gate and ditch-and-slide material would be located to minimize effects to vehicle traffic and other uses such as recreational shooting in Zimmerman Pit, while still allowing for efficient opera- tion within the site. The map for the proposal shows that what shooters know as the “lower pit” would be used for materials storage and fenced off. No changes would occur to the current use and man- agement of the main cinder pit. Submit comments by email to comments-pacific northwest-deschutes-sisters@ usda.gov. Put the name of the project in the subject line of the email. Comments must be submitted as part of an actual email message, or as an attachment in Microsoft Word, rich text format (rtf), or portable document for- mat (pdf) only. Comments submitted to any email See CINDER PIT on page 6 Letters/Weather ............... 2 Sisters Country Birds .........7 Announcements ...............10 Obituaries .......................18 Classifieds .................. 19-21 Meetings .......................... 3 Fit for Sisters .................... 8 Entertainment ................. 11 Crossword .......................18 Real Estate .................21-24