The Nugget Vol. XLV No. 28
POSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Quilt Show is a Sisters sensation
Using water wisely in Sisters
By Bill Bartlett Correspondent
Would you pay $2,399 plus airfare to come to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show? Of course not. You live here. But 80 did, all part of Country Heritage Tours’ “2022 Sensational Sisters.” Two luxury motor coaches collected the group in Portland, gave them a drive-by tour of the Oregon Coast and the Columbia Gorge before bringing them to Sisters, the centerpiece of their weeklong excursion. They hailed from 17 different states, with one in the entourage from the Netherlands. On Friday they joined others at the high school as the four-day-long Quilter’s Affair drew to a close. In all, over 900 registered for Quilter’s Affair, which featured classes for every skill level taught by 26 master instructors. Quilters journeyed to Sisters from across the states. Apart from Oregon and neighboring states, the majority of visitors were predominantly from southern and southeastern states, where quilting has deep roots. Left behind were whatever concerns they had about record inflation and gas prices. It
By Sue Stafford Correspondent
Correspondent
Contractors and electric utilities nationwide are sounding the alarm over the global shortage of electric transformers — those ubiquitous green boxes or gray cylinders that sit on ground pads or hang on utility poles transforming high voltage to that which your house, office, or store can use. A transformer is a piece of equipment that either increases or reduces the voltage as electricity is transferred across the electrical grid to customers. Home builders are especially concerned as their projects come to a halt or
Inside...
customers unable to complete a purchase. Attendees knew how to party, too. They kept
Summer has arrived, and this week the temperatures are forecast to be in the 90s. The slash pad at Fir Street Park will be busy providing cool water for the kids to play in. Water in that splash pad gets treated and recycled rather than draining away into the sewer. That recycling is just one way the City is using its water wisely, which is what they are encouraging Sisters residents to do to reduce water waste. Some citizens have expressed confusion, some frustration, some anger that they are being asked to use less water. Some think conservation is being promoted to allow enough water for the new building going on in Sisters. City Manager Cory Misley told The Nugget, “Nothing tells us we are
See QUILT SHOW on page 7
See WATER on page 23
PHOTO BY CODY RHEAULT
People came from all points of the compass to explore the quilt-wrapped streets of Sisters. was Quilt Week in Sisters and in they came, flashing broad smiles — and their wallets. Quilters traditionally spend generously across town. Shopkeepers and
Transformer shortage impacts construction By Bill Bartlett
PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15
are slowed, awaiting power. While it is more pronounced in other areas, Sisters Country is not immune. Central Electric Cooperative (CEC), which supplies Central Oregon, reports that inventory is currently below historical levels for some transformers. Brent ten Pas, CEC director of member and public relations, told The Nugget: “CEC has been working with its current vendors and refurbishing manufacturers to secure new and refurbished transformers to maintain an adequate supply to meet residential and commercial demand. In addition, CEC is See POWER on page 22
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Meetings .......................... 3
food-and-beverage purveyors strained to meet demand, complaining privately about the hardship imposed by continuing staffing shortages, which left some
Sisters works to preserve dark skies By Sue Stafford Correspondent
Outdoor string lights prompted much discussion at last week’s Planning Commission workshop regarding the proposed Development Code amendment to the Dark Skies ordinance. As growth and attendant light pollution threaten one of Sisters special features — dark, star-spangled night skies — more attention is being drawn to measures necessary to protect that night sky. The Sisters City Council made it one of their goals to update and fully implement the City’s Dark Skies ordinance in the Sisters’ Development Code (Section 2.15.400), which was adopted in 2010 but never fully Announcements...............10 Entertainment ................. 11
PHOTO BY KRIS KRISTOVICH
Light pollution threatens one of Central Oregon’s precious natural resources — a magnificent dark and star-spangled sky. implemented or enforced. In crafting the development code amendment, City staff has held numerous workshops to get feedback. The Planning Commission reviewed it on September 16, 2021, January 20, 2022, Obituaries ....................... 17 Crossword .......................18
and February 17, 2022. City Council discussed it on January 12 and February 9. Based on all the feedback, staff brought the development code amendment forward See DARK SKIES on page 16
Classifieds................. 19-20 Real Estate ................ 20-24