The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

To the Editor:

There is something fundamentally wrong with our police protection in Sisters.

When we need volunteer vigilante neighbors to patrol our streets at night due to break-ins and vandalism, and when it takes 20 minutes for the police to respond to a major break-in crisis where the intruder was only a step or two away from being shot, such has what happened on Monday, September 9, on W. Carson Ave. at 2 a.m. here in the Hayden subdivision (see full story in the September 18 edition of The Nugget), basic and adequate protection of our city is not happening via the contract with Deschutes County Sheriff’s Department.

A 20-minute response indicates there was NO police officer in Sisters city limits at the time the 911 call was placed. We have our own fire and EMT department, our own planning department, our own public works department. Why do we not have our own police department that assures that residents can get emergency help in the middle of the night?

This is unacceptable!

The City just approved another 160 homes to be built by Hayden next to the high school, not to mention the added homes and multiple-unit apartments it is building across from McDonald’s and Ray’s market which will add several hundred more residents to our city. We cannot sustain all the added growth without also expanding our police protection. It’s time for the Sisters City Council to act on re-establishing a Sisters city police department, sooner rather than later.

William Carmichael

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To the Editor:

Thanks to Sue Stafford for bringing attention to the housing needs of seniors living in our community.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to age with dignity in their own home and community. Sisters Habitat for Humanity’s strategy is to offer repairs and modifications in homes of qualified individuals through our Home Repair Program. Projects such as improving bathroom accessibility, stabilizing staircases and building a ramp afford older adults the opportunity to age safely in their homes by reducing certain risks.

The model is similar to the homeownership program, as we offer affordable home repairs to individuals that need assistance with 0% interest loans. To qualify, you must live in an owner-occupied home, meet financial guidelines, and be willing to contribute a certain amount of sweat equity to the project.

The process is easy! Please go online to our website – http://www.sistershabitat.org. Click on the Home Repair icon to read the guidelines. The pamphlet is also available at our office, 141 W. Main Ave. If you want to pursue the program or want more information please call the office to set up an appointment with Marie 541-549-1193.

We have completed several projects already and have done everything from fixing a deck to making an entire bathroom ADA accessible. No job is too small or too large.

Marie Clasen, Habitat for Humanity, Family Services Manager

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To the Editor:

Hats off to Erik Pronold and his controlled, clear, calm, armed handling of the man who forcefully broke into his home in the middle of the night. And hats off to the editor for including very important details in the article about how, exactly, Erik handled the situation and kept it from escalating.

We can all learn from Erik’s clear communication with the man, Lucie, dispatch, and the deputies.

If we are going to be armed homeowners (and thank God for that right), we must know exactly how we will respond should we find ourselves in such an alarming situation. I am proud of Erik for de-escalating the situation without anyone being harmed, while at the same time ensuring his family’s safety above all.

I’m grateful a man like Erik is part of our community, and I pray the Pronold family is able to recover from the trauma of having someone breaking into their home. This story serves as a poignant reminder of why guns, in the hands of the right people, can be a really good thing.

Jordan Pope