Letters to the Editor 06/15/2016

To the Editor:

There has been a dramatic increase in aircraft noise in Sisters Country over the past few months. It sounds like plane after plane is flying over Sisters, creating a dawn-to-dusk drone of noise.

Originally only on weekends, the annoying drone is now happening on weekdays as well.

This is not due to random private planes transiting the area.

Instead it is due to the new skydiver operation at Eagle Airport. The skydiver plane makes numerous flights a day, endlessly circling over the area as they fight to gain altitude at full throttle.

While the noise is not uncomfortably loud, it is nearly ever-present on days weather conditions allow operations.

You can hear it from Crossroads to Squaw Creek Estates, Aspen Lakes to Tollgate.

Sitting on your patio or at an outdoor restaurant in town, the drone is there, like a neighbor endlessly using a leaf blower.

You realize how annoying it is when silence finally returns after the skydivers drop and the plane lands.

For the neighborhoods northeast of the airport, the many-fold increase in takeoffs is dramatic, as the skydiver plane is particularly loud. The airport expects the skydiver business to expand, and one could expect more planes and flights in the future as the operation gets established. The entire Sisters area is impacted by noise pollution just so a few folks can skydive for a few minutes. Talk about a negative cost-benefit ratio. What a price we all have to pay for one small business.

This is only the first tiny step in the airport's grand expansion plan, with 40-60 additional hangers, condos with hangers underneath and more. One should be ready for sightseeing choppers flying overhead and other commercial operations. The sky, so to speak, is the limit. The headgear of residents will need to change from cowboy hats to protective earmuffs, as Sisters becomes known as "The Nosiest Little Town in Oregon."

Lets all encourage the good folks who own the airport to be good neighbors, limit the skydiving, and undertake a more modest, Sisters-friendly expansion plan. Contact the City Council as well.

BTW, I was a skydiver in years past, and have nothing against the sport, only the location.

Bruce V. Mason

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To the Editor:

In making the case for passage of the school bond measure last month, the Sisters School District promised prudent oversight on how the bond proceeds would be spent.

Now is the time for SSD to prove these were not just idle words.

In past letters to The Nugget, several people have asked why SSD is planning to use bond proceeds (taxpayers' money) to repair the high school's defective roof - which is only 12 years old - instead of using warranty service for repair or replacement.

SSD administrators have consistently ignored these questions, giving the appearance they are avoiding the issue. Are SSD administrators trying to protect the people who designed and installed the defective roof?

The Sisters community and taxpayers deserve an answer from SSD's administrators. It's not just common courtesy but prudent oversight. Explain your position. You promised, now deliver.

Michael Cooper

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To the Editor:

Today our highway cleanup crew, which is the oldest adopt a highway group in our area, cleaned up from Edgington Road to Cold Springs campground.

How sad the amount of cigarette butts that were picked up. We are now in fire season and can't understand how anyone that loves our community could do this. Please put your butts where they belong.

Sheryl McLaughlin

Crossroads Adopt A Highway

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To the Editor:

"Dump Trump!" From my perspective, that's a good idea; I see Mr. Drumph as nothing more than a troublemaker blowhard on the biggest ego trip of his life, and as such, he's already stirring up all too much strife among the people of our grand nation.

For me, Hillary's too risky because of her illegal emailing issues and her role in other jobs she was responsible for as Secretary of State. She also scares me as part of the Clinton Empire.

From my perspective, that leaves a write-in candidate as the final choice, and the only one I can see who has the experience, direction, dedication and gumption is retired USMC General James Mattis. He's said over and over he doesn't want to be President, but if he's drafted he'll do it better than any candidate we've seen or heard from thus far.

Mattis has the political skills, honed by his long military career and his strong desire to do what's best for our nation. His write-in status was started by a Marine Corps veteran and has been put into overdrive by some pretty big movers-and-shakers in the political and financial world. Thus, his becoming President of the United States of America isn't a pipe dream.

Mattis, also nicknamed the "Warrior Monk" for his contemplative devotion to the military arts, may be the man to tame ISIS, bring stability to Europe, and he would also be a fallback option for anti-Trump forces.

If Mattis could win several of the states won by President Obama in 2012, they might be able to block Clinton (should she be the one), thus by the voice of the Constitution, force the incoming House of Representatives to make a decision on the next president, and with the House split, Mattis could be the consensus choice.

I don't know what will happen to our grand country if one of the present candidates makes it at the polls, but whoever wins in the present lineup, it won't be good.

I don't want to immigrate to Canada, Australia or New Zealand as many people I've talked to will/want to do if Trump makes it. I'm too old, plus was born in the USA; I want to be buried in the USA, breathing my last knowing we're still in good shape.

Jim Anderson

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To the Editor:

I am wondering why, if Mr. Loscutoff felt it so important to the focus of this interesting article to mention in the FIRST SENTENCE that Shawna Palanuk was a mother of two, that he failed to point out that Creed Siebel was the father of one until much further into the story.

I'm sorry, but in this day and age it still seems incredibly sexist to me that so many news reports/articles make it a point to note whether the woman is a mother/grandmother, but so very rarely say that the man being written about is a father/grandfather, relevant to the story or not.

Mr. Loscutoff could have saved that information for the more detailed portion of the article about the lives of all THREE contestants, not put it front and center for her and not for either of the men.

Susan Tank

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To the Editor:

On a vacation walk along the Metolius River near Camp Sherman last week, I pondered the "Fly Fishing Only" signs.

What kind of tiny lures do fishermen use to catch flies? Leftover sweets? Stickypaper? If they're not biting, is a SWAT Team available? And what's the best way to cook them? Grilled? Broiled? Fried fly on rye sounds good, with a strong Mai Fly cocktail while listening to Sinatra sing "Fly Me To The Moon" and "Come Fly With Me."

I heard a rumor in the Camp Sherman Store that the Pentagon might declare the Metolius a "No Fly Zone" but that sounds fishy.

Mitch Hider

Eugene, OR

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To the Editor:

On December 7, 2015, a tree fell on my house resulting in a lot of destruction and loss. We are in the process of putting it back together and will probably have things back to normal in another couple months.

The reason for the letter is to find out if someone in the neighborhood adopted my cat thinking she was a stray. When we had to leave the house someone suggested that as long as I fed her, she would stick around. So every day for over four months I went back to my broken house and put out food. She was there for quite awhile. I found her a number of times when I went there. And when I didn't see her there were tufts of hair where she was shedding her winter coat. I haven't seen her for over six weeks when the contractor finished the demolishing and started the reconstruction. The last time I saw her was when they were removing the roof and making a lot of noise.

I adopted her about six years ago when a tiny kitten was dumped on my property Halloween night. Her name is Kitty Kat and I called her Miss Kitty. She is not tiny anymore. She grew into a pretty large orange and white tabby cat with a really fluffy tail. She loves to be held and when my husband napped, she curled up on the bed by him. She figured out how to get between the blanket and the bedspread to nap and would be there for hours. I called her a "kitty lump." If anyone in the neighborhood south of the fire hall, around St. Helens and Ash, has seen her or if she adopted you, I would like to know and if possible, get her back.

Shirley Lalli