The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

•Gas prices continue to climb. If you drive a performance auto that requires premium unleaded fuel, you can expect to pay $4.75/gallon in Sisters for ethanol-free gas. For everybody else it’s $3.85/gallon on average for the four petrol stations in town. That’s an increase of 23 cents in just one month and $1.09/gallon since January.

•Pump your own. Speaking of gas, the 76 station at Sisters Pumphouse & Country Store is allowing self-service due to its continuing staffing shortage. The labor crisis in Sisters remains dire with many businesses curtailing hours.

•Hospitalizations for COVID-19. St. Charles remains on high alert for the possibility of the Delta variant taxing the system, but as of Monday, five COVID-related patients were in ICU, three of whom were on ventilators. Systemwide, St. Charles has 30 ICU beds. In all of Oregon there are 651 intensive care beds, 140 specialty ICU beds that can be diverted for COVID-19, and 5,195 acute care beds.

•Sheriff hosts National Night Out event in Sisters. The Village Green was the scene of a few hundred citizens last week, many of whom were families with young children who came to meet some 40 members of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO).

Sheriff Shane Nelson posed with kiddos and along with Sisters Substation Commander Lt. Chad Davis and scores of deputies, gave attendees an up-close look inside the myriad vehicles used by DCSO in its work — from treaded search-and-rescue vehicles to watercraft. Children, treated to ice cream bars, were able to sit in patrol cars and work the lights and sirens — much to their delight.

•Getting a jump on the fire. Central Oregon Helitack deployed three trucks and a helicopter within hours after lightning ignited three fires near Green Ridge. The Bureau of Land Management team based in Prineville included firefighters from Montana. They stationed themselves and extensive gear at Sisters Eagle Airport, often the base for helo operations in our area during fire season. Their first mission was to drop four rappelers near the fire to clear a base pad for the chopper.

•Iconic gallery begins wind-down. Ken Scott’s Imagination Gallery on West Hood Avenue expects to vacate Sisters in October. The years-long tourist favorite represents 29 artists, 24 of whom are local and all of whom will need to find new representation. Scott will take up residence in Leaburg along the McKenzie Highway. He will open a small gallery and maintain a studio for his considerable list of commissions.

•The sports nutrition company Picky Bars, in Bend, owned by American professional runners Lauren Fleshman and Stephanie Bruce and American triathlete Jesse Thomas, has been acquired by Laird Superfood for $12 million. The brand, known for its real-food granola bars, oatmeal, and granola targets athletes and people with active lifestyles.