News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 176 - 200 of 518
They roared into town last Saturday, engines reverberating, some from over 100 miles away. Volunteers methodically marshaled the pristine cars and trucks, several dating over 80 years, into position as they lined the three blocks of Main closed to regular traffic from Elm to Larch for the Glory Daze Car Show. Many came in groups - car clubs or just garage buddies. One hundred and two registered out of 110 openings. The event, sponsored by SPRD (Sisters Park & Recreation... Full story
The 2023 Artist Studio Tour sponsored by the Sisters Arts Association left many wanting more. "We just don't get anything like this in Bandon, where we have many fewer galleries and artists of this level," Beth Urban told The Nugget during a visit with some of the 34 artists in 19 studios within 15 minutes of Sisters. Urban was at Kimry Jelen's in Cloverdale. Jelen, an equestrian, is an acrylic painter known for her textured, highly colorful style that flows freely from... Full story
The 12th annual Sisters Fresh Hop Festival opened its doors at noon Saturday, by which time more than 100 were waiting in line. By the time the last beer was poured and the music came to a close at 6 p.m., as many as 1,000 had taken part in the merriment. While most were serious beer aficionados, it was a family affair. Kids were treated to a giant inflatable slide and kid-friendly food and beverages. Spun cotton candy was a favorite. Kids in fact were the beneficiaries of... Full story
The Sisters Library will close temporarily September 24 in order to transition from its temporary quarters to its fully remodeled facility. The transition will take until mid-October, with no date certain, as construction and technology crews are at work completing the final steps of the upgrade and modernization. In an announcement to the public, Library managers ask that patrons please hold returns while the library is closed during the transition period. No late fees will... Full story
A 21-year-old woman named Gin Szagola is riding her horse, Finley, from New Jersey to the Oregon shore. That's a 3,450-mile trek across 10 states. More amazing is that this is her third cross country-adventure; the first was on foot and the second on a bicycle. In 2019, she became the youngest woman to have walked across the U.S. solo. None of this comes across when you meet her, as The Nugget did Friday when she came through Sisters, hours behind schedule. But "schedule"... Full story
Work began in 2022 on several large-scale commercial buildings in Sisters. Expectations were high that as Bend might be reaching saturation with fewer options for light manufacturers and service sector industries, businesses would be drawn to Sisters. Now as these projects have completed they stand mostly empty of tenants, with a few exceptions. Sisters does not mirror the national commercial real estate market where remote workers have decimated much of the office building se... Full story
Notwithstanding the tragedy of Maui, as the peak wildfire season draws to a close, national woodland firefighters and foresters are breathing a cautious sigh of relief. As of last Saturday, a total of 2.1 million acres have been lost to wildfire as compared to 7.58 million acres in all of 2022. Mother Nature still has about six weeks to change the outcome, but for now things are looking good. In Sisters there have been about a dozen days where smoke put the air quality index... Full story
According to the Transportation Research Board, more than 100 children are killed every year while walking to and from school. About 25,000 are injured. With school back in session, local citizens have expressed concern about driving they have witnessed in school areas, particularly on Locust Street near Sisters Elementary School during the afternoon. Causes of pedestrian accidents in school zones vary widely. It's important to remember that the word "pedestrian" includes... Full story
This is a new, regular feature The Nugget will run periodically. If you have a favorite hike or trail, send it along in about 500 words to [email protected] using the following format, including a photo. Hawk's Flight-Eagle Rock Loop is a fun and easy loop trail within five miles of town that offers superb views with diverse scenery. It's part of the wondrous Peterson Ridge section of the impressive Sisters Trails Alliance system. Why go? For one thing it's only a... Full story
High Desert Chorale conductor Connie Gunterman has retired and moved to Portland for reasons of family health. Gunterman took the reins of the Sisters singing group in 2016. Gunterman's first directing experience began early. As a junior in high school she was student conductor for both the school chorus and pep band. She sang in the Kentucky All-State Chorus during her junior and senior years and fell in love with big chorus sound. After high school, she attended the... Full story
Local realtors say the market for single family homes in Sisters has cooled dramatically but a look at the numbers tells a slightly different story. On August 15, a 14,666-square-foot, eight-bedroom, nine-bath home on Jordan Road sold for $15 million. Stripping that one-of- kind sale from the totals, August 2023 showed signs of resiliency compared to August of 2022. Last year in August saw 35 single- family homes sell in Sisters Country for $31.7 million. This August saw a... Full story
Sisters Trails Alliance (STA) is the recipient of a $45,000 grant from The Oregon Trails Fund (OTF), a Travel Oregon program, developed and funded in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, that aims to bolster Oregon's competitive advantage as a world-class outdoor recreation destination and provide exceptional trail experiences. In 2023, Travel Oregon awarded $438,977 in Oregon Trails Funds to increase capacity of Oregon trail organizations to support stewardship projects... Full story
Last week's fire of a fully loaded fuel tanker truck headed for the Space Age station in Sisters was brought under control by the quick actions of the driver, neighbors, Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District and a specially equipped fire engine stationed at Redmond airport. The tanker truck was carrying 11,200 gallons of diesel and regular unleaded gas in its two tanks. Each tank has three cells to separate fuel types. Only one cell was breached when a passenger car drove... Full story
Explore Sisters is tasked with promoting tourism that fits in well with the community values of Sisters. The work of the organization, which is one year old, has not been very visible to the public. The organization is funded through a lodging tax of 8.99 percent on room rates for overnight lodging of less than 30 days. Transient Lodging (Room) Tax (TRT or TLT) is the City's second largest general fund income source. Despite the volatile economic environment for the last... Full story
The average schoolteacher in the U.S. can only afford to buy 12 percent of the homes for sale within a 20-minute drive of their school, down from 17 percent last year, according to a report from real estate broker Redfin. That's less than half of the pre-pandemic levels, when 30 percent of homes near their workplace were affordable to teachers. Likewise, just 27 percent of the available rental properties near their school are affordable. "The shortage of affordable homes is... Full story
In your lifetime there are two odds of seeing a wolf in the wild: slim and none. Just ask Emily Weidner of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), a biologist based in Bend. She's made a career of tracking and monitoring wolf activity, and just saw her first live wolf three weeks ago. I had the pleasure of meeting Weidner and her Oregon state counterpart, Aaron Bott, last week. We sat down at Angeline's before Bott and I struck out to check trail cameras near Sisters (see... Full story
In an abundance of caution, ODOT announced Friday that it was closing 15 miles of the 82-mile McKenzie-Santiam Scenic Byway (Highway 242) between mileposts 61 and 76 due to activity from the Lookout Fire, reported on August 5, which so far has consumed over 11,000 acres. The closure is 14 miles west of Sisters. The popular Dee Wright Observatory at mile post 77.5 remains open. ODOT’s decision was not based on the threat of actual fire reaching the iconic highway. Rather it w... Full story
The pair of wolves known as the Metolius pair are presumed - but not confirmed - to be a male and female. On April 19, 2022 a new AKWA (Area of Known Wolf Activity) was designated in the Metolius wildlife management unit. Since August of 2021, there have been public reports of two wolves. Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) documented that the wolf activity appeared to be resident, prompting the AKWA designation. These two wolves were counted for the 2021 annual... Full story
Friday night at the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Sisters was the scene of smooth jazz and over 300 silent auction items along with a wine and hot and cold appetizer spread that feted attendees. The night was filled with bargain hunters and curiosity seekers who sorted through a cornucopia of vintage and mercantile items in over 25 categories. There was something for everyone - campers, toy and art collectors, fly fishers, home furnishers, gourmands, and fashionis... Full story
In an abundance of caution, ODOT announced Friday that it was closing 15 miles of the 82-mile McKenzie-Santiam Scenic Byway (Highway 242) between mile posts 61 and 76 due to activity from the Lookout Fire that so far has consumed over 6,000 acres. The closure is 14 miles west of Sisters. The popular Dee Wight Observatory at mile post 77.5 remains open. ODOT’s decision was not based on the threat of actual fire reaching the iconic highway. Rather it was the concern that s... Full story
Sisters City Council chambers were packed to overflowing on Wednesday, August 9. The intense interest in the scheduled City Council workshop revolved around an application by Sisters Cold Weather Shelter (SCWS) for City approval to operate an emergency shelter at 192 W. Barclay Dr. The proposed siting has stirred citizenry in vociferous opposition or support of the proposed shelter. Some 35-40 attendees were forced to stand in the doorway or vestibule, straining to hear the... Full story
There are now 5 million pickleball players, or "picklers," in the United States, according to a recent report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. Pickleball, a mash-up of tennis, Ping-Pong, and badminton, grew some 40 percent between 2019 and 2021, making it America's fastest-growing sport. The sport trended older in its early years - half of all serious pickleball players in 2021 were 55 and older, according to the USA Pickleball Association. But the vast majority... Full story
Several citizen speakers before the City Council meeting of August 9 expressed frustration that the applicant for proposed emergency shelter on Barclay Drive was not clear in their intent or were purposely misleading. Some cited conflicting or contradictory statements made by the nonprofit Sisters Cold Weather Shelter (SCWS) in various public communications. The Nugget interviewed SCWS Board President Luis Blanchard at length Friday, and sought definitive clarification.... Full story
For much of Sunday, July 30, the entirety of Sisters, Black Butte, and a good portion of Redmond were without Internet as a result of a fire that occurred when a passenger vehicle hit a gas tank truck headed toward Sisters. Power was out for some four to six hours, depending on location. The burning truck was parked immediately under the high-tension electrical lines, the main feed from the Redmond power distribution station to Sisters. Flames burned through the power and... Full story
In the last 10 days dozens of flyers have been posted along Cascade, Hood, and Main asking readers to oppose the establishment of a planned emergency shelter in an industrial area on West Barclay Drive. Some of the flyers were tacked up with the permission of business owners and others were placed without their approval, or on public property. No person or organization is taking responsibility for the flyers, and as quickly as they go up some citizens are removing them in... Full story
