News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 176 - 200 of 502
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
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
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
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 editor@nuggetnews.com using the following format, including a photo. Patjens Lake Loop Trail is in all its floral splendor, at least for the next week or two. The bear grass (Indian basket grass) is especially abundant standing as high as six feet. Likewise lupine, scarlet gilia, and Washington lily is in full glory. Why go? It's an easy,... Full story
"Why do they insist on calling it an air show?" Those are the words of Don Riordan of Sisters as he mused about the upcoming annual event in Madras. When The Nugget asked Riordan what he would call it instead, he stroked his chin a bit and pondered. "Gosh, not sure," he said. "Maybe extravaganza. Maybe festival. It's a heckuva lot more than airplanes," he said. And in looking at the lineup for the two-day affair, Friday, August 25 and Saturday, August 26 at the Madras... Full story
4-H has been around for 121 years, and for 75 of those years 4-H has thrived in Sisters Country as Cloverdale Livestock Club. 4-H is the nation's largest youth development organization, surpassing scouting. The 4-H idea is simple: Help young people and their families gain the skills needed to be proactive forces in their communities, and develop ideas for a more innovative economy. Today, 4-H serves youth in rural, urban, and suburban communities in all 50 states. 4-H-ers are... Full story
In what looks like a first-of-its-kind partnership, Sisters Woodlands, a 300-plus mixed-use community under construction in Sisters, is partnering with Sisters Habitat for Humanity to build affordable homes for low-income dwellers. There is no affordable housing requirement in the City's Development Code when permitting large-scale projects like Sisters Woodlands. Some projects, such as ClearPine, included affordable units in its master plan as a negotiated provision with the... Full story
The number of stand-up paddleboard (SUP) enthusiasts is growing nationwide at a rate faster than tennis or golf - and Sisters Country is no exception. Three million paddleboarders dot the U.S. landscape and the market for the boards and accessories is $1.5 billion out of a worldwide total of $4.3 billion. Take a drive to Three Creek Lake, Black Butte Ranch or Suttle Lake and the allure is at once obvious. Take a close look and you will see that it's intergenerational, not... Full story
The number of homes sold in Sisters Country this past June was only 24 as compared to 30 in the prior year, but prices remain high and inventory tight. Eight homes in each June period exceeded $1 million in closing price. The average price in June of 2022 reached $944,985 but the median was exactly $700,000. The median price is what professionals follow. The average sale price is calculated by adding all the sale prices for homes sold in a specific area within a specified... Full story
Moviegoers in Sisters got a delectable treat Friday when two of the most anticipated films of 2023 opened opposite each other at Sisters Movie House in what Hollywood insiders are dubbing the theatrical showdown of the year: Barbenheimer — “Barbie” — and “Oppenheimer,” which overlap in time slots. “Barbie” gets one more daily showing, so it’s possible for movie fanatics to see both anticipated blockbusters on the same day in a five-hour window. “Oppenheimer” is... Full story
The Blue Pool, properly known as Tamolitch Falls, has been the scene of three rescues this month. On July 2, an injured person was airlifted to safety. Last week three people were rescued from the highly popular summer trail just two days after the July 15 rescue of two. As the days grow warmer, the already burdened trail 50 miles to the west of Sisters brings out hundreds of hikers and, in some cases, thrill seekers. The parking lot cannot handle the traffic that often... Full story
A seemingly benign recommendation on the social media platform Next Door for the movie Sound of Freedom has ignited a storm of debate. The nationwide app is divided into neighborhoods, with Sisters being one. It is an innocuous site usually filled with notices of lost cats, recipe exchanges and recommendation requests for local services. But when a user posted: “I saw an extremely powerful movie last night in Sisters at the Movie House” the community conversation changed dra... Full story
The planned emergency shelter at 192 W. Barclay Dr. is of apparent concern to some in the community. Mayor Michael Preedin tells The Nugget that he has received a large number of calls regarding the location and use of the commercial property, a 6,000-square-foot, two-story structure. Much of the curiosity revolves around zoning and permitting. City Planning Director Scott Woodford said, “It will all be driven by HB2006. The legislation overrides any other consideration for pe... Full story
The parking lot at Ski Hoodoo looked like an outdoor camping show last weekend, as 1,000 archers from around the globe set up camp for the second leg of the Hoyt Northwest Mountain Challenge (HNWC). The first occurred June 9-11 at Tamarack in Idaho. The series ends at Stevens Pass, Washington July 28-30. All three venues are ski resorts. The NWMC started in 2012 as a single event in Idaho, and has become the premier 3D archery triple-crown event in the West. It is not your eve... Full story
If all goes to plan, Forest Road 16, which has been closed above Upper Three Creeks Sno-Park for refurbishing, will reopen July 28 - to the relief of hundreds of recreation users. The rescheduled opening is two weeks later than planned due to this year's deep snow and the degree of degradation discovered as work began. Work on the rutted and deep-pocked road is long overdue users say, as they bumped and gritted their way to popular Three Creek Lake and the Tam McArthur Rim... Full story
Ninety bulls came to Sisters Rodeo Grounds Saturday, none too happy about it. Who could blame them? It was 100 degrees. Upon arrival they were herded not onto a grassy pasture but a dirt pen. By the time they were checkerboarded to the bucking chutes, they'd worked up a head of steam. They were not about having a cowboy get on their back. Such was the scene of the inaugural Red Rock Bucking Bulls Futurity. This was not a contest of cowboys but of the bulls themselves. And... Full story
The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show ended Saturday in brilliant sunshine with breezes so light they never caused a ripple in the hanging quilts - all 1,166 of them. They came by the busloads, literally. Exploration Tours of Rochester, Washington brought 45 as did Country Heritage Tours of Bedford, New Hampshire. Portland Modern Quilt Guild brought a smaller bus as did others with group sizes of nine to 20. Getaway Vacations from Alberta, Canada landed a luxury coach full of... Full story
Sisters Trails Alliance (STA) has adopted a new mission statement: "To protect and preserve the outdoor experience through the stewardship of multi-user, non- motorized trails and their adjacent wild places." It is a subtle change in wording but its intent is marked. The previous version read: "To connect a community of trail users and their natural surroundings through the stewardship of our multi-user, non-motorized trails." By the addition of "... adjacent wild places" the... Full story
The Cold Weather Shelter, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Sisters, has won final approval of a $1.46 million grant from the recent tranche of $13.9 million provided to Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties. The funding comes from the $98 million pot enacted by Senate Bill 5019 that gives sole authority of the funds' disbursement to Gov. Kotek who has made fighting homelessness in the state her top priority. The $13.9 million emergency funding is intended to create 111 new shelter... Full story
