News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 500
Oregon is one of the hottest states in the country and it’s not the weather. COVID-19 has made a comeback of sorts, particularly in the western states. Since late April COVID-19 has seen a surge in Oregon, mostly from omicron variants, according to Dr. Paul Cieslak, medical director for communicable diseases and immunization at the Oregon Health Authority. People testing positive for COVID climbed from a rate of 3.1 percent in April to over 18 percent during the last week o... Full story
Despite mixed-to-negative reports of commercial development across the country and Oregon, Sisters developers and entrepreneurs appear to have a differing take. According to Goldman Sachs, some $1.2 trillion of commercial mortgages are scheduled to mature this year and next. That's almost a quarter of all outstanding commercial mortgages, and the highest recorded level dating back to 2008. The biggest single holder are banks, many local and regional, with a 40 percent share.... Full story
Even if you don't recognize her person or her name you will undoubtedly recognize Robin Bentz's work: She's the "lady who keeps Sisters beautiful." That's what we heard repeatedly as we asked about town. Indeed, Bentz is the tireless City's Public Works Department worker who almost single-handedly deals with city-owned landscaping. A lot of it is within five city parks, among the many, many acres of land that needs to be weeded, planted, pruned, irrigated, and fed. Bentz will...
Adrian and Buddy Blair work at Sno Cap. They live in the Deschutes National Forest. Upon first reading you might think that the two are entry-level line workers. To the contrary, Adrian is the manager and Buddy is... well you name it, and Buddy does it. Preps, cleans, fixes, stores, and helps keep the wheels turning. Sno Cap is not a fast-food restaurant. Everything is cooked or served to order, from scratch. Most everybody in Sisters has at one time or another dined at Sno...
There’s Minnesota nice. And Wisconsin nice. And Canada nice. Maybe some others, probably mostly in the Midwest. I don’t recall Oregon nice. Nor California nice. And then there’s Sisters nice. You know the kind of nice I’m talking about. It mostly just happens, right? It happens so routinely that we don’t need to put it into words. Like many of you, I ride my bike around town. And, much to the chagrin of my adult children, an electric scooter. Not one of those three-whe... Full story
Oregon set a record last week for acres lost from wildfire, 1.49 million or 2,200 square miles, surpassing the 2012 total of 1.2 million acres. Nationwide it has been a disastrous year for wildfire, with 5.5 million acres burned through Sunday from 30,293 fires. This is more than double the 2.7 million acres lost in 2023 but down from the losses of 2021 and 2022 when over 7 million acres burned those years. The largest single wildfire in the U.S. is the Durkee Fire in Oregon... Full story
This delightful, easy to moderate outing is occasionally confused by other nearby trails. It is not the Three Fingered Jack trail or even the Jack Lake Trail (there is no Jack Lake trail per se). At the Jack Lake trailhead you are treated to options one of which is Canyon Creek Meadows Loop part of which is on the Old Summit Trail. The loop section is just at five miles with an elevation gain of roughly 600 feet. There are branches that can turn it into a 7.6 mile or longer ex... Full story
The 27th annual Country Fair in Sisters, a community fundraiser project of Church of the Transfiguration, delighted hundreds of attendees Saturday in near perfect weather. The cool, sunny day motivated fairgoers to gobble up old-fashioned goodies ranging from jams, preserves, and jellies to cookies and pies to pulled pork and chili. "And, of course, their amazing Marionberry cobbler," said Mary Gillespie from Cloverdale, a regular fair-goer. She comes primarily for the books,... Full story
The back of an intensely warm July seems to have been broken -and hay, alfalfa and orchard grass growers in Sisters Country are breathing a sigh of relief. While their water supply has been reduced to 70 percent as of August 12, that's an improvement over last year. Given the spate of hot weeks it was a surprise to Jim Williams, Water and Hydro Manager for Three Sisters Irrigation District. The District supplies water to 185 users with 7,572 acres. Williams told The Nugget:... Full story
The Highway 20 corridor between Sisters and Suttle Lake is a diverse landscape dotted with vast stands of ponderosa pines, leafy aspens, horse camps, a butte, bucolic meadows, and wildlife. Anywhere from 350 to 600 mule deer and elk are killed annually along the stretch from collisions with vehicles. That's about 90 for every mile of the corridor we learned from Cidney Bowman, wildlife passage coordinator for Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). In discussing the issue... Full story
A series of wildlife images captured by a trail camera on a proposed downhill mountain bike trail near Sisters is remarkable in clarity. Moreover, against high odds, the same camera caught a pair of cougars, a black bear, and numerous mule deer. The camera is the property of Adam Bronstein, a local wildlife and wilderness advocate with the newly formed group Wild Ecosystems Alliance, one of a number of opponents to the Forest Service's proposed trail activities on 21 existing... Full story
Lauren DuRocher will serve as Acting District Ranger while current Sisters District Ranger Ian Reid fills a 120-day stint as Acting Modoc National Forest Supervisor. That temporary role places him in charge of four districts from an office in Alturas, California. The Modoc covers 1.6 million acres spread over three northeast California counties. Reid told the Modoc County Record, "I am excited to work with the caring and dedicated employees of the Modoc National Forest and to... Full story
If you want to restore your faith in the country, spend a little time with ag kids in Sisters. I had the pleasure, once again, in visiting with the more than 40-strong members of Cloverdale Livestock Club, the local 4-H chapter in Sisters Country. 4-H has been around for 122 years and for 76 of those, 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 y... Full story
It's easy to think of the Air Show of the Cascades as just that - an air show. But that would be selling it short. Way short. Extravaganza? Yes. Festival? Yes. Spectacle? Yes. In the good sense. Above all, it's three fun packed, adrenaline pumping days formulated for families of all sizes, and all ages and all locales near and far. Indeed, attendees will come to the August 22-24 event in Madras from a dozen states, as many as a hundred flying into the event. There will be... Full story
Many readers may be surprised to know that there is an Oregon State Park in Sisters. Sisters State Park was established in 1939. The park was named for the adjacent town of Sisters. The original 41 acres was purchased by Louis W. Hill for $1,532. After he purchased the land, Hill donated it to the State of Oregon for a park or some other public purpose. It was Hill's desire to preserve the old-growth pine forest on the property for use and enjoyment of future generations.... Full story
With the addition of at least four pups, the Metolius wolves, a pair first identified in 2021, are now six in number, possibly more. Four sets of tracks have been observed by Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) wolf biologist Aaron Bott. The average litter size is five. Bott has thus far been unable to capture the new arrivals on trail cameras. The den is believed to be on private land in a mosaic of public and private property. The minimum known count of wolves in... Full story
Pickleball has been named America's fastest-growing sport for the third year in a row in the 2024 Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) Topline Participation Report. The report shows participation grew 51.8 percent from 2022 to 2023. In 2023, the 65+ age group was tied for having the second highest number of participants. In 2023 alone there were over 35 million pickleball players and it was growing exponentially at a rate of 158 percent over the last three years. The r... Full story
The height of summer is a good time to take the 4.8-mile Clear Lake Loop. Why go? The scene, the wonderfully enchanting intermittent combination of topaz and turquoise water mixed with old growth conifers and ancient lava flows. When to go? Pretty much any time works but best when snow is off the trails. And in the summer, like most all Central Oregon hikes, start early in the morning to get a good parking spot and to beat the heat. What to expect? This easy-to-moderate hike... Full story
Jonathan Kelly considers himself one lucky man. The Sisters Middle School teacher just took possession of a new home in Sisters Woodlands subsidized under a workforce housing program. Without assistance from a project created by the not-for-profit Rooted Homes and backed by a consortium of foundations, Deschutes County and Business Oregon, Kelly would still be commuting from Redmond and wondering if he could sustain working in Sisters at all. Kelly cut the ceremonial ribbon... Full story
All the bulls remained inside the arena Saturday for the second annual Red Rock Bucking Bulls Futurity at the Sisters Rodeo Grounds. That's not to say the young bulls weren't determined to put anything on their back onto the ground. They came snorting and bucking and kicking and twisting, all trying out their moves for the judges. These young bucks were auditioning for a chance to move up the ladder and into the professional circuit. Sisters was stop No. 4 on a six-town,... Full story
Managers of the Deschutes National Forest are asking for public comment on a draft change in administrative rules that would allow approximately 160 miles of trails to be freed for use by Class 1 e-bikes. Currently, no e-bikes of any class are allowed in the Forest except on roads shared with other motorized vehicles. E-bikers say this is dangerous, often confronting high speed UTV and ATV users on narrow roads. Conversely, some non-e-bike users and pedestrians say that it is... Full story
Along with the rest of the state, Sisters will soon see the release of the Oregon Statewide Wildfire Hazard Map risk map (Click here to see related story.). A key takeaway is the change in name from “risk” to “hazard” map. The semantics are subtle, but significant. Risk implies impacts on insurance, whereas hazard suggests something more temporary that can be mitigated. Ben Duda heads up the Sisters Sub-Unit Office of ODF (Oregon Department of Forestry). He is also a volunteer... Full story
They came. 10,000 strong. And they came early, even before the 1,000-plus quilts had been completely hung across downtown Sisters. In part because it was 85 degrees by 8:30 a.m., and more to get a first-hand look at one of the premier quilt exhibits in the country. "We drove through on our way to McDonald's for breakfast around 7:15 and when we came back at 8:30 it was like, 'Whoa! How'd that happen?'" said an amazed Cory Archer from Redmond, playing in a golf foursome at Aspe... Full story
It's easy to think of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) as an impressive display of quilt-making, all taking place on a single day - a tourism-driven event showcasing both artists and the town. Generally overlooked is what locals call quilt week - the multiple days preceding the famed outdoor show held on the second Saturday of every July. From Monday through Friday nearly a thousand quilters take part in Quilter's Affair, sponsored by the Stitchin' Post. This is the... Full story
Ask anybody who attended the second Big Ponderoo Music and Art Festival, or who just wandered by, and they will tell you it had success written all over it. "I've got a slogan for your Chamber of Commerce," Doyle McMaster of Hood River told The Nugget. "Small town. Big music." "No," interrupted his partner, Liz Driscoll. "Small town. Huge music." Like dozens of others The Nugget interviewed, searching particularly for those who had travelled long distances for the event, the... Full story
