News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 28 - 52 of 102
The upcoming May election will decide who is filling two open positions on the Sisters School Board. Five candidates are running for the two open positions on the Board. Jeff Smith is running for Position 3 and has been on the School Board since 1999, with a break of 2-1/2 years. Smith believes his experience and passion for education set him apart from the other candidates. "I have a passion for education. I believe in good schools and am lucky enough to end up in a... Full story
Sisters community members, City Council members and University of Oregon students celebrated the end of the Sustainable City Year Partnership (SCYP) between the University and the City of Sisters. Last Thursday evening at FivePine Convention Center, University of Oregon (UO) students ranging from sophomores to seniors to master's students displayed their work for the Sustainable City partnership. That partnership started last year, between the University's Planning, Public... Full story
The Sisters City Council will have to take a second shot at nailing down policies on camping. Councilors held a public hearing in consideration of the ordinance to establish camping regulations and removal policy. According to the project information: “The camping ordinance intends to comply with ORS 195.550, which requires that any city law that regulates the acts of sitting, lying, sleeping, and/or keeping warm and dry outdoors on public property that is open to the p... Full story
Eric Strobel of Economic Development of Central Oregon (EDCO) Sisters, and John Stark, executive director for EDCO made a budget request and gave the Sisters City Council a chance to hear more about EDCO’s activities last week. EDCO is a regional organization that strives to get businesses moving and growing and provide the economy with jobs. Sisters is a participating in an EDCO program with Eric Strobel at the helm. Their mission is to “create a diversified local eco... Full story
On a sunny spring day in Sisters, Tuesday, May 16, Sisters High School (SHS) chemistry students launched two stratospheric balloons from Sisters Eagle Airport, loaded with students' experiments. The experiments are attached to what is known as a payload - items that will help students determine what happened while the balloon was floating in the atmosphere at over 80,000 feet. The chemistry classes have been launching weather balloons every year since 2015. This year, 37... Full story
The Sisters City Council gave the green light to funding an analysis of the City’s urban growth boundary (UGB). The Council approved a professional services agreement with Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc. (MIG) for an Urban Growth Boundary Sufficiency Analysis. Cost of the study is not to exceed $25,905. Sisters is somewhat unique because the UGB is also the city limits. Most cities have a UGB that is different from its city limits. With increased development, and more people w... Full story
The results of the May 16 election are in. There are still final numbers coming through and being counted; however, the results are known for the two Sisters School Board positions and the local option levy renewal, which passed by a wide margin. Jeff Smith was reelected to Sisters School District (SSD) Position 3. He has served on the School Board since 1999. Smith believes his experience sets him apart from other candidates. Smith has lived in Sisters for 27 years. After... Full story
The City and students celebrated Arbor Day last week with a tree-planting event at Cliff Clemens Park. Twelve Sisters Elementary School students planted six trees, including three autumn maple blaze and three scarlet oak trees, to commemorate the day. Friday, April 28 is a national holiday known as Arbor Day, which celebrates the power of trees. Many communities plant trees on Arbor Day. Sisters Mayor Michael Preedin declared an Arbor Day Proclamation for the City of Sisters.... Full story
Fire experts presented to the City Council during a workshop in recognition of May as Wildfire Awareness Month. Roger Johnson, fire chief at Sisters Camp-Sherman Fire District (SCSFD), Ian Reid, Sisters district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, and Heather Miller, rire risk reduction specialist for the Oregon office of State Fire Marshal offered a wildfire preparedness presentation to councilors, covering matters from building hardening to regional wildfire risk, cohesive... Full story
Spoons Restaurant is relocating in Sisters. After being on Cascade Avenue since opening in 2017, owner Doug Stevens finally had the opportunity to move locations to a bigger space that will complement their increase in sales and business. Deri Frazee encouraged Doug Stevens and his wife, Debbi, to buy the first Spoons location when the Cuppa Yo frozen yogurt shop went up for sale. Stevens and his wife, and their cooking partner, Carrie McGonagle, decided to add lunch, soup,... Full story
John Seitzinger, LMT, MSN, worked in the medical field as a nurse and anesthesiologist for most of his 20-year career in Portland, but he wanted to branch away from that type of medicine and move somewhere closer to nature. After nine years as a nurse, he returned to school and pursued anesthesiology. "I was a nurse anesthetist and did that until nine years ago, and then was a stay-at-home dad. My wife is an artist and supported her business and our son," he said. He and his... Full story
Daybreak Wellness offers unique services to treat injuries and ailments and to promote overall health and well-being focused on mind, body, and spirit. Daybreak Wellness opened in March of 2023 as a partnership between Diane Flowers and Melanie Middlestetter. Flowers has been in the naturopathic medicine/massage therapy field for over 20 years, and it had always been her goal to start a practice with Daybreak Wellness' services. "A lot of years ago, when I was in naturopathic... Full story
The Venardos Circus is returning to Central Oregon yet again. The animal-free, Broadway-style circus presents their all-new "Let's Build a Dream" show at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center June 8-18. The 2023 Venardos Circus is traveling with a new, custom-crafted, Italian-made, red-and-white-striped tent that offers expanded seating around a central stage. It adds 100 seats including new elevated premium gallery seat at the back of the tent. With an increased demand for... Full story
Jeremy Dickman is one of two brand-new Planning Commission members this year. Dickman and his family have lived in Sisters since September 2020, but have been based in Central Oregon for 23 years, with a three-year gap for law school. Dickman graduated from the University of Oregon in 2000 and worked for The Bulletin in Bend as a copy editor for two years. After that, he fell back on his high school dream of becoming an attorney. He had always imagined being a defense... Full story
Sarah McDougall always gets involved in her community, wherever she is. She got especially involved in Sisters when she moved here in 2020, after living in Bend for 14 years. McDougall knew for a long time that she wanted to move to Sisters, after seeing Bend turning into a place more like the places they moved to Bend from. "We came out to Sisters and saw everything being built, and how there may be an opportunity for us to live here. The neighborhood we saw was full of... Full story
The Sisters City Council took another step toward construction of a roundabout at Highway 20 and Locust Street last week. In their Wednesday, April 26 meeting, the Council approved Amendment No. 2 of the intergovernmental agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation for improvements on Highway 20 at Locust Street, allowing the project to move forward. They will begin moving dirt on the area most likely in February 2024, pending construction timelines and when... Full story
The Sisters City Council took another step toward construction of a roundabout at Highway 20 and Locust Street last week. In their Wednesday, April 26 meeting, the Council approved Amendment No. 2 of the intergovernmental agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation for improvements on Highway 20 at Locust Street, allowing the project to move forward. They will begin moving dirt on the area most likely in February 2024, pending construction timelines and when... Full story
The local option levy (Measure 9-161) is coming on the ballot in this year’s May 16 election. The local option accounts for 10 percent of Sisters School District’s annual budget and the equivalent of 16 teacher salaries. The local option levy allows special programs and small classroom sizes to stick around in Sisters schools. The levy has seen ongoing renewal every five years, for 24 years. The local option is a considerable portion of the District budget, contributing to all... Full story
Jeff Smith is a veteran of serving on the Sisters School Board. He has served since 1999, with a 2-1/2 year hiatus. Smith is running for Position No. 4 in the May 16 election. Smith's experience serving on the School Board is what he believes sets him apart from other candidates. "I have been in education for most of my life; I was a teacher and professor, and I coached sports," said Smith. Smith has lived in Sisters for 27 years. During his first 10 years living here, Smith... Full story
Karissa Bilderback is running for one of two open spots on the Sisters School Board that will be on the May election ballot this year. Bilderback graduated from Sisters High School (SHS) in 2000, and now is raising four kids who are in and entering the Sisters schools. Bilderback grew up in the Willamette Valley, and her family vacationed in Black Butte Ranch when she was young. Her family relocated to Sisters, partially because of the schools. "I loved high school and I felt... Full story
Jayne Simmons, candidate for Sisters School Board, has been in Sisters for over 27 years. Her sons attended Sisters schools, and now her grandchildren are in the schools. "We have a long connection with Sisters, back in the days you could go up one street and down the other, and someone would know your kids, and that's what is so great about a small town," she said. Simmons comes from a diverse background having formerly held a teaching credential in English and social... Full story
Asa Sarver is one of the incumbents running for the Sisters School Board in the upcoming May 16 special district election. Sarver seeks Position 4, to continue serving the Sisters School District (SSD). Sarver and his family re-located to Sisters in 2020, settling in Black Butte Ranch before finally acquiring property in Sisters in 2022. Sarver had previously lived in Montana and Colorado, working in the hospitality industry at ski resorts. He was offered a position in the win... Full story
This year’s Sisters School District (SSD) School Board candidates were asked tough and hard-hitting questions during the League of Women Voters of Deschutes County’s Virtual Candidate Forum last Thursday. The virtual forum gathered the candidates and a moderator together via Zoom and was live-streamed for the public to watch on the City Club of Central Oregon YouTube channel. Candidates were asked questions ranging from why they are running for the School Board to que... Full story
Sisters City Council is working on defining camping regulations on city-owned property. With an increased number of houseless people and more tourists coming into Sisters in the summer for events, camping regulations seemed like a natural next step to maintain public property including parks throughout Sisters. City Attorney Jeremy Green walked the Council through the subject areas of the draft ordinance. The staff reached out to stakeholders and others who work with the... Full story
The City of Sisters is continuing forward on several highway improvement projects as Sisters moves into the spring and summer months. In last week’s Sisters City Council workshop, Public Works Director Paul Bertagna and Tony Roos from Kittelson and Associates presented to the Council the initial design mock-up for the Barclay Drive Improvement Project. The Barclay Drive Improvement Project originated many months ago after Barclay Drive was identified as the alternate route a... Full story
