News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 206 - 230 of 276
City employees may feel the pain as Sisters slices its budget with a knife honed by two years of deficit spending. At a staff meeting on August 7, City Administrator Barbara Warren asked department heads to immediately begin looking for ways to cut expenses. The budget was adopted by the city council in June for the fiscal year that began July 1. (See page 2 for related stories.) Warren told The Nugget that without the cuts, expenditures would exceed the $511,339 of budgeted revenues in the general fund by $55,000 to... Full story
Phone communication to and from Sisters, Black Butte and Camp Sherman was cut on August 6 when a dump truck with its bed raised ripped out a fiber optic phone line east of Sisters. According to Hollis Lasley, Regional Manager for US West, at about 4:30 p.m. a dump truck operated by the State of Oregon involved in repaving highway 126 between Sisters and Redmond broke the cable suspended 17 and-a-half feet above the ground near Buckhorn Lane. Lasley said that 2,350 accounts in Sisters were affected and 1,500 in the Camp... Full story
After a week-long nap, the forest fire burning in the Mt. Jefferson wilderness awoke on Friday, July 26, jumped fire lines and tripled in size. According to the U. S. Forest Service, the fire had grown to 3,648 acres by Monday, July 29. Three significant spot fires blew out nearly three miles ahead of the main blaze, two west of the Metolius River on tribal lands of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and one on the east side of the Metolius near Castle Rock. "That of course made us very uncomfortable," said Mike Ferris,... Full story
Every year the City of Sisters budgets hundreds of thousands of dollars more than it actually plans to spend. This money, which is listed in the budget as a "carryforward cash" revenue, is like a revolving savings account the city uses to pay bills between July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year, and November, when tax revenues replenish city coffers. By telling citizens that the city plans to spend the money, as opposed to putting it aside for next year's bills, the city preserves the option of spending more than would... Full story
A fault in an underground power line near the Threewind Shopping Center knocked out electricity to a large portion of Sisters on Saturday, June 13. According to Jim Crowell, member services director with Central Electric Cooperative, crews arrived on scene at about 7:30 pm. The failed cable, possibly a spur line leading to the BP gas station at Threewind, caused a fire in a switch on the McKenzie Highway, Crowell said. This extended the power outage to an estimated 250 accounts, both large commercial and residential. Robin... Full story
It's been a deadly year and a half on the Santiam Pass west of Sisters. According to Oregon State Police in Bend and the Oregon Department of Transportation, 12 people have lost their lives on a 10-mile stretch of Highway 20 since January, 1995. This nearly doubled the number of fatalities of the previous three years and ranks the road over the Santiam Pass as one of the most dangerous in Oregon, according to records from ODOT. The most dangerous section extends from the Santiam Junction, where highways from Eugene, Sweet... Full story
Sisters accountant Arthur C. F. Pratt filed on June 17 to reorganize his debts under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The bankruptcy is in response to a civil suit against Pratt filed by the Estate of Joseph M. Fought on March 29, claiming that Pratt owed the estate more than $2.3 million. About $1.7 million of that money was used to build an office building at the corner of Hood and Pine streets in Sisters and nearly $600,000 went to purchase a home in Bend. In a letter to clients mailed on June 11, Pratt said he had the choice of... Full story
Charges for possession of methamphetamine filed against Brent Sherman Jr. following a police raid in Bend have been dropped, according to Deschutes County District Attorney Mike Dugan. Charges that Sherman tried to extort, with a baseball bat, $10,000 from a lawyer who used to represent him are still pending. As a result of the various charges and investigations, Sherman was returned in 1995 to federal prison in Lompoc, California, from which he had been paroled after serving about 10 years for a California bank robbery.... Full story
Sisters will soon be the home of a Les Schwab Tire Center. About 1.5 acres adjacent to the Sisters Motor Lodge just west of the junction of the McKenzie and Santiam highways has been purchased. Construction may begin after Labor Day. The parcel was purchased by Jerry Taylor. Taylor is manager of the Les Schwab Tire Center on Franklin Street in Bend and has been a Les Schwab District Manager for the last eight years. Taylor said he hopes to begin construction of the Sisters Les Schwab Tire Center in September or October. The... Full story
A sport will be squeezed out of the Sisters school program next year between the tightening jaws of flat revenues and increased salaries. The wrestling program, which has comparatively high costs per participant, is unlikely to be offered next year, according to Sisters Middle/High School Principal Dennis Dempsey. However, the final decision will be made by the school board next month. "Our recommendation is to cut wrestling 7-12. What actually gets cut is up to the school board because of the new policy (regarding cuts and... Full story
Photo by Mike Reed A couple from Boring, Oregon were uninjured after their light plane clipped a hangar and crashed at Sisters Eagle Air airport on Saturday, June 8. Dan and Cyndi McKenna were flying into Sisters at about 3:30 p.m. in their 1971 Cessna 172. They hoped to join friends and camp under the wing of their airplane. Landing to the west on runway 20, McKenna brought his plane over Wild Horse Ridge and was making a good approach to the end of the runway with full flaps, according to witnesses. But there was a severe... Full story
Two people are alive today because an alert--and experienced--citizen pulled them from a burning home just seconds before the entire structure exploded into deadly flames. Bob Williamson, 37, of Tollgate, had gone to Ray's Food Place to buy is morning copy of The Oregonian from the boxes outside the store. He saw dark smoke over in The Pines, the subdivision just to the west, and at first thought someone was burning tires. But Williamson, who used to work for the Portland Fire Bureau, decided it looked more like a house fire... Full story
Sisters/Camp Sherman RFPD firefighters were mopping up after their third house fire in a week on Monday, June 3. The home of Bill and Mickey Duehren on Camp Polk Road was totally destroyed. Unlike the fire on May 1 (see story on page 1), the Duehrens escaped the flames without injury. A few items from the back of the house were saved. (The second fire on Saturday, June 1, was an intentionally set "burn-to-learn" on Pine Street to remove a home near the site of a new subdivison.) Bill Duehren believes the fire started in a... Full story
In an extremely tight election that was finally decided by write-in ballots, the Sisters school bond was defeated, 963 opposed and 891 in favor of the proposal. Coupled to a shortfall in basic school support from the state, the Sisters School District will have to lay off instructors and increase class size next year. "At this point the school board will be meeting to review the situation and determine a course of action," said school board chair Bill Reed. "Our overcrowded situation still exists, and many items in the... Full story
The Oregon Department of State Police plans to blanket the 25-mile section of highway between Sisters and the Santiam Pass with saturation patrols over the Memorial Day weekend. Speeders and truckers beware. Starting on Thursday at 7 a.m., OSP will use Federal Transportation Act funds to schedule 60 hours of overtime to look for truck violations, according to Senior Trooper Curtis M. Decker. There will be "numerous" inspections, according to Decker. From Friday afternoon until Monday evening, Federal Highway Safety Speed... Full story
An unexpected shortfall in state school support has districts around the state, including Sisters, scrambling to cover this year's budget and start next year with at least a little cash. "The amount the state sent us (for the current 1995-96 school year) was less than the state said they would send us, and less than we budgeted," said Sisters School District Business Manager Earl Armbruster. "We had budgeted to receive $1,735,131 for state school support funds for this school year. We actually received $1,548,420, about... Full story
Two Sisters School District bus drivers, Kathy Levine and Susan Waltoz, brought home trophies from the 1996 Oregon State School Bus Safety Exercise held in Roseburg on Saturday, May 18. And before anyone thinks this is a small accomplishment, they need to sit behind the wheel and guide 40 feet of school bus, eight feet wide, between tennis balls placed with just three inches to spare on either side of the wheels. Using only the side mirrors. Waltoz, a part time employee, has been driving a school bus for only two months. She... Full story
Lorry Williams, a custodian at the Sisters Middle/High School, spotted him first. "I was getting ready to take out some garbage on the west side of the school auditorium. His back was to me. I thought, `Gee, that dog is moving pretty slow.' Then he turned around. It was a bear!" Williams said. The 250-pound black bear was just getting ready for what was probably his second trip in 24 hours into the school dumpster at about 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 10. Garbage had been scattered around when the staff arrived at the school earl... Full story
After admitting he violated conditions of his probation and did not complete his rehabilitation program at the J Bar J Ranch near Bend, Jeremy Moyer has been placed into the custody of the Oregon Youth Authority. Moyer had planned to go to work on Monday in a construction job, helping to build a home in the Tumalo area. Instead, immediately after the 10 a.m. hearing on May 13, Moyer was handcuffed, hugged by his parents and transported to the Haag Group Home in Junction City. Moyer had been living at home in Sisters after... Full story
The statistics from the Central Oregon Health Council Task Force on Teen Pregnancy are startling: "According to a survey of student risk, over half of Deschutes County teen-agers are sexually active by the end of high school. Over 30 percent are sexually active by age 15... "...roughly one-third of sexually active teens eventually get pregnant (50 percent within the first six months of sexual activity)... "...in 1994, among Deschutes County girls age 10-17, there were 227 documented pregnancies (147 births and 85... Full story
After 12 years, which nearly made them an institution in a rapidly changing Sisters, Brad and Sue Rossa closed the Sisters General Store and Shell gas station on April 26. "Basically, we ran out of money," explained Brad on Monday, April 29. A mortgage payment the Rossa's were unable to meet on the property where the station is located was due that Friday. They had purchased the real estate in December, 1994 after operating the station/store as a tenant of Capitol Cities, their gasoline supplier, since January, 1984. Then... Full story
A sudden rash of pregnancies among teenage girls at Sisters Middle/Senior High School has administrators baffled and scrambling to provide state mandated services for both young mothers and their children. According to Principal Dennis Dempsey, eight girls are parenting this school year--which includes being pregnant or caring for a child. All are seniors and juniors. This is up from one last year and one the year before, Dempsey said. "I have no idea why (there was a sudden increase). The only thing I could find in common... Full story
A majority of the Sisters School Board would like to give three administrators a raise that would average about 5 percent, total $8,300 for all three and be retroactive to July 1, 1995, the beginning of this school year. According to school board chairman Bill Reed, the increases are needed to bring administration salaries up to the median for districts of a size comparable to Sisters. The administrators are Superintendent Judy May, Sisters Middle/Senior High Principal Dennis Dempsey and SM/SH vice-Principal Rich Shultz.... Full story
Representatives for the estate of Joseph M. Fought have filed a civil suit against Sisters accountant and real estate developer Arthur C.F. Pratt, claiming that Pratt owes the estate more than $2.3 million, plus interest. According to the claim, Pratt borrowed approximately $939,000 from Fought in November, 1993 at 12 percent interest to purchase commercial lots and build "Phase I" of an office building in Sisters. As later amended to include accrued interest, payment on that loan totaled approximately $10,224 per month.... Full story
When the dark helicopters burst over the ridge behind their home and flew low over the roof before descending without lights through the night toward the valley below, a local Sisters-area family wondered if an invasion was in process. Bosnia, Chechneya, even Montana maybe, but Sisters? According to Lieutenant Colonel Michael Straup of the 939th Rescue Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserve in Portland, the two helicopters observed by some residents and heard by others about seven miles north of Sisters were on a training... Full story
