News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 186 - 210 of 276
The Black Butte Ranch County Service District could suffer a loss of $163,000, about 46 percent of the budget for its six-officer police department, under Measure 47 according to figures released by Deschutes County. County Administrator Mike Maier has recommended that Black Butte Police officers become deputies and that Black Butte contract with the sheriff's office for police protection. The service district has decided to wait on further developments surrounding the controversial Measure 47. Deschutes County is the... Full story
Equipment breakdowns and poor weather have hampered Bugaboo Timber Company's efforts to start logging near Suttle Lake, according to Dick Cozby of the Sisters Ranger District. Logging in the Santiam corridor is designed to reduce the threat of a catastrophic wild fire in stands of timber decimated by the spruce budworm infestation of the early 1990s, Cozby indicated. Units have been laid out to provide a fire break. There are two sales in the area, Santiam Corridor and Corridor Follow-up. "Both sales focus on removing the... Full story
Black Butte Police officers are seeking organized representation, probably with the Teamsters Union, according to sources within Deschutes County. Black Butte Police Chief Hank Fegette said that he had not talked to officers about the matter, but he speculated that unionization efforts were spawned by concern over Measure 47 and possible budget cuts. Bill Handy, Chairman of the Managing Board for the Black Butte Ranch Service District, said the paperwork received from the Teamsters had been turned over to Deschutes County,... Full story
The Hoodoo Ski Area at Santiam Pass may open this weekend -- if only six more inches of snow will fall. A Thanksgiving weekend opening would get the season off to a good start, especially following last year's disastrous weather, including floods that for weeks cut Hoodoo off from a large number of skiers in the Willamette Valley. There has been snow this season, but rain has followed and washed away some of the needed base. About 20 inches remains. According to forecasts, Thanksgiving Day could give the mountain the boost it... Full story
Terry Carver, the hunter who died near the base of Three Fingered Jack three weeks ago, died of hypothermia, according to a state medical examiner in Portland. Carver's body was recovered November 1. He was reported missing October 26 when he failed to meet his hunting partner after the two split up the previous afternoon. Questions still surround Carver's death. Why did Carver, who used to be a logger and knew how to survive in the woods, according to relatives, make no attempt to save himself? Why did he wander in circles... Full story
An early winter storm that couldn't make up its mind whether to snow or rain did both on Monday and Tuesday. The heavy wet slush fouled roads, shorted power lines and leaked through roofs all over central Oregon. "One of our linemen told me has worked here 31 years and he's never experienced anything like last night," said Jim Crowell, member services director for Central Electric Cooperative. Almost all of the power outages were caused by a buildup of heavy snow on lines that caused them to come into contact with each other,... Full story
In separate incidents, Sisters Police arrested two drivers and seized their vehicles for driving under the influence of intoxicants on Friday, November 8. Michael Ross Carter of Bend, 44, was stopped after another driver reported Carter's 1985 Jeep Cherokee nearly struck two vehicles. Headed east from the Santiam Pass toward Sisters, Carter was later observed by police stopping on the highway, backing up, then proceeding toward Sisters. Black Butte and Sisters police followed Carter for several miles and during which time... Full story
At a special meeting on Thursday, November 7, the Sisters City Council will try again to hammer together a consensus on whether to build a new city hall. "I just want the council to tell me how to proceed," said Sisters City Administrator Barbara Warren. Several options remain before the council, Warren said. The city could remodel the old bowling alley building and sell the existing city hall on Fir Street. Although the city's engineering firm estimated that remodeling the bowling alley would cost about $400,000, Warren... Full story
The body of a hunter missing for a week in the woods near the base of Three Fingered Jack was recovered on Friday, November 1. Terry W. Carver, 40, apparently froze to death after wandering directionless in a fairly small area about a mile from where his pickup had been parked just north of Round Lake. Although the discovery answered some questions about Carver's final hours, it has raised others. Carver was reported missing on Saturday, October 26 by hunting partner Royce D. Nelson. Nelson, 30, told authorities that he and... Full story
Searchers were still looking for a missing hunter west of Camp Sherman near Round Lake on Monday, October 28. Terry W. Carver, 40, went elk hunting with friend Royce D. Nelson, 30, on Friday morning, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. At about 3 p.m. the pair split up. Nelson made it back to Carver's pickup, parked on a spur road about one-half mile north of Round Lake, later that evening. He spent the night keeping warm with a small Coleman camp stove. He said Carver never showed up. On Saturday, Nelson... Full story
The Deschutes County Sheriff's Department arrested one young adult and cited two juveniles for alleged possession and distribution of psilocybin mushrooms at Sisters Middle/High School on Friday, September 4. All three are students at Sisters High School. According to the sheriff's department, Charles Michael Simmons, 18, of Bend, was arrested for alleged possession and delivery of a controlled substance. Simmons was lodged in Deschutes County Jail in lieu of $30,000 bail. Sunnie Ehukai Woessner, 17, was cited for alleged... Full story
Sisters police officers and support personnel have petitioned the Oregon Employment Relations Board to form a union. According to lawyer Rhonda Fenrich of Eugene, the Sisters Police Association is attempting to organize "for collective bargaining and negotiating purposes. My job is as their attorney." Fenrich referred questions about why the police were attempting to organize to local officers. Acting president of the association, detective Don Pray, said he was only authorized to say "we are in negotiations with the bargaini... Full story
CellularOne is likely to appeal a Deschutes County decision denying a cellular phone antenna in a subdivision on Wild Horse Ridge above Sisters. County Hearings Officer Karen Green agreed that the 35-foot single-pole antenna proposed for the property of Raymond and Doris Hart would be lower in height than surrounding trees, essentially invisible to neighbors and have minimal "operational and visual impacts." But Green was concerned that "not every cellular telephone facility may be as unobtrusive as the applicant's, and... Full story
The estate of Joe Fought will ask the United State Bankruptcy Court to lift a stay of foreclosure against Sisters accountant Arthur C.F. Pratt in a hearing scheduled for September 19 in Portland. Pratt owes the estate $2,258,903.61 according to documents filed on July 26, 1996 by estate attorney Charles L. Kobin. In 1993 and 1994, Fought loaned approximately $1.6 million to Pratt to build a large office building at the corner of Hood and Pine streets in Sisters. Fought loaned the accountant another $600,000 so Pratt could pur... Full story
Students were warned in a school assembly last week that even a small community like Sisters may harbor threats to personal safety. According the Sisters Police log, on Wednesday, September 4, the occupant of a small, blue pick-up stopped at the corner of Highway 126 and Highway 20 and was talking to two 18-year-old girls. An officer on duty recognized the 29-year-old man as a sex offender registered with the Oregon State Police. When the officer drove up, the pickup took off. Administrators at Sisters Middle/High School... Full story
Enrollment at Sisters Elementary was up only slightly when students returned to classrooms on September 3, while the middle/high school saw a jump of 33 students, from 551 to 588. However, superintendent Steve Swisher cautioned that the numbers were likely to change between Tuesday and Friday at the end of the first week of school. "As I was talking to (elementary principal) Tim Comfort about enrollment, two more students walked through the door who had not registered. There will probably be others who registered and don't... Full story
A small single engine plane with two occupants crashed on take-off from Sisters Eagle Air airport on August 22 at about 12:30 in the afternoon. Rick McReynolds, 31, of Lebanon was the student pilot flying with instructor Donald Dodd, 30, of Harrisburg. The 1979 Piper Tomahawk PA-38-112 was owned by Jack Healy, operator of the airport in Lebanon, Oregon. Both occupants were flown to St. Charles Medical Center by Air Life from the scene of the crash. On Monday, August 26, Dodd was still in St. Charles in fair condition with a... Full story
Charges that Tom Marshello of Sisters attempted to assault two police officers during a wild chase on December 26, 1995 were dropped in a plea bargain reached just before trial on August 14. Marshello did plead guilty for driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless driving during the same episode. According to Marshello's lawyer, Ed Mierjeski with Crabtree and Rahmsdorff in Bend, the DUII and reckless driving were misdemeanors. Marshello served 28 days before he was able to raise bail and will serve no further... Full story
The Air Force Thunderbirds, flying fighter jets in tight formation, will be joined on the ground by a giant, car chomping, fire breathing robot dinosaur at the Central Oregon Air show on August 24-25 at the regional airport in Redmond. There should be enough noise and smoke for the whole family. According to Ken Gasior, chairman of the air show, there will also be several civilian aerobatic acts and a U.S. army parachute demonstration team from Fort Lewis. Gasior said the air show will also feature Manfred Radius, "probably... Full story
Acting as his own attorney, Brent Sherman beat charges of robbery, burglary, theft by extortion and coercion on August 16 in Deschutes County Circuit Court. The dismissal of the indictment followed a victory by Sherman earlier this year when charges of drug possession were dropped by the Deschutes County District Attorney's office. The robbery charges followed an incident in July, 1995 when Sherman allegedly brought a baseball bat into the office of Bend attorney Jonathan Basham and demanded that Basham return $10,000... Full story
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
