News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 31 - 55 of 276
Several property owners have petitioned the Squaw Creek Irrigation District to form a "subdistrict" for the purpose of piping the Fryrear irrigation ditch to prevent water loss. In a split decision, the three-member SCID board voted to approve formation of the subdistrict at its January 15 annual meeting. Lee Christensen and Glenn Cooper voted in favor. David Keith was opposed. Keith wanted to get water users who opposed piping the ditch "to the table to talk about it" before forming the district. Christensen and Cooper said... Full story
Squaw Creek Irrigation District will mine topsoil and sand as the new "Watson II" reservoir is built. SCID hopes to use a portion of the proceeds to pay off legal bills of $119,000 accrued fighting the Cyrus family over water rights. SCID received conditional approval from Deschutes County to build the new reservoir and sell the material, according to SCID General Manager Marc Thalacker. Thalacker was addressing membership at the SCID annual meeting on Tuesday, January 15, where he presented the 2002 SCID budgets. SCID... Full story
Deschutes County will decide in January whether to bring 98.2 acres into the City of Sisters urban growth boundary for a new high school. Even with county approval of a required zone change and comprehensive plan amendment, annexation will depend on a vote by citizens of the City of Sisters next March. The board of County Commissioners held a hearing on December 17 to review a decision by the county hearings officer that approved the proposed UGB and comprehensive plan amendments. Mel Bryan of Sisters spoke against the propos... Full story
Donations totaling $22,450 made by developers of McKinney Butte Ranch to upgrade the Sisters sewer line for Sisters High School never made it to the City of Sisters. The line upgrades were instead paid entirely from school district cash reserves. The donations, which were made to the Sisters School Foundation, were used for other purposes at the discretion of School District Superintendent Steve Swisher. Swisher said the donations were used for expenses that would have otherwise been paid from the school general fund,... Full story
After five-and-a-half years and lots of work, Ron and Shawn Leis' "five month" remodel project is done. Ron and Shawn Leis didn't expect to take five and a half years to finish their house, the one with a tower at 215 South Spruce Street. But it's finished, and they have invited the public to come see what they accomplished. They will hold an open house on Sunday, December 2, and another on Saturday, December 8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to view the completed project. "We aren't going to have refreshments or anything, but people... Full story
A Deschutes County Sheriff's Deputy is filing a lawsuit against the owners of a black cow he struck at night while en route to an emergency in Sisters. Deputy Todd Williver was headed west on Highway 126 on November 7, 1999 when he struck the cow, owned by Kathleen and Charles Popish of Redmond. The cow was supposed to have been on the Popish's fenced property at the time of the accident, according to the lawsuit. The cow apparently moved from a pasture to the driveway and then onto the highway, where it was struck and... Full story
Fifty firefighers participated in a controlled "burn to learn" exercise in Sisters. Flames poured from the windows and smoke billowed into the sky as an old home burned in Sisters on Monday, November 19. The only thing missing was the sirens. That's because there was no emergency. According to Sisters/Camp Sherman Fire Chief Don Rowe, the fire on Adams Street was a "burn to learn," where firefighters got a chance to hone their skills. "This gives the firefighters, especially the new ones, the experience of fighting a fire in... Full story
Faith, Hope, Charity Since the terrorist attacks, we've had a shift in perspective. There has been a blurring of the line between who we are as individuals and what we are as a people. We are more certain, yet less confident. We have withdrawn, yet are reaching out. We've put down our microscope and picked up a telescope. And Ken Kesey has died. Planes full of innocents dissolve into skyscrapers. Great plumes of fire devour fathers. A mother's love evaporates as her desk collapses into rubble. My love was lost! The success of... Full story
Architects have reduced the cost of the new Sisters high School to $20,874,607, about $125,393 below the school board's target of $21,000,000. Most of the savings ($800,000) came from the elimination of about 8,000 square feet, achieved by reducing hallways and the size of the commons, according to a cost sheet from Steele Associates Architects dated November 11. The new proposal also reduces locker room sizes ($100,000), eliminates the football stadium ($270,000), four tennis courts with lights ($128,000), softball and baseb... Full story
Architects on the new Sisters High School expect to have new cost information before the November 2 school board meeting. Costs for a slightly modified design, pared from 162,500 square feet to 159,500 square feet, are being calculated. The school board is debating whether to spend part of the interest generated by reinvestment of the $20.5 million bond on the new school, or return it to voters. The interest is expected to be about $1.9 million. Board members Bill Reed and Glen Lasken are in favor of spending the interest... Full story
Mike J. Abegg, 46, formerly of Sisters, was arraigned October 19 in Deschutes County Circuit Court on eight counts related to sexual abuse. All eight counts are Class B felonies. The incidents allegedly occurred on or about August 31, 2000 and July 11, 2001, according to the Deschutes County District Attorney's office. The charges were filed on September 26, 2001. According to the indictment, there was one alleged victim, who is not a family member. Abegg was president of the Sisters Soccer Club for about a year and a half.... Full story
Coming soon... 33 housing units. A 33-unit affordable housing apartment complex will be built in Sisters. A tax credit grant was awarded October 11 by the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department. Funding of over $4 million will come from the OHCSD Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program and a private loan through the Bank of the Cascades. Rents at "Tamarack Village," located on a 2.1 acre site on Larch Street in Sisters, will range from $235 to $612 per month, based on income and family size. According to a market... Full story
Stronger than tyranny On the morning of the school board meeting that would be held later that night, my daughters and I were having breakfast before school. One leaned over to show me where she had scribbled out the face of Osama bin Laden in the newspaper. We hadn't talked much about the man, except to say he had hurt many people, and my twins don't watch TV much, but she knew his photo. The girls made shooting noises at the breakfast table. I am losing the ability to insulate them from the world. "Why did he do that?" one... Full story
Dangerous Afghanistan Entry into Afghanistan by American troops will be dangerous, bloody and hard. The Afghanistan I remember, before the Taliban, before the Soviet invasion, was a poor country of harsh, rocky soil and generous people. In April, 1974, we'd come to Herat on the western edge of the country. It was a city of small baked mud buildings, a grand Mosque, and stood at the crossroads between China and Europe, Persia and India. It had been there for more than a thousand years. But for the Mosque it felt like a town... Full story
The Keith Cyrus family may have lost an important battle in its war against the Squaw Creek Irrigation District. Then again, maybe not. In court again on Friday, September 7, the two sides argued over whether SCID had "converted" or taken Cyrus water when SCID shut off Cyrus irrigation in 1999. The issue is important because if SCID "converted" Cyrus water, Keith Cyrus would be entitled to recover his legal fees. Matt Cyrus estimated those at about $150,000. SCID has spent close to $125,000 on this case. The original dispute... Full story
Sisters is getting a new sewer system. For some home and business owners, it is just in time. Old installations were ...creative ... and a possible health hazard. Jim Mitchell of Three Sisters Plumbing noted that there was at least one installation where someone used perforated drain field pipe to hook a building to the septic tank. Raw sewage was free to percolate directly into the soil. There have also been cases where "Orangeburg" pipe, essentially a tar paper tube, was used. This pipe was banned in California but found... Full story
On the highway, sunlight bounced off the pavement. Rugged, massive mountains loomed not far away, draped with a delicate white shawl of cloud. It was a nearly perfect Central Oregon day, hot but not unpleasant, except for the police cars and ambulance, their lights flashing. Faces of people walking away from the accident warned that a tragedy had occurred. When no one is hurt you can see relief in the faces of men and women at the scene. There was no relief on these faces. On the pavement, under a soft, light blue sheet, lay... Full story
A homeless man in Sisters, possibly with mental illness, may be on a collision course with police. Less than two weeks ago, the indigent was given a citation for trespassing at a local business after being told several times not to loiter on the premises. He has had several confrontations with sheriff's deputies who have attempted to inform him of the law. If he continues to be the subject of complaints and receive citations, he is likely to end up in jail, at least for a short while. According to Mary Teixeira, case worker... Full story
State Representative Ben Westlund, R-Tumalo, will seek another term in the Oregon Legislature if the term limits law is overturned. The 1992 law mandating term limits was ruled unconstitutional by a Marion County judge on July 20; that ruling is currently under appeal. Westlund served as House co-chairman of the Joint Ways and Means Committee this year, he has been given much credit for helping keep the lid on partisan bickering in the last session, which ended in July. "I thought it was a great session... It was a very bipar... Full story
It's a free country First one won't hurt you, kid... At Sisters High School in the lunch room, there is a brilliant picture of a giant bottle of Coke nestled in a bed of ice against a warm red background, refreshingly dappled with condensation. Compressors buzz, chilling the caffeinated sugar stimulant. As if our teenagers needed stimulants. But even if the brew is habit-forming and causes chubbiness or hyperactivity, perhaps our children should be the ones to choose. After all, it's a free country. That giant bottle stands... Full story
The Bend Parkway overpass to Sisters opened on Friday, July 20. The new loop reduces the number of intersections, turns and stop lights faced by travelers to Sisters from Highway 97 North. The new loop joins Highway 20 westbound on the south side of the Mountain View Mall. The Oregon Department of Transportation moved the mall access from Highway 20 to Robal Road. It's a clear road to Sisters. In addition to interfering with the Sisters loop, ODOT says the old mall access from Highway 20 was a traffic hazard and the site of... Full story
The Oregon Department of Transportation has filed for condemnation of the access from the Mountain View Mall to Highway 20. The action, called a "Proceedings in Eminent Domain," was filed on June 25 and followed months of failed negotiations between ODOT and SIMA Mountain View LLC, of Santa Barbara, California, owner of the Mountain View Mall. Closing the access will allow ODOT to open the overpass from the Bend parkway to Sisters, according to Cliff Houck, Right-of-Way Supervisor for ODOT . ODOT has said that the existing... Full story
Folks in Sisters have seen their health insurance costs rise swiftly this year. At least one major carrier in Central Oregon, Providence Health Plans, has announced rate increases that are as high as 33 percent over last year. Small employers and individuals are feeling the pinch as monthly insurance costs climb from $500 to $700 or more per family, according to Don Fullhart of Sisters Insurance in Sisters. John Wright of Pacific Source, a non-profit insurance company, said that insurance premiums "going up is a reflection of... Full story
A man died this week in Indiana, strapped to a padded table in a sterile room. He was administered a lethal dose of drugs. The government killed him out of revenge for a horrible act of terrorism that murdered 168 people, including 19 children, in a large public building reduced to smoking rubble. The murderer, a soldier, claimed to have acted in retaliation for homicide by the government at Waco, at Ruby Ridge. To him, the lives he mourned were heroic victims, the lives he took were "collateral damage." All this killing, so... Full story
The Oregon Department of Transportation is going to close the Highway 20 access to the Mountain View Mall in order to open the parkway ramp to Sisters by the beginning of August. While still in negotiations with mall owner SIMA Mountain View LLC, ODOT will take the mall access under the process of eminent domain if negotiations fail, according to ODOT representatives. Under the eminent domain process, a jury will decide what SIMA should be paid for the access. The dispute between SIMA and ODOT heated up last week. On... Full story
