News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 276
Danielle Flink says she was the one who confronted Steven Gage and caused the collapse of Royal Haven Equestrian Center for Girls last December. Royal Haven was operated in Sisters, then Bend and back in Sisters by Steven Gage and Karen Lee for about five years. Gage is now in jail with bail set at $1 million and facing 67 charges, including allegations of rape, sex abuse and criminal mistreatment. Lee was jailed but has been released and faces multiple charges of criminal mistreatment. Flink, 17, says she was never... Full story
Steven Gage was arraigned on 22 additional counts of sex abuse and criminal mistreatment on Monday, June 26 at the Deschutes County Courthouse in Bend. Gage was arrested on June 2 and charged at that time with 45 counts of sex abuse and criminal neglect, including two counts of rape. According to Assistant District Attorney Kandy Geis, Gage now faces 67 charges in an amended indictment. Deschutes County District Attorney Mike Dugan has also asked the Oregon State Police to investigate the finances of Royal Haven Equestrian... Full story
Steven Gage of Sisters was arrested on Friday, June 2 at about 2 p.m. by Oregon State Police. Gage was indicted by a secret Deschutes County Grand Jury earlier that day on 45 counts for actions related to his operation of Royal Haven Equestrian Center for Girls, a home for "troubled" teen females that operated in Sisters until last Christmas. The charges include two counts of first degree rape (class A felony); eight counts of first degree unlawful sexual penetration (class A felony); 22 counts of first degree sexual abuse... Full story
Four families, all with children, are being evicted from the Circle 5 trailer park on the east edge of Sisters. All have to be out no later than June 15. Circle 5 manager Frank Goodenough said each occupant being evicted failed to obey park rules by erecting illegal buildings or failing to keep their site clean or by leaving children unattended to cause problems for other occupants. The families include: * Robert and Janice Morse and their five sons, ages 10 through 26, living in a 31-foot travel trailer (not a mobile home)... Full story
The Deschutes Basin Land Trust has acquired 145 acres of the "Pond Ranch" along Squaw Creek just north of Camp Polk Road near Sisters. A donation of $800,000 from Portland General Electric was crucial to the $850,000 transaction. The property was purchased at below market value from the Mary Anderson family, according to land trust executive Brad Chalfant, after nearly a year of effort by the various parties. A message was left for the Andersons, but they were not available by press time. The land purchase includes nearly a... Full story
Steve Swisher will remain Sisters Schools Superintendent. On Thursday, March 16, Swisher asked to be removed from consideration for the job of Superintendent of Bend Schools. The Bend District later chose another candidate . Swisher said that he and his wife, Novella, deliberated at length before making the decision to remain here. Considerations included community support, quality of life issues, and "where we want to make a difference," Swisher said. "There was a lot of individual intervention by individuals expressing... Full story
Steve Swisher has asked to be removed from consideration for the job of Superintendent of Bend Schools. Swisher will remain Sisters Schools Superintendent for the immediate future. "I am no longer a candidate for the position," Swisher told The Nugget on Thursday, March 16. The Bend board was to decide on Friday between three candidates. Swisher said that "lots of hot tub time" went into the decision by Swisher and his wife, Novella to remain in Sisters. Considerations included quality of life issues, and "where we want to... Full story
Steve Swisher is likely the top choice out of the final three applicants for the job of superintendent of the Bend School District. Swisher and his wife, Novella, were to go to Bend on Wednesday for an orientation, according to Swisher, and he was to lead a community forum that evening. The other two candidates will go through the same process next week. It is common for the top candidate to be interviewed first, according to the Oregon School Boards Association. This allows a school board maximum flexibility while contracts... Full story
The Bend/LaPine School District is interviewing Steve Swisher, and four other applicants, to be its next superintendent of schools. Swisher has been Sisters Schools superintendent since 1996. Dennis Ray, consultant to the Bend School Board, notified Swisher on Thursday, February 24, 2000 that he was among five finalists. Swisher, an educator for 28 years and administrator since 1980, said he did not go looking for the Bend/LaPine post. "I was asked and encouraged to allow my name to be considered," Swisher said on February... Full story
Last week three more Central Oregon teens died in an automobile accident. Initial reports indicated that they weren't traveling too fast, but that the driver simply lost control of the car. The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office has created a class to reduce this carnage. Titled "Drive 2 Survive," the four-hour course is now available to the general public. It has been used in the past to train local deputies and school bus drivers. Bruce Combs is the lead instructor. A former trainer with the Oregon State Police Bureau of... Full story
The Nugget received correspondence from Squaw Creek Irrigation District (SCID) Manager Marc Thalacker regarding our stories on the SCID budget published February 9. Thalacker said The Nugget incorrectly reported that SCID paid $11,000 defending two law suits in 1999. He is correct. SCID paid $9553.74 in defending against the two lawsuits, with another $1,600 spent on other legal expenses. The Nugget also reported that the district had approved a $250,000 operating budget. "You printed that the district approved an operating... Full story
The Bend/LaPine School District is interviewing Steve Swisher, and four other applicants, to be their next superintendent of schools. Swisher has been Sisters Schools superintendent since 1996. Dennis Ray, consultant to the Bend School Board, notified Swisher on Thursday, February 24, 2000 that he was among five finalists. Swisher, an educator for 28 years and administrator since 1980, said he did not go looking for the Bend/LaPine post. "I was asked and encouraged to allow my name to be considered," Swisher said on February... Full story
Last week three more Central Oregon teens died in an automobile accident. Initial reports indicated that they weren't traveling too fast, but that the driver simply lost control of the car. The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office has created a class to reduce this carnage. Titled "Drive to Survive," the four-hour course is now available to the general public. It has been used in the past to train local deputies and school bus drivers. Bruce Combs is the lead instructor. A former trainer with the Oregon State Police Bureau of... Full story
One of the school district's main computers is growing so popular with students that it can no longer handle the traffic. It crashes once or twice a week, cutting the middle and elementary schools off from the rest of the district. For $350, the 200 MGz Pentium computer "server" could be upgraded to a 450 MGz Pentium III. For $600, technology specialist Jon Renner could build a computer using dual processors running Linux. But the money just isn't there. Renner already has the new processors, the "chips" that lie at the heart... Full story
Twenty-one students left Sisters High School last month after the sudden closure of the Royal Haven Equestrian Center for Girls east of town. Proprietors Steve Gage and Karen Lee closed the facility for "troubled" girls at the end of December and sent the residents back to their parents. An article in the January 5 issue of The Bulletin alleged that the program was under investigation concerning issues of sexual abuse. Oregon State Police detective Tom Kipp confirmed that "there is an investigation and it is pending" but... Full story
The Sisters football team took home more honors this week. Outlaws players claimed the top three individual awards in The Oregonian newspaper's Class 3A all-state football team. Coach Bob Macauley was named coach of the year. Sisters quarterback Dusty Mac-auley was named offensive player of the year, and linebacker Eli Pyke was named defensive player of the year. The awards were announced in the Tuesday, December 28, issue of The Oregonian, the state's largest newspaper, published in Portland. The all-state recognition came... Full story
The Lazy Z Ranch, a local landmark just east of Sisters, is back on the market. According to Realtor Arnie Swarens, owner Joan Hull is asking $7.8 million for the 1,391-acre property, which includes two houses, 711 acres of Squaw Creek water rights, and another 290 acres of well irrigation rights. Hull bought the ranch in 1991 for about $2 million. The property is zoned for Exclusive Farm Use (EFU). Swarens said it is his understanding the ranch could be divided into "eight or nine different pieces to build on" of approximate... Full story
Heavy Thanksgiving rain drenched Sisters and turned Squaw Creek into a torrent that eroded the river bank near the main highway bridge west of town. The erosion was reported early Friday morning, according to Dave Neys, maintenance manager with the Bend District (which includes Sisters) of the Highway Division of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Neys said that the erosion was discovered as part of routine bridge inspection following the rain. "The water was eating away the bank behind the 'wing wall' to the... Full story
Deschutes County Hearings Officer Karen Green shot down two separate applications that would bring more than 60 acres of new industrial land into the Sisters Urban Growth Boundary. Last week, Green denied Barclay Meadows Business Park's request to add 35 acres along the west side of Camp Polk Road near the airport and rezone it from farm to industrial use. She also turned down a virtually identical request from the Sisters School District on approximately 30 acres at the end of North Pine Street. According to Green, both... Full story
A misunderstanding worth $75,000 may land a new Sisters business and two government agencies in court. Timothy Rote, owner of Northwest Telemarketing, moved his company from Wilsonville to Sisters last summer. Northwest Telemarketing provides telephone marketing services. The company currently employs more than 30 people in Sisters, and anticipated as many as 150 jobs at full capacity, with a payroll that could exceed $3,000,000, according to documents provided by the company. According to company human resources director... Full story
Three students were busted for drugs at Sisters High School last week, in unrelated incidents. The most serious charges were filed against Zachary Mulholland, 15. According to Deschutes County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Shelton, Mulholland was holding six bags of marijuana, packaging materials and cash at school on Friday, October 29. Mulholland was charged with possession of controlled substances, delivery of controlled substances, possession of controlled substances within 1,000 feet of a school and delivery of controlled... Full story
Local firm may battle state A misunderstanding worth $75,000 may land a new Sisters business and two government agencies in court. Timothy Rote, owner of Northwest Telemarketing, moved his company from Wilsonville to Sisters last summer. Northwest Telemarketing provides telephone marketing services. The company currently employs about 40 people in Sisters, and anticipated as many as 150 jobs at full capacity, with a payroll that could exceed $3,000,000, according to documents provided by the company. Rote said they made the... Full story
It is safe to drink the water in Sisters. That's the conclusion in a report from Backflow Management, which tested the city's water as required by state and federal laws. In no category did the water in the city of Sisters come even come close to the maximum level allowed for a contaminant in drinking water. The test looked for metals, nitrates and biological contamination. A new federal regulation requires a report on what's in public water be delivered to water consumers every year. The City of Sisters mailed out its first... Full story
A hot-burning fire just outside of Sisters was quickly slapped down by a multi-agency attack on Wednesday, September 15. The "human-caused" fire near McKinney Butte between Highway 126 and Camp Polk Road was called in at 3:43 p.m., according to Wayne Rowe with the Oregon Department of Forestry in Sisters. In the initial attack, ODF responded with three engines and five people; Sisters/Camp Sherman RFPD sent five engines and eight firefighters; the Forest Service had four engines, and seven firefighters at the scene. The mutua... Full story
Blaze quickly slapped down A hot-burning fire just outside of Sisters was quickly slapped down by a multi-agency attack on Wednesday, September 15. The"human-caused" fire was called in at 3:43 p.m., according to Wayne Rowe with the Oregon Department of Forestry in Sisters. Fire conditions are extreme. In the initial attack, ODF responded with three engines and five people; Sisters/Camp Sherman RFPD sent five engines and eight firefighters; the Forest Service had four engines, and seven firefighters at the scene. The mutual... Full story
