News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 734
What is the status of the American badger in Oregon? No one really knows - and I doubt if many Oregonians care. From my experience roaming through the countryside east of the Cascades, I can accurately state that badgers are targets for shooters and for the most part hated by a great many horse people; as badgers dig in pursuit of food and shelter, they create holes in which horses break legs. In the official Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife webpage the American badger... Full story
Eagles have been a love of my life from the time I arrived in Oregon on my Harley in 1951-where I discovered them being killed by 1080 poison put out by government trappers killing coyotes. However, eagles are still with us today, thanks to the supreme efforts of Frank Isaacs of the Oregon Eagle Foundation (OEF), with whom my wife, Sue, and I are helping to conduct a statewide survey of golden eagles in conjunction with other agencies. Thanks to Isaacs and his spectacular... Full story
Early last summer, I noticed something that really bothered me: While driving between Riley and Sisters on a nice, warm, early summer day, upon reaching my destination I noticed that I didn't have as many smashed insects on the windshield of my trusty old, 366,000-mile Toyota 4-Runner as I did earlier that spring. The weather and road conditions were right, but the insects just were not there. The first time I made that trip was in mid-September 1951, astraddle my beautiful ol... Full story
The annual Christmas Season concert put on by the Sisters High Desert Chorale at the Sisters Community Church, Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, was quite a treat. Friday's performance began with the Sisters Bell Choir, under the direction of Lola Knox, playing such favorites as "Carol of the Bells" and "Sleigh Ride." Young Naomi Bennette sang a solo with the bell-ringers when they played "Once Upon a December," and chorale member Marilyn Anthony sang a stirring rendition of "O Holy Night" with them. This year marked the... Full story
The temperature outside my nice warm, wood-heated old double-wide shaky-shanty was very cool the other night: 18 degrees to be exact. Inside the temperature was lingering around 60. Imagine my pleasure and delight when my wife, Sue, shouted above the classical music coming from my radio, "Hey, Jim, take a look at this butterfly on the inside of the kitchen window." I thought, "A butterfly in the house in the start of winter? Awwww...come on!" But I went to take a look anyway... Full story
The fossilized toe bone of a dinosaur has been discovered among a bunch of ammonite fossils over near Mitchell. This all took place back in 2015, but as you'd expect with a science that deals with things from as far back at 100 million years ago, the news tends to get out sort of casually. According to a story filed by Kale Williams/The Oregonian/OregonLive on November 20, the discovery came about in 2015 when Greg Retallack, professor of Earth Sciences at University of... Full story
If there's one thing I've learned in the 90-some-odd years I've been traipsing around on this beautiful old planet Earth, it's the incredible value of libraries. The current one that's large in my life is, of course, our own Sisters Library which is part of the Deschutes Public Library System. They offered a program for people of all ages this past summer that had a vital, personal impact in my home: Summer Reading. It took place from June 16 to August 18. For kids from ages 0... Full story
The other day, my dear old pal, retired veterinarian, patriot, and fellow church-member, Phillip Brittain, sent me an electronic message entitled, "Laus Deo." I read it through, because most of what Philip sends me is worth the time. This one, for some reason, hit me right where America dwells in my heart. "Laus Deo" translates to "Praise be to God," which is on a steel plaque hidden away in the very top of the Washington Monument. My way of thinking, should be emblazoned in... Full story
No... I did not tamper with that desert cottontail's ears, or Photoshop them; that's the way the photo arrived from Richard Skupa. Richard wrote: "About the latter part of July I would find a rabbit frequenting my lawn off and on most days. He seemed to enjoy the 'gourmet' clover in the grass, and he was not just any rabbit as he had four ears instead of two. "I got accustomed to him, he seemed tame, as I would be able to walk up to within about 10 feet of him before he would... Full story
If you've wanted to get to know our Northwest raptors better, now's your chance. The East Cascade Audubon Society's Winter Raptor Survey Project is now underway. Jeff Fleischer, who is spearheading the 15th season of surveys under the auspices of Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA), says this is the first time that more than 300 survey routes will be in play. Over 225 raptor watchers are involved with surveys conducted once a month on more than 16,000 miles of transects located throughout Oregon, Idaho,... Full story
A golden eagle is just one of the 214 raptors Steve Small and Carol Cwiklinski spotted last week during the three days they spent on Green Ridge helping the East Cascades Audubon Society conduct their 14th seasonal Hawk Watch. Their first bird was a Merlin (a falcon that eats small birds and mammals). Then in the second hour, the numbers of raptors started going up. It went to 33, then in the third hour to 41, then on to 50, and ended with a total of 201 when it started to... Full story
If you're planning on firing up that old wood stove sitting in your house to take the chill off of these fall temperatures, you might want to blow out that match and listen to what the folks at the Sisters Fire Department have to say first. Sisters Country is very dry, and we've already seen this summer how a stray spark can blow up into a major conflagration that threatens property and lives. The stuff we burned in our stoves last winter could have left clumps of creosote... Full story
My grandson Daxon is a piece of work. If he isn't building huge paper airliners out of life-sized newspaper sheets, he's coming into the house shouting, "Hey, Grandpa, look what I caught!" And the best part of that wonderful cry is after we've all oohed and ahhed over it, he puts it back exactly where he found it. Daxon and family came over from Salem a week or so back and we got into a lizard discussion. Daxon asked if we had sagebrush lizards in our back 2.5 acres of sagebru... Full story
Katydids are not a common sight here in Central Oregon. There aren't a lot of deciduous trees (maples, oaks, elms and such) for them to feed and hide on. But, saying that, I'll bet if you show your 8-year-old the close-up photo of Rebecca Anderson's specimen and then send that young person out the door and say, "Go go get 'em Frank Buck!" he or she will come back with a katydid. Looking at them through the eye of an entomologist (a person who studies insects) they are in the z... Full story
Looking at the Three Sisters and what's left of the year-round snow on the slopes is pretty scary. Several of the historical snowfields are gone, melted by long periods of intense heat making for hotter days and warmer nights. Yes, there's still plenty of water under the Three Sisters, but it's being sucked out of the ground at a pace no one has ever seen before. Years ago, Forest Service geologist Larry Chitwood told a group of visiting geologists there was 40 years of water... Full story
Last week, a bunch of excited kids headed for Suttle Lake through the safe and quiet forest. They're part of Heather Walden's Black Butte Eco-Bike Explorers. Black Butte Eco Bike Explorers is a grassroots, nonprofit program put together to get kids outdoors to learn about ecology and conservation through art and mountain-bike exploration. The goal is to provide young people between the ages of 10 and 15 tools to make a difference and help improve and maintain our environment.... Full story
Brad Smith of Paulina Springs Books went out among the stars on May 20 of this year - but if reincarnation works, he'll be back, not as Brad Smith, owner of Paulina Springs Books, but as a thorny devil stick insect. If that goes as he planned, however, we'll have to visit the Solomon Islands to catch up with him! Brad was born December 13, 1954, in Spokane, Washington and lived there until he was five. His big sister Cynthia says, " The family then moved to Clarkston,... Full story
Last March, the "Friends of Eloise" and "Pals of Pete" of the Aspen Lakes Golf Course community rallied to support the growth of trumpeter swans in the Cyrus family's pond. With the help of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, The Trumpeter Swan Society, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the generous Aspen Lakes homeowners, Eloise, the lone female swan on Aspen Lake, connected with Pete, a male swan, hoping for babies. It was an expensive undertaking for the Aspen Lake... Full story
Yes, those are butterflies you see smashing into the front of your vehicle as you drive over the highway from Sisters to Redmond or Bend, and especially in the Cascade foothills. They are NOT monarchs or moths, and they are not migrating; they are just undergoing a huge population explosion as a means to seek out new territory, and no one knows why. Oh sure, there are scientists who think the emigration is linked to climate change, and it could be, but this has happened... Full story
Quilters are not the only ones visiting Sisters this summer. Several reports indicate that our local apex predators have been dropping by, in and around town. According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) there are more than 6,000 cougars, aka mountain lion, and 25,000 to 30,000 black bear running loose throughout Oregon. One of each has recently turned up in Sisters, and others have been sighted nearby - which could mean conflicts with the fast-growing human... Full story
Retired neurology professor and founder of the Sisters Science Club Bob Collins decided it was past time to give Sisters High School science teacher Rima Givot a big pat on the back for her work with the students of Sisters High School. He also wanted to acknowledge her own scholastic achievements and the way she has stimulated an interest in science throughout the community. This is what the members of the SSC received from Collins about a week before a surprise celebration... Full story
"Never let a mouse live in your house; they will steal the breath of your children." That's a saying that I heard came from the people of the Hopi Nation, an accurate description of the symptoms of the hantavirus. They apparently recognized the role wild rodents play - a long time ago - in the spreading of diseases among the human population of the earth. If you decide to rid your home or property of wild rodents, please do not use chemicals. When an animal dies from poison... Full story
The paved parking area adjacent to the gas pumps at the Sisters Airport got pretty crowded last Thursday morning. Close to a hundred people, large cylinders of lighter-then-air gas, and a remotely controlled sailplane and a drone commanded the space in preparation for an historic launch. Among the ground-bound vehicles that pulled in and parked was a big yellow bus from Sisters High School that let off 61 students from two chemistry classes. Right along with them were several... Full story
With all the traffic rolling into the Sisters Middle School parking area last Saturday, one would have thought school was in session. What was really going on was a meeting of butterfly people on the welfare of the monarch butterfly and other pollinators. More than 100 people attended, some from as far away as Seattle, Boise, and Northern California. The idea of a monarch butterfly conference was the brainchild of local author Jean Nave and Sisters Middle School teacher Susie... Full story
A wonderful mystery has popped up in Sisters High School science teacher Glen Herron's classroom lab: a beautiful specimen of a mounted wolverine. No one seems to know where it came from. I thought it was Sisters Town Marshall Fred Painter's animal, trapped in 1969. Fred's wolverine caused quite a stir, as it was thought at the time to be the last wild wolverine living in the Cascades. That made that particular animal very special, and prompted Painter to have it mounted and p... Full story
