News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 3917
It takes a bit of doing to get The Nugget into your mailbox on Wednesday morning, and to the businesses around town. We print The Nugget in Wenatchee, Washington, on one of the few remaining presses in the Pacific Northwest that can print in the configuration we've had for years, with color on every page. For many years, we printed at The Bulletin on Tuesday afternoon, and I hauled it up from Bend. When The Bulletin sold its facility and decommissioned its fine German press,...
It’s no secret that community newspapers are having a tough time in a changing media landscape, where costs of printing and delivery continue to rise and advertising revenue can’t keep up. Many communities have seen their local newspapers diminish and disappear. The Nugget is healthy — and that’s thanks to you, our loyal advertisers and committed readers. Our Supporting Subscriber program has become a vital and effective way for readers to directly support The Nugget as we d... Full story
Paul David Weston, 47, of Sisters, pleaded guilty in Deschutes County Circuit Court to a single felony count of possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail, but has already served 11, and so will not serve any additional time. A second larger and more serious case involving drugs and equipment theft is still pending. Judge Beth Bagley reset the trial date for that case to July 22, but both prosecutor and defense anticipate that the case will be... Full story
I was out on a long ramble through the woods west of Sisters a few weeks ago when it hit me that I'd been doing this particular hike for 30 years. Against my will, that led to taking an inventory of the difference between 28 and 58. The good news is, I'm still getting out there, and I can still cover the miles. The less good news is, I'm wearing sleeves on barking knees, and it takes a couple of days to recover from those miles. Sometimes going hard at it leaves me sore and...
Jim Goodwin is a pillar of the Central Oregon music scene - hosting a radio show on Jive Radio, running venues for the Sisters Folk Festival and, of course, playing music. In the 1980s and '90s, Goodwin was the keyboardist for the cult favorite band The Call. Members of the band are in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign that will put their music back in front of audiences - including previously unreleased tracks. "We found 11 songs that had never come out," Goodwin told The... Full story
Coldwell Banker Bain is changing its presence in Sisters. The real estate office at the corner of Cascade Avenue and Oak Street will close in February — but its brokers will continue to serve clients in the community. They will be based out of Coldwell Banker Bain’s office in Bend. Broker Jennifer McCrystal expressed some wistfulness that the real estate office that has had such a big presence in Sisters for decades will no longer be there, but impact on the business will be... Full story
We’ve officially entered the stormy season — and we’re not talking about snow and ice and busted pipes. The season of storms that got underway in Iowa last week and New Hampshire this week will last through winter, spring, summer and fall. Many folks are looking forward to the 2024 election season with something approaching dread — not just at potential outcomes, but at having to endure months of nastiness as increasingly polarized Americans claw at each other on TV, on social... Full story
Multiple women made statements at the sentencing hearing for Michael Boyle on Tuesday, January 9, recounting the lasting impact on their lives of the acts to which he pleaded guilty via Alford plea last month. One victim testified in person, while the others had their statements read into the record by a Deputy District Attorney. “Mike Boyle is a predator and must be held accountable,” one of the victims stated, while another characterized him as “an opportunist and an extre... Full story
Sisters residents and visitors alike value the ability to enjoy the night sky — and the City of Sisters has passed new dark skies code language to promote that ability. Sisters City Council chambers burst into spontaneous applause as Council voted unanimously to approve amendments to the Sisters Development Code that have long been in the works. City planning staff noted that City code around dark skies was adopted in 2010. “Since the adoption, there have been many cha... Full story
My wife enjoys watching award shows. I’d rather have each of my fingernails removed by the pincers of a medieval torturer than to sit through the Golden Globes. Not a problem — I simply retired Sunday evening to watch Cold War documentaries on YouTube. While the glitterati cavorted, I watched the fall of Dien Bien Phu. Again. This amiable arrangement didn’t let me entirely escape the cult of celebrity. I was informed at dinner that a moment had already gone viral when the h... Full story
A few days ago, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley stepped on one of the most explosive landmines in the field of American history. Asked at a New Hampshire town hall what was the cause the American Civil War, the former governor of South Carolina tried to sidestep. “I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run, the freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do,” Haley said. “I think it always comes down to the role of government... Full story
Much of Sisters Country woke up on December 25 to what might be characterized as a minimalist white Christmas. There was just the lightest skiff of snow on the ground, and that was it. Temperatures have been mild and precipitation minimal in Sisters — and it’s likely to stay more or less that way through March, according to the latest forecast from the Oregon Department of Agriculture. According to Oregon Department of Forestry lead meteorologist Pete Parsons, we should “expec... Full story
One of the most gratifying aspects of newspaper work is the connections you make. We writerly folk are often introverts by temperament — most comfortable wandering our own mental landscape or absorbed in a book. Those of us get pushed or pulled into journalism are pushed out into a wider world, compelled by the demands of the work to enter other people’s spheres, engage with them and tell their stories. We’re lucky. I feel especially fortunate doing this work in a small town,... Full story
History is capricious. Who we remember and who we forget often has more to do with who had the better press agent than who was most accomplished. Most folks in Oregon have at least heard of John C. Fremont, who traveled through this country in the 1840s, mapping out the expansion of the United States. Before Fremont was a Mountain Man named Jedediah Smith. Few other than fur trade buffs know that name today. I was gratified last week to hear that a new popular biography of... Full story
Sisters Country is horse country — and there is nothing more critical to equine well-being than keeping their feet in good shape. That’s where Charles Halper and Halper’s Horseshoeing steps in. Halper graduated from Oregon Farrier School in Silverton at the top of his class, and has hung out his shingle as a certified farrier in Sisters, where he and his wife have decided to make their home. “I can do just about anything to do with horseshoeing,” he told The Nugget. That incl... Full story
While Sisters Ranger District Special Forest Products Officer Jeremy Fields and local volunteer Therese Kollerer were out on a Forest Service volunteer clean-up and patrol on December 4, they stopped to examine the site of a crime. Someone had felled a very large, green old-growth ponderosa pine. The felling of a large, important tree - one that the Forest Service had gone out of its way to protect during fuels treatment in the area - is a stark example of a problem that is... Full story
From Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, across the nation to Sisters, Oregon, Americans laid wreaths on Saturday, December 16 to mark National Wreaths Across America Day. The national moment commemorates fallen veterans during the holiday season in a mission to remember the fallen; honor those who serve; and teach the next generation the value of freedom. In Sisters, the December 16 observance was hosted by Sisters veterans and held at the veterans' memorial at Village... Full story
Those who have worked with Jeremy Fields in his capacity as Sisters Ranger District's Special Forest Products coordinator, or in his work with the unhoused population in Sisters' forests, know that he approaches his work with exceptional dedication, and with humility and a high degree of respect for all. His work was recognized last week in the U.S. Forest Service's Regional Forester's Honor Awards ceremony held in Portland. Fields was named Region 6 Employee of the Year.... Full story
Anyone with the slightest interest in the American West or Native American culture is familiar with the work of Edward S. Curtis. His work adorns the walls and bookshelves of many a home in Sisters - and across the globe. Yet few are familiar with the arduous 30-year quest Curtis embarked upon in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to document the people and cultures of North America's native population. The result was a 22-volume portfolio and book titled "The North... Full story
I was a youngster in 1975-76, when the American Bicentennial celebrations were underway, and I was obsessed. I dove into the American Revolution with all the passion you might expect a 10-year-old to bring to, say, “Star Wars,” or some such. I have always been a history nerd. I watched Disney’s “Johnny Tremain” in school, the kids cheering when the Minute Men ambushed and gunned down the Redcoats. Don’t imagine that happens anymore. I read the covers off of Esther Forbes’ nov... Full story
Deputy Jerad Bearson is on patrol in the town where he lives, having joined the contingent of Deschutes County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) deputies assigned under contract to the City of Sisters. While Deputy Bearson is a relatively new face in Sisters, he's a law enforcement veteran with considerable depth of experience. He came to DCSO from the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office in September 2021. He has previously served in the Sisters area as the west county deputy. "I opted... Full story
The weather in Sisters is doing what it always does to me at this time of year. My soul hears the ancient horn call of the mythic North. A couple of nights ago, I fired up the electronic campfire (YouTube) for a tale of “Beowulf.” And because my mind works the way it does, it led me to thinking about “settler colonialism,” a term we hear a lot these days. The working definition of settler colonialism is: “…a type of colonialism in which the indigenous peoples of a colonized re... Full story
Michael Boyle of Sisters pleaded guilty via Alford plea to multiple criminal counts in Deschutes County Circuit Court on Monday, December 4. Boyle pleaded guilty to one count of attempted sex abuse in the first degree, two counts of third-degree sex abuse, and three counts of practicing massage without a license. An Alford plea is a guilty plea in which the defendant acknowledges that there is sufficient evidence that they could convicted at trial, and agrees to accept all... Full story
During recent discussions about the potential expansion of Sisters’ urban growth boundary (UGB), Sisters City Councilor Andrea Blum noted that she hears from constituents who think Sisters has hit a “sweet spot” and should just stay the way it is. It’s an understandable sentiment. We probably all have an idea of Sisters’ “sweet spot,” a point at which our community is or was “just right” and didn’t need to change. I tend to think that Sisters’ “sweet spot” came right around... Full story
The Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank helps hundreds of people each month to keep food on the table. Faced with rising costs and continuous demand, the Food Bank is short of the cash it needs to purchase the food that many people in Sisters rely upon. Doug Wills, who, along with Jeff Taylor, manages the Food Bank, told The Nugget last week that Kiwanis spends $130,000 on food, and has taken in $95,000 in donations. The shortfall is significant, because 80 percent of the food provided... Full story
