News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 3917
Marcus Boyd is a prodigious talent on a snowmobile - and he proved it last month in Wyoming. Boyd won the juniors World Championship Hill Climb at Jackson Hole March 21-24, and he won by four seconds, a very big margin in such races. The run is like an Olympic downhill in reverse, with the snowmobile climbing a steep slope. "It feels like it's straight up and down," Boyd said. Boyd didn't know he'd won, let alone by a wide margin, until he started heading back down the hill.... Full story
John Schweiter Jr. has created a business that plays to two of his passions in life: "I've always been a car guy - a racing family - so cars and driving are in my blood," he told The Nugget. "And I love to serve." Safe Chauffeur Executive Car Service serves people of high net worth across Central Oregon and the Sisters Country. Founded with his wife, executive chef Marie Schweiter, in 1997, Safe Chauffeur offers more than a standard car service. "Our business model is just... Full story
The discussion of development code changes that would allow for a boutique RV Park at the former site of the Conklin Guest House on the corner of Barclay Drive and Camp Polk Road/Locust Street will carry into next month. The Sisters Planning Commission continued their April 18 public hearing on the matter to May 16. The changes, which would allow an RV park as a use in the Sun Ranch Tourist Commercial zone, would have to be in place before a formal plan for the site can be... Full story
Dixie's in Sisters was packed on Saturday evening as the Sisters Rodeo community gathered to celebrate the unveiling of the 2024 event poster. The event, along with the annual kickoff party set for Saturday, April 20, at Sisters Saloon, marks the start of rodeo season in Sisters. Rodeo Queen Destiny Wecks and Rodeo board member Hank Moss pulled down the black shroud to reveal Dyrk Godby's 2024 image, which depicts a cowboy spurring out as the bronc he's forked bucks in front... Full story
There’s nothing like contemplating the end of the world to start off your weekend. I headed out at daybreak on Saturday to get in a good training session at Zimmerman Butte. Kettlebell complexes and shooting — a kind of biathlon. I like to listen to a podcast while I drive out there and set up, so I scrolled through the new stuff, and ran across a fresh one from Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. He was interviewing Annie Jacobsen about her new book “Nuclear War: A Scenari... Full story
Every once in a while, Sisters kicks up a story that is tough to cover. When you live and work in a small town, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to know the family involved in a car accident, or the people whose house burned down, or the victim or perpetrator of a crime. The recent issue involving Sisters High School choir and Americana Project teacher Rick Johnson, who was placed on leave after an obviously sketchy text exchange with a former student came to lig...
The Nugget believes in the power of Story. Since you are here backing us up with your support, it's pretty safe to assume you do, too. The work that keeps us going week in and week out is the effort to tell the stories of the people of our community, in all their wide diversity in age, background and experience. When I first started writing for The Nugget 30 years ago, I wasn't sure how deep the well of Story would be here. Turns out, it's bottomless. A couple of weeks back, I...
Julie Kehler is on a clock. What happens in the next few weeks will determine whether or not she can stay in Sisters. It all comes down to finding a place to live. Kehler has to be out of her current rental by the end of May, and she has not been able to find a new place that she can afford. "I've given myself till the end of this month to make a decision on what I need to do," she told The Nugget last week. Kehler is one of many working people in Sisters who struggle with... Full story
If you've hiked along Whychus Creek as it rushes down from the mountains in spring, or strolled through the tall grass of Glaze Meadow into swampy terrain, or stepped into the Metolius River to cast a fly line, you've encountered the work of Mike Riehle. The Sisters Ranger District fish biologist has worked for decades to restore natural habitat, and make the streams of Sisters Country hospitable to native fish populations. He'll quickly tell you that he was one among many... Full story
Sisters High School will continue its vocal music program, even as teacher Rick Johnson has been placed on leave while the Sisters School District looks into concerns about a potentially inappropriate text exchange with a former student. The student is believed to have been 17 at the time of the exchange. “That’s our next conversation,” Superintendent Curt Scholl told The Nugget. “Our intent is to still run the program. We want to, as much as possible, limit impact on any of our students. That’s our goal.” Johnson taught choi... Full story
Sisters' taste of warm temperatures and bright sunshine earlier this month heralded spring, and a hint of summer. It's a welcome tease - and also a reminder that we're headed into wildfire season. Local officials met informally with a group of Sisters area citizens on Wednesday, March 20, at Sisters Fire Hall, to talk about wildfire preparedness. According to Andrew Myhra of the Sisters Ranger District, it's a little early to predict what kind of wildfire season we're facing.... Full story
Helping people in need - that's the fundamental mission and purpose of the men and women who volunteer with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District. There are many different ways to help fulfill that mission - and many paths to becoming a volunteer. "My journey with the fire service has been long," Firefighter Kevin Cramer told The Nugget last week. "It's got a lot of holes in it; it's not continuous." As a young man, he was on a path toward the fire service in southern... Full story
If you work for a paycheck in Sisters, it’s hard to find a place to live. Really hard. Home prices have soared out of reach for most working folks, and there aren’t a whole lot of rental options — and they’re often not all that affordable when you find one. That means hard-working people, often established for years in the community, are facing hard choices, wondering if they can stay in the community they call home. Business owners have a hard time finding staff, because... Full story
Sisters School District officials and other agencies will look into potentially inappropriate texts between a Sisters teacher and a former student believed to be 17. The texts came to light in social media posts on Sunday, March 25, involving choir and Americana Project teacher Rick Johnson. "We're aware of the issue," Sisters Schools Superintendent Curt Scholl told The Nugget Monday afternoon. "Can't comment on personnel issues, but we're working with all the agencies on the matter." As is standard practice for mandatory... Full story
Plans to turn the site of the former Conklin’s Guest House near the intersection of Camp Polk Road and Barclay Drive into a boutique RV park are wending their way through a multi-tiered planning process. Sisters planning commissioners met in a workshop on Thursday, March 21, to get up to speed on proposed changes to the City of Sisters Development Code that would have to be in place before a formal plan for the site can be filed. The code changes are being proposed by the a... Full story
With Deputy Aaron Myers on patrol in Sisters, the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) Sisters contingent is once again fully staffed, with three deputies and a lieutenant operating out of the local substation. Deputy Myers is new to the Sisters office, but he has 16 years of experience with DCSO, serving six of those years as assistant coordinator for the DCSO Search and Rescue Unit. Deputy Myers told The Nugget that he sought the open position in Sisters because... Full story
The long-awaited project to construct a roundabout at Highway 20 and Locust Street is set to get underway at the beginning of March. The project will start with moving the Sisters Elementary School fence and relocating some utilities, according to Sisters Public Works Director Paul Bertagna. The fence relocation is expected to be completed by the time students return from spring break so that students can use the fields. "All of this is, of course, weather-dependent, too,"... Full story
Sister Middle School opened its doors to the community last Thursday, sparking creativity and fun in STEAM Expo 2024. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. Instead of tackling each as a separate field, STEAM education integrates all of these elements to engage students in inquiry, discussion, and creative problem-solving. The goal is to help students become good collaborators, thoughtful risk-takers, and problem solvers. Advocates of STEAM... Full story
With a few ceremonial shovelfuls of dirt turned over, the US20/Locust Roundabout construction project is under way. City and county elected officials, Oregon Department of Transportation representatives, along with construction personnel gathered on the south side of the Locust/Cascade intersection on Monday morning to officially inaugurate the project. Mayor Michael Preedin noted that the effort was six years in the making, starting with initial impetus from Sisters Public... Full story
When Adora Hitchcock looks out her window in her quarters at The Lodge in Sisters, she can just make out the roof of Conklin's Guest House across Barclay Drive to the north. When she sits in The Lodge's library, she has an even better view. And that view takes her back in time and brings her 82 years of life full circle. Hitchcock was born in 1941 in Bend and adopted by Philip and Sally Wyatt Hitchcock. The Hitchcocks were pioneering lumbermen in Sisters Country, and Philip's...
The Three Sisters Historical Society packed the Sisters Fire Hall Community Room last Sunday for a presentation by Larry Len Peterson on the legendary photographer of Native Americans, Edward S. Curtis. Peterson, a Sisters resident, is the author of a magnificent study of Curtis, titled “Printing the Legends: Looking At Shadows In A West Lit Only By Fire.” Last week, we published Maret Pajutee’s wonderful account of the wild times and violent demise of Sisters pioneer Tillm... Full story
The family of a U.S. Marine veteran and Sisters High School graduate has launched a campaign seeking information on her whereabouts. Kirsten Anne Clarke reportedly left service and cut off all contact with family and friends in March 2023. Clarke's family lived in Sisters from 2006 to 2020, and still maintains property and connections in the area. Kirsten Clarke graduated from Sisters High School in 2011. She was a cross country runner. She served as a Navy corpsman (medic)... Full story
Pat Mostek met her husband Stephen in high school when she was 14 years old. He was 15. Stephen was sitting behind her in study hall, and one of Pat's friends commented on how good-looking the boy was. Pat pulled out a makeup mirror and took a look for herself. "Our eyes met - and that was it," she recalled. She knew this was who she was going to marry. "No doubts," she said. Marry they did - and that marriage lasted 65 years, until Stephen's passing a couple of years ago. Now...
Clint Decker thrives on the creative nature of his work as a landscaper. "It's pretty cool when you can take nothing and make it into something," he said. "We've done everything from five-acre irrigations to major water features to pergolas with pavers.... I can build anything you can envision." Decker Landscaping also has expertise in building pole barns. Raised around agriculture from childhood, Decker laid the groundwork for his career in landscaping working for McPheeters... Full story
I sat down this weekend to write a column about dysfunction; 700 words on the bipartisan cascade of incompetence, cynicism and decrepitude that we witnessed on the national stage last week. Nope. Just couldn’t do it. I’ve already said my piece in these pages about the proper consequences of the willful mishandling of classified documents, and calling out cynical, partisan hypocrisy isn’t even sport. It just leaves me full of dismay, disgust, and despair. Not exactly the mood... Full story
