News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 351 - 375 of 1025
• Deschutes County Sheriff’s Lt. Chad Davis reported to the Sisters City Council that summer bike patrols will resume in town as the weather improves and tourist season kicks off. In the next two weeks, local officers will receive training on the wearing and use of body cameras and they should be in use in the community within three weeks. The Sisters substation is slated to take delivery of two new Dodge Durango SUVs, which will be equipped with in-car video cameras. &bu... Full story
Sisters is currently experiencing unprecedented growth. That growth is to be managed under a system of land-use laws. The state of Oregon is unique for any number of reasons and since the 1970s, the state has been particularly unique when it comes to managing land use and development. Land-use planning in Oregon consists of a system of laws and government collaboration that is rare in the United States. Voters approved the framework for the system in 1973. The system now... Full story
Hospice House at Partners In Care in Bend provides more than end-of-life care for their patients who are on the last leg of their journey. Tollgate resident Dave Lysne describes it as “a place of extreme professionalism that is so obvious and calming,” that family members find it “very easy to go there and exhale.” That place of calm where she could exhale was exactly what Dave’s wife Dale needed after seven years of intense caregiving – three when Dave experienc... Full story
• City Council agreed to move ahead with finalizing the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) which defines the roles and responsibilities of each party regarding acquiring all of the right-of-way areas required for the future roundabout at East Cascade and Locust Street. An independent fee appraiser will prepare an appraisal of the property, which may take up to 60 days. That appraisal then goes to the ODOT review... Full story
Small business relief assistance grants totaling $40,000 have been awarded by the City to 17 local businesses that have been severely impacted by the pandemic. In the FY 2020-21 budget, the City allocated up to $40,000 for that purpose. On March 10, The City Council approved Resolution 2021-03 authorizing the Grant Relief Program and designated Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce as the administrator. A grant committee was formed including Councilor Andrea Blum for the City,... Full story
Initial plans for the proposed new Sisters Ranger District headquarters were outlined at last week’s virtual open house. (Video of entire meeting available on Deschutes National Forest Facebook page.) The current office was built in the 1950s and has a number of safety and accessibility issues. According to Sisters District Ranger Ian Reid, “The new station is necessary to keep us here (in Sisters).” By dividing the 80-acre parcel of Forest Service property into three pieces a... Full story
In the early days of Sisters, over 100 years ago, horses were simply tied to hitching posts in town to await their riders. With the advent of the automobile, parking spaces along the street replaced the hitching post. As Sisters’ population, both residential and tourist, continues to grow, more City regulation becomes necessary to provide for the safe movement of emergency vehicles as well as to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of people, goods, and services t... Full story
For 33 years, the Sisters Garden Club has been helping introduce residents to the joys of gardening without a frost-free date and surrounded by critters who love to nibble what has been carefully planted by hopeful gardeners. The past year has been unlike any other for the members, with COVID-19 restrictions on in-person meetings and the cancellation last summer of the annual Quilts in the Garden Home and Garden Tour. Again, this summer, due to uncertainties regarding... Full story
Tucked away in the northeast corner of Sisters, on a piece of land provided free-of-charge by Benny and Julie Benson of Sisters Eagle Airport, is a patch of ground that each summer springs to life with vegetables, flowers, berries, and herbs all grown and tended by a dedicated group of community gardeners. From humble beginnings in 2006 on an East Adams Avenue lot provided by Habitat for Humanity for $1 a year, the Sisters Community Garden was established to encourage... Full story
The board and volunteers of by the Three Sisters Historical Society are making preparations for the 75th anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Sisters in April 1946. Throughout 2021 the Sisters History Museum is collaborating with the City, the Sisters Arts Association, and local businesses and organizations to sponsor a number of special observances of Sisters 75th Anniversary. Events will necessarily be planned around whatever current COVID-19 restrictions are in... Full story
Note: The death of a loved one is a very personal experience. The person interviewed for this story requested anonymity, which is contrary to the practice of The Nugget. In this case, due to the nature of the story and in order to protect the privacy of those involved, names have been changed. Drop a pebble in a pond and the ripples spread out in all directions. The death of a family member can often be like that pebble, with ripples touching the lives of family members in... Full story
The face of Sisters is changing and nowhere more than on the west end of town. The sale of the Sisters Ranger District’s headquarters property has opened up that piece of Sisters to a variety of developments. The proposed Three Peaks Industrial Park, located at 800 W. Barclay Dr. cleared another hurdle as the Sisters Planning Commission approved, with conditions, their master plan and subdivision proposal. The master-plan approval is for the overall layout of the proposed deve... Full story
• Crista Munro, executive director of Sisters Folk Festival, and Roger Dwight, vice president of Sisters Rodeo Association, will participate in a statewide public-events meeting with Governor Kate Brown on March 31 to help establish guidance for public events with the changing circumstances regarding COVID-19. Organizations have been hopeful that the guidance would be available by April 1 to enable planning of public events which require months of lead time. •... Full story
Most local residents avoid trying to enter Highway 20 from North Locust Street. There are long delays for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists wanting to cross the highway, or for vehicles wanting to turn left onto or off the highway. Plans are currently underway to remedy that situation with construction of a new roundabout intersection the same size as the one at the other end of town at Barclay Drive and Highway 20. Because Highway 20 is a state highway, the City is... Full story
As a healthcare professional and owner of Integrated Care in Sisters, Maureen Bidasolo, R.N., is well-acquainted with the vital services provided to her clients by local hospices and the Partners In Care Hospice House. According to Bidasolo, her 10-person team of caregivers “help seniors stay in their homes, wherever that may be.” They start out being companions to their clients, providing housekeeping, meal preparation, and medication management, for which they are spe... Full story
Former Sisters mayor and City Council member for 14 years, Lon Kellstrom has been described by family, friends, and those who worked with him as humble, a man of integrity who lives according to his principles, supportive, decisive, knowledgeable, and gracious. He has weathered a number of life-changing events and persevered. Born in Seattle, spending a few years in Portland, and finally settling with his family in Klamath Falls, where his dad was an insurance adjuster.... Full story
Katie Williams of Sisters lost her husband, Jim, to cancer almost three years ago, March 10, 2018 — seven days before their 11th wedding anniversary. Katie’s story of her experience of spending Jim’s last eight days with him at Partners In Care Hospice House is one of gratitude for the comfort, support, and physical care provided to both Jim and Katie by the staff. “The way they cared for him was so gentle and sweet; talking to him, telling him what they were going... Full story
The City of Sisters is in very solid financial shape. The City is now over halfway through its fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2021. According to the second quarter financial summary (through December 2020) prepared by Finance Director Joe O’Neill, the City is in good shape, with three revenue sources already exceeding the amount budgeted for the entire 2020/21 FY. On the expenditure side of the budget, three categories (capital outlay, 21 percent, materials and services, 4... Full story
Adams Avenue is slated for a makeover to make it more attractive and pedestrian-friendly. City staff made recommendations to the Urban Renewal Agency (URA) Board for the two top priorities for use of URA funds in fiscal year 2021/22. Top priority was to complete the 100 percent design for the Adams Avenue streetscape project. The second priority is to determine a program to make the downtown core more fire resistant — both to wildfires and in-town fires. The Adams... Full story
• Construction has begun on the improvements to the foot bridge over Whychus Creek between Creekside Park and Creekside Campground. That path is closed to the public until construction is complete. When finished, the bridge will be completely ADA compliant and easier for people of all abilities to utilize. Cascade Civil Corp. of Redmond is doing the work and expects a 90-day build out. Ponderosa Forge and Ironworks of Sisters is fabricating the railing for the bridge... Full story
Through a collaborative effort of the Sisters Trails Alliance (STA), Rima Givot’s Sisters High School biology students, and Bethany Gunnarson’s art students, interpretive signs are being created for the Tollgate Trail that winds through Trout Creek Conservation Area (TCCA) in the woods adjoining the high school. “Having been a high-school educator, I am very aware that Sisters High School is unique and blessed to have a conservation area immediately adjacent to the campus &mda... Full story
The City of Sisters is not letting waste go to waste. The Sisters City Council last week awarded a public-improvement contract in the amount of $153,092 to Clear Harbors Environmental Services of California for the Biosolid Removal Project at the City’s wastewater treatment plant. The project is part of the 2016 Wastewater Capital Facilities Plan and was estimated to occur in 2021 — 20 years from when the plant was started up. Establishment of the City sewer system w... Full story
Most of the services enjoyed by the residents of Sisters fall under the responsibility of the City’s Public Works Department, making it one of the busiest, most active departments in the City. The work is handled by a total of eight full-time employees and two contract workers (see related story). Water System Sisters’ water system dates back to the 1930s, when water came from Whychus and Pole creeks. In 1975 they began drawing on well water. Supply is currently provided by... Full story
The newest advisory board created by resolution of the Sisters City Council is the Public Works Advisory Board, which just began meeting in January. Public Works Director Paul Bertagna is enthused about the experience and expertise of the five new board members. Robert Hatfield volunteered for the board because he thought it “would be a good way to learn more about Sisters.” He has experience as a civil engineer, a construction manager, and in real estate. John Herman, the... Full story
• Robinson & Owen Heavy Construction, LLC, secured a public improvement contract in the amount of $73,496.36 for the 2021 Locust-Cedar alley waterline replacement project. The project is part of the 2017 Water Capital Facilities Plan to upgrade old undersized lines within the distribution system. The project entails replacement of four four-inch steel lines, believed to have been installed around the 1940s, with new six-inch C900 PVC lines in alleys south of Washington... Full story
