News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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Sisters' leaders continue to wrestle with a fundamental question that will shape the city's future: How to preserve Sisters' semi-rural character while accommodating a predicted population explosion over the next few years. City councilor Lon Kellstrom said at a workshop on Thursday that many small cities in Oregon do not prohibit developers from building only one or two houses on an acre. But the Sisters City Council voted in May to adopt a controversial ordinance that requires developers to build four to eight units per... Full story
Most local opinion on a proposed couplet has been negative, judging from the response at a public meeting held last month on the City of Sisters' Couplet Refinement Plan. The city is proposing a Hood Avenue/Main Avenue couplet to relieve traffic on Cascade Avenue during peak periods. If a couplet is built, locals prefer a design that encourages access to Cascade Avenue and keeps speed limits at 25 miles per hour. Workshop groups discussed couplet options at a public meeting last month. Only one of the six groups reported at... Full story
Sisters area residents who dislike a proposal for a one-way couplet on Hood and Main Avenues may not have to worry about seeing a couplet in the near future. The City of Sisters' difficulties in getting a plan together for the couplet are threatening to kill the city's chance of winning state funds for the estimated $2 million to $3.5 million project. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) told the city earlier this month that it missed the deadline to present proposals for the couplet in the Statewide Transportation... Full story
Residents of rural subdivisions near Sisters are bracing themselves for fire season and taking steps to plan swift evacuations. Forest fires are inevitable and solid preparation is critical, said Dorene Fisher, chairman of the homeowners association for the Crossroads community, which has 175 homes located off of Highway 242 west of Sisters High School. "For the last five to six years, we have been very concerned," Fisher said. "The question is not if we have a fire, it is when we do have a fire, what do we need to do to be... Full story
While the majority of Sisters residents appear to oppose plans to build a Hood Avenue/Main Avenue couplet, they have different opinions on how to best preserve the character of downtown. Traffic officials reminded the citizens at a city-hosted public workshop on Monday, June 21, that traffic on Cascade Avenue backs up during peak hours in summer months and during special events. Those back-ups will increase over the years if Sisters sees expected population growth and grows as a resort destination, traffic officials said.... Full story
Sisters area residents dug in their heels over a proposed one-way couplet on Monday, June 21, at Sisters Middle School. The City of Sisters hosted the first public workshop to gain feedback on plans to build a Hood Avenue/Main Avenue couplet. While a few visitors considered a couplet a feasible option, the resounding cry heard Monday night was one which has been repeated for months: locals don't want a couplet. Reasons cited for opposition to the couplet, which is intended to relieve traffic off of Cascade Avenue during peak... Full story
Maintaining neighborhoods with large lots and open space is a priority for some locals and community leaders. The question is how to balance the growing population, the demand for parks and streets and development codes to make that happen. There is a demand for residential lots that are bigger than 7,500 square feet, councilor Lon Kellstrom told the Sisters City Council in a workshop Thursday, June 17. But estimating that every 10,000 square-foot lot would require a corresponding 4,500 square-foot lot to meet the city's... Full story
Sisters, which is part of the fastest growing county in the state, grew by 296 people to a population total of 959 between 1990 and 2000, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. In the next three years it grew even faster, increasing by 455 people to a total of 1,430 within the city limits. Over the next 20 years, Sisters is expected to quadruple in size, to a total of 4,688 in 2025, according to the latest population forecast created by city staff. In light of such expected growth, city staff told the council in a workshop on... Full story
June 24, 2004 -- Sisters area residents who dislike a proposal for a one-way couplet on Hood and Main Avenues may not have to worry about seeing a couplet in the near future. The City of Sisters' difficulties in getting a plan together for the couplet are threatening to kill the city's chance of winning state funds for the estimated $2 million to $3.5 million project. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) told the city earlier this month that it missed the deadline to present proposals for the couplet in the Statewid... Full story
The Sisters City Council voted unanimously to waive a $2,994 Systems Development Charge for a property owner to connect to the municipal sewer system. Sewer fees have been a controversial issue among city staff and property owners over recent months, but this is the first time the city has responded to a resident who owned a property which existed before the 1999 cut-off date for the original city sewer plan. Residents who owned property before December 1999, only paid $1,000 to connect to the city sewer. Peggy and John... Full story
A seat on the Sisters City Council will soon be open. The council voted unanimously on Thursday to accept a letter of resignation "with regret" from Deb Kollodge, a councilor who has served since December 1, 2001. Kollodge is resigning so she can work with her husband in their fishing-rod building business. Kollodge and her husband Jerry own Sisters Compound Rods and they have been selling a new concept in fishing rods through the business for six years, Kollodge said. Kollodge told The Nugget she is stepping down from the co... Full story
The West Nile Virus, which killed 61 people in Colorado last summer, may migrate to Oregon this summer. But then again -- it may not. Last year, Oregon and Washington had no confirmed cases of the West Nile Virus, according to the Deschutes County Health Department. But Dan Peddycord, Health Services Director of the Deschutes County Health Department, told the Sisters City Council on Thursday, May 27, the city should be prepared for the worst. The West Nile Virus is carried to humans and animals through certain species of mos... Full story
Freedom of religious expression is an important American right, but public schools often grapple over how to implement that freedom while not endorsing a religion. According to some local Christian students, however, Sisters High School is a welcoming environment. Lena Womack, a senior at Sisters High School who has organized on-campus prayer groups and Bible studies, said she finds much support from staff and sometimes from students. "The people in charge love the Lord," Womack said. "So they tell me what I can and can't... Full story
While local Christian youth may not be as "cool" as the emerging pop cultural Christian scenes in the nation, a small group of Sisters High School Students is finding its own way to relate the faith to peers. Church and youth groups are the latest "cool" teen scene around the nation, according to a May article in The New York Times. The article cites worshipers who have "gained attention by creating alternative churches in coffee bars and warehouses and publishing new magazines and Bibles that come on as anything but... Full story
The Sisters City Council will award $5,000 to the Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation (SOAR) this year. The city council agreed at a Thursday, May 27, workshop, on how to allocate $9,000 of the $10,000 it gives for community grants each year. The council decided to hold over $1,000 for any plausible, new grant request. The SOAR grant is in the same amount the city awarded in previous years. In doing so, the council gave SOAR $2,500 less than the $7,500 SOAR requested. The grant money will be used to continue... Full story
Sisters Young Guns are ace motocross riders. photo provided A seven-year-old Cinderella is giving up beauty pageant titles to ride her Cobra 50 motocross bike with the boys. BreAnna McLuskie won "Miss Personality" in the 2003 Cinderella Beauty Pageant in Portland and was awarded alternate beauty winner in the 2003 Cinderella Northwest State Final in Wilsonville. But she won't compete in any beauty pageants this year, said her mom, Dorian McLuskie, because she has found a new love. BreAnna McLuskie is the only girl on this... Full story
The group facilitator fished hard for a consensus, Monday, May 17, at the Sisters Couplet Advisory Committee meeting. Although he managed to gather some preferences, the atmosphere of the meeting was that of unanswered questions, distrust and numerous complications. The committee met for the second time after the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) put roadblocks in their previous plans to design a one-way eastbound Hood Avenue/westbound Main Avenue couplet. The couplet is intended to relieve traffic on Cascade... Full story
On the day that Stephen Withrow allegedly brutally beat and killed Curtis Dean Kizer, he had consumed nine 22-ounce beers, according to a search warrant affidavit. The 17-year-old allegedly purchased the alcohol illegally from a clerk at Space Age Gas. Withrow's day of drinking ended with a tragedy, which only makes it an extreme case of underage drinking in Sisters. One poor choice can begin a dangerous spiral downward to more poor choices, said Sisters High School Principal Bob Macauley in an interview with The Nugget.... Full story
Find every foster child a permanent home: that's the goal of state services for foster children. But some foster children are not likely to be adopted or reunited with their biological family. These children are typically in their teens, have lived in as many as 15 homes and have a long history of misbehavior and emotional disorders, said Asa Gemignani, Sisters area certifier for the Oregon Department of Human Services. These kids are called "drifters." Drifters are often sent to "last chance" foster homes, because if they... Full story
The two sets of foster parents in Sisters who take care of the most difficult, older children in the state system both say they foster parent because it is their "calling from God." Blanche, 59, and Orville Tadlock, 60, are full-time foster parents who have housed about 50 teenage foster boys over the last 22 years, with as many as eight in their home at once. Lee Bellahdid, a single foster parent in his early 30s, and coach of the Sisters High School Girls' Varsity Soccer Team, has housed 12 teenage boys in the last two... Full story
Plans to create a traffic alternative that will relieve traffic on Cascade Avenue is costing the City of Sisters more time and money than anticipated. The Sisters City Council voted unanimously on Thursday to award an additional $18,462 to Cogan Owens Cogan (COC), a traffic engineering team which has been working with the city to design a Hood Avenue/Main Avenue couplet. That amount is a 53 percent increase from the initial contract price that the City had with COC, which was for $34,250. "The process of developing the refine... Full story
Considering that there was a measure affecting Sisters' density on the agenda, City Hall was unusually quiet Thursday, May 13, when Sisters City Council unanimously voted to pass a controversial ordinance which has been tabled for months. After more than a year of meetings and analysis, the Sisters City Council finally passed Ordinance 348 on Thursday, which gives developers more freedom in planning new residential subdivisions. The ordinance amends the development code to require developers to build four to eight units per... Full story
The new Sisters Fire Chief will be holding the department's first-ever public workshop for four days this week. The workshop is open to all fire service personnel and to the public. It will be a step in the process of developing the fire department's first five-year strategic plan. "We will plan for the next five years or more for our values and our mission, look at our strengths and weaknesses, and threats and major commitments," said Taylor Robertson, fire chief. "It's a road map to help guide us as a good organization."... Full story
Construction is well underway on new homes in the Timber Creek II subdivision east of Sisters Elementary School. A Portland development firm purchased Timber Creek from Sisters developer Bruce Forbes. photo by Jim Cornelius A partially-gated community, with 75 lots and some creekside homes ranging in price from about $300,000 to $400,000, opened to the market last week. Thirteen of the homes have been finished and are available for sale along Creek View Drive, according to Kathy Sorensen and Rick Waible Sr., Realtors. These h... Full story
Sisters High School is a safe environment: That is the message principal Bob Macauley is sending in the wake of Sisters High School student Stephen Withrow's indictment for murder. Withrow, 17, was indicted for murder, first-degree manslaughter, assault and first-degree robbery in connection with the killing of 42-year-old Curtis Dean Kizer in Drake Park in April. A member of the community wrote an email to Macauley expressing her desire to help the high school students understand non-violence, and questioning the... Full story
