News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 25
A New Year’s weekend landslide sent tons of dirt and rocks into Camp Davidson, filling a maintenance shop with dirt and burying four automobiles and nearly covering a dump truck. The slide began slowly Friday afternoon, December 30 and by late Saturday had done its damage. The half-mile long slide began as a trickle of water around 5:30 p.m. Friday. It soon increased to a torrent of flowing water, dirt and rocks from the hillside above the church camp buildings. “I thought a water main had broken when I first saw the wat... Full story
After weeks of severe cold weather in early December and with three more months of winter left, Sisters area residents know they are vulnerable to power outages and “brownouts” that other parts of the country have experienced. Jim Crowell, member services director of Central Electric Cooperative, says there is good news and the potential for bad news in the months ahead for their customers in the area. “Bonneville Power Administration, our chief supplier of power, tells us th... Full story
The season of giving did not end with Christmas in Sisters. An anonymous donor from Sisters Community Church has contributed $12,000 to the Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank, according to Kiwanis President Tay Robertson. Robertson said he got a call from the church on Friday that a member who wished to remain anonymous was donating $10,000. “I went down to the bank and when I got there the person had been even more generous and had donated $12,000,” Robertson said. “I felt like Chris... Full story
Christ’s Church of New Beginnings in Sisters is suffering a crisis in the wake of allegations against its pastor, Shane Hall, who faces charges of sex abuse. All of the roiling human emotions such a crisis arouses were present on Sunday when parishioners learned that the organization may actually have been incorporated as a non-profit evangelical business by Hall’s family, rather than a church. There was anger. There was fear. Yet there was also something much more powerful present. There was a deep and abiding desire to pre... Full story
To the Editor: (Re: Man faces sex abuse charges, The Nugget, December 28, page 7): It is very scary to know that this type of man is living in our community, let alone preaching at Christ’s Church of New Beginnings on Sunday morning with children present after he gets released from jail, for sexual abuse of minors. It is people like Mr. Hall who make religion look bad. For those of you who still attend this church I hope you stop and think for the safety of your children. Also I hope that the Sisters School District will n... Full story
The members of Stand for Children, a statewide organization that campaigns for increased school funding, will decide this month whether to place on the November ballot an initiative that would allow system development charges (SDCs) to be used for schools. According to Merry Ann Moore, the group’s chief spokesperson in Sisters, Stand for Children recently came within an eyelash of getting the Oregon Home Builders Association to join in support of a mutually acceptable initiative. But the effort failed. So now, if Stand for C... Full story
One of the wells Sisters depends on for its water supply was on the fritz all summer. Now, the City of Sisters is paying $15,238 for a complete overhaul of the electrical system in the 30-year-old well. According to Gary Frazee, the city received three bids for the work and awarded the project to the low bidder, Curt’s Electric of Sisters. Powers of Automation in Bend will build a new electrical panel and Curt’s Electric will install it in the existing cabinet, according to... Full story
Winter sports enthusiasts greeted this winter’s early snowfalls with wild anticipation. After several years of a low snow pack, this winter looks promising for snowmobilers, snowshoe travelers, and both alpine and Nordic skiers in the backcountry. In the Sisters area, skiers, snowshoers and snowmobilers have been out enjoying winter recreation from the Santiam Pass south to the slopes of the Three Sisters and Broken Top. But conditions can change fast, bringing danger to w... Full story
The boys basketball team took third place out of eight teams at the Sisters holiday tournament that was held Tuesday through Thursday, December 27-29. Junction City was the tournament champion and Sherwood was runner-up. Madras took fourth, La Salle fifth, Banks sixth, La Pine seventh and Burns eighth. The Outlaws defeated Banks 65-39 in the tournament opener on Tuesday. Sisters dominated the entire game and according to Coach Rand Runco the Outlaw half-court defense was excellent. Sisters scored 33 points in the first half... Full story
• Deputies played cowboy this week, rounding up stray horses and one stray cow and getting them back into pasture. A deputy also offered a bereaved horse owner advise on the legalities of burying her horse on her property. • A deputy investigated a report of a dog chasing livestock — a potential capital crime. • A deputy arrested a woman on a probation violation. • A boulder hit the shoulder on Highway 126 during heavy rains. ODOT was called to remove it. • A young woman escaped serious injury when her vehicle rolled off... Full story
Four new members have been elected to serve on the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Newly elected board members are: Barbara Johnson, Doug Roberts, Mike Robillard and Roger White. They will fill board positions being vacated by Bob Grooney, Donna Kightlinger, Caroline Lucas and Jack McGilvary. There are a total of 12 directors on the chamber board. Four board members per year are elected to three-year terms. Board members were selected by a vote of the general membership. There were a total of nine... Full story
Construction of Sisters’ new City Hall should go out to bid on January 9. The approximately 9,000-square-foot facility will be built next to the Sisters Library and become the third part of a public facilities campus that also includes the Sisters School District administration building. City officials waited until January to put the $2.6 million project out to bid because contractors were too busy to put together bid packages during the summer and fall. City Manager Eileen S... Full story
Edna F. McCann died on December 25, 2005, following a short illness. She was 88. Services were held December 31 in Klamath Falls. Edna (Cobb) McCann was born in 1917 at Kirbyville/Mildred, Missouri. She was the next to the youngest of 10 children. She married Herbert H. McCann on July 20, 1934. They moved from their home in Missouri to Houston, Texas, for a few years; later moving to Klamath Falls, Oregon, in 1942 where they raised their three children. Edna was content and ha... Full story
On December 24, 2005, Deborah L. Thomas lost her battle with lung cancer at the Hospice House in Bend. Deborah L. Thomas was born in Portland, Oregon, to Joan and Gary Bechdol. Deborah received her Dental Assistant Degree early on in life. She worked as waitress and bartender at many different places throughout Washington and Oregon but her life and love was here in Sisters. She loved spending time with her many friends. She also had a green thumb for plants and could grow... Full story
Erna Frieda Shamel of Laguna Niguel, California, died at her home Monday, December 26, 2005. She was 86. She was born May 28, 1919, in Georlich Ridge, Missouri, where she spent her childhood. Erna was a loving and caring wife, sister and aunt who will be greatly missed. She is survived by a brother, Ralph Kueffer, of Owensville, Missouri; a sister-in-law, Mamie Kueffer, of Eustis, Florida; two nieces, Phyllis Geddes and husband Mike, of Inverness, Florida, and Tamra Crawford and husband Steve, of Eustis, Florida; three... Full story
• Sisters Athletic Club is offering swim lessons beginning this month. The club is currently accepting wait-list memberships with limited access. Call 549-6878 for more information. • Black Butte Ranch will feature an evening with musical talent Coyo. The evening will feature dinner and music beginning at 6:30 p.m. Call 595-1267 for reservations. • Visit local retailers and keep an eye out for spectacular sales. Businesses are clearing their shelves to make room for this year’s new inventory. • Pacific Health Center nu... Full story
Days of soaking rains left the Sisters country water-logged but mostly undamaged. The exception was a major mudslide that buried a maintenance shop at Camp Davidson near Suttle Lake (see story, page 1). The City of Sisters and the immediate area seemed to weather the unusually soggy weather pretty well. Parts of some parking lots turned into miniature lakes, requiring business owners to break out the pumps, but there were no reports of damaging flooding. Squaw Creek rushed thr... Full story
Small Farmer’s Journal of Sisters has been named an Utne Independent Press Award winner in the category of Environmental Coverage. Utne Magazine is a compendium of independent press stories often ignored in mass media. “Throughout the year, we scan the media horizon for bold journalism and beautiful writing that challenges our preconceptions, or inspires us to action, or simply takes us away from the grind for a page or two. And because Small Farmer’s Journal is consistently challenging and surprising, it’s a pleasur... Full story
My Own Two Hands, the Americana Art Project 2006, is seeking artists of all ages to donate original pieces to the fifth annual community celebration. The two-day event includes a community art stroll, chili feed and performance evening and an art party and auction. The 2006 My Own Two Hands theme is “Artist, Come Home,” the title of a poem by the renowned William Stafford, a past Poet Laureate of Oregon. “Artist, Come Home” is a celebration of home, family and community. Donated pieces must be submitted on or before February... Full story
Sisters resident Tani Honea has been nominated through the National Dean’s List for the International Scholar Laureate Program Delegation on Medicine. Honea, 19, grew up in Sisters with her grandmother. “I am currently a first generation college student attending my sophomore year at Central Oregon Community College,” she said. “I have been accepted to the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, and am planning on entering into their Medical Imaging Program in the fall of 2006. I will be majoring in Diagnos... Full story
Facing multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor and a separate complaint of stalking an ex-member of his congregation, Pastor Shane Hall has taken a leave of absence from his pulpit at Christ’s Church of New Beginnings in Sisters. Hall, 33, was arrested on Friday, December 23, on five counts of first degree sex abuse of a minor under the age of 14 and one count of unlawful sexual penetration in the second degree. Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office detectives are con... Full story
“King Kong” is one of the better two-hour movies of the season. Unfortunately, it is about three hours long. The cast is superb, the acting quite good. And as you would expect of a movie by Peter Jackson, creator of the three-movie, luxurious rendition of “Lord of the Rings,” the filmography is excellent. There is just too much of it, Peter. This happens to artists who achieve the kind of power that Jackson now wields in the cinematic universe after the incredible commercial and artistic achievement of “Rings.” They have t... Full story
• John and Shirly Berray thanked their children Lori, Becky, Cindy, David and Matt “for giving us the most wonderful 50th Anniversary year ever. “We will never forget 2005. We are so very proud of all of you and for the lives you have achieved. I was only 20 and John was 24 when number one child came along and 10 years later number 5 was born. Not one of these children came popping out with a “How to Raise Me” booklet attached, but with God’s help, much prayer and much love and good material to work with we are happy to sa... Full story
A rainout of last Saturday’s open race at Hoodoo has not deterred the spirits of the members of the Sisters High School Nordic ski team. In fact it will simply make Thurday’s night race at Hoodoo Mountain Resort more exciting, according to coach Lee Fischer. The Outlaws will host other Northern Division teams on January 5 in a five-kilometer freestyle race at Hoodoo beginning at 4:30 p.m. It is the first time Fischer has hosted an evening meet for high school racers and he looks forward to seeing how it works out. “It will... Full story
Ted Kooser’s got that right — that’s what they are, and that’s what they do. Screech owls are no bigger than a human heart and they do whinny at night, especially in the spring. The mystery is, how many of them reside in the pine and juniper forests around Central Oregon? I don’t have a clue, and I’m supposed to. I had that question tossed at me the other day, and I was stumped. Thirty years ago I would have been really bothered by my inadequacy, but now that I’m over th... Full story
