News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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Wyatt Maffey is Sisters High School’s current spotlight athlete. Maffey is a junior wrestler and two-year varsity letterman for the Sisters Outlaws. The son of Travis Maffey and Jenalee Piercey, Wyatt took third place in the 132-pound weight class last winter at the Special District #4 Regional Tournament and also represented Sisters High School (SHS) at the OSAA State Championships. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, wrestling is one of the high-contact sports that has been tempor... Full story
Citizens4Community (C4C) recently hired their first paid staff member, Executive Director Linda Cline. The hiring came with the help of a grant from the Ford Family Foundation. Cline was selected from among 21 applicants for the position and began work on January 4. Cline, who brings her experience with multiple community-building organizations to Sisters, is a native Oregonian, having grown up as the youngest of 10 children in the rural Southern Oregon town of Glendale.... Full story
Did your reading style change in 2020? Maybe you read more eBook biographies or started listening to audiobooks? My year of reading started out the same with historical fiction favorites including, “The Lions of Fifth Avenue” by Fiona Davis, “Fast Girls” by Elise Hooper, and “The Night Portrait” by Laura Morelli. By summer, I noticed my genre of choice had changed and I was reading a mystery/suspense novel every Friday night! My top Friday night reads include, “The Last Flight” by Julie Clark, “The Girl From Widow Hills... Full story
While filming the Len Babb Movie Project — we are eight months into this endeavor and making tremendous progress — cinematographer Sam Pyke and I have covered thousands of miles, visited six states, and interviewed some truly incredible Americans. Perhaps none more so than Victoria Jackson and her family. Victoria is a two-time Ranch Rodeo World Champion, an accomplished photographer, author of two books, and an enrolled member of the Ft. McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone... Full story
Governor Kate Brown of Oregon has relied upon a combination of public education and executive orders to fight the coronavirus pandemic. In contrast, Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota told the Wall Street Journal, December 7, 2020, that: “Rather than following the pack and mandating harsh rules, South Dakota provides our residents with information about what is happening on the ground in our state — the science, facts and data. Then, we ask all South Dakotans to take personal responsibility for their health, the h... Full story
Remember the days when we strolled the citywide Fourth Friday Art Walks from gallery to gallery, our eyes open to art that moved conversations between artists and friends? Until we can do that again, the Sisters Arts Association (SAA) is finding ways to keep our community connected. See for yourself at their annual members’ meeting on Tuesday, January 26. To preregister to join the meeting, visit www.sistersartsassociation.org/annual-meeting prior to 10 a.m. on Sunday, January 24. You will receive an invitation for the Z... Full story
Cascades East Transit has begun offering free curb-to-curb accessible shopping trips from Sisters to Bend and back every Thursday. To schedule a pick up in Sisters, call 541-385-8680 between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Call at least 24 hours in advance to schedule a Thursday shopping trip. Choose 1 for English and 2 for Spanish. Share your name and home/destination addresses. Reservations can also be made online at www.CascadesEastTransit.com/sisters. The shuttle will pick up... Full story
The pandemic has impacted local sports as well as the ability to gather, but cross country coach and teacher Josh Nordell came up with a simple way to do some real good during the holiday season through a running challenge designed to put a little money into some local charities. Nordell contacted Peterson Ridge Rumble Race Director Sean Meissner and asked if he would be willing to put up some funds from the race to help make the idea work. The two settled on a plan in which anyone could be involved. For every mile covered... Full story
The Sisters School Board met for the first time in 2021 on Wednesday, January 6 via Zoom. • Superintendent Curt Scholl thanked the teachers and support staff for continuing to have a common focus and working together for the sake of Sisters’ students. • Early indications show little increase in enrollment, but housing projects continue to boom in the area, so an enrollment increase is strongly anticipated. Scholl reported that with the expected growth for next year, the elementary school may need to install one o... Full story
Artists are invited to share their finest work in the virtual My Own Two Hands (MOTH) fundraiser art auction is scheduled for May 10-15. Sisters Folk Festival staff and board have announced this year’s theme: “Holding Hope,” offering the encouragement of the prospect of better days ahead and a closer connection to community in our near future. SFF invites artists to consider contributing artwork to help support SFF’s arts programming and mission in the community. “The past year has been immensely challenging for everyone in o... Full story
This past October, the Sisters History Museum hosted a collaborative exhibit of quilts created by members of local quilting guilds in honor of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920. The Amendment states, “The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” The muse... Full story
Black Butte School students in Camp Sherman were finally back in the classroom with teachers and classmates on January 11. Their teacher, Delaney Sharp told them they were having a special visit from Bethanne Kronick Blann, who told them about the “Deputy Dave” Memorial Essay Contest. Accompanying Bethanne were Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Corporal Jason Pollock and Patrol Deputy Clark Linden. The officers were there to talk about the important role law enforcement office... Full story
When I was a young man in college way too many years ago, a small group of students petitioned to have me removed from a history class. My vigorous pushback on the orthodoxy prevalent at the University of California, Santa Cruz, upset them. The administration in 1986 was having none of this nonsense and cast aside their petition with great force. The outcome might well have been different in 2021. The push to silence and remove dissenting voices is nowadays referred to as... Full story
To the Editor: I love the irony of the right invoking the name of Abraham Lincoln over and over and then bringing Confederate flags into the Capitol. The right loves to point out that Lincoln was a Republican and that the Democrats were slave holders. This is true. What they seem to forget is, as any middle school student who didn’t get an “F” in history knows, the “Southern Democrats” flipped over to the Republican party in the 1960s right after Lyndon Johnson’s (another Southern Democrat) civil rights laws passed. Why... Full story
Three city councilors, two new and one re-elected, were sworn into office on Wednesday. Michael Preedin was elected the new mayor by a unanimous vote of the Council at their first meeting of the year, and Nancy Connolly was again elected to serve as council president and will act as mayor in Preedin’s absence. She is beginning her seventh year as a councilor. Jennifer Letz was elected to a four-year term and Gary Ross to a two-year term. Returning Councilor Andrea Blum will s... Full story
Sisters is adding a new well to its water system, which will substantially increase its pumping capacity. At last Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the City awarded a public improvement contract to J. P. Prinz Co. LLC in the amount not to exceed $713,317, the lowest of five bids received for the construction of a new Well 4, Phase B. Phase A, just completed, was the drilling of the well by Abbas Drilling on land at the east end of the Creekside Campground. While Phase A was u... Full story
Except for a couple of light dustings of snow that quickly came and went, Sisters Country has been remarkably free of winter-like conditions even as we advance deeper into the heart of the cold season. Last fall weather prognosticators advertised a La Niña was on the way that would likely result in a colder and wetter than normal winter. Not only was her arrival right on time, but she’s been gaining strength and is now classified as a strong La Niña. As m... Full story
About 30 specialists, paraprofessionals and support staff were the first of the Sisters School District staff members to receive their initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. The vaccinations come amidst concern that Oregon’s supply may not be as substantial as first reported. In a news conference on Friday, January 15, Governor Kate Brown expressed her dismay that the total number of available vaccines was apparently misrepresented, but vowed to get as many teachers in Oregon vaccinated as possible in a timely manner, w... Full story
Welcome to diet season. After the holidays, people often feel the propulsion of self-loathing and throw the life ring to a diet protocol they may have heard about on a talk show or seen on social media. Oftentimes they have little to no knowledge how these diets work. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most popular “programs” people do to lose weight. • Keto The ketogenic diet relies on the physiological process of ketosis in order for one’s body to use energy. The key to this process is cutting all carbohydrates out of... Full story
7 was the year I got the news. ”You’ve got cancer,” are words no doctor wants to say and no patient wants to hear. My mind flooded with images of my father, grandparents, uncle, cousin and brother-in-law. They all died from the disease. I saw them go through treatment. I was terrified. Ready to do battle… not with the disease but the people in charge of healing me. I was more afraid of the treatments than cancer. Eventually, I came to terms with my fears. I acknowledged that the treatments family members endured had... Full story
As I sit down to write this, nearly 375,00 Americans have left us from COVID-19. Many of these deaths were in isolation, away from loved ones, and the chance for processing and goodbyes interrupted by restrictions, adding to the isolation of those grieving. Thousands (if not millions) more who have been impacted by the virus continue to contend with long-term and sometimes debilitating symptoms that make the motions of life seem daunting. While inexplicable, painful, and unfortunate physical and emotional calamities have... Full story
Probably the biggest fear I have when it comes to aging is developing some form of dementia, like my mother did. Even now, when I can’t immediately think of a word or someone’s name, I worry this may be the beginning of memory issues. Next June, I will celebrate my 77th birthday, so I am smack dab in the middle of the years when people may begin to experience progressive memory issues. I do what I can to keep my mind agile — walk every day, play word games and other brai... Full story
A 66-year-old Sisters man escaped serious injury after a man fleeing police in Bend crashed into his car. Bend Police reported that on Saturday, January 16, a Bend Police officer attempted to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation in the area of NE 6th Street and NE Olney Avenue in Bend. The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Zachery John Douglas, 26, of Bend, accelerated away from the officer, headed northbound on NE 6th Street at a high rate of speed. The officer did not pursue Douglas. Douglas, who was driving a... Full story
