News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 21 of 21
More Sisters area residents than ever are seeking emergency assistance from the Sisters Family Access Network (FAN). FAN has provided a total of $13,928.85 in emergency funds to help 174 adults and 169 children in 2001-02, according to FAN Director Theresa Slavkovsky. That's up from $8,295.10 to 101 adults and 163 children the previous year. Most of the financial assistance goes to help financially strapped families pay electric bills. Increased electricity costs, according... Full story
Waiting for the torch... Photo by Jim Cornelius Littering the road's edge like so much roadkill are brown heaps of forest debris. Local residents are wondering how much longer the piles will persist. Jinny Pitman, Fire Prevention and Education Specialist for the U.S. Forest Service says, "Mother Nature has a role in all of this." Pitman and her cohorts are anxiously awaiting more precipitation. "Even though we've had rain, you can see that, just below the surface, it's still dry," she said. Pitman is part of a team of... Full story
Steve Swisher plans to resign as Sisters School Superintendent on April 1, 2003. However, he will continue to work past that official date to complete the school year. The school board has already begun the process of finding his successor. "His resignation is timed so that the (school) board can effectively search, fairly quickly, for a new superintendent," said school board chair Jeff Smith. Swisher, who took the post in Sisters in 1996, is seeking the position of executive... Full story
The Sisters Christmas Parade has been moved back to its traditional date on Saturday, November 30, at 2 p.m. on Hood Avenue. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus will be in the parade and will greet children immediately afterwards at the Chamber of Commerce Visitors' Center, 164 N. Elm St., where there will be a bonfire and refreshments. Applications to participate in the parade are available at the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce offices. Call 549-0251. The parade had originally been scheduled for December 14, to coincide with the Ti... Full story
Rick McNerney works out under the supervision of Jason Kremer at Cascade Fitness. Photo by Jim Cornelius Rick McNerney is putting up a real fight against an inexorable and debilitating disease. And he has the help of some friends in Sisters. McNerney was diagnosed a year ago with Huntington's Disease, a hereditary nervous system disorder that causes convulsive motion, muscle tightening and loss of balance and coordination. There is no cure and the disease is ultimately fatal.... Full story
National Forest Christmas tree permits are available now for use in local woods. Permits sell for $5 each at Forest Service offices and between $5 and $5.75 at many retail outlets. Along with your permit, you will receive the handout, "Guidelines for Collecting your Christmas Tree," which contains general information on where to find the most popular tree species, and specific information on which trees it is permissible to cut. Christmas tree permits can be purchased at Sisters Ranger Station (open extended hours Saturdays,... Full story
The Sisters Kiwanis Club is launching its annual holiday food drive to help local folks in need. The Sisters Kiwanis Christmas Food Basket project is now taking donations to assemble the baskets, which will be delivered to qualified families on December 21. The baskets contain a complete Christmas dinner from the turkey to dessert. Project coordinator Katie Powers said, "We expect to serve over 100 families this year, up from 93 last year. Families may apply for a food basket at the Kiwanis Food Bank on the corner of Main and... Full story
Mike Sequeria (R.) answers Anne Van Horne's question after class. Photo by Conrad Weiler Captivating his audience with a wide range of examples, COCCs math department chairman Mike Sequeria demonstrated graphic examples visual displays of information. Meeting with Sisters COCC's Lunch and Learn class last Thursday, Sequeria exhibited Saturn in pictures and text from Galileo's writings from 1613. These stationary two-dimensional objects were contrasted to the work of Christian Huygens (1659), which demonstrated movement of... Full story
Local representatives of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) honored community members with relatives in active service last week by presenting them with Blue Star Service Banners during a Sisters High School Veterans Appreciation Ceremony held last week. "After 9/11 happened," said George Winterfeld at the Wednesday morning school assembly, "we thought it was time to start up with the banners again. We want to present the banners to every family in the Sisters School District with a relative in active... Full story
Sisters grad is a sous chef Jessica Toney. Photo provided When Jessica Toney, a 2001 graduate of Sisters High School, took her first culinary arts class her sophomore year, she would rather have been in ceramics or band. Those who appreciate fine dining in Central Oregon will be glad those classes were full, as Toney is now happily employed as sous (sauce) chef at the Jackalope Grill in Bend. The road between that first cooking class and her present role has been filled with success at culinary competitions and an intense yea... Full story
Seth Teague hauls one in. Photo by Steve Post Down by 11 points with 2:42 left in the game and on the brink of playoff elimination at The Dalles, the Sisters football team staged a memorable comeback to beat the Indians 32-28. "It was a great game," said Coach Bob Macauley. "It was pandemonium afterward." The first quarter saw the two teams spar for field position, ending in a scoreless draw. "Both teams played great football," said Coach Macauley. "It was two good offenses having a long way to go. Pat Burke's punting kept... Full story
The Sisters Middle School girls soccer program had a great turnout this fall with 31 girls participating in the program. With this number of players, Sisters was able to field two strong teams whose main schedule consisted of eight Saturday games in the Bend Parks and Recreation League. The two Sisters teams not only dominated play in the Bend league with matching undefeated records; each team had only one goal scored on them in regular league play. The girls remained undefeated in additional games with teams from the... Full story
Colonel Gregory Raths. Photo provided Sisters area veterans stood to be honored by local youth at this year's Veterans Appreciation Ceremonies at Sisters High School on Tuesday, November 12 and Wednesday, November 13. Jody Henderson directed the SHS band in performing a medley of service marches. Veterans stood and were applauded as the songs representing their branch of the armed service were played. Students gave readings of original poetry and stories written for the occasion. Special guests joined the SHS Band to perform... Full story
As an outgrowth of the annual Sisters High School Veterans Appreciation Ceremony, Lynn Johnston, a local Vietnam veteran, established the Veterans Appreciation Scholarship in 2000. The first year the award was $1,500. This year $2,500 is available for the qualified applicant. The scholarship requires applicants to learn more about veterans through personal interviews (which the students must videotape) and reading books from a list of biographies, autobiographies and other works. Applications for the Veterans Scholarship are... Full story
(Left to right): Sara Sawiel, Chris Sawiel, Zygmunt Sawiel, Aubrey Kelleher, Claire Mutchler, Kelly Morton, Alysa Boley. Front: Jessica Miller, Jessica Little, Jessica Wester. Photo provided Nine young people from Sisters will be on stage in this year's performances of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet in Bend on Saturday and Sunday, December 7-8. In roles ranging from Russian and Spanish dancers to snowflakes, flowers, and a candy cane, these dance students will join the Central Oregon School of Ballet as they entertain the... Full story
Two weeks ago, a Caldera poet witnessed sudden waves and turbulence at Blue Lake. (The Nugget, November 6, 2002) As it turns out, the phenomenon observed by Gwen Morgan was seen in other areas around the country. Forest Service geologist Larry Chitwood said that the major earthquake in Alaska triggered waves in lakes as far away as Louisiana, where water disturbances were generated in Lake Pontchartrain. "There's a pretty good case that the wave actions observed at Blue Lake were probably induced by the big Denali... Full story
Claire Kanzig and Julia Rahm extract juvenile fish from a tank. Photo by Elise Gourguechon Julie Kemper's fifth graders have teamed up with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and are raising rainbow trout to release the first part of December. Kemper first heard about the program "Fish Eggs to Fry" from Cheryl Renwick, science teacher at Cascade Middle School in Bend. "Fish Eggs to Fry" is a Salmon-Trout Enhancement Program which is funded through the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. All the equipment is... Full story
The popular Sisters College Center is likely to be a victim of $3 million in budget cuts at Central Oregon Community College. "There's a lot of things on the list, but one of them is the college centers that we lease," said Sisters COCC director Celeste Douvile. The Sisters Center serves between 400 and 500 local residents with classes ranging from distance-learning credit courses to a vigorous Lunch & Learn program (see related story). Elimination of the Sisters Center would... Full story
People who are facing life-altering situations, such as a cancer diagnosis, will be able to find help through a new nonprofit group called Life by Heart. Life by Heart provides workshops that will enhance the quality of life for people in these situations. The first workshop, which will be for those who have had a cancer diagnosis, will be held on Saturday, November 23. Five women, three of whom currently live in the Sisters area, have had the vision of Life by Heart for some years. All have been touched in some way by... Full story
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: Our local state... Full story
- A deputy escorted a man to Sisters after his car broke down with electrical problems. - Deputies responded to several alarm calls at businesses. At least one was caused by heavy winds. - A driver was hurt after she overcorrected on the highway, shot across the road and hit a tree. A deputy arrested her at Sisters Fire Hall for drunk driving. - An argument over beer drew police before it turned physical. - A deputy assisted Arizona deputies with a search warrant on a Sisters area home. - A woman reported that someone moved h... Full story
