News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 30
Sen. Ben Westlund of Central Oregon is running for governor. Westlund announced on Oregon’s 147th birthday, Tuesday, February 14. He will campaign as an independent. Westlund, formerly a Republican, made the announcement at the Deschutes County Clerk’s Office in Bend shortly after 9 a.m. as he dropped off a petition changing his party affiliation to independent. He was to travel to Salem to file his candidacy later in the morning. Westlund said he was running for governor “be... Full story
A Redmond woman was seriously hurt in a single-vehicle crash on Highway 126 two miles east of Sisters on Friday morning,February 10. According to Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office reports, Dorothy Mason, 66, of Redmond, was headed west on Highway 126 at about Milepost 94 when she lost control of her 1996 Mercury Sable. The car left the roadway, traveled a considerable distance and struck a tree. Airbags deployed, according to sheriff’s office reports. Sisters paramedics res... Full story
Voters in the Black Butte Rural Fire Protection District face a critical vote during the next few weeks. They will decide in a March 14 election whether to approve a five-year levy to provide funding needed for district operations, scholarships for student volunteers and support for the district’s fire equipment reserve fund. According to Fire Chief Ed Sherrell, the possible layoff of one firefighter may also hinge on the outcome. The levy calls for 90 cents per $1,000 of taxable property value a year for five years. For a $... Full story
To the Editor: I would like to congratulate the whole wrestling team and coaches and Kody Johns who is heading for state championships after placing second at the district meet in Stayton last Friday-Saturday. We all here in Sisters are rooting for Kody. Most of the kids on the wrestling team are new JVs except for a few but had to do double-duty and wrestle up (to) varsity against opponents who had many more years of experience and some who were placed at district and state ranking and these young wrestlers won some of these... Full story
Sisters’ soggy winter will make for a lush green spring in local forests — and a long-awaited strong water year for irrigators. According to Deschutes County Watermaster Kyle Gorman, wet storms with heavy snow in the mountains have created a snowpack that is at 156 percent of average for water content — “which is the best we’ve been since 1999.” Central Oregon has had its ups and downs in terms of winter snowfall in recent years, but has been caught in an overall drought pat... Full story
Sisters is changing fast and more changes are on the drawing board. New subdivisions are being planned and built that will bring hundreds of new homes into the city. Two major light industrial developments are in the planning stages or already getting underway. Soon, some portion of the 80 acres of land where the Sisters Ranger District headquarters sits will be developed. Just how that development will played remains to be decided. Keeping up with all that growth is the top... Full story
Sixth graders from Carol Packard’s middle school science classes spent a day last week playing in the snow and walking on snowshoes near the Methodist Youth Camp on the east shore of Suttle Lake. They weren’t playing hooky — they were learning about the winter environment from science educators. Four sixth-grade classes of about 30 students worked under the instruction of Wolftree, a northwest environmental educational organization. “The students studied how to measure... Full story
The Sisters boys basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak when they defeated Molalla 77-52 on Tuesday, February 7. Guy Mount scored a season-high 28 points in the game. Mount hit six three-point shots and scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half. Sisters shot the ball very well, which was evident in the final score. “We’ve been accelerating the pace of the game as the season’s progressed,” said Coach Rand Runco. “We know that with our size we have to control t... Full story
A hazardous materials team from Redmond donned chemical-proof suits and respirators to enter a house in Sisters on Tuesday, February 7, testing for chemicals associated with methamphetamine. The crew cleared the house, which means the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District can move forward with plans to burn the structure in a training exercise on February 25. According to Sisters Deputy Fire Chief Ken Enoch, the crew was summoned because there had been some... Full story
Sisters sophomore Brittany Baldessari won silver with her performance in the 100-yard backstroke during District Championships in Albany February 10 and 11. Baldessari clocked a season best of 1:06.5 in an outstanding swim, but was barely out-touched by North Marion’s junior Jessica Garinger. Baldessari also earned a fourth place in the 50-yard freestyle sprint in one of the closest final heats during the championships. Sweet Home’s Jessica Trautwein won the event, fol... Full story
• A deputy investigated a report of a dead deer that looked suspicious (the death, that is). The deputy concluded that it was ordinary road kill. • Someone stole coins from several newspaper vending machines, using a bolt cutter to break the padlocks. • Deputies cited several teens for trespassing on the roof of a Sisters business. One of them was also cited for possession of a small amount of marijuana. Makes one wonder what they were up to up there... • Someone reportedly stole the sink handles from a local restaur... Full story
Two weeks of foul weather cancellations gave way to sunny skies and warm temperatures at Mt. Bachelor for the Sisters High School alpine ski racers last Saturday, February 11. The racers pulled out all the stops in a two-race slalom derby. The two-race, four-run event totaled a full third of the race season for the under-achieving Sisters racers. “Coming into this event we hadn’t achieved our potential,” said Coach Todd Williver. “We were a very fragmented team, in jeopardy of... Full story
If you are a hunter in Oregon, you are among just one in 10 Oregonians. If you fish, you are only one in five. While the state’s population has doubled in the past 50 years, numbers of hunting and fishing licenses have steadily declined since the 1960s, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). The same decline is happening nationally, but only two states, Nevada and Michigan, are losing hunters faster than Oregon. And Oregon’s numbers are dropping twice as fast as the national average. What is cau... Full story
When Laurence Dyer received an invitation to submit work for the all-Sisters Art Exhibit now on at the new public library, he ignored it. But the organizers were persistent. In a recent interview, Dyer recalled a follow-up phone call from one of them: “I said, ‘I don’t think I’m very good,’ and she said, ‘Well, we don’t understand that because you’re on about 10 people’s lists.’” So he relented, although he still feels “uneasy” about having his handiwork in an art show.... Full story
Many people consider the problem of domestic violence and rape in America to be a women’s issue. Jackson Katz, a professional speaker, had a much different message for the people of Sisters last week. “When you stop and consider that over 99 of all physical and sexual abuse is perpetrated by men, it is definitely a men’s issue,” he said to an audience of over 200. Katz spoke Wednesday evening, February 8, at an open meeting at Sisters High School sponsored by Sisters Men Against Domestic Violence, Central Oregon Battery... Full story
Ryan Haney, an 11-year-old sixth grader at Sisters Middle School, has been wrestling since he was seven years old. Haney wrestled for Gene O’Brien through SOAR for 2-1/2 years and then joined the Central Oregon Stud Club (COSC), an elite wrestling club in Bend. Haney loves the sport. “I think it’s a beautiful sport,” said Ryan. “It’s very fun but it’s a lot of work and you have to be dedicated.” Haney competes in all three styles of wrestling: Collegiate, style of wrestl... Full story
Ed Sherrell, fire chief at Black Butte Ranch for the past seven years, told the Friends of BBR his department is expecting a new Type-6 engine soon that is a “worker-bee.” It’s a smaller engine that gets around in the forest well and carries 300 gallons of water. Chief Sherrell also described several other facets of his department’s operations to his audience. Presently, the department consists of six career and ten student firefighters. “We have a first aid ‘walk-in’ program... Full story
Into their third season, the Black Butte Ranch “Winter Players” are presenting “The Whole Truth” Monday, February 27, at the Big Meadow Club House on the Ranch. “This is a cure for cabin fever,” said Pixie Carson, one of the two actors taking part in the reader’s theater presentation. The play, lasting about 30 minutes, follows cocktails at 6 p.m. and a buffet dinner at 7 p.m. Paula Reents is the other half of this play, which describes two women, sequestered in a hotel room during jury deliberation, one for the defendant... Full story
Over $841,000 worth of volunteer work was performed on Sisters Ranger District by 356 individuals during fiscal year 2005, according to a report issued by the Deschutes National Forest. The work comes at a time when budgets continue to be reduced. Volunteers with the Deschutes National Forest’s Senior, Youth, Volunteer and Hosted (SYVH) programs work with the Forest Service on trail projects, campground maintenance, weed abatement, garbage pickup, construction projects, and public contact. Under the Hosted program, the O... Full story
COCC’s winter Lunch and Learn program in Sisters kicked off at the new Sisters Library’s meeting room last week. Norma Funai reprised her two-week adventure visiting the Galapagos Islands through slides and commentary. Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands over 170 years ago, helping him form his theory of evolution. There are 13 major islands and many smaller ones in the group. Using 35mm slides taken on her trip, Funai described various animals found on the isl... Full story
A new real estate office has opened in Sisters. However, for many local residents, the new Century 21 agents are already familiar faces. Kathy Gordon raised her family in Sisters and worked for 16 years as Sisters Elementary School secretary. She moved on to Multnomah Publishers and then was encouraged by her husband to try his profession — real estate. Bryan Stevens is also known to many families through his career in Sisters schools. Stevens taught special education for 3... Full story
The Sisters girls basketball team racked up a 47-26 victory over the Sweet Home Huskies at home on Friday, February 10. Sweet Home started the game with a box-in-one on Katie Hughes, one of the Outlaws’ best shooters. In box-in-one, the defense plays zone except for one player who follows the target wherever she goes. It is designed to shut down a stand-out offensive player and it worked for a while. The Huskies held Hughes scoreless in the first quarter. “In the first qua... Full story
The Sisters boys and girls Nordic teams both finished as runners-up to the Redmond Panthers at the Northern Division Championship Pursuit Race held at Hoodoo on Saturday, February 11. The finish gave the Outlaws their highest combined placing in school history. The teams have a week off before the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association State Championships set for February 24-25 at Mt. Hood. Redmond’s boys, led by Martin Aulie and Max Foster, swept the top five i... Full story
Jeff McDonald was named Citizen of the Year and Winfield and Joy Durham’s Sisters Coffee Co. was honored as Business of the Year at the annual Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce dinner on Thursday, February 9. Chamber members met at Eagle Crest Resort for an installation dinner to celebrate the Chamber’s 30th anniversary and to honor those who have made a difference in the Sisters community. The Business of the Year award winners were taken by surprise. Sisters Coffee Co. owners... Full story
About 20 children from Little Cloverdale Preschool visited the Sisters Food Bank to donate food and learn what the Food Bank does on Friday, February 10. Accompanied by teachers Anne Kauzlarich and Shelly Stark, the group delivered their donations and were taken on a tour of the facility by Sue Edgerton of the Kiwanis Club. Edgerton explained how people in need were helped out. It was a challenge to put some of the concepts into words that the pupils could understand. To... Full story
