News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 21 of 21
Good feelings abounded as golden shovels turned over the first soil at the March 20 groundbreaking celebration for the 48-unit affordable Village Meadows apartment complex on Brooks Camp Road. "The City's involvement says a lot about the City Council's commitment to creating affordable housing," City Manager Brant Kucera told The Nugget. In the 2017-18 budget, Council approved the expenditure of $300,000 to help fund the development of this project by Housing Works. "We all... Full story
New leadership will be in place next year at Sisters Middle School and Sisters Elementary School. SES Principal Becky Stoughton announced her resignation effective June 30, Superintendent Curt Scholl reported. A letter to staff cited "personal reasons." "We'll be working on replacing that position," Scholl told The Nugget. "We're in a hiring process now at the middle school." Interim SMS Principal Tara Reis is not a candidate for the position, Scholl said. Reis has missed... Full story
Young actors can audition for a special production in partnership between Sisters Folk Festival and the Missoula Children's Theater, April 9-14, open to all students in Sisters School District. Auditions will be held for the Missoula Children's Theatre (MCT) production of "The Wiz of the West" on Tuesday, April 10, at Sisters Middle School from 3:30 to 5:50 p.m. Those auditioning, kindergarten-8th grade, should arrive at 3:15 p.m. and plan to stay for the full two hours. Some... Full story
Hammers and saws can be heard daily on construction sites in the various industrial parks north of the downtown commercial district. One project currently under construction is a live/work building in the Sun Ranch Business Park next to the new ministorage facility on Barclay Drive. When completed, there will be two separate two-story buildings with a parking lot in between, with an entrance off Sun Ranch Drive. On the ground floor of building one, slated for completion in Jun... Full story
Sisters RV Park at the east end of town is going to grow. The Sisters Planning Commission approved with conditions, by a 4-0 vote, expansion of the existing park on Highway 20 across from the FivePine campus. The expansion would include an additional 12 spaces for non-transient siting of recreational vehicles, to be used for long-term residential use only. Staff conducted a detailed analysis of applicable standards and concluded that the requested site plan satisfies the approval criteria. The entire property is bound by... Full story
Proponents of "common-sense gun reforms" repeatedly assure legal firearm owners that "nobody is coming for your guns." If they are sincere, those gun reform proponents should publicly disavow Oregon Initiative Petition 43 (formerly IP 42) - because it does come for the guns, with a very heavy hand. Filed by an interfaith religious group in Portland, the initiative - if it were to make it to the ballot and pass - would ban "assault weapons" and "high-capacity magazines" (including those used in most modern handguns). It would... Full story
To the Editor: On Wednesday, March 14, students across the country protested "lack of gun control legislation." As an American student I am deeply heartbroken for the families and communities experiencing the aftermath of mass school shootings and naturally think about how to contend with such a complex problem. Yes, stopping mass shootings is a complex issue. One of the solutions proposed is raising the possession age to 21 which not only overlooks the shootings committed by college-age students but neglects the fact that... Full story
One of the key components of public education is transportation. Somebody has to get the kids to and from school and to and from the multitude of sporting and cultural events and field trips that make up the school week in Sisters. And there aren't enough bus drivers to get it all done. Sisters School District is actively recruiting bus drivers - especially for the substitute pool. They're also looking for one more regular driver. Substitutes are a critical element, because... Full story
People of all ages - including some from Sisters - joined a March for Our Lives rally in downtown Bend Saturday, March 24 in an event organized largely by Central Oregon teenagers. The crowd gathered first at the amphitheater in Drake Park, where students shared music and speeches before leading marchers on a one-mile loop around downtown Bend. Similar rallies took place around the nation in the wake of the Parkland, Florida shooting in which 17 students and staff lost their... Full story
Heading into a two-week spring break with no meets, the Sisters High School track and field team got a perfect mix of workout and competition at the inaugural Crook County Relays held in Prineville on March 21. The meet, which included the host Cowboys as well as teams from North Lake, La Pine, Madras, Paisley and Sisters, featured non-typical relay races, many of which were co-ed, which allowed teams to really mix things up and race hard, while having a lot of fun,... Full story
The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office will be increasing traffic enforcement during spring break week. The increased presence began Saturday, March 24, and continues through Sunday, April 1. Spring break week is expected to bring increased vehicle traffic to the Central Oregon area as families travel to and through Deschutes County on vacation. These additional deputies will be focusing on distracted and unsafe driving behaviors utilizing marked and unmarked sheriff's office vehicles. According to the sheriff's office,... Full story
Thomas Arends, a Sisters High School graduate, class of 2009, will be returning to work at the University of Oregon this upcoming season - as Director of Player Personnel. Arends attended the University of Oregon from 2009-2012 studying economics with a minor in business. He had always had a natural interest and inclination toward sports. "When I was young, at sleepovers I wouldn't want to watch cartoons or movies, I would want to watch SportsCenter," he said. He always had a... Full story
After opening the season with a convincing win that featured 21 runs, Sisters High School's varsity softball team's bats went quiet and lost four games by lopsided margins last week. In seeing their preseason record fall to 1-4, the Outlaws lost to La Pine 11-1, Madras 14-3, and dropped a twin bill to Crook County 27-5 and 26-0. All four setbacks were run-rule defeats (game called after five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule). "Our players got to see different styles of... Full story
Imagine being born 105 years ago: Before cars were commonplace, and only 10 years after Wilbur and Orville Wright made their epic first flight at Kitty Hawk. Comparing life in 1913 to 2018 makes the changes look staggering. But for Christine Dalton, it all happened very gradually and doesn't seem to surprise her. "It's been interesting," she said. "But things change. Back then, we cranked our phones and our cars!" The month before Dalton was born, the Woman Suffrage... Full story
Sisters knows better than most communities how much wildfire can affect the environment, the economy, and people's health and well-being. The community hosted Dr. Paul Hessburg on Thursday evening at The Belfry to talk about living with the ever-present threat of wildfire. Hessburg is a landscape ecologist with the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station and a member of the University of Washington's affiliate faculty. His presentation, "The Era of Megafires," came... Full story
After reading the well-written electric car article by Ethan Ferwalt, I realized that the article was actually about lithium-ion battery toxicity, hazards, and lack of recycling and should not be interpreted as: "electric vehicles are bad." I also found it ironic that directly under the article was an ad for a LI battery chainsaw. LI battery-powered devices, including laptops, tablets, cell phones, power tools, drones, toothbrushes and shavers have been in use for well over a decade, and these are generally not recycled.... Full story
In honor of International "Happiness Day" last week, World's Children invites Sisters Country grandparents, parents and teachers to read and share with their kids the free, inspiring e-book, "A Girl Keeps a Tiger in Her Heart," at www.worldschildren.org/tiger. Written by a World's Children board member, this empowerment fable tells the story of Anjali, a young, poor girl in India who is determined to bypass local tradition and follow her dream of getting a college education.... Full story
This is the third of a three-part, behind-the-scenes series about mountaineer Warren Thompson, Sisters resident who has gone on two expeditions to Everest, one to Denali and many more to world-class mountains. After the 1984 expedition, determined to return to Everest, Warren Thompson heard then-President Reagan call the Soviet Union "The Evil Empire." Frustrated, he decided to do something for world peace. In 1990, he was back on Everest. "There is this old saying, 'You can l... Full story
Sisters Country attracts gifted artists, who are inspired by the beauty and "feel" of the landscape. There are all kinds of hidden gems in our area; some easier to find than others. These world-renowned neighbors may live just down the road, but they keep a low profile, preferring a quiet existence conducive to a life of creativity and contemplation. Lying in the shadow of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, the Three Sisters are monuments to an eruptive history that quieted thousands... Full story
The Sisters Folk Festival announced the initial lineup for the annual event, September 7-9. As one of the most respected acoustic music events in the Pacific Northwest, the Sisters Folk Festival is where "All the Town's a Stage," with 11 venues throughout town. Festival passes are $150 for adults and $50 for those 18 and under. In the wake of last year's event cancellation due to smoke impacts from the Milli Fire and dozens of other fires across the region, the artists... Full story
There was no question how most of the attendees felt at last week's community meeting regarding Hayden Homes plans for the former McKenzie Meadow Village (MMV) property. They generally didn't like what they saw and heard. According to Community Development Director Patrick Davenport, the City wanted the community to provide feedback on Hayden's plans so the developer could hear local concerns before Hayden formally files a land-use application. The application will consist of... Full story
