News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 33
Three people were killed and another person was critically injured Sunday afternoon, February 19, in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 20 about 1/2 mile east of the junction with Highway 22. According to Oregon State Police Reports, at approximately 3:55 p.m., a 1998 Toyota Camry with four occupants was westbound on Highway 20 near milepost 75 negotiating a left hand curve when, for an unknown reason, it lost control and slid broadside across the centerline into the two eastbound lanes. An eastbound 2003 Ford Explorer driven by... Full story
Former pastor Shane Hall was arrested on a warrant on Friday morning, February 17. Hall, 34, is accused of sexual abuse of a minor. He was released from jail after his December 23 arrest on those charges after his mother posted $30,000 bond against $300,000 bail. The warrant was for an alleged violation of Hall’s conditions of release. Hall cannot attend church or go anywhere else where children congregate. He is not to drink alcohol or frequent bars because, the District Attorney claims, he was intoxicated at the time the o... Full story
A blast of Arctic air running behind a ridge of high pressure plunged temperatures to below-zero territory late last week. Just as Sisters area residents were getting used to mild, spring-like weather, the cold snap jerked them abruptly back into winter. Frozen pipes caused headaches for some and drivers had to slow down and take care on newly icy roads. Central Electric Cooperative reported two outages on Sunday, February 19, one affecting 15 to 20 accounts in Sage Meadow... Full story
More homes are planned near Sisters Elementary School but development will have to wait a month. Last week, the Sisters Urban Area Planning Commission delayed the 13-home River View Estates subdivision because members wanted to make sure no part of the land is in the flood plain. The 2.25-acre site backs up to the school playground and Highway 20 and extends beyond the Timber Creek subdivision. As the commissioners began discussion, some members seemed inclined to vote in... Full story
To the Editor: In the February 15 issue of The Nugget Jim Anderson is on the rant again about wild turkeys. Jim, If you are going to object to releasing wild turkeys in Central Oregon you should at least get your facts straight. According to Jim we will soon be inundated with wild turkeys and a few other species he has decided don’t belong here. Sorry Jim, that is just not true. I have been chasing wild turkeys in the Sisters area for over 16 years and I can state for a fact that there are way fewer turkeys in the area now th... Full story
Sisters area parent John Shepherd has filed suit in the small claims department of Deschutes County Circuit Court asking Sisters School District to pay $2,928 for tuition his son Jonathan will be charged as a full-time student at Central Oregon Community College this year. But in doing so, Shepherd may have become vulnerable to a request for the return of money he has already received from the school district for tutoring Jonathan under the district’s former home school program. These are the latest developments in a c... Full story
The Sisters Starry Nights Benefit Concert Series gets off to a stellar start with a performance by renowned singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett, who performs on Saturday, February 25 in the Sisters High School Auditorium. The sold-out concert is a benefit for the Sisters Schools Foundation. Lovett is one of the most innovative and respected musicians of his time. Over the course of his career, he has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Country Male Vocal Performance (1989), Best Country Duo/Group with Vocal (1994 for “Blues for... Full story
It was both a look 20 years into the future and appreciation for accomplishments of the past year. More than 75 firefighters, volunteers, spouses, board members and friends gathered Saturday evening, February 18, at Sisters Community Church for the 69th annual Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District awards banquet. Major awards presented were Firefighter of the Year to Jeremy Ast; Volunteer of the Year award to Jeff May; and both the EMT of the Year and Rookie of... Full story
Sisters Elementary School music teacher Debbie Schlater has a new piano keyboard to use in her music program. The Yamaha keyboard was provided to the school through the Sisters Schools Foundation. The keyboard is now in the music room, replacing the piano. “We needed something in here that wouldn’t change with the temperature,” she said. The keyboard has another advantage: its low profile lets Schlater see her student singers while she plays instead of having to peek over the... Full story
The Sisters High School Varsity Jazz Band walked away from the Capital Conference Jazz Band Festival Competition, on Wednesday, February 15 with top honors — for the seventh time. Sisters High School is the only school to have more than one band participate in this Capital Conference event. Sisters has annually had two bands on the program over the last four years. This year both the Varsity and Junior Varsity bands gave excellent performances, representing dedicated work done by 32 Sisters School District students. This y... Full story
Thanks to a vision of a retired doctor in South Carolina and the dedication of Central Oregon volunteers, many uninsured residents of Sisters and elsewhere in Deschutes County are now receiving free health care. Since opening in March of 2004, the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades in Bend (VIM) has provided medical treatment to more than 9,000 patients, according to Dr. Ron Carver, a retired Bend doctor, co-chair of the committee that founded VIM in Bend and its first medical director. Carver spoke to the Sisters... Full story
The Sisters High School Ski Team will cook up pots and pots of succulent crab for its annual fund-raiser scheduled for Saturday, March 4, at Sisters High School. Organizers are advising supporters to buy tickets early because the event sold out in advance last year. Tickets are available at Outlaw Coffee, The Harvest Basket, Eurosports and Sisters Coffee Co. Tickets are $16 for adults and $10 per child. The crab feed is the ski team’s primary revenue-producer. In addition t... Full story
The poet wished “to be in England, now that spring is here.” Seven teachers and the principal of Sisters High School will fulfill that wish for themselves this year. Principal Bob Macauley said last week that the Fulbright office in Washington, D.C. has confirmed that a team from the school will visit England in May under the Teachers’ International Professional Development program. The Sisters group applied for the visit last fall and in late December learned that they had been chosen as one of four alternates to the eight... Full story
The Barclay Gallery in Sisters is exhibiting the ceramic art of Cary Lathan-Weigand. Born and raised in Hawaii, Cary Lathan-Weigand took her first clay class about nine years ago. While working as an art instructor for a behavioral health facility and as an “artist in residence” at Windward Community College she obtained her M.F.A. and B.F.A at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu, Hawaii. She studied ceramics under a few outstanding artists, whose open styles enc... Full story
Brian Rankin is the new planning director for the City of Sisters. However, he is not a new face around the department. Rankin has worked for the department for five years, the first two on a contract basis and the last three as a city employee. Sisters Mayor Dave Elliott said the personnel change has been in the works for a while. “He felt he was ready to take over the reins,” said Elliott. “It was a natural transition.” “It took me a couple years to learn the ropes and benefit from the experience of the two previous... Full story
Lynn Talbot, known locally for her acting, directing and producing for Black Butte Ranch’s series of dinner plays, takes on the role of Fonsia Dorsey in “The Gin Game” at Bend’s 2nd Street Theatre starting March 16. The two-person play also stars Randy Heise as Weller Martin, her gin teacher and opponent. First produced 30 years ago, some may remember the Dick Van Dyke-Mary Tyler Moore TV version. The card game acts as a metaphor for the maturing lives of the protago... Full story
Freshman Kody Johns made a strong showing at the State Wrestling Championships in Salem on Thursday and Friday, February 16-17. Johns won his first two matches on Thursday, then lost in the quarterfinals on Friday. Johns defeated Dustin Trinklein of Riverside 4-2 by decision in his first match on Thursday. It was tied up at 2-2 for most of the match. The third period started with both wrestlers on their feet. Kody took down Trinklein for two points to win the match 4-2. “We heard he (Trinklein) was rated fifth,” said Coa... Full story
A house in Sisters will go up in flames on Saturday, February 25 — and for firefighters it’s a good thing. The Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department will conduct a “burn to learn” training exercise on Saturday, February 25 at a house at 415 E. Washington St. in Sisters, according to Assistant Fire Chief Ken Enoch. The exercise will begin at 8 a.m. and will last most of the morning. Sections of East Washington and South Larch streets will be closed during the training exercis... Full story
The Lady Outlaws basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 44-43 loss to the No. 2-ranked Stayton Eagles at home on Tuesday, February 14. At the end of the first quarter the Outlaws were down 22-13. Coach Bill Blevins said, “We had the game at a pace we wanted but it didn’t pay off until the second quarter. They (Stayton) were going at a pace they weren’t used to and had a lot of turnovers.” Sisters held Stayton to just one point in the second period. The Outlaws closed the Eag... Full story
The Outlaw boys basketball team recorded its third consecutive win at home on Tuesday, February 14, with a decisive 72-59 victory over the No. 10-ranked Stayton Eagles. It took a while for the Outlaws to get into a rhythm at the start of the first period, but they adjusted their game and were down by only two, 15-13, at the end of the first quarter. Sisters’ defense really picked up in the second quarter and Stayton’s defense started to wear down. The Outlaws outscored the... Full story
Quilt enthusiasts braved the crystalline cold of Camp Sherman to visit the 10th annual Camp Sherman Pine Needlers winter quilt show last Sunday, February 19, in the Community Hall. Old and new quilts decorated the large hall during the show. The quilts were hung from rafters, attached to walls, draped over furniture. Write-ups with each quilt revealed the background story of its origin. Jean Curl’s “Sunshine” quilt, started in 1933 and recently finished, had the expla... Full story
Sisters Elementary School singers traveled to Eugene late last month to lend their voices to a performance of the Elementary All-State Choir. Seven of Sisters’ top young singers joined about 100 other fifth and sixth graders from other schools at the performance, which was held at the annual conference of the Oregon Music Educators Association. “I had students sing for me in choir and I chose 10 singers who I thought had good voices and were mature enough to handle a trip like this,” said Sisters Elementary School music... Full story
In her first season as an Outlaw swimmer, Brittany Baldessari finished with the seventh fastest backstroke time at the State Championship meet in Corvallis, February 17. Seeded eighth with the second fastest District 3 time of 1:06.4, Baldessari clocked a personal best of 1:05.2. That moved her into first alternate for championship finals behind swimmers from North Bend, Cottage Grove, Hidden Valley, District 3 winner Jessica Garinger and two exchange students from Japan and... Full story
Jennifer Haken never thought she’d be a “team mom.” But when she saw how much her three daughters loved gymnastics, the Sisters mother happily began taking them to the gym for practice and traveling to competitions most weekends. Kindergartner Cierra, third-grader Brooklyn and fifth-grader Alisha have full afternoons when school is over. Twice a week the sisters, along with their cousin, third-grader Manisha Haken, head to Bend for gym practice, sometimes getting homew... Full story
In a season with unprecedented success, crazy weather and a fair share of controversy, the Sisters Nordic Ski teams are hoping to culminate the season with a strong showing at the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association State Championships. The races will be held at the Teacup Ski Area near Mt. Hood Meadows on Friday and Saturday, February 24-25. The boys and girls teams both placed second in the Northern Division Championships behind Redmond. The top two teams from the... Full story
