News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 23 of 23
Time is short for the public to weigh in on a U.S. Forest Service reservation system that could severely limit future use of wilderness areas in local National Forests. If implemented, the system would affect all wilderness areas in Sisters Country. Last month, citing increasing user pressure and dwindling resources, the Forest Service published notice of a 30-day comment period for the "Central Cascades Wilderness Strategies Project," which would affect wilderness areas in... Full story
Police and first responders will be operating in and around two Sisters schools on Saturday in an active-threat drill. Sisters-Camp Sherman, Black Butte Ranch and Cloverdale fire districts personnel are planning to participate with local law enforcement including Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, Deschutes County 911, Oregon State Police, Black Butte Ranch Police and the Forest Service in a joint training exercise Saturday, May 19 at Sisters middle and high schools. The active-threat exercise will allow each agency to... Full story
Last week more than fifty local women, including teams from First Interstate Bank, US Bank and YouthBuild, worked on three homes in Sisters Habitat for Humanity's Village Meadows neighborhood as part of National Women Build Week hosted by Sisters Habitat for Humanity and Lowe's. The women, and some men, painted, landscaped, installed cabinets and caulked during the Women Build Week which started 11 years ago through Habitat International to encourage women nationwide to devote at least one day to help build decent and... Full story
To the Editor: Each time I drive by Sisters Airport, I shake my head when I look at the development in the flight path. I worked for the USAF for 25 years, and during that time I witnessed the closure of two bases because of encroachment by development. In each case the municipal authorities allowed the construction of subdivisions in the flight path, right up to the perimeter of the base. As people moved in, complaints began to mount about safety and noise. Eventually the bases were forced to close. The same thing could... Full story
Are you a hiker, backpacker or climber - or a person who just loves getting outside? Well, if you haven't heard, your ability to access five of Oregon's premier wilderness areas is about to change. The Willamette and Deschutes National Forests, concerned about impacts associated with overuse, have proposed a quota-based permit system for the Three Sisters, Mount Jefferson, Mount Washington, Diamond Peak, and Waldo Lake wilderness areas. No doubt about it; this is a historic change. Soon it will take much more than just a... Full story
Each year since 2009, on the second Thursday in May, tens of thousands of associates from Keller Williams Realty across the country participate in the RED Day (Renew, Energize, Donate) initiative. They donate that day to a wide range of projects, devoting their time to community service through activities ranging from food and blood drives to rebuilding homes and schools for community members in need. On Thursday, May 9, Keller Williams Central Oregon Realty associates shut... Full story
The sound of fife and drums and the pungent smell of blackpowder smoke will fill the air in Camp Sherman next weekend as reenactors and visitors travel back in time to the 1860s and the American Civil War. The nonprofit Northwest Civil War Council will present a full Civil War reenactment at House on Metolius, Saturday and Sunday, May 19 and 20. The historically accurate tent camps house more than 200 Civil War reenactors presenting living conditions and circumstances of... Full story
Eighty years ago, excavations at the Paisley Caves in south-central Oregon revealed exciting evidence suggesting that people may have lived there as early as the late Pleistocene epoch, some 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. But it was not until recent developments in ancient DNA testing that the evidence has become fully accepted. Dr. Dennis Jenkins has been instrumental in verifying and expanding the Paisley Caves research first conducted by Dr. Luther Cressman in the late 1930s.... Full story
The boys lacrosse squad has been plagued with sickness and injury, which took a toll on the Outlaws this past week. Sisters lost 10-6 on the road at Ridgeview on Tuesday, and two days later were clobbered 21-3 at home against Bend. Sisters was down eight players due to sickness and a variety of other reasons in Tuesday's game against Ridgeview, and several players had just returned to the squad after being out due to illness and injury. Despite the low numbers, the Outlaws... Full story
The Outlaws posted two wins in their final league games of the season: a 14-3 win at Elmira on Monday, May 7, and a 6-4 victory at Sweet Home a day later, highlighted by two home runs from Zach Morgan. Sisters ended league play with a 10-5 record, and are currently 17-9 overall. In Monday's action, the Outlaws tallied their third win against the Falcons this season with an easy 14-3 victory. Sisters racked up six runs in the second inning to take an early 6-0 lead. Big hits... Full story
A living buckaroo legend and accomplished artist, Len Babb returns to Sisters for a show at Black Butte Ranch on Saturday and Sunday, May 19 and 20, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The show in the Black Butte Community Room will feature Babb's original oil paintings, watercolors, pen-and-ink drawings, and sculptures. Len's art has been favorably compared to Western artist Charles Russell, and it is a comparison Len embraces. Babb told The Nugget: "Russell once said that big hats and high-hee... Full story
Master sculptor Cliff Fragua taps the rocks that he might acquire, then listens for ones that will resonate - singing back to him. This method of selection tells Fragua which pieces are most likely to allow the forming and shaping to occur without fracturing. The prized minerals of the earth, after millions of years of lying in quiet solitude, sometimes find their way into the hands of humans. In a sense, once gathered, these rocks experience a kind of awakening. They are... Full story
Young Life, a Christian ministry aimed at introducing adolescents to the faith while offering support, activities and fun times, is returning to Sisters under the leadership of Doug and Shannon Miller along with an enthusiastic group of community supporters. Many locals may be familiar with the Washington Family Ranch, which is a Young Life camp near Antelope on the site of the former Big Muddy Ranch, home to Rajneeshpuram in the 1980s. The Millers worked there for the past... Full story
A pair of former Sisters High School softball players have added their names to the list of ex-Outlaws who have made an impact for their college softball teams. Walla Walla Community College freshman Amanda Smith and College of Idaho junior Haylie Hudson are playing key roles in the success of their teams this spring. Smith, a 6-1 left-handed pitcher and right-handed hitter, has made an immediate impact at WWCC. She is second in the Northwest Athletic Conference in home runs,... Full story
Keeping Sisters streets and public restrooms clean and landscaping maintained is the responsibility of a group of dedicated City employees who do their jobs seven days a week in the freezing cold of winter and the broiling heat of summer. This crew, part of the Public Works Department, consists of five field staff and one seasonal worker. Public Works Director Paul Bertagna hopes to add another full-time person next fiscal year. "The seasonal position is difficult to fill... Full story
The Sisters Outlaws girls' track and field team will be well represented at this week's OSAA State Championships following stellar performances at the Sky-Em District meet held May 10 and 12 at Reed Stadium. The host Outlaws stormed to the team title as they seemed to thrive under the home field advantage. Eight Outlaw girls qualified in a total of eleven different events. The top two finishers in each event at district, along with athletes who meet automatic qualifying... Full story
The Dead Programmers Society, a team of four teenagers from Sisters, won the coveted Judges Choice Award for the middle school division at the Oregon Game Project Challenge (OGPC) competition held at Western Oregon University on May 12. OGPC is an annual statewide competition of middle school and high school students that compete for designing an original video game. This year 59 teams competed. OGPC promotes digital literacy, computer science, and collaboration through game development. Sisters residents of the Dead... Full story
The Sisters City Council approved adoption of new methodologies and rates for water and sewer system development charges (SDCs), effective May 10, that will recover the actual costs of providing the services. The City recently updated its water and sewer master plans, which provided an opportune time to update its SDCs. Water and sewer SDCs were last updated 11 years ago in 2007, and were based on a "plumbing fixture unit" basis, a cumbersome and inaccurate method usually... Full story
Spring seems to have finally arrived in Sisters. The little green buds on the trees outside have blossomed, daffodils have bloomed, and the air is getting warm. And along with spring come fleas and ticks. Ticks are running rampant right now (see "Beware of ticks in Sisters forests," The Nugget, April 18, page 1). Protecting your furry friends against internal and external parasites (fleas and ticks) is important for their health. You can find ticks throughout Sisters in... Full story
The classic school assignment - "what I did this summer" - sent Jodi Schneider McNamee down the trail to becoming a writer. The satisfaction of telling a story well and getting a positive response feeds the creative soul. While her vocation is as a credentialed creative arts teacher, she has long taken writing classes and written poetry. When she came to Sisters from California six years ago, she decided to take a bold step toward fulfilling her ambition of truly becoming a... Full story
Ever been to a medical fundraiser with somber speeches and a lot of sad faces? Amber Alvarez Lara's recent fundraiser at Sisters Elementary School was exactly the opposite. Lively Mexican music filled the air while kids in bright costumes took to the stage. Dozens of families chatted and mingled, eating delicious food and waiting to see who might win the raffle. Patrons donated $10 per plate to help offset medical, travel, and other costs associated with Amber's two spinal sur... Full story
He showed up in his pajamas and bathrobe, with mismatched socks and a scarf. No one among those who gathered at Spoons last week to celebrate the official retirement of Bob Grooney was surprised. A wry sense of humor has always characterized the Sisters entrepreneur. "I got some strange looks," he said. "But what are you gonna do?" Grooney is 89 years old and has been working since he was a 9-year-old paperboy. For decades he worked in the grocery industry for Ralph's. He and... Full story
Local option levies supporting Sisters schools and the Sisters Park & Recreation District have both garnered strong electoral support and are headed for passage Tuesday night. The SPRD local option levy was passing with more than 56 percent of the vote just after polls closed, and the Sisters School District Local Option had pulled in nearly 66 percent of the vote in the immediate tally. Patti Adair of Sisters leads incumbent Tammy Baney in the primary race for Deschutes County Commission Position 3 52 percent to 48 percent,... Full story
