News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 26
The Outlaws girls track team scored in 16 of 17 events to rack up 137.5 points on the way to clinching a 3A Special District 4 Championship at Siuslaw High School May 18-19. In addition, the Outlaws will be sending athletes in nine events to the OSAA 3A State Championships set for May 25-26 at Hayward Field in Eugene. Athletes qualify for State by finishing in the top two or meeting a qualifying standard. In addition, one "wild card" entry is added for each event based on the... Full story
• Food flight Philadelphia Steaks & Hoagies has exited leased space at 273 E. Hood Ave. and moved catacorner to its newly constructed site giving them twice the seating capacity. There will be streetside patio dining as well as year-round inside seating. Taking their place at the original setting is Luckey's Woodsman Off-Grid Provisions, a food truck operator in Bend best known for their Camper Kits with menu items like Forager, Camp Mac, Sasquash, and Lumber Jack Bowls. Spo... Full story
The Lady Outlaws softball team has been working hard and it showed on the field this year. Sisters finished their season 7-17, which was a tie for the most wins they've had in a season in the past 10 years. Sisters battled through several obstacles this season. Kathryn Scholl, their sophomore pitcher, was lost halfway through the season due to a back injury, and in addition three other key players suffered concussions. Only one of those was softball related. Talented as... Full story
Many people talk about writing a book. Some achieve their goal, but most can't quite get it done. Alexandra Miller, raised in Sisters and a Sisters High School graduate, has some advice for aspiring writers: "Do it! It's super fun to write a book, but if you're looking at it as a way to make money or be successful, it's not very rewarding. If you just love writing, it's one of the most rewarding things in the world." Miller offered that advice from her dorm at Seattle Pacific... Full story
A familiar site on lakes, marshes, ponds, and rivers, the Mallard [Anas platyrhynchos], with its glossy green head and orange feet, is a stunning duck. Mallards are dabblers, feeding on invertebrates, fish, and insects. They molt twice a year and regrow their waterproof feathers. They are known for flying in a V formation, cruising at 55 mph, and alternating the front leaders to maintain the flock's stamina. The hen Mallard builds a mostly grass and twig nest, lined with... Full story
Last week, George Ormsbee, Russ Bentley, Krista Garner, Mike Romine, and Colton Tennant of Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) "blew" Highway 242. Highway 242 is a state highway that runs from Belknap Springs through McKenzie Pass to Sisters. It is part of the McKenzie - Santiam Pass National Scenic Byway that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in February, 2011 and is on the bucket list of cyclists across the region, indeed the world. The highway is... Full story
Sisters Country is the scene of the first livestock loss to wolves in Deschutes County. ODFW (Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife) has for the first time confirmed wolf depredation in the county, as a rancher in the Lower Bridge area lost a steer to the wolves known as the Metolius pair. Two steers were lost, most likely to wolves, in late March, as reported by The Nugget on April 19, but that loss was not confirmed. Aaron Bott, ODFW wolf biologist for Central Oregon,... Full story
Sisters Folk Festival (SFF) Summer Concerts return this summer at Sisters Art Works, with four concerts taking place at the outdoor downtown venue in Sisters. The series kicks off on Thursday, July 13, with The Brothers Comatose, a five-piece string band with fierce musicianship and rowdy, rock concert-like shows. Next up is Ron Artis II & The Truth on Saturday, July 29, followed by Rainbow Girls on Saturday, August 19. Another concert is scheduled for Friday, August 11 with... Full story
Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture, a project of the Roundhouse Foundation, will host the second of three events in their 2023 Food & Agriculture Community Lecture Series at 6 p.m., Thursday, June 8, at Paulina Springs Books. Speakers will share cultural traditions while connecting people and place. "Purple Prairie: Reconnecting People, Place ,and Native Plants" will include presentations from David Harrelson (Kalapuya), the cultural resources department manager... Full story
Sisters High School artist Miliani Spencer recently won the Hayden Homes Scholarship. Hayden Homes has donated money to sponsor Sisters High School art students for five years now. This year's winner was awarded $2,500 dollars for her art piece known as "The Skies Field of View." A committee comprised of Hayden Homes, Paul Allen Bennett with the Sisters Arts Association, community member Kit Stafford, and Sisters High School art teacher Bethany Gunnarson chose Spencer's... Full story
This month, a new gallery is opening and other galleries are featuring artists new to the community. The new gallery, Space in Common, owned by Amelia Morton, is at 351 W. Hood Ave. and will feature her work and selected pieces by upcoming artists. The gallery will officially open on June 2, but stop in during Fourth Friday Artwalk for a preview. Raven Makes Gallery is in the third year of The Homelands Collection. Indigenous artists create ledger-style, narrative artwork on... Full story
The Whippoorwill Presents will bring singer-songwriter Caleb Caudle to The Belfry stage on Friday, June 2, at 7 p.m. Caudle is touring in support of his album Forsythia. The record is a portrait of his truest self, of the artist at his most solitary and reflective. The album was recorded at the legendary Cash Cabin during the pandemic, and inspired by the solitude and symbols Caudle found in nature during that time. It's produced by John Carter Cash, and features veteran... Full story
Sisters area resident Lorna Grabe, 95, passed away May 8. Arrangements are entrusted to Deschutes Memorial Chapel and Gardens. She was born April 30, 1928, in Iowa City, the second of five children. Her parents were Elsa (Hopp) and Leonard Dohrer. Lorna was raised on a nearby farm, first helping her father with fieldwork, driving a team of horses, then switching to tractors at age 10. Lorna went to Iowa State University where she met her future husband, Don F. Grabe. They... Full story
Sisters will gather to honor the fallen of America’s wars on Monday, May 29. American Legion Post 86, Sisters Band of Brothers, and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8138 will host Memorial Day ceremonies at the Village Green at 11 a.m. Traditional observances include posting of the colors and a presentation of a wreath in honor of the war dead. This year’s keynote speaker is Ed Owens, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. Owens was born September 17, 1969, in Pasco, Washington, enlisted in 1987, and entered the Air Force in Aug... Full story
When Sisters lawyer Peter Straumfjord receives a call from someone needing legal advice about a family law issue, his calm demeanor can help during an often-stressful time. Straumfjord has been there and knows hearing that better times will eventually come can get folks through a sad and frustrating situation. With a law office focused on divorce, custody, and modifications, Straumfjord knows staying the course and working toward resolution is something he can help his... Full story
On a sunny spring day in Sisters, Tuesday, May 16, Sisters High School (SHS) chemistry students launched two stratospheric balloons from Sisters Eagle Airport, loaded with students' experiments. The experiments are attached to what is known as a payload - items that will help students determine what happened while the balloon was floating in the atmosphere at over 80,000 feet. The chemistry classes have been launching weather balloons every year since 2015. This year, 37... Full story
In honor of Memorial Day on May 29, there is a new, very large American flag flying atop the flagpole in front of WaFd Bank (formerly Washington Federal) at 610 N. Arrowleaf Trail. The flag, which measures a generous 10-by-16-feet, was gifted to the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #8138 by a gentleman who had purchased it years ago to fly at the opening of a project he had constructed. It had been folded up in his garage for years, and when he was preparing to move... Full story
Timber Bionda of Sisters has received a unique full-scholarship opportunity for flight training, thanks to EAA Chapter 1345 of Bend and the Ray Aviation Scholarship program administered by the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, WI. The Ray Aviation Scholarship program provides up to $11,000 scholarships to young people who are seeking to learn to fly. The Ray Foundation has provided $1.8 million to fund the scholarship program, which seeks to improve the flight... Full story
Two seniors and a sophomore will represent Sisters High School at the OSAA Track and Field Championships after qualifying at the 3A Special District 4 Championships held May 18-19 at Siuslaw High School in Florence. The top two finishers, along with athletes that meet qualifying standards, move on to the state meet. In addition, one “wild card” entry is added for each event based on the best third-place mark among all district meets. Corbin Fredland continued his remarkable first-ever track season by winning the 300 meter hur... Full story
The Sisters City Council gave the green light to funding an analysis of the City’s urban growth boundary (UGB). The Council approved a professional services agreement with Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc. (MIG) for an Urban Growth Boundary Sufficiency Analysis. Cost of the study is not to exceed $25,905. Sisters is somewhat unique because the UGB is also the city limits. Most cities have a UGB that is different from its city limits. With increased development, and more people w... Full story
Reading the Durham Report, one can be forgiven for wondering whether to reach for a bottle of Advil or a tinfoil hat. I recommend both. What the report details — I’ll spare you the 300 pages — is a politically motivated cabal of FBI Agents and 7th- floor executives who seem to have forgotten, if they ever actually knew, basic investigatory procedures, rules of evidence, and their sworn commitment to constitutional integrity in the service of justice. Agents actively, and k... Full story
• Age Friendly Sisters Country (AFSC) extends a heartfelt thank-you to founding board members Chris Laing and Toni Landis, who recently retired from active AFSC Board service after more than four years. Chris and Toni have devoted an immeasurable amount of time and talent to enhancing livability in Sisters Country through their work with AFSC as well as myriad other local organizations. Chris and Toni worked with others to create AFSC as a nonprofit fiscal sponsor in 2018 with the STARS volunteer transportation program as t... Full story
A bit of history goes a long way to explain today’s politics. Abraham Lincoln stood before a crowd at the Illinois Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois on the evening of June 16, 1858. The occasion was momentous — an endorsement like no other. Earlier that day, the Illinois Republicans had rallied behind Lincoln, a local attorney and former congressman, declaring him their “first and only choice” in the upcoming campaign to unseat Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the incumbent. This endorsement was unprece... Full story
Thank you, voters To the Editor: To the voters of Sisters Country — thank you. Thank You. Thank You. We, the board of Sisters Park & Recreation District, can’t thank you enough for your vote of confidence in last Tuesday’s election. Nearly 80 percent of you voted to renew the SPRD local option levy — Measure 9-160. This was the highest level of support for any local option levy up for renewal in all of Deschutes County in this election, and a dramatic increase from the less than 60 percent of voters supporting the original le... Full story
The results of the May 16 election are in. There are still final numbers coming through and being counted; however, the results are known for the two Sisters School Board positions and the local option levy renewal, which passed by a wide margin. Jeff Smith was reelected to Sisters School District (SSD) Position 3. He has served on the School Board since 1999. Smith believes his experience sets him apart from other candidates. Smith has lived in Sisters for 27 years. After... Full story
