News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 21 of 21
Sisters has long been called the "gateway" to Central Oregon, implying that it is a place people pass through on their way to somewhere else. No longer is Sisters just a stop along the way. It is growing into the place to stop, put down roots, and stay. The residents of the city (2,573+) and surrounding Sisters Country (close to 10,000) are facing all the usual issues that crop up as a small rural town experiences growing pains. Will the influx of new residents and more... Full story
Over the last couple of weeks I've heard from a growing chorus of people - and some of you aren't going to like this - that Sisters is "losing its small-town appeal." A number of folk across the spectrum - old-timers, young'uns, and a number of in-betweeners - have shared with me a list of irritants to support their opinion. So, in the interest of genuine diversity, I decided to air some of those thoughts because they might be instructive, or illuminating, or at least worthy... Full story
Will the adoption of an amended and restated noise ordinance cause a local business to sell and move elsewhere? According to Steve Macey, owner of Hardtails Bar and Grill on Larch Street, that is exactly what is happening. He currently has listed the property and business for sale for $1,130,000. Earlier this year, the Sisters City Council directed City staff to review the existing noise ordinance, which has several inadequacies, including lack of quantifiable standards on... Full story
A Portland hiker escaped serious injury after falling on South Sister last Thursday. A search and rescue crew and a helicopter rescued him off the mountain. The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office reported that they received a report on June 14, shortly after 4 p.m., regarding a stranded hiker on South Sister. The hiker, Arthur Duncan, 56, of Portland, called 911 to report he had left the South Sister climbers' trail and slid and fell. Duncan found himself on a cliff, unable to... Full story
Put it back. That's the advice you're likely to hear if you bring a young wild animal home to "take care of it" - and you might get a warning or citation from Oregon State Police, too. Oregon's deer and elk give birth from May through July, and many other wildlife species also bear their young at this time of year. It's natural for mother animals to leave their young alone for extended periods of time while they go off to feed, so never assume a young animal is orphaned when you see it alone. The mother will return when it's... Full story
To the Editor: I'd like to follow up on my recent Opinion piece in the Nugget. I apologize if the tone was overly angry. It was the wrong tone to use when raising this contentious issue again. If my use of the term "bicyclists" seemed overly broad I apologize. I referred to "pathies," once again I'm sorry if I offended. The McKenzie Pass Highway should be managed as it has been historically, and just like Cascade Lakes Highway in Bend is managed today. Plow it open as soon as possible in the spring, bikes get a week to... Full story
Who will provide the grand design, what is yours and what is mine? 'Cause there is no more new frontier, we have got to make it here... - Glenn Frey/Don Henley, "The Last Resort" "The small community of Camp Sherman located on the slopes of the Cascades in Central Oregon, is experiencing growth pains. Once the site of a handful of homesteads, the U.S. Forest Service estimates approximately 250,000 visitors to the Camp Sherman Store each year, with more than 200,000 vehicles... Full story
Sisters is looking at a tax to facilitate more affordable housing. At the request of the Sisters City Council, the City staff has been researching possible implementation of a construction excise tax (CET) to help raise money to encourage and enable construction of both middle- and low-income housing. Council recognizes that growth and affordable housing are critical issues for Sisters and have been part of their goals for three years. In 2017, Council approved the... Full story
The organizers of the Sisters Rhythm and Brews Festival got some bad news last week: headliner, the legendary John Mayall, was forced to cancel all his shows through September due to ill health. The first-year festival immediately landed some big guns to fill Mayall's shoes - the equally legendary Los Lobos will take the stage in his place during the August 3-4 festival in Sisters. Festival co-organizer Jennifer Rambo said that the initial news was a blow, and that everyone... Full story
Celebrate the arrival of summer at the Fourth Friday Art Stroll through the galleries of Sisters. From 4 to 7 p.m. this Friday, galleries will be open featuring works by selected artists, light snacks, and live music. Hood Avenue Art gallery features abstract and landscape pastels by JoAnn Burgess, handcrafted Oregon Sunstone fine jewelry by Elyse and Steven Douglas, and live music by Bob Baker. Gary Cooley is the featured artist in his Collection Gallery. Check out his upcoming DVD and sculpture class for kids (of all... Full story
Amid the noise and chaos of the Sisters Rodeo stood a small mare, quiet, peaceful, and obedient. Under the banner of red, white, and blue she stood with the 2018 Sisters Rodeo Queen, Hailey Konze. The flag drifted in the breeze as the national anthem was sung and the crowd stood in honor. The mare stood below, ears perked and body calm after running the arena twice. She represented the Rodeo Association and the American flag at the start of every show. But Minnow, the 14-year... Full story
First-year Sisters High School (SHS) varsity volleyball Coach Rory Rush and Project Unify Coach Josh Nordell were honored at the 83rd annual Oregon Athletic Coaches Association (OACA) Awards Banquet last month. Rush was selected as the 2018 4A Volleyball Coach of the Year and Nordell, along with Brandon Kneebone of Milwaukie High School, were selected Unified Sports Coaches of the Year. Rush came to Sisters with 20 years of volleyball coaching experience, and at the start of... Full story
America's love affair with the circus has lasted for over 200 years. It glitters with costumes, tastes like peanuts and popcorn, and sounds like an old-time calliope! Earnest Hemingway, a lifelong circus lover, once wrote, "The circus is the only ageless delight that you can buy for money. It's the only spectacle I know that, while you watch it, gives the quality of a truly happy dream." Last Saturday Sisters Dance Academy students performed "Under the Big Top" on stage in... Full story
When we returned from our trip to Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, I realized that not many people seem to know that North America's deepest canyon is right here in Oregon. Several people asked me where I had been last week; and, when I said "Hells Canyon," the most common response was, "Where's that?" In fact, Hells Canyon, which forms part of the Oregon-Idaho border in the northeast corner of our state, is purportedly more than a thousand feet deeper than the much... Full story
It is with great sadness that the family of Phyllis (Osie) Edith Johnson announce her peaceful passing early Sunday morning, June 10, 2018, in Bend, at the age of 92. She has left a huge void in our hearts. Oh, how we loved our most gentle and kind Gram. Gram was born in her McGregor family home on May 14, 1926, in Molalla, Oregon, where she grew up with her three sisters, Nellie May, June and Fern. She endured working in the Portland shipyards after graduating from Molalla... Full story
It is common advice: Weigh yourself once a week. Dieters are commonly told, "Just stick to the plan, and the weight will come off." Then they step on the scale, and nothing has changed. This frustration is blamed on slow metabolism, hormone dysfunction, or some other discrepancy in weight loss that doesn't correlate to reality. Read further to discover how, and why, the scale may be a helpful daily tracker to weight loss efforts. In a registry of people who have lost significant amounts of weight, those who kept the... Full story
"Never let a mouse live in your house; they will steal the breath of your children." That's a saying that I heard came from the people of the Hopi Nation, an accurate description of the symptoms of the hantavirus. They apparently recognized the role wild rodents play - a long time ago - in the spreading of diseases among the human population of the earth. If you decide to rid your home or property of wild rodents, please do not use chemicals. When an animal dies from poison... Full story
Every Tuesday night, a hardworking crew unloads some 7,500 newspapers from a Ford van, stack the bundles in the lobby at The Nugget, and get to work. They are the inserting crew - the people who put the Ray's Food Place and Bi-Mart and other inserts into the papers readers receive in their mailbox or pick up around town on Wednesday. A total of 6,900 papers receive inserts. The crew labels them for various postal routes or for the around town papers, bundle them back up and... Full story
How do you define success? Who or what shaped your ideas of what success is? Has this definition served you not only financially, but also spiritually and emotionally? Our vision of success has likely been dictated by past experiences, relationships, education, opportunity, culture, and the society in which we live. In our society success is often defined by external accomplishments - our bank accounts, our home, our cars, our clothing, how many letters we have after our name, and how many followers we have on our social... Full story
"What does a noodle tree look like?" As they meandered through towering sugar snap peas and knee-high carrot tops at the Seed to Table education farm, one third-grader asked me this question, in all seriousness, about noodle trees. Tilting my head and smiling, I replied, "What a great question. I am so glad you are here!" Quickly, I change courses with my group, marching them out of the greenhouse to a patch of wheatgrass. I exclaim, "This is what a noodle tree looks like!"... Full story
Valerie Fercho-Tillery's latest in a series of quilts made to support Furry Friends Foundation celebrates something besides happy dogs. This year's quilt honors America's national parks. "They're kind of under siege at the moment," she told The Nugget. "I kind of wanted to show that our national parks are something our tax dollars pay for and something we should treasure and hold dear." The quilt features dogs frolicking among the Grand Canyon; Arches National Park; the... Full story
