News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 24 of 24
Jenner Fox is new to Sisters, but the songwriter has already made a big impact on the local music scene. He is a starring musician at the Sisters Folk Festival (SFF) summer concert event this Saturday. Fox is a second-generation river guide, and singer-songwriter by trade. He was born in Palo Alto and grew up on rivers with his parents, who were also river guides. During river trips, Fox and his family had to find ways to entertain around the campfire, so they picked up... Full story
With lightning in the forecast and several parts of the state under a Red Flag Warning or a Fire Weather Watch, the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal have staged firefighting resources in Central Oregon. This is a proactive move for the region to be better prepared and bolster any initial fire attack. These firefighters are not being assigned to a specific incident but will be an added resource and increase the state’s readiness if there is a fire. Two firefighting task forces, one from Marion County and one from W... Full story
The Sisters Outlaws wrestling team exceeded expectations with six state qualifiers advancing from the 4A Special District 4 Wrestling Championships held June 12 at La Grande High School. The six moving on to state include Hayden Kunz (132), Wyatt Maffey (145), Carson Brown (152), Jared Miller (160), Henry Rard (220), and Hunter Spor (285). “I couldn’t be more proud of these kids for the way they competed,” said coach Gary Thorson. The top four wrestlers in each weight class... Full story
• Every morning I treat myself to two pages of Charlie Mackesy’s “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.” So simple. So true. • Having spent all of her five years in a cage, my rescue dog, Bingo, has a definite opinion about her bedding now that she has bedding. Even if I add a new blanket to her digs, she pulls it out and drags it away, making sure she gets down to the plaid flannel sheets off the downstairs bedroom bed. • It appears the fence du jour around here is “clean fill dirt wanted.” The berms for... Full story
There’s nothing more beautiful than a summer night sky in Sisters. While you’re soaking up the spectacular, starry canopy above, keep an eye out for the snake charmer, er… the snake handler… okay, officially known as Ophiuchus (pronounced of-ee-yoo-kuhs), the Serpent Bearer. This sprawling constellation is the 11th largest in the sky, and ranges from 14 degrees above the celestial equator at its northernmost extent to 30 degrees below at its southern border. Whil... Full story
Driving or walking past Main Avenue and Fir Street, the super structure of a barnlike building is beginning to show form and resembling a Sisters Country ranch building in the middle of town. Its completion date is the first week of October, just in time for Sisters Folk Festival. By all appearances it looks feasible that the due date can be met. “The Barn in Sisters” as it will be known, is a mixed-use dining and drinking enterprise with an enclosed bar and commissary kit... Full story
The girls basketball squad had a rough week with losses in all three of their games. Sisters lost at home 44-30 to Cascade on Tuesday, June 15, and a day later fell 39-35 at home against Woodburn. At home on Friday they lost 28-37 to second-place Stayton. In Tuesday’s action the Outlaws fell behind quickly in the first half due to their numerous turnovers. At the half Sisters trailed 15-28. Coach Carl Click said, “Cascade ran a couple of different pressure defenses that I thought we handled fairly well. After that we threw ba... Full story
Kelsey (Newport) Harpham’s childhood in Sisters fostered a love of the outdoors, travel, and an appreciation for the waterways throughout Central Oregon. She’s coalesced her education in the Sisters schools and college into a career that has taken her throughout Asia. She and her husband, Nathan, lived in Hanoi, Viet Nam, where she has been involved in water resources management planning, climate adaption policy, disaster risk reduction, and infrastructure resilience pro... Full story
After a two-year hiatus due to smoke and COVID-19, the annual Art at The Ranch sale will return to Black Butte Ranch (BBR) starting at 4 p.m., July 9, on the deck of the Lodge followed by a silent auction at 5:30 p.m. with beverages and appetizers. The event will be smaller, harkening back to earlier days when artists were friends or family. The Plein Air Painters of Oregon and artists from BBR will return to the show. The works will include oil/acrylic/watercolor paintings, jewelry, woodworking, and fabric art, as well as... Full story
Sisters can boast a well-known group of visual and performance artists, and the galleries and stages that host many of them. They range from the award-winning to the obscure. Some command large commissions or sales tags or booking fees, often with wait times of several months. A few have respectable followings on social media. They cover a waterfront in their work — painting, sculpture, jewelry, fabric and metal art, photography, songwriting, and recording. A few, like... Full story
The annual Rumble on the Runway 5-kilometer run and walk returns to Sisters Eagle Airport on Sunday, July 4. The Rumble is part of the Fourth of July celebration held annually at the airport. Other events include a classic car show, rubber chicken drop, pancake breakfast, and helicopter rides. Food carts will also be available. For more information visit www.sistersairport.com/events/. Proceeds of the run/walk support the Life Skills Program for Sisters School District, according to Race Director Bryn Singleton. Singleton... Full story
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and the Redmond Police Department are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying a suspect involved in multiple burglaries to businesses in Sisters and Redmond. The burglaries took place overnight between June 17-18. The alleged burglar hit Takoda’s, Bi-Mart, and The Gallery Restaurant. Anyone with relevant information is urged to call 541-693-6911. Reference the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office case 21-32343 or Redmond Police... Full story
Sisters boys basketball lost all three of their games last week: a 68-41 loss at Cascade on Tuesday, June 15, and a day later a 70-58 loss at Woodburn. On Friday the Outlaws fell 65-52 to Stayton. In Tuesday’s action against the Cougars at Cascade, the Outlaws started out strong and at the close of the first quarter the game was knotted up 15-15. Cascade outscored the Outlaws by five in the second period and held a 25-20 advantage as teams headed into the half. Sisters played well but had a tough time against the C... Full story
• And so it begins. Sisters residents woke up Sunday to the smell of smoke, even the report of ash on surfaces, as the S-503 fire located southeast of Mount Hood on the border of Warm Springs Reservation grew overnight Saturday to 4,300 acres. A smaller fire in Klamath County is threatening homes. • Three Peaks Industrial Park broke ground and is moving thousands of cubic yards of dirt and gravel for laying in utilities. Five parcels are now sold. • Sisters... Full story
Deschutes River Conservancy (DRC) is working with funding from Coors Seltzer to further incentivize water leasing in Whychus Creek, a reach that used to run dry two of every three years. Three Sisters Irrigation District (TSID) diverts flows from the creek for area irrigators. DRC and TSID have worked steadily over the past 20 years to bring back year-round flows through water transfers and piping to permanently protect up to 34 cubic feet per second (CFS) of water rights... Full story
Leslie Doyle Bolton died June 11, 2021, after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. Leslie was born on September 19, 1933, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to parents Laurance and Helen Doyle. She grew up in Pitman, New Jersey, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She attended Randolph Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia for two years and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Pennsylvania in 1955. On March 25, 1961, she married John Robert Bolton, a... Full story
Age Friendly Sisters Country wants ideas — but only ones that have real action tied to them. “We are not an idea orphanage. Don’t bring your idea [for a community program or service] to our door and leave it on the doorstep. Age Friendly Sisters Country (AFSC) is an incubator, where a shared idea is nurtured along,” said Chris Laing, AFSC president. Sisters Transportation and Ride Share (STARS) is an example of an idea that was nurtured as an action team by AFSC, which... Full story
Volunteers and sheriff’s deputies lent a hand — and a tow — to help a family that was stranded on the highway just west of Sisters earlier this month. Lt. Chad Davis of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office reported that on Saturday, June 12, a couple relocating from Oklahoma to Eugene broke down at milepost 99, about a mile west of Sisters at the Deschutes National Forest sign. “The pickup that was towing them blew a motor, leaving them stranded,” Davis said. “They were relocating to Eugene, where they had locat... Full story
The average 24-year-old is not a published author. But then, Zoe Falk is not your average 24-year-old. Though young, Falk has experienced enough highs and lows, and done enough personal introspection, to put together what she describes as “an autobiographical self-help” book. “The Adventure Guide to Living a Kickass Life,” which Falk self-published, launched Monday, June 21. She says the book is largely targeted at her own age group — from late teens to mid-20s —... Full story
Hyper-partisanship and political tribalism distills into a caustic cocktail that is burning holes in American culture and dissolving the social fabric. Anything that dilutes that bitter acid is welcome — and a bid to make the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners nonpartisan offers just such a tonic. (See related story.) There is no reason for local issues to be engaged through a red or blue lens. There is no reason for party apparatus to be brought to bear to secure... Full story
Appreciation to SPRD To the Editor: My term on the board of directors of Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD) will end June 30. Before leaving I wanted to share my experience on this board with the Sisters community. I have served on other boards where they mostly rubber stamp whatever the Executive Director presents to them; not so on the SPRD Board. Jennifer Holland, our SPRD director, prepares a board packet for each meeting, which the board reviews before they meet — voluminous pages of budget spreadsheets and... Full story
Sisters Fire Chief Roger Johnson has been named a Community Champion by the Sisters Country Vision Implementation Team (VIT) for his efforts in helping Sisters become a more resilient community. Team members surprised Chief Johnson with the award last Wednesday. In its citation, the team stated that: “Chief Roger Johnson is the fearless leader of the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District who calmly and humbly manages a very high level of responsibility and a very demanding w... Full story
Deschutes County is currently the scene of a citizen-driven effort to place an initiative on the ballot that, if approved, would make the office of Deschutes County Commissioner a nonpartisan position. Of the 36 Oregon counties, only 10 (including Deschutes County) have partisan county commissioners running as either Democrat or Republican. The initiative effort is being led by Susan Cobb, Democrat, of Sisters; Mimi Alkira, former Republican, now independent and vice... Full story
Trees are dying along Highway 20 and Highway 126 east of Sisters. That sets off alarm bells in a community that saw a large-scale die-off in recent years tied to the use of the herbicide Perspective. That die-off led to the felling of some 2,100 trees — mostly ponderosa pines — along Highway 20 from Sisters to beyond Black Butte Ranch in 2019. The problem with the trees near Sisters began developing from 2013 to 2015 when the herbicide Perspective was used along... Full story
