News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 21 of 21
It's a ritual. New faces, smiles, a slightly nervous lot, but one with lots of energy and optimism. Somehow, they've gotten the job. They are in training for a career battling wildfire. It is time to learn the realities of how it is done. They will make some new friends this week, some of whom will remain close during illustrious careers with their new chosen agencies. Two of the closest friends they will make for life this week will be their shovels and their fire shelters.... Full story
The U.S. Postal Service will break ground on a new post office along Larch Street at the north end of Sisters next month. When the new post office is operational, the City of Sisters hopes to give mail customers on the south side of Cascade Avenue an option besides getting in their car and driving across the highway to pick up their mail. At a workshop last Thursday, the city council reviewed a number of potential sites for "cluster mailboxes" to serve both the commercial and... Full story
With a signal at Barclay Drive and Highway 20 on the back burner for at least a couple of years, the City of Sisters is looking at ways to make the intersection safer on its own. There have been several major wrecks at the intersection over the past few years, including a serious crash there earlier this month that sent several people to the hospital. One option under serious consideration is making the north side of the intersection right-turn-only, requiring traffic to turn... Full story
The bidding on land in Sisters owned by the Deschutes National Forest has begun. On Monday, June 23, at 9 a.m., the General Services Administration (GSA) opened competitive bidding on their Web site, www.auctionrp.com. The agency is selling the land where its headquarters sits and moving its facilities to a new location along Barclay Drive. There are two lots of land, to be sold as one parcel. The first is called the "Triangle Lot," 14.82 acres bordered by Highway 20 on the... Full story
To the Editor: Yes, it's summertime - school's out and the kids are coming now to swim at the dam behind my house. I enjoy watching them have a good time; what I don't understand is why someone felt it necessary to come on my deck while I was gone and steal my horse skull that I've had for 14 years, and jump over my fence (which I witnessed) and break some of the boards. Come on parents, teach your kids what private property means. I leave my gate open so the tiny fawns don't have to try and jump the fence and get injured.... Full story
Amber Leis was in Zimbabwe in 2001, on an international internship from Oregon State University. She held a tumor the size of a basketball in her hands. Zimbabwe is a strife-torn country in southeastern Africa. The then 20-year-old was in a rural area at a small hospital run by a nurse, who had devoted the last 20 years to keeping the facility going. Amber assisted in the removal of the large tumor during a hysterectomy. The nurse handed it to the only hands available:... Full story
Passion and enthusiasm define Bob Johnson. These traits are probably why he was a world-class sprinter, has a loving family, has enjoyed a long and successful business career, and just finished his 40th year coaching high school track. Johnson himself credits track for everything. "Any success in life I have, I owe to this sport," he said. The story begins in 1952, when Bob was 12 years old. He lived in a tough area in East Los Angeles in the Chavez Ravine area where Dodger... Full story
Pete Schay of Camp Sherman has a goal: help in any way possible to get local forests back to their natural state. Recognizing the dangers of noxious weed infestation, his mission of late has been pulling weeds. "Restoring our forests could be done in any number of ways. If you look at the things that have happened in the Metolius Basin and you see a problem, you correct," he said. Last Saturday, June 21, 31 volunteers from Bend, Redmond, Sisters and Camp Sherman eagerly... Full story
"I can hit the ball 300 yards and they go 60 to 70 yards by me," said Derek Johnson, head pro at Aspen Lakes Golf Course. Fortunately for him, he was referring to two of his partners in the Oregon Open Invitational golf tournament at his course that began last Friday with a pro-am. Play resumed on Tuesday, June 24, and ends Thursday, June 26. Those partners are 21-year-old twins, David and Christian Green, who live in the Aspen Lakes development. The fourth member of the team... Full story
The idea to stage a local summertime blues festival began over a year ago for Cheryl and Tom White of Sisters. Following through with that vision gave rise to the First Annual Central Oregon Blues & Crawfish Festival to be held July 3-5 at Creekside Park in Sisters. "It just seemed time to bring in another musical event to town. We want to bring all of Central Oregon to the festival including people from Redmond, Prineville and Bend," said Cheryl White. The Whites are making sure that the festival gives back to the... Full story
Sisters Kiwanis has established a resource to help community residents who need financial aid in establishing or changing their career. The fund is designed specifically for individuals who do not qualify for college scholarships. The Kiwanis Career Opportunity Fund is the idea of Jerry Taylor, immediate past-president of Sisters Kiwanis and retired founder of the Les Schwab Tire Center in Sisters. Applications for funds will be available at several locations in Sisters. Career Opportunity Fund monies are available for... Full story
Sisters Art Works will be hosting a series of art shows this summer to highlight some local (and not-so-local) talent. From July 1 through 13, the feature will be fabric postcards created to benefit the "Wendy's Wish" fund. Over 1,000 fabric postcards have been made for silent auction to benefit the fund, and 50 of them (framed by Myrna Dow of High Desert Gallery) will be on display in the entry to Sisters Art Works. "Wendy's Wish" is a fund set up - under the umbrella of the St. Charles Foundation - by the husband and... Full story
Cassidy Keeton, a 2008 Sisters High School graduate, is on his way to the National High School Rodeo Finals. Keeton, a bareback rider, scored a 71 at the State Finals Rodeo in Klamath Falls last weekend to win the short round in that competition. He finished third in the year-end results. The top four year-end finishers in every event, from all 50 states, will converge on Farmington, New Mexico, July 20-28 for the National Finals. Keeton has just two years of high school... Full story
The monstrous din of rushing wind and the roar of turbo-prop engines assault the ears as your body throws itself into the void. The slam of g-forces grabs you as your body is racked by the slipstream of the aircraft. Then, after a series of tugs and pulls, a reassuring pop tells you your lifeline - your parachute - has deployed, and you are surrounded by an eerie silence as your tasks quickly come into focus. You focus on a second chute just opening above and ahead of you,... Full story
Fred Murumaa has always been an adventurous sort. So, when a fellow student approached him at the University of Tartu - in the Baltic nation of Estonia - with a proposition to spend a summer working with a company selling sophisticated school workbooks in the United States, he jumped at the chance. Murumaa says he has a tendency to "get into things that are over my head and try to find my way out. It sounded like an adventure to me, really." Murumaa's adventure took him to Ill... Full story
As spring turns to summer, it looks as though Sisters area runners are ready for a summer of racing and quality training if the results of races in the region are any indication. Bend's Dirty Half-Marathon, held earlier this month, culminated the spring race schedule as nearly 800 runners took part in the seventh annual event including a very competitive contingent from Sisters. Local ultra-runner Sean Meissner led all locals with his 10th place finish overall in 1:24:11, which earned him third place in his age group. Former... Full story
Sue Kesler may be the world's greatest fan of the 1960s comedy series "Get Smart." The film editor - who has worked for 30 years on TV shows from "The Love Boat" to "Heroes" - served as a technical advisor on the new "Get Smart" movie because of her intimate knowledge of the series, especially Maxwell Smart's famed 1966 Sunbeam Tiger. "I know a lot of people who worked on the show and the stuntman who actually drove the Tiger," she told The Nugget. Kesler credits the series as... Full story
The City of Sisters may be getting out of the refuse business. Sisters is the only local municipality that has an in-house refuse operation. Redmond, Bend, and Deschutes County all contract with High Country Disposal (HCD) for their refuse services. It appears that Sisters may be headed in that direction, too. Earlier this year an "improvement analysis" was done on the city's refuse operation. One of the key findings was the need to lease or purchase a new front loading truck, making collection safer and more efficient. The... Full story
• Sisters Athletic Club is offering summer swim lessons for all levels. Call 549-6878 for more information. • A Joyful Noise Learning Center is sponsoring A Joyful Heart Nursery, a non-profit infant and toddler center for ages three months through three years. They are offering half and full day sessions Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Other hours are negotiable. The location is 243 W. Adams Ave. For more information, call 549-6162. • Pleiades Restaurant, located at FivePine Lodge, is now... Full story
•Deputies responded to a domestic dispute and ended up citing a woman and taking a man into custody on a warrant. •A man drove through a bank drive-up wearing nothing but a towel. He said nothing untoward and did not expose himself, but the teller thought it was a little weird. •Citizens reported seeing a parent yelling at and slapping a child in Sisters. A Black Butte Ranch officer stopped the family at Indian Ford Road and Highway 20 to investigate. The officer determined that the incident was not child... Full story
"Jim," my caller said in an excited voice, "this is Jan Baker in Bend. I have a big swarm of bees in my apple tree, do you want them?" Did I want them? Does a skunk like to suck eggs? You bet I wanted them! Free bees are always welcome, especially in this day of colony collapse disorder and other strange and terrible things happening to bees. In all the 40-plus years I have been a beekeeper in this area I have picked up probably 20 or 30 swarms of wild bees. Not once did they... Full story
