News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 23 of 23
Many Oregonians have the impression that racism is not an issue in Oregon, and there are reasons for that. Oregon ranks 42nd among the states in its percentage of Black population, with only 2 to 3 percent. Many Oregonians, especially in rural areas, seldom even see a Black person; and it turns out that there is a reason for that, too. In fact, it was by design. In order to avoid the racial turmoil afflicting the rest of the country, Oregon’s founders sought to avoid all that fuss by simply creating what some envisioned as a... Full story
The City of Sisters is seeking to award grants to nonprofit community groups and entities that meet the grant criteria for the 2020/21 fiscal year. The City will award up to $40,000 in grants for Sisters community projects. The City has awarded over $155,000 in grants to 48 local groups over the past nine years. Community entities and organizations that serve the Sisters community, but are not designated nonprofits, will need to meet at least one of the following criteria: • Provides assistance for essential utilities,... Full story
Dear Class of 2020: I am not here to give you the usual “Congratulations, we made it” or trip down memory lane. Because under our circumstances, what we need is something real, something that inspires us to emerge from this time of unrest with a heightened sense of moral awareness. While it is inevitable that the world is constantly changing, it is also inevitable that we must grow alongside it. However, when we choose the comfort of seeing the world as we want to instead of as we need to, we become oblivious to one sim... Full story
The movement into Phase 1 of COVID-19 reopening in Central Oregon moved the needle for the regional labor market. The unemployment rate improved slightly in May as many workers on temporary layoff began getting called back to work. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Deschutes County dropped to 16.3 percent in May, down from 18.3 percent in April. An additional 3,068 workers were employed in May compared with April. The rate remains significantly higher than this time last year (3.9 percent). Deschutes County added 1... Full story
In July the warmer weather and increasingly longer nights combine to make stargazing a perfect activity with which to spend your time. Now, if we could only find a way to start observing earlier in the evening and get to bed at a more reasonable hour, it would be ideal. Of course, doing away with daylight saving time is the obvious solution, but that probably won’t happen anytime soon. One of the most recognizable constellations in the summer sky is Cygnus, the swan. It is t... Full story
Planning for one’s own death is not an activity that most of us look forward to. Yet if you have spent a lifetime saving, investing, building a business, purchasing life insurance or otherwise providing for the future, do you want the State of Oregon to decide how to distribute your assets to your heirs? Or would you prefer to make those decisions yourself? In addition, you may desire to make the administration of your estate as easy as possible for your loved ones during a ti... Full story
Following a warm and dry spring, drought is emerging and expanding across much of the west. Central Oregon is expected to see warmer- and-drier-than-average conditions this summer. At the same time, as many facilities and areas are closed or allowing a limited number of visitors due to COVID-19 response measures, a higher-than-normal number of people are using public lands for recreation. To reduce the number of preventable wildfires, the Prineville District Bureau of Land Management, the Deschutes National Forest and the... Full story
Live music has been severely curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic — but it hasn’t gone away completely. Black Butte Ranch will offer its traditional Wednesday evening concerts on the lawn near the barn west of Lakeside Bistro. The expansive lawn allows plenty of room for groups of people to set up with appropriate physical distancing. Americana folk outfit The Anvil Blasters will kick off the series on Wednesday, July 1, at 6 p.m. and will play again on July 8 and July 22. “We’re looking forward to playing out a... Full story
My running career started on a bicycle. On June 1, 1972, at the end of my sixth grade year in school, my mother drove me from our home in Sublimity, Oregon to Salem where Scott’s Cyclery did business on South Commercial Street. I had visited Scott’s a few weeks earlier to order the bike of my dreams: a 10-speed Schwinn Varsity. Even though I had to settle for my second choice in color — lemon yellow — I am not sure I had ever been more excited about a purchase. The bike was a birthday present from my parents, but... Full story
The release of “Stories From the Middle of Nowhere,” by Susi Klare will give folks in Sisters a satisfying read — and a chance to contribute to the well-being of the community’s independent bookseller. “My intention is to contribute the proceeds of all books sold during the first two weeks that they are on sale in the store to Paulina Springs (Books),” said Klare. “The exact date will be determined by the arrival of the first shipment of books.” The much-lauded Oregon author exquisitely celebrates the natural world... Full story
Times have changed, but what hasn’t changed is Deschutes Public Library’s commitment to a fun summer reading program. During the months of July and August, Summer With The Library incorporates the popular Beanstack app, with physical activities and reading challenges to do outside and around the house. Library customers can participate to track reading milestones and complete activity badges to be entered into the grand prize drawings. While Summer With The Library is for people of all ages—children to adults—it t... Full story
Over the past couple of weeks Oregon has experienced increasing numbers of positive COVID-19 cases. It seems that is due to both more spread of the virus, including concentrated outbreaks and general community spread, as well as more testing. Although this is alarming, fortunately Deschutes County still has not mirrored that trend. It is likely fair to say that it is as much preparation including social distancing, face coverings, and sanitation, as it is luck and other factors. One thing that has been known and remains const... Full story
The Black Lives Matter movement has become visible in Sisters. By now, most Sisters-area residents have observed the sometimes lonely vigil kept by Elizabeth Fisher and others at the corner of Cascade Avenue and Locust Street at the east entry into Sisters. Fisher is one of seven volunteers who currently try to maintain a daily presence by the tennis courts to draw attention to the concept that Black lives matter. “We try to have someone out here every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p... Full story
Nobody wants to think about it much, but the advent of beautiful, sunny, hot weather also marks the arrival of wildfire season in Sisters Country. Deschutes County Health Services encourages residents to prepare for wildfire season. Wildfire smoke can hurt your eyes, irritate your respiratory system, and worsen chronic heart and lung diseases. To protect your health, you can take these preventive steps: • If you, or a family member, have heart or lung disease, including asthma, check with your doctor about what you shoul... Full story
Callie Cattell is a 28-year-old Central Oregon-raised woman whose passion in life is fishing and being out on the water. That passion has been recognized by CBS reality show “Tough As Nails,” which Cattell is featured on this season. Cattell, originally from Bend and now living in Sisters, has been fishing commercially since she was 15 years old. Her first paying job was working on her father’s commercial fishing boat in Bristol Bay, Alaska. “Fishing has been a part of my fami... Full story
Like many, my heart is heavy as I watch our beloved America undergo a transition into a country with which I am not familiar. Simple pleasures such as Facebook, going to church, watching the news, weekly grandpa/granddaughter Sisters Bakery outings and poker with friends have become a thing of the past. Directed by local and state government orders, churches closed, non-essential businesses shut down, schools closed, sporting events canceled, grandparents separated from grandchildren, payments were made to individuals and... Full story
To the Editor: Maybe you have read in some of my previous Letters to the Editor and determined that I have considerable dislike for our two party system of government. I carry this aversion after years of witnessing the ineptness of our so called Congressional representatives and their inability to compromise on relevant issues. Congress needs to understand that no one side can possibly be 100 percent right on any issue. This is why race relations, immigration, gun control, police reform and so many other issues remain... Full story
No words committed to paper have ever had greater impact than those we celebrate this Saturday, on Independence Day: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” That radical clarion cry of the sovereign rights of the individual sounded the death knell for the rule of kings in the 19th Century and stood in def... Full story
Shirleen Cundiff rolled into Sisters in 1998 with her two daughters, Jamie and Kelly, the day before school started, fulfilling a dream she and her husband, Gary, had kept for many years of residing in Central Oregon. The dream became reality when Gary was offered a managerial job at J and J Carpets in Bend. “We researched schools in the area and Sisters quickly rose to the top of our list,” she said. Sisters, with around 800 residents within the city limits at the time, was... Full story
Some of the major projects in town have utilized funds from a local government entity perhaps not well known or understood by a majority of Sisters residents: the Urban Renewal Agency (URA) established in 2003. Projects include the Cascade Avenue improvements, the Village Green restrooms, the creation of Fir Street Park, and small-business improvement grants. The URA is a legally separate entity from the City of Sisters, with the Sisters City Council serving as its board of... Full story
The Sisters City Council is keeping core City services and essential infrastructure at the forefront in goals and a budget adopted in challenging times. The Council adopted Fiscal Year 2020/21 goals on March 11, which guided the creation of the 2020/21 City budget. Due to the current effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy, no one can confidently predict what the economy will look like over the next fiscal year and beyond. “The City is well positioned to weather... Full story
Sisters residents turned out on Saturday morning, June 27, to show appreciation for firefighters and police. Cort Horner, Sisters resident and organizer of a rally held on the corner of Highway 20 and Pine Street, said that this was a positive, all-inclusive gathering with the sole purpose of letting all first responders know they are appreciated. First responders are always at the forefront of every incident or disaster, and they assure the safety and well-being of the... Full story
Kathy Jean (Catterson) Levine was born November 19, 1958 in Fortuna, California. She passed away June 19, 2020 in Sharp Grossmont Hospital, La Mesa, CA at the age of 61. Her medical team had discovered a brain aneurism and performed an aneurism repair surgery, which seemed very successful but ended in a massive stroke that took her life. Kathy with her husband Dennis Levine resided in El Cajon, CA. They moved from central Oregon in 2016 to be closer to their children. Kathy... Full story
