News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 21 of 21
A lightning fire flared near Edgington Road on Monday. photo by MacGregor Anderson Just as firefighters were mopping up 31 fires sparked by last week's thunderstorms, another powerful cell rolled over Sisters, bringing yet more thunder and lightning. Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch reported numerous fires scattered around the Sisters area. Blazes erupted south of Sisters on Crown Pacific land and at least one fire flared up near Edgington Road. The Squawback Ridge area northeast of Black Butte again saw numerous strikes... Full story
Senior Airman John Leese, a 1995 Sisters High School graduate, has been awarded a Bronze Star for his actions during a convoy ambush in northern Iraq near Mosul last March. The Bronze Star is one of the military's highest decorations for "heroic or meritorious achievement." "I was on a convoy that was hit by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device),"Leese, who is now on leave in Little Rock Arkansas, told The Nugget. Leese is a transport driver, part of an Air Force contingent assigned to support the U.S. Army First Infantry... Full story
No bids were received by the Sisters Ranger District in an auction held August 10 for the purchase of fire-killed and fire-damaged timber on the 2002 Eyerly Fire. About 6.4 million board feet of timber were offered for salvage with a starting price of $28.50 per 1,000 board feet. Most potential bidders apparently believed the timber to be salvaged has little value two years after the fire. Following most wildfires, rot, insects, and a blue stain quickly attack dead and dying trees leaving little economic value in the salvage... Full story
Traffic in downtown Sisters -- both vehicle and pedestrian -- remains a controversial issue for residents and business owners. They will weigh in on the subject at a public workshop. photo by Jim Cornelius Sisters area residents will have another chance to weigh in on a proposed one-way couplet on Tuesday, August 31, 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Sisters Elementary School. Over the last several months, City of Sisters staff and consultants along with a local Couplet Advisory Committee and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT),... Full story
Beginning this September and running through November, the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office will host a Citizen's Academy at Sisters High School. The Citizen's Academy is an eight-week program, which runs each Wednesday night from 6 to 9 p.m. The program is designed to give basic instruction on the daily operations and responsibilities of the sheriff's office. This course is provided to the public at no charge. Interested persons should contact the sheriff's office or any of the sheriff's office sub-stations to receive an... Full story
Five finalists will vie for a $700 cash prize at the Sisters Folk Festival's annual songwriting contest. The contest is an integral part of the Sisters Folk Festival set for September 10-12. This year, the five finalists will perform at Bronco Billy's Ranch Grill & Saloon starting at noon on Saturday, September 11. The winner will receive the cash prize and performance slot on the Village Green Main Stage on Saturday night. The finalists are: Jim Faddis of Nine Mile Falls, Washington; Elisa Korenne of Brooklyn, New York;... Full story
Sisters just lost 941 people -- in the year 2025. A challenge before the Deschutes County Commissioners has prompted Sisters to revise its method of population forecasting, dropping the projected population from 4,688 to 3,747 for the year 2025. Oregon statutes require Deschutes County to establish and maintain a population forecast for the county as well as to coordinate the forecast with local governments within its boundaries. In 1998 the City of Sisters participated with the cities of Bend and Redmond and Deschutes... Full story
Lily Aamodt enjoys the sandbox at A Joyful Noise Preschool. photo by Susan Springer Big kids are not the only ones heading back to class this September -- many little Sisters residents are starting school, too. Four local preschools help prepare children for kindergarten. The schools expect to be full and some expect waiting lists. They offer similar activities such as story time, painting, outdoor play and songs. However, the preschools differ in teaching philosophy, number of days a week and price. Sisters Elementary... Full story
SISTERS, Ore. (The Nugget) -- A couple of recent structure fires in the Sisters area have sparked interest in fire safety precautions. Dave Wheeler, a shift captain with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District provided information from the state fire marshal's office that indicated that an average of 45 Oregonians lose their lives to fire each year. "Almost all of these deaths and home fires could have been prevented had the residents known what hazards to look for and if a working smoke alarm was present,"... Full story
Gabe Reitmann hit the pool for his first big race last week. photo by Conrad Weiler The Sisters Athletic Club youth swim team dived into its first official meet on Tuesday, August 10. A large crowd of several hundred people enjoyed the two-hour swim meet at The Athletic Club of Bend. The event also included a hot dog, hamburger and salad lawn buffet. Competing with Bend and Sunriver in the three-way swim meet, five Sisters youngsters held their own with other Central Oregon swimmers. The five were Emily Christen, age seven, G... Full story
Doug Gyllenskog and his wife Sue read Doug's award plaque. photo by Conrad Weiler Camp Sherman residents gathered at the local Post Office Wednesday morning, August 11, to honor Doug Gyllenskog for his service at the transfer station (dump). Vaughn Willoughby presented a plaque to Gyllenskog for his dedicated community work. Gyllenskog has been in charge at the local site for the past several years having taken over from Vic Johnson, who was the first volunteer to run the successful operation. During the middle 1990s, the... Full story
Kerani Mitchell and her students. photo provided Kerani Mitchell had always wanted to travel to India, the land of her birth. This summer, after graduating from Sisters High School, the 18-year-old Sisters woman fulfilled that wish, spending four weeks teaching English in a government (public) school in the town of Rajgarh, in the state of Himachal Pradesh in the north-central highlands. "I taught English in the primary school -- first- through fifth-graders, Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.," Mitchell said. The... Full story
The top club professional golfers in the Pacific Northwest will tee off at Aspen Lakes this month in the Pacific Northwest Section Club Professional Championship (PNWCPC). The event will begin Monday, August 23 and conclude Wednesday, August 25. The format for the tournament will be 54 holes, stroke play. The Pacific Northwest Section PGA is one of 41 geographical regions of the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) of America and includes Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Northern Idaho and Western Montana. Jeff Ellison,... Full story
Cathi Wright with "Luna" (formerly "Sweetie Pie"). photo by Jim Cornelius "Sweetie Pie," the great horned owl rehabilitated by Gary Landers of Sisters and donated to the Oregon Zoo, is doing well in her new surroundings. The owl is out of quarantine and is gradually growing accustomed to living with the other birds featured in the zoo's educational exhibits. Handlers are working with the owl to prepare her to become an "education bird," replacing the beloved "Hooter," another great horned owl who died of a heart attack last... Full story
Jeff Taylor is ready to accept donations of school supplies for Sisters kids. photo by Jim Mitchell Sisters' Les Schwab Taylor Tire Center has an empty truck-bed tool box. It needs to be filled with supplies for school-age children, grades K-12. Sisters Family Access Network (FAN) is overseeing the collection of supplies for needy youth in our community. Especially needed are college ruled notebook paper and spiral notebooks. Other requested supplies include pencils, glue sticks, Kleenex, waterless hand sanitizer and more.... Full story
Take fast action in salvaging fire-killed and fire-damaged timber and streamline the federal review process. That was the message given by speakers at an August 18 congressional hearing held by Rep. Greg Walden at Sisters High School. Rep. Walden conducted the hearing of the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, which he chairs. About 100 people packed the Sisters High School Lecture/Drama Room to hear testimony from seven speakers from the Forest Service, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon... Full story
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: A small article at... Full story
- City Council Meeting 7 p.m., 2nd and 4th Thursday each month, Sisters City Hall. 549-6022. - School Board Meeting 7 p.m., 2nd Monday each month, middle school lecture/drama room. 549-8521. - Black Butte School District Board of Directors meets 2nd Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m., Black Butte School. 595-6203. - Sisters-Camp Sherman RFPD meets for drill every Monday, 7 p.m. Sisters Fire Hall, 301 S. Elm St. 549-0771. - Sisters Kiwanis Club meets every Thursday, 7:30 a.m., Sisters Fire Hall. 549-1223. - Sisters Habitat for... Full story
End the controversy! Convert Cascade Avenue into a new pedestrian mall named Cascade Commons. I realize this isn't a new idea, but my proposal may be unique. As well as helping to alleviate traffic congestion, the mall could become a major attraction for sunsational Sisters, a gateway to Central Oregon, "the Last of the Big Time Splendors." This is assuming traffic will be routed west on one-way Main Avenue and east on one-way Hood Avenue. In my proposal, the west end of Cascade Avenue will be blocked at Pine Street and the... Full story
- Someone reported seeing a bronze eagle sculpture on a trailer in Polk County. The reporting party thought it might be the eagle stolen from a Sisters gallery last month. Oregon State Police are looking into it. - Someone siphoned $25 worth of gas from a vehicle parked in Sisters. - Deputies arrested a woman for drunk driving after she drove her car off the road at the Tollgate entrance. - Someone stole a half- gallon bottle of whiskey from a liquor store. He probably didn't stuff it into his pants... Black Butte Ranch... Full story
Agnes Warren dishes up marionberry cobbler at the fair. photo by Jim Cornelius Though thunder clouds loomed overhead, nothing could dampen the spirits of the hundreds of local folks and visitors who turned out for the ninth annual Country Fair at Sisters Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration. A large cadre of volunteers was highly visible in red aprons -- taking food orders, turning plump hot dogs on the grill, dishing up marionberry cobbler and keeping events running smoothly. Roger Gabrielson handled sound reinforcement... Full story
