News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 23 of 23
The night sky is home to bewildering spectacles. I remember the first time I noticed. I was six years old living in Edmonton, Alberta, with my family. My brother and I were awakened one winter night by our parents. "There's something you need to see," they said with glee. They wrapped us in fleece blankets and cradled us out the front door of our Canadian home into a brilliantly cold evening. My parents were shoveling snow from the driveway when it began. My eyes traced my... Full story
Bigstock is returning to Hoodoo Ski Area on September 6-7 as a benefit for Oregon Adaptive Sports (OAS) and Cascadia Wildlands. Billed as "Two Days of Music in the Mountains," Bigstock will be headlined by award-winning artists, including Greensky Bluegrass, Margo Price, and Oteil and Friends, featuring Melvin Seals, Steve Kimock, Jason Crosby, Johnny Kimock, Tom Guarna & Lamar Williams Jr., and more. The event includes two days of music, food and drink vendors, educational... Full story
Oregon set a record last week for acres lost from wildfire, 1.49 million or 2,200 square miles, surpassing the 2012 total of 1.2 million acres. Nationwide it has been a disastrous year for wildfire, with 5.5 million acres burned through Sunday from 30,293 fires. This is more than double the 2.7 million acres lost in 2023 but down from the losses of 2021 and 2022 when over 7 million acres burned those years. The largest single wildfire in the U.S. is the Durkee Fire in Oregon... Full story
How long has it been since you became giddy with joy just watching a bee scoot around a daisies’ pollen-laden center, amazed at how the bee could fill its pollen basket (also known as the corbicula) with so much pollen and still be able to fly? When did you last watch a procession of ants, being filled with wonder, and then try to follow the line to its end? These are just a couple of the wonders my young Scotties have helped me enjoy seeing recently. The Scotties were born in Idaho during the late fall. Cold had already k... Full story
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one step closer to appearing on ballots across Oregon this November. All it took was a brand-new political party. On Monday, August 12, the Oregon Secretary of State’s office verified that backers of the independent presidential candidate had gathered enough valid signatures to create a new minor statewide party. Dubbed the “We The People” party, the political organization was created for the express purpose of nominating Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, for a slot on the ballot. Now t... Full story
Persistent drought in the West over the last two decades has limited the amount of electricity that hydropower dams can generate, costing the industry and the region billions of dollars in revenue. The sector lost about 300 million megawatt hours of power generation between 2003 and 2020 due to drought and low water compared with the long-term average, researchers from the University of Alabama found. That equals about $28 billion in lost revenue. Half of the drop in power generation was due to drought in Oregon, Washington,... Full story
This delightful, easy to moderate outing is occasionally confused by other nearby trails. It is not the Three Fingered Jack trail or even the Jack Lake Trail (there is no Jack Lake trail per se). At the Jack Lake trailhead you are treated to options one of which is Canyon Creek Meadows Loop part of which is on the Old Summit Trail. The loop section is just at five miles with an elevation gain of roughly 600 feet. There are branches that can turn it into a 7.6 mile or longer ex... Full story
SFF Presents is committed to reducing its environmental impact at their events, with a special focus on waste management. After receiving considerable grants from The Environmental Center in Bend and Can'd Aid's Crush It Campaign, the organization has made significant progress in diverting refuse, and eliminating single-use plastics. The Environmental Center's Community Innovation Fund grant of approximately $5,000 enabled SFF Presents (SFFP) to purchase tailored bins and... Full story
Oregon insurance regulators have cut the health insurance rate increases proposed by insurers earlier this year, but individuals are still likely to pay an increase of 5 percent and could see rates jump by 11 percent. Financial specialists in the Department of Consumer and Business Services said in a release Wednesday they had lowered the rate increases proposed by five companies offering plans on the individual market while keeping the rate proposed by Kaiser Foundation Health Plan the same. The changes would cut the... Full story
Sisters Book Festival, set for September 13-15, will offer a series of workshops with noted authors. Notions of wealth: A generative writing workshop exploring poverty and creativity — Friday, September 13, 4 to 5:30 p.m. Authors Tina Ontiveros and Chris/tina Vega both grew up in poverty. They will host a generative writing workshop exploring these themes and the economic impact of poverty on our writing practices, storytelling, and personal narratives. In this 90-minute workshop, participants will engage with writing p... Full story
Ronald D. Cooper, born March 4, 1940, to parents Rolla and Lorene in Hubbard, Oregon. Ron passed on August 1, 2024, quietly at home with wife and children close by. Ron attended OIT, Portland State College and Portland Community College, earning an associates degree in mechanical engineering. Ron worked for several companies in the Portland area and 2 years in the state of Maine, designing and building sawmills. Ron was a lifetime member of The Pudding River Rod and Gun Club... Full story
Josh Kreunen was recently hired as the new head girls volleyball coach. He brings with him a wealth of personal and coaching experience. Kreunen started playing club volleyball when he was a sophomore in high school and played through high school, college, and beyond. While in high school, Josh played as a setter and outside hitter, and was voted to the All Regional Team as a setter his senior year. He graduated from Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Washington, and... Full story
Before moving to Sisters in 2004, I researched the medical community in Central Oregon – doctors, clinics, hospitals, emergency services – and was encouraged that quality medical care would be readily available. And it was, in the beginning. When I moved, I had just turned 60 and was not yet eligible for Medicare. My first job at hospice offered me excellent group health insurance coverage. I quickly established relationships with several medical practices where I found it... Full story
Summer is winding down, temperatures are cooling, and families are heading back to school. Where has the summer gone? Sisters Arts Association's final Summer Fourth Friday Artwalk on August 23 offers one more opportunity to explore the galleries of Sisters with friends. Space in Common hosts oil painter Raina Verhey, whose impressionistic landscapes of the high desert and stone are a modern depiction of ancient and sacred spaces. Raina moved west from Georgia as a teenager.... Full story
Governor Tina Kotek has named Ellen Waterston of Bend, a celebrated poet/writer, teacher, and speaker who founded the Writing Ranch and the Waterston Desert Writing Prize, to a two-year appointment as Oregon Poet Laureate. Waterston will be Oregon's 11th Poet Laureate and succeeds Anis Mojgani, who has held the post since 2020. "Ellen Waterston stands out for her commitment to community engagement, her focus on bringing different ways of living and different parts of the... Full story
A new band in town, Salty Squirrel Hunters, debuted with their first concert Friday afternoon at The Barn. The group of middle- and high school-aged youth were students in the Branch to Fruit advanced music camp offered by SFF Presents. The show kicked off with a sparkling original tune, written and performed by seventh-grader Everett Danger Spurgeon on banjo. Then Tristan Marshall took center stage with his ukulele and stunned the audience with a complete rendition of Queen's... Full story
The 27th annual Country Fair in Sisters, a community fundraiser project of Church of the Transfiguration, delighted hundreds of attendees Saturday in near perfect weather. The cool, sunny day motivated fairgoers to gobble up old-fashioned goodies ranging from jams, preserves, and jellies to cookies and pies to pulled pork and chili. "And, of course, their amazing Marionberry cobbler," said Mary Gillespie from Cloverdale, a regular fair-goer. She comes primarily for the books,... Full story
This November will not bring a rematch of two candidates vying for president, but rematches of candidates who previously ran against each other turn out to be a big theme in politics in the Northwest this year. And the dynamics of those rematched candidates could have a big effect on politics, both on the legislative level and nationally. In Oregon, one of the closest congressional races from two years ago is being rerun. Democrat Andrea Salinas prevailed in the 6th Congressional District 2022 by 2.4 percent over Republican... Full story
Expand county commission To the Editor: I am writing to express my appreciation to those making the effort to expand the size of the Deschutes County Commission. With a current membership of only three representing the rapidly expanding population of the county, adding to the viewpoints of those representing us is long overdue. Approving this expansion is particularly critical since only one of three current commissioners shows any interest or ability to properly manage the county. The rampant violations of the county code... Full story
The back of an intensely warm July seems to have been broken -and hay, alfalfa and orchard grass growers in Sisters Country are breathing a sigh of relief. While their water supply has been reduced to 70 percent as of August 12, that's an improvement over last year. Given the spate of hot weeks it was a surprise to Jim Williams, Water and Hydro Manager for Three Sisters Irrigation District. The District supplies water to 185 users with 7,572 acres. Williams told The Nugget:... Full story
"A perfect day for my birthday!" Gerry Jimerson proclaimed on Saturday, August 17, as she stood next to Sam, who had just taken her on a nine-mile trail ride out of Sisters Cow Camp. A day in the saddle and an afternoon relaxing with friends at Sisters Cow Camp is as fitting a celebration of a 91st birthday as it is possible to have for a woman who has spent her life in the saddle - and decades maintaining trails and camps in Sisters Country. Jimerson has taken the lead on... Full story
The Highway 20 corridor between Sisters and Suttle Lake is a diverse landscape dotted with vast stands of ponderosa pines, leafy aspens, horse camps, a butte, bucolic meadows, and wildlife. Anywhere from 350 to 600 mule deer and elk are killed annually along the stretch from collisions with vehicles. That's about 90 for every mile of the corridor we learned from Cidney Bowman, wildlife passage coordinator for Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). In discussing the issue... Full story
One of the great thru-hikes of the world, the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), has been a monumental challenge for the class of 2024. This is the time of year that thru-hikers from around the world and all 50 states arrive in Sisters, either hiking northbound (NOBO) from the Mexican border, or southbound (SOBO) from the Canadian border, and attempt to hike a continuous footpath from one national border to the other. A journey of 2,650 miles, or 6.2 million steps if you prefer.... Full story
