News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 19 of 19
By Eric Dolson, publisher It's been more than a month since the blue envelope hit my desk at the office. But just now, here at home, from a tree on the opposite side of the creek, a Red Tail Hawk drops silent toward a gopher on a line so straight and shallow it could have been drawn with a pencil and ruler. There's a small puff of dust when he strikes. Lingering on the ground, he tears at his meal, then flies heavy back to the branch on the rust-bark pine across the meadow. It's hard to know who to root for in these... Full story
Summer rains are great for the forests, but not so great for hay growers. Rain does affect the quality of hay, but not as greatly as many people believe. photo by Kathryn Godsiff Last week's rain brought sighs of relief to many people in Central Oregon as temperatures dropped -- along with the fire danger. Haymakers, on the other hand, were either sighing with frustration or rejoicing that they hadn't cut that field that was just about ready. Those with hay down stand to lose value in the price paid for rained-on hay.... Full story
Sisters property taxpayers will pay the same rate they currently do -- 75 per $1,000 of assessed valuation -- if voters decide in November to renew the local option tax levy that has kept Sisters schools operating since voters approved it in November 2000. The levy will run out at the end of the next school year. The Sisters School Board agreed Monday night, August 30, to seek the same rate for the next four years instead of asking for a few cents more or less per $1,000. As Sisters' tax base and property values grow, so has... Full story
Sharlene Weed. photo by Jim Mitchell No time was wasted at the Thursday, August 26, Sisters City Council meeting to seat Sharlene Weed as the latest city councilor. In fact, by the time City Attorney, Steve Bryant, finished the swearing-in, Weed's nameplate was in position and she had taken her seat on the dais. Weed was selected unanimously by the Sisters City Council to fill the vacancy left by Deb Kollodge's resignation. Judy Trego had previously been elected to Kollodge's position as Council President. Weed's service to t... Full story
Organizer Linda Davis signs up volunteers for pro-Kerry activities at her monthly meeting. photo by Susan Springer With only two months until the presidential election, Sisters area residents are actively working to get their preferred candidate elected. While George W. Bush and John Kerry supporters vehemently disagree about who should be president, they agree on the important activities to get their candidate in the White House. Republicans and Democrats are aggressively registering new voters. Also, both sides say the seco... Full story
Tony Lompa takes a sighting through his fire finder at the look-out on Henkle Butte. Lompa spotted the start of the Booth and Bear fires last summer. This year has been less dramatic for the veteran fire spotter. photo by Jim Fisher Robert "Tony" Lompa has a job many would envy. He protects the country he loves from devastating wildfires from a front row seat to some of the best scenery in Oregon. Since 1997, Lompa has spent summers as the forest lookout on Henkle Butte, three miles northeast of Sisters. From this small... Full story
Sisters will live up to its Western spirit over Labor Day weekend as the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce hosts the first Western & Native American Arts Festival. The Sisters Western & Native American Arts Festival will be held at Creekside Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, September 4 and 5. The festival features Native American dancing, mountain men, storytelling and cowboy poetry. "Finds Her Way" will open her teepee to visitors for a glimpse of the old native way of life. Native flutist Charles... Full story
Labor Day weekend will bring two major public functions to Camp Sherman. First, there's the long-established Saturday night, September 4, barbecue at the General Store hosted by Chef Roger White. The summer barbecues are traditionally held on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day weekend Saturdays, featuring burgers, chicken and wursts with all the trimmings. Festivities start at 5:30 p.m. on the outside patio lawn and beverages are available. Musical entertainment will be provided during the evening at the downtown... Full story
The Oregon Court of Appeals last week dealt a blow to Central Electric Cooperative's (CEC) plans to upgrade its power lines feeding into the Sisters community. The court upheld an earlier opinion from the Land Use Board of Appeals that CEC is not acting under a "lawful requirement" to improve its power lines, which run across land owned by the Cyrus family of Sisters. CEC is itself proposing the improvement; it is not being demanded by a government authority. "No authority, lawfully or otherwise, has called on CEC to make... Full story
Billy Bafford, 22, of Sisters was arrested along with 20-year-old Jon Paxton after they allegedly fled from police on Monday night, August 24. According to Deschutes County Sheriff's Office reports, a deputy tried to make a traffic stop for speed and an equipment violation on a Nissan Pathfinder driven by Paxton. "When the deputy turned on his overhead lights, the vehicle sped off down Sisemore Road at speeds of 70-75 miles per hour," the sheriff's office reported. The Pathfinder turned off onto dirt roads leading to BLM... Full story
Investigators with the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office announced on Monday, August 30, the arrest of 41-year-old James Preston Storns of Bend in connection with a string of thefts from Forest Service fee tubes from High Lakes to Sisters. According to sheriff's office reports, 34 such thefts were reported from May through August of this year. Fee tubes are used to collect trail fees at trailheads and other recreation areas requiring passes in the Deschutes National Forest. The sheriff's office and Forest Service law... Full story
Hot jazz and zesty food will come together like Louisiana gumbo at the Village Green on Thursday night, September 16, when the Sisters Jazz Festival (SJF) offers a Cajun-style warm-up party for the three-day weekend event. A supper of authentic Cajun food will precede zydeco music by the popular Gator Beat band at the festival's dress rehearsal for its weekend program. The 6:30 p.m. supper will be prepared by the new Central Oregon food server, the "Ragin' Cajun from New Orleans." Music will start at 8 p.m. on Thursday. The... Full story
David Jacobs-Strain. photo provided David Jacobs-Strain has no problem dazzling audiences and critics alike with his fluid and passionate acoustic guitar chops. They've earned him notice by Guitar One Magazine as one of "Ten Guitarists on the Brink of Greatness." And the devotion of such a young man -- still in college at Stanford University -- to a venerable folk form like acoustic country blues has subjected him to worn out, double-edged accolades like "child blues prodigy." What David Jacobs-Strain has shown on his new CD... Full story
Marilyn Utzinger is an active rider. photo by Becky Coffield She's spunky and fun and knows the value of each day that she lives. Marilyn Ball-Utzinger is, by any account, a survivor. And she has a lot to share with others who are faced with the grim specter of cancer. Born and reared in Astoria, Oregon, where she graduated from Clatsop Community College with an A.A. degree in Business and Education, Utzinger and her husband Carl did not move to the Sisters area until 1991. But in the time that she has been here she has left... 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: Whether deliberate... 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
Send Bush back to Texas George Bush's war in Iraq drags on, with nearly 1,000 Americans dead, thousands maimed and possibly 10,000 Iraqis dead. Billions have gone to Dick Cheney's old firm, Halliburton, and things in Iraq don't seem to be getting much better. Maybe they will later. Maybe not. Here at home, it's just been reported by the U.S. Census Bureau that poverty has increased since George Bush got to the White House and started giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans. About 800,000 more children lived in poverty i... Full story
Eric Dolson's reply to Mr. Williams (The Nugget, August 4) begs for rebuttal. You said the push for war in Iraq following an attack by an enemy based in Afghanistan was like declaring war against Argentina after being attacked by the Japanese. In fact, it was the attack by al Qaeda that opened the eyes (of some) to the magnitude of the threat posed by terrorists worldwide. A better analogy would have been to point out that the attack by the Japanese opened our eyes to the risk posed by Germany and justified our entry into... Full story
- The manager of a mobile home park reported that two boys had been caught shooting windows with a BB gun. The manager had reached a civil resolution in the matter. - In a separate incident, a deputy chided two youths for shooting a BB gun and a pellet gun in their yard, hitting a neighbor's shop. It looks like dad is going to take away someone's BB gun. - A citizen found and turned in a cigarette case containing a small amount of marijuana. - A citizen reported two young men drinking and shooting "an arsenal of guns" near... Full story
