News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 26
The annual Firefighter Recruit Academy is a long-standing tradition with the Sisters-Camp Sherman and Black Butte Ranch rural protection fire districts. Each year a number of applicants across all the Central Oregon fire districts are screened and chosen to begin their learning of firefighting and emergency service at local stations. Sisters-Camp Sherman and Black Butte Ranch fire districts graduated nine recruits with a badge-pinning ceremony at the Sisters Fire Hall last... Full story
Mac Heitzhausen passed away at his home at Eagle Crest on August 29. Mac was born in Billings, Montana to Fred and Grace Heitzhausen. Mac was a man of faith, family, friends, fraternity, baseball and golf. Mac grew up in Portland and spent nine summers on his family farm near Omaha, Nebraska. He attended Irvington Grade School where he was elected president of the student body, Grant High School, and Oregon State University, graduating in 1959 with a degree in business. He... Full story
The Sisters Eagle Airport hosted live helicopter training for Camp Sherman Hasty Team volunteers last Saturday. Joined by Life Flight from the Redmond Airport and Jefferson County Emergency managers, SAR team volunteers learned about aircraft operations related to search and rescue scenarios. The training included instruction on basic operating practice in and around a helicopter. Volunteers learned about the situations in which a helicopter would be needed and what that... Full story
Jared Vogt didn’t come to Sisters with the intent of being a cattle rancher. Nor did he come to Sisters with the intent of starting a charity that is building an orphanage in India. But God had other plans. Jared and his family arrived here five years ago from Salem to be part of Vast Church’s pastoral team. Many of you know Jared as the youth pastor for Sisters and a familiar sight around town helping local kids. But a mission trip to southern India 14 years ago left Jared wi... Full story
Robocalls — I detest them. You probably do, too. If James Madison had had a cell phone when he was writing the First Amendment, he’d have pulled his powdered hair out in frustration over the frequent interruptions. These breaches of our peace and quiet were still two centuries in the future when Madison’s quill pen scratched out his first draft. Robocallers have now joined publishers, readers, debaters, protesters, dissenters and many others in claiming the guarantee of free speech that Madison helped graft to our fed... Full story
•?Matt and Sue Wessell wrote: We would like to thank Thomas Landon and all the employees of Dairy Queen in Sisters! Our son, Craig, works at Dairy Queen and relies on his bicycle to get back and forth from work. A few weeks ago, Craig’s bike was stolen. As this was his primary means of transportation, he was in a bit of a bind for a while. Thomas organized an effort to have folks at DQ contribute money in order to cover the costs of a new bike for Craig. The employees o... Full story
Folks blended their own herbal teas, read haiku onstage, and taste-tested chai at Sisters Farmers Market last Sunday, the second-till-last market of the 2019 season. Krayna Castelbaum led a “poetry playshop,” and winners of the Food & Farms Haiku Contest were announced. The judge was the State of Oregon’s official poet laureate, Kim Stafford. Deschutes Public Library set up a poetry activity booth where kids wrote poems on paper leaves. Sisters Ukulele Group sang and playe... Full story
The sun shone warmly on the 100-plus people gathered at Village Green Park last Saturday to celebrate the community asset known as the Peterson Ridge Trail (PRT). The PRT is actually an entire trail system of over 100 miles of trails, with loops and connectors, serving hikers, cyclists, and equestrians. The day’s activities, underwritten by Your Store on Cascade Avenue and hosted by Sisters Trails Alliance (STA), included guided rides and hikes on the PRT in the morning, a f... Full story
Following a vote at the July school board meeting, Jay Wilkins took over the position of school board chair for the Sisters School District after three years of serving on the board. Wilkins, who moved to Sisters seven years ago from the Portland area with his wife, Vanessa, and daughters, Skylar and Sydney, was enticed here by his friend Bill Rexford who taught at Sisters High School at the time. “Bill was obviously a big fan of the school system and really talked it up so we... Full story
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America is the bedrock on which our political, social and cultural discourse rests. In the coming weeks, readers of The Nugget will find in these pages commentary on the nature and meaning of... Full story
The climate changes — and always has and always will. This subject has been politicized, monetized and weaponized to the point where in the public domain it cannot be examined, debated scientifically and rationally. Most data that the media and politicians use to push this subject is found in global climate computer MODELS, that by the way, have been incorrect and adjusted many times. For example, since 1998 the data has not shown a strong warming trend, and it’s right about the time this information was released the t... Full story
To the Editor: There is something fundamentally wrong with our police protection in Sisters. When we need volunteer vigilante neighbors to patrol our streets at night due to break-ins and vandalism, and when it takes 20 minutes for the police to respond to a major break-in crisis where the intruder was only a step or two away from being shot, such has what happened on Monday, September 9, on W. Carson Ave. at 2 a.m. here in the Hayden subdivision (see full story in the September 18 edition of The Nugget), basic and adequate... Full story
Recent seasonal transitions remind me it’s time for another Ranger’s Corner. It’s been another productive summer here, and even with shorter days and cooler temperatures on the horizon, we have a full plate of work planned for the fall. One of the tasks we accomplished this summer was much-needed major road maintenance on the 1234 road to Jack Lake trailhead, which accesses Canyon Creek Meadows, Wasco Lake, the Pacific Crest Trail, and many other popular wilderness destination... Full story
The Outlaws were defeated 7-0 by Crook County on Friday, September 20 — but they didn’t make it easy for the Cowboys. Crook County, in their previous two games, held both Cottage Grove and Ridgeview scoreless, with scores of 39-0, and 49-0, and they may have been expecting another easy victory. The Outlaws defense did an extraordinary job and held the Cowboys to just seven points. The Cowboys scored their TD with 3:38 left in the first half. They recovered a fumble on t... Full story
The annual Sisters Invitational Volleyball Tournament has become one of the top tournaments in the state at the 4A level, and this year grew to a 20-team tourney. Teams traveled from all over the state to attend the event, and included thirteen of the top 20 teams in the state. The Lady Outlaws played at the top of their game, and at the end of the day earned top honors for the tourney. Sisters didn’t drop one set the entire day, and defeated league foe Philomath in the champi... Full story
The boys and girls soccer squads both have young teams this year, each week improving on their skills and becoming more competitive as the season progresses. The boys fell 10-0 at Woodburn on Tuesday, September 17, and two days later dropped their game against Philomath in a final score of 4-3. The Lady Outlaws also lost both their games; a 4-1 loss at home to Woodburn on Tuesday, and a 4-0 loss to Philomath on the road. On Tuesday, the boys lost to a very skilled and talented... Full story
Sgt. William Bailey, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office public information officer, and Ryan Seeley, local community monitor, were invited guests to the September 16 “Let’s Talk – Public Safety,” sponsored by Citizens4Community. The evening was full of conversation from residents with a variety of viewpoints. One concern on which the group seemed to agree had to do with the lack of activities for teenagers during the summer and off-school hours. People are worried... Full story
Five Sisters-area liquor licensees sold alcohol to a minor decoy during an Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) operation conducted late last month, the agency reported last week. Eighteen businesses were visited on August 29, and five of them allegedly sold to the minor decoy — resulting in a 72 percent compliance rate across Sisters. Those who sold to the minor are: Sisters Saloon & Ranch Grill; Space Age Gas; BimBap Asian Kitchen; Eurosports and Cascade Laser Tag. The 13 that did not sell to the minor were... Full story
If you are one of those rarified Americans who still believe that natural rights are bequeathed to us by our creator, rather than granted to us by government masters, you will perhaps appreciate the gift of Robert Francis O’Rourke. During the last presidential debate, O’Rourke did us all a great favor by pulling back the curtain on progressive thought, exposing their willingness to seize by force the legally held and protected property of law-abiding American citizens. Bet... Full story
The limitations to having extremely high blood pressure were crippling for local Sisters resident Brian (name changed for anonymity). Having to take six medications a day had become normal. Brian’s blood pressure was often recorded at dangerous levels, which had led him to five emergency room visits in 2018. The doctor was so concerned that Brian had a home monitoring system directly connected to the doctor’s office, reporting readings on an hourly basis. Although doctors had recommended a diet richer in fresh fruits and veg... Full story
The Outlaw girls cross country-team showed continued progress this week as most of the team ran at the Seaside Three Course Challenge, while senior Kate Bowen ran in a prestigious meet in California. For the Three Course Challenge, two varsity runners are chosen by random drawing to run in each of the three races, Easy, Moderate, and Difficult. At Seaside, Ella Thorsett led the Outlaws with a gutsy second-place finish in the Moderate Course in a time of 21:32, just four second... Full story
Sisters Folk Festival is hosting a new community program at its Sisters Art Works facility. Open Hub Singing will take place from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays each month at the Sisters Art Works building, located at 204 W. Adams Ave. The first gathering will be held on October 1. The vision behind the program is to see singing together become an essential part of a more honest, less fearful, kinder culture. Open Hub Singing is a non-audition, “aural” tradition community singing group. It is headed up by... Full story
“Sisters is graced with one of Oregon’s great independent bookstores,” said author and Oregon Poet Laureate Kim Stafford. “Paulina Springs will bring the experience of books, usually a solitary pleasure, to the wider community. I can’t wait to be part of this festival.” Stafford will be one of the featured authors at the first Sisters Festival of Books, October 18-20. Attendees at the festival will have multiple opportunities to hear from Stafford, depending on what ticket... Full story
The 2020 Sisters Rodeo Queen, Mary Olney of Warm Springs, was chosen at Sisters Rodeo grounds from a group of highly qualified cowgirl competitors on September 22. Mary is the niece of Warm Springs Chief Delvis Olney, Sr. She was raised in a rodeo family. Her father was a rough-stock rider and her three brothers are all bronc and bull riders. Even her grandmother, Catherine Watah, was a bareback rider. “I was raised by some of the toughest cowgirls in the Northwest,” Oln... Full story
Music, bellydance, and beekeeping will enliven this Sunday’s closing-day celebration at Sisters Farmers Market. Organizers are inviting the community to “Come bee happy with us!” at Fir Street Park 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Appaloosa will play an hour-long set of their original “High Desert Americana” tunes at 11 a.m., followed by a bellydance performance by SheyZa Samson, a teacher at Life. Love. Yoga. On the sweet side of things, honey will be available for sale — and Maste... Full story
