News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 25
Despite the chill of a typical autumn morning in Sisters, members of the community gathered for the official opening celebration of Fir Street Park on Saturday. Sisters Mayor Brad Boyd kicked off the dedication ceremony. "This is one of the most fun moments as a mayor, to dedicate a new public place like this park, and although I usually speak quite briefly, I'm afraid I'm going to speak a little longer today, and I might get choked up. But as I look out at the list of people... Full story
Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District is asking its constituents to approve a general obligation bond on November 4 to fund upgrades in vehicles and equipment as well as construction and remodeling of apparatus bays. If approved, this measure, not to exceed $2,475,000 of general obligations bonds, provides funds for capital expenditures including: •Replacement of front-line fire engines and emergency vehicles; •Replacement of the Cloverdale Road fire station with a new fire station; •Renovation of the... Full story
Over the past two decades, Deschutes Land Trust (DLT) has played a significant role in bringing Whychus Creek back to life. Working with willing sellers, DLT has purchased or gained conservation easements on land that has preserved eight miles of Whychus Creek and 2,200 acres of surrounding land. Not only has that land returned to a more natural ecology, it has also become a playground and living research laboratory for the people of Sisters Country. Now, DLT is making a... Full story
Air fragrant with fresh hop aromas around Village Green Park attracted hundreds of folks to the fifth annual Sisters Fresh Hop Festival on Saturday. A crowd of folks from across the state showed up to sample seasonal brews on tap from the two-dozen Oregon breweries. Judy Trego, executive director for the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce, was helping with huge incoming lines of folks waiting for their $5 souvenir taster pint glass, sponsored by HopNBean, so they could satisfy... Full story
Two years ago, with the change in city management, a concerted drive was begun to enhance our community. Much has been good. Landscaping and brush removal, more pathways and the new Fir Street splash park are wonderful improvements. They are proper city tasks. Cascade Avenue is a premier achievement. It resulted from superior collaboration with the Oregon Department of Transportation, who largely paid for the project. These are welcome and needed upgrades. But a rising trend that considers major park enhancements to be a... Full story
To the Editor: Regarding the KTVZ news story of Wednesday, September 24, 2014 about coyotes killing cats in Bend: There are coyotes living all over North America today eating cats thanks to the actions of the government trappers that started killing coyotes over 100 years ago. They thought they could kill coyotes as easily as they did the wolves, but the coyote outfoxed them. Indiscriminately killing coyotes only generates more coyotes, a scientific fact discovered in the '60s. The relentless destruction of coyotes in Texas o... Full story
As the City of Sisters dedicated its new Fir Street Park, City staff and the Parks Advisory Board have presented a preliminary revision of the City's parks plan. The original parks capital improvement plan, adopted by the city council in 2011, included some 71 projects with a price tag estimated between $7 million and $20 million and a timeline stretching at least a decade. The revised plan, presented at a workshop last month, trimmed the list of proposed projects down to about 18, with a cost of just short of $2 million and... Full story
Sisters artist Dan Rickards is on a mission to paint the National Parks of the United States. One of those paintings, of Redwood National Park, is the subject of his annual print giveaway scheduled for Saturday, October 11. The project is a kind of life-transition for the artist, who has gained an international reputation for his Western landscape and wildlife art. His children are grown and on their own, and he and his wife, Julia, have the opportunity to hitch up the... Full story
"Here comes a couple of TVs ... and oh, yeah, over near the big pine on the right I can see a red-tail soaring!" exclaimed a person looking through a spotting scope. "Whoa! Whoa! Look over there," shouted a woman with binoculars, peering over the trees to the north. "Right by the ridge to the north there's an aerial battle going on!" Everyone started looking through their binoculars at the faraway ridge and then a voice spoke: "Yeah, it looks like a red-tail and a Cooper's... Full story
The Sisters School District has brought on two new music instructors for the 2014-2015 school year. Tyler Cranor comes on board as the Director of Instrumental Music at Sisters Middle School, and co-director of the district pep band. For the past two years he has served as an instructor of music at Central Oregon Community College, as well as a freelance instructor, presenter and performer around the Pacific Northwest. He is a member of the 204th Army Reserve Band out of... Full story
I have never witnessed the Olympic Games first hand, but I believe I may have now experienced the next-best-thing after attending the Asian Games XVII for track and field on Saturday, September 27. The "Asiad," as the Asian Games are known, has rotated among the countries of Asia every four years and includes many of the events typical of the Summer Olympics, including "athletics," or as we know it in America, track and field. Forty-six countries were represented. So after consulting my calendar, I conspired to complete a... Full story
The Outlaws girls soccer team tallied two shutouts this past week: a 3-0 win at Elmira on Tuesday, September 23, and two days later a 1-0 win at Junction City. In Tuesday's action, the Falcons played solid defense, but the Outlaws were able to break them up in the first half of the game. Molly Boyle got the Outlaws on the scoreboard when she took a perfect cross from Cassandra Arruda and headed it in 16 minutes into the game. Ten minutes later, Boyle scored a breakaway up the center off an assist from Michaela Miller and the... Full story
Richard "Ric" Kenneth Tenneson, Jr., passed away in Helena, Montana, after battling cancer for two years. Born in Helena on July 18, 1956, to Richard Tenneson and Mary Lee Tenneson, he grew up with his sister and brother, Barbie Bowers and JT Tenneson. He graduated from Lake Oswego High School and in 1985 graduated with a construction engineering management degree from Oregon State University. In his time at OSU, Ric was student body vice president and served as the Associate... Full story
Lois was born in Libertyville, Illinois. Her family moved from Libertyville to Piedmont, California when she was a young girl. She attended college at U.C. Berkeley, where she met her husband Richard E. Lloyd. When Rick prepared to move to Chicago, IL to attend naval officer school during the outbreak of World War II, he asked Lois to join him there, so that they could be married. They were married December 22, 1943. When Rick shipped out, Lois returned to Marin County,... Full story
Sisters earned a 21-19 win in their first encounter with new league rivals the Sutherlin Bulldogs at home on Friday, September 26. The Outlaws scored right off the bat on a 76-yard kick-off return by Logan Schutte, and Josh Andrade followed with a kick through the uprights for the PAT. "We have been close to breaking one several times this year, and the return team did a great job opening it up for Logan," said Coach Gary Thorson. Sisters scored again on a 12-yard run by Schut... Full story
The Outlaws volleyball team defeated both Sutherlin and Cottage Grove this past week to push their league record to 4-0. Sisters beat Sutherlin at home on September 23 in three quick sets with scores of 25-14, 25-13, and 25-12. Jessie Brigham was on fire and had an almost perfect match on serve-receive. Brigham got the Outlaws off to a great start, and finished the match with 21 serve-receive passes. The second set was highlighted by an amazing save by Hawley Harrer and Alex... Full story
One of Sisters' favorite singer-songwriters will play in a house concert at The Barn on Sunday, October 12. Jonathan Byrd made a powerful impression on the community in multiple Sisters Folk Festival appearances and has since made Sisters a regular tour stop. The North Carolinian folk singer is a fine storyteller with songs that can swing from poignant to hilarious and back in a verse. While deeply rooted in tradition, he is also highly individualistic, and a skilled picker as well as a songwriter. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.;... Full story
Max Hedren has followed his passion for classic cars into a start-up career in Sisters. He has opened his custom/classic car restoration and upholstery shop, Born to Drive, in the Sisters Industrial Park, right next to Russell's Auto Body. Hedren and his crew can take on any classic restoration work up to cars from the mid-'80s - though he says that cars from the 1950s and '60s are his favorites. "I love '50s and '60s cruisers - that's what I really like," he said. It's a... Full story
The boys soccer teams posted two big victories this past week: a 4-1 win at home against Elmira on Tuesday, September 23, and a 7-1 victory over Junction City at home two days later. Elmira jumped out early in Tuesday's match-up and scored in the first 10 seconds off a breakaway. The ball was deflected and then played behind the defense for a one-on-one with keeper Ryan Funk. Funk made the save, but the ball deflected back to the forward, who tapped it in. Coach Rob Jensen... Full story
Sisters Folk Festival Inc. (SFF) has been producing events, providing arts education in the public schools and providing scholarships for almost two decades. In that time, staff and board members have wondered just how much of an economic impact the nonprofit was having on the local community. But economic impact studies are expensive, and the organization wasn't able to swing it alone. Through grants awards from the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners' discretionary grant program and The Ford Family Foundation they... Full story
Brad Boyd is proud of the work the City of Sisters has done over the past couple of years. Continuing that work is his motivation for seeking another term on council. Boyd serves as mayor - appointed by his colleagues on the council as Sisters' charter requires. He says the City's finances are in excellent shape, and that the City's infrastructure is improved and will continue to get more appealing and better-connected. "We went from dipping into reserves to having... Full story
Wendy Holzman wasn't planning to run again for city council. Like others in the race, she waited till the last minute to file. "I wasn't going to," she said. "I'd decided I wasn't going to run again." But, she said, there was a nagging question she kept asking herself: "Are you going to have any regrets?" Holzman says she wants to continue the work the council has been doing - especially work on parks and infrastructure that she believes has been very positive. "There's still... Full story
Incumbent David Asson has thrown his signature black cowboy hat into the ring for another term as a Sisters City Councilor. An accountant by trade, Asson has focused on budgets and on economic development during his tenure as a councilor. On some issues, he has butted heads with City leadership. "I think the contribution has to do with putting some numbers, putting some facts and putting some hard background on some of the projects that eventually didn't get to... Full story
An excellent conditioning trail, the Black Crater Trail is just under four miles each way but is one of the steepest trails around, gaining 2,500 feet of elevation from where it takes off from the McKenzie Highway near Windy Point. Probably taking its name from the dark appearance of its densely forested slopes, it's not really particularly black; and that's a good thing since it is one of a limited number of local trails that has not been blackened by fire in recent years. Of... Full story
Keep your eyes on the sky in October, as the upcoming autumn nights will offer a number of celestial treats. Mark your calendars to catch a glimpse of a total lunar eclipse, a partial solar eclipse, and a shower of meteors. Situated between the zodiacal constellation of Aquarius, Pegasus the winged horse, and Delphinus the dolphin lies the small stellar figure of Equuleus, Latin for "little horse," or foal. Little indeed, as it is very inconspicuous and ranks as the... Full story
