News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 38
Mike J. Abegg, 47, formerly of Sisters, was to plead guilty Tuesday afternoon, October 8, to one count of first degree Attempted Sex Abuse (a Class C felony) and one count of third degree Sex Abuse (a Class A misdemeanor). The charges stemmed from an incident involving a single minor victim in the Sisters area. The victim was not a family member. The incident occurred on or about July 11, 2001, according to the Deschutes County District Attorney's office. The charges were filed on September 26, 2001. Sentencing was postponed... Full story
Property owners in the McKenzie Canyon area east of Sisters are casting a wary eye on plans to pipe irrigation water in local canals. Squaw Creek Irrigation District (SCID) is planning a five-phase, multimillion dollar project to pipe the Black Butte and Association canals, starting in fall 2003. The project is designed to conserve water for farmers and would ultimately return 6 cubic feet per second (CFS) of flow to Squaw Creek, according to SCID manager Marc Thalacker. Jan... Full story
More than 40,000 acres of Sisters area forestland is up for sale; and, for the present, no one is saying who the new owners might be. Last month, Weyerhaeuser accepted bids for three blocks of land they termed "Central Oregon's premier timberland and development properties." Steve Ketz of Weyerhaeuser's Federal Way office is handling the sale for the company. Bids were due last month, but he says that nothing has been finalized yet. "The interest level was so high that we're still evaluating the offers," Ketz said. When... Full story
The classroom wing of Sisters High School is being framed with steel. A school is taking shape at the west end of Sisters. After months of political and financial wrangling and site preparation work like logging and grading, the $21 million project is taking visible shape. The structural steel frame of a classroom wing has sprouted out of the ground and the walls of the gymnasium tower into the air as crews lay up to 1,200 12-inch blocks a day. The project is on schedule and g... Full story
A furniture maker in the Willamette Valley will preserve the historic lumber salvaged from Sisters buildings. Thanks to efforts from Sisters resident Linda Faria, a bit of local history will be preserved for the community to enjoy. Lumber extracted from dilapidated buildings in Sisters will be showing up in other projects around town. Faria, who has called Sisters home for the past 13 years, recently purchased the lot on the corner of Hood Avenue and Pine Street. The four buildings on the property were in varying stages of... Full story
The 2002 Sisters Harvest Faire is set for Saturday and Sunday, October 12-13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The festival has expanded from its traditional venue and will be held across downtown Sisters on Hood and Main avenues. The size of the streetside fine arts and crafts fair has grown substantially. Last year there were 200 booths. This year, more than 300 artists, crafters, and vendors with unique, quality handmade items will be featured. The Harvest Faire also offers musical entertainment, specialty food booths,... Full story
Recognizing the growing significance of private, voluntary land conservation, Oregon Public Broadcasting has produced an hour-long television documentary entitled "Oregon Story: Land Trusts," which airs for the first time on Thursday, October 10, at 9 p.m. The documentary highlights the accomplishments of Oregon's land trusts, particularly the efforts of the Deschutes Basin Land Trust. Prominently featured is the Deschutes Basin Land Trust's "Back to Home Waters" program, which seeks to restore critical habitat for... Full story
The St. Edward's church building was moved through Sisters to its current site in May of 1983. Although the history of Catholics in Sisters predates the formal establishment of a church, St. Edward's took root forty years ago -- in 1962, when Rex and Minerva Trowbridge donated land for a church. The following year, Bishop Francis P. Leipzig provided plans and authorized construction of a small mission church on the site. The design was modeled after a similar project in Wallowa. Under the guidance of Father Francis McCormack... Full story
Phil Blatt (L.) chats with Mike Sequeira (R.), COCC math department chairperson at Lunch and Learn class. Bill Handy and Neal Wineman are in background (L.-R.). A jam-packed Lunch and Learn class was treated to Mike Sequeira's masterful presentation "Pictures of Numbers" at the Thursday, October 3, opening of the Central Oregon Community College local education series. Sequeira, who chairs COCC's math department, presented visual displays of graphic materials used in books, newspapers and popular media that sometime distort... Full story
The second annual Girl Scout Autumn Festival will be held Friday, October 18 from 3 to 5 p.m. at A Joyful Noise Preschool, 104 E. Adams Ave. Young children will celebrate the season through a number of activities, including building a scarecrow, grinding wheat into flour, forming and baking their own bread creation, face painting, pumpkin painting and crafts. Many of the activities will be free. Refreshments will be available, including bobbing for apples. "This is such a great season to celebrate with the natural splendor... Full story
The Camp Sherman Hasty Team will conduct a mock evacuation drill in Camp Sherman on Saturday, October 12, at approximately 10 a.m. Jefferson County Search and Rescue members will go door-to-door in most parts of Camp Sherman including the main subdivision of Metolius Meadows. Residents will not be asked to leave their homes, but they will have a chance to become familiar with the procedure should a future event require an evacuation. "While fire danger has decreased a little we decided to take this opportunity to do our... Full story
Students at Sisters High School have invited the community to come and be a part of their homecoming events on Thursday, October 10. The festivities will kick off with a parade at 5 p.m., beginning at Sisters Video. The parade will travel down Hood Avenue, cross over to McKenzie Highway and end at Sisters High School. A limited supply of free drink tickets will be handed out at the parade and can be redeemed at the bonfire, which will immediately follow the football game. The Outlaws football team will host the Mollala... Full story
Four Jefferson County candidates running for two commission seats will attend a candidates' forum in Camp Sherman on Thursday, October 10, at 7 p.m. The forum will be held at the community hall. Three of the four candidates are new to the political scene. Mike Ahern, the incumbent commissioner, is in a hotly contested battle against Mary Zemke, a founder of the Stop Cogentrix campaign. Michael Goss, a Madras insurance salesman, goes against Walt Ponsford, a farmer and retired high school teacher, for the second Jefferson... Full story
The Sisters Kiwanis Club is gearing up for next year's annual rummage sale to be held in the spring of 2003. This year's gigantic sale, the largest rummage sale in Central Oregon, filled the pavilion at the Mountain Shadow RV Park and attracted people from the local area as well as surrounding communities and the Willamette Valley. The Kiwanis Club is planning to make its first community wide pick-up of donated items on Saturday, October 19. "This is one of our major fund raising events and all proceeds are given back to the... Full story
The Sisters football team survived being down early in hostile territory and came back in impressive fashion to outscore Stayton 47-29 last Friday, October 4. "It was a great high school game -- but the good guys won," Coach Bob Macauley said. Stayton returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, and, just like that, the Outlaws were down 7-0. "The game started off pretty bad. They were fired up and very emotional," said Macauley. The Outlaws took over on their own 18-yard line and promptly drove 82 yards in seven... Full story
Sisters' Habitat for Humanity chapter has been extraordinarily successful, building 18 homes for local residents with many more under construction. All that work requires a lot of volunteers to pound nails, paint, hang doors and do all the other tasks that go into putting up or refurbishing a house. The organization is in desperate need of fresh volunteers to pitch in. Virtually anybody can help; there's work to suit any skill level or physical condition. "One thing that peopl... Full story
The first-ever Sonrise Christian School Golf Tournament will take place Saturday, October 12 at the Glaze Meadow course at Black Butte Ranch. Sonrise is a private Christian school that has grown substantially over the past several years in Sisters. Funds raised will help keep tuition with in reach for families. "We have good public schools in Sisters, but if parents want a Christian alternative, we are here to provide a quality choice," Principal Dan Cole said. "We make every effort to keep tuition affordable, and we have a... Full story
Units delivered to Sisters Mobile Home Park last spring are now ready to rent. Five new manufactured homes are ready for occupancy at the Sisters Mobile Home and RV Park (formerly Circle 5). The units were delivered to the residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Sisters on Highway 20 earlier last spring, but the process of getting them habitable has been a long one. "We had to get some set-up issues resolved," said park owner Scott McCleery. "Plat maps had to be filed, and appropriate permits obtained. I had to have the... Full story
Barbara Ehrenreich, nationally-known journalist and author, will speak about poverty and wage issues at Mazama Gym at Central Oregon Community College on Saturday, October 26, at 7 p.m. "Too many families in our community work hard and still live in poverty," said Renée Davidson of Human Dignity Coalition, a sponsor of the event. "Wages are not keeping up with the cost of living. Barbara Ehrenreich learned first-hand how badly we need decent paying jobs with benefits and security for workers." Recently released in... Full story
New Kiwanis President Doug Roberts (left) is congratulated by outgoing President Glenn Keeran. Sisters Kiwanians recently named Doug Roberts as president. He will serve a one-year term. Doug and his wife Linda moved to Sisters from Newport several years ago. Doug is Associate Broker, GRI, CRB with Co1dwell Banker/Reed Bros. Realty. At the same annual ceremony, a number of Kiwanis members were singled out for special awards. Katie Powers was named Kiwanian of the Year. Jim Mitchell was given the Kiwanian Service Award. Other... Full story
Pleasant autumn weather greeted Mountain View High School students for an outdoor laboratory at Riverside campground last month. They were part of biology teacher Ken Johnson's watershed ecology field trip sponsored by Oregon Trout as part of their Salmon Watch program. "We wanted students to have the experience of seeing first hand the interaction between plants, aquatic insects, fish, forest and Metolius River," said Johnson. "Our focus on the fish is because they are spawning at this time and highlight a biological... Full story
This year's Sisters PRCA Rodeo will be broadcast on national television on Sunday, October 27 on the Outdoor Life Network. According to Glenn Miller, President of the Sisters Rodeo Association, the network will air the finals at 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. PST. The finals will air again at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, November 1. "Last year, another national station filmed our finals and televised it several times during the summer," Miller said. "This drew a lot of national attention to our rodeo and helped attract more top-caliber... Full story
Gary Albertson (L.) says farewell to Carl and Dorothy Rossetti at Sisters Gallery and Frame Shop. Camp Sherman resident and international photographer Gary Albertson has become the new owner of Sisters Gallery and Frame Shop on Hood Avenue. Former owners Carl and Dorothy Rossetti have owned the business four years and are now planning some vacation travel time around the United States. "We've met a lot of nice people and had fun," said Carl. New owner Albertson commented, "These are two of the sweetest people you'll ever... Full story
In the only soccer action of the week, the Sisters boys soccer team visited new league foe Cottage Grove and played the Lions close in dropping a 2-0 decision. "We weren't overmatched -- it was a game that we could have won," said Coach Mark Keel. "The kids played well, but they just didn't capitalize on their opportunities to score. Cottage Grove is a good team, and they're good sports. It was a fun game." Despite the loss, Keel had praise for his players. "I applaud the effort of our players," he said. "The players are... Full story
A Sisters man suffered serious injuries after his Ford Taurus was "T-boned" by an oncoming Jeep Cherokee on Cloverdale Road on Friday, October 3. According to a sheriff's deputy and witnesses on the scene, Lyle Jacobs, an elderly man, appeared to have stopped at the Jordan Road intersection with Cloverdale Road, then pulled out in front of the northbound Jeep, driven by Sisters area resident Janet Zuelke. Zuelke tried to swerve and avoid a collision, but ended up striking Jacobs' Taurus broadside. However, her evasive action... Full story
