News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 20 of 20
Is Sisters the drinking and drugging capital of Central Oregon? Or is substance use among students no big deal? There are at least three ways of looking at drinking and drugs that reflect prevailing attitudes within the community. The first attitude is denial: Drug and alcohol use among Sisters students is no big deal. Some parents rationalize and say, "Hey, I drank when I was in high school, and I turned out okay. What's the problem?" High school counselor Debbie Newport spoke of the need to be aware of the problem. "One of... Full story
Two Bend residents died in a single-vehicle accident near Black Butte Ranch on Saturday, March 16. According to Deschutes County Sheriff's Office reports, Sebulah Ariminita Houchens, 48, and Ronald Anthony Garcia, 32, were killed when Houchens' eastbound Subaru Grand Vitara slid on ice and left the roadway, rolled onto the drivers' side and smashed into a tree with the windshield. Both victims died at the scene. A driver who was at the scene described the wreck as "a pretty scary ordeal." According to the driver, the road... Full story
Sisters residents voted overwhelmingly March 12 to annex approximately 100 acres of land west of town as the site of the new Sisters High School. The 200-120 vote (67.30 percent to 37.38 percent) allows the Sisters School District to move forward with construction of a new high school, expected to open in 2004. The annexation will also allow SOAR (Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation) to carry forward its master plan for developing ball fields and recreational... Full story
But where will the effluent go? A sewer line runs just across the street from Murray Perkins' lot on the corner of Locust and Tyler streets in Buck Run -- but Perkins can't hook up to it. Instead, the City of Sisters wants Perkins to run a main line up Tyler "to and through" his property so that his neighbor's up the street can eventually tie in to the sewer. Hooking up across the street would cost about $2,500, according to Perkins' research. Running a mainline up the street... Full story
Many folks in Sisters have headed out for spring break this week -- but they're going down the road feeling bad. A series of illnesses has swept through town, leaving a high proportion of Sisters residents coughing, stuffy and chilled. It's worse than a nasty cold; for some it's been downright debilitating. Sisters Elementary School has been hit particularly hard, with up to 72 children absent out of a total population of 400. According to nurse Nancy Dempsey, students have... Full story
Students from Minnesota State University in Moorhead donated a week of their spring break to help with the Habitat House under construction in Sisters. For many college students, spring break means a week-long vacation at a warm, sunny beach. But last week, 10 students from Minnesota spent their spring break doing something entirely different from the stereotype. They donated their time to come to Sisters and work on the Habitat for Humanity house currently under construction. The collegians were from Minnesota State... Full story
The newly formed Three Sisters Lions Club will host the Lions Screening Unit on Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23, at the Three Wind Shopping Center lot near Ray's Food Place. All are welcome to use the service. There is no charge. Testing will be done for: visual acuity, hearing, blood pressure, glaucoma and diabetes (a three hour or longer fast before this screening is required). Screenings will be available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. until early Saturday afternoon, depending on the weather. The... Full story
Two new subdivisions are in the planning stages in Sisters. The Sisters Urban Area Planning Commission will review plans for a 16-lot subdivision on 2.94 acres and 45 lots on 7.43 acres, both along Larch Street on the north end of Sisters. The 45-lot subdivision by Richard Carpenter includes a variety of configurations ranging from 3,013-square-foot townhome lots to 6,949-square-foot single family lots. The 16-lot subdivision by Michael Black includes "roughly equivalent shaped lots from 6,092- to 6,505-square-foot... Full story
The winners: Vickie Beck, Sally Brittan, Lawry Thorn and Sheena Tucker. The first annual Stitchin' Post Olympics was held on Tuesday, March 12. The event was the brain child of Valori Wells. Val has been an inspiration to her fellow employees and quilters since she began a workout regimen last fall. Knowing what can happen when a person spends their day sitting at a desk or sewing machine, Val has been encouraging her fellow quilting employees to make a habit of spending a few hours each week either walking or working out at... Full story
Opportunity Knocks, Central Oregon's small business problem-solving organization, is starting two new teams in Sisters. Each team will include 12 non-competing businesses that will start meeting this spring. Opportunity Knocks (OK) has been in Bend for six years and currently is serving over 200 businesses on 20 different teams. Each team brings together 12 businesses that meet monthly with two facilitators for the purpose of solving problems, averting crises, and/or discussing opportunities. OK provides a meeting site for... Full story
A new art panel depicts "A Century in Sisters." Dennis McGregor recently finished a porcelain-enamel mural "A Century in Sisters" panel for the Forest Service East Portal Kiosk at the west end of Sisters. The panel depicts the past 100 years of town life. View the left side as Sisters was 100 years ago; the right side depicts today's Sisters. "I used vehicles to show the era and George Wakefield's gas station is shown," McGregor said. "Of course there's a deeper connection since I bought Tillie Wilson's old home 13 years ago... Full story
Jim Sternberg checks Chinook fry ready for release. Going by the textbook, Chinook shouldn't be found in such large numbers in the Metolius River. "Theoretically," said fisheries biologist Jens Lovtang, "the Metolius is poor Chinook habitat. Yet, for years, it supported a healthy Chinook population. "There's obviously something about the habitat that was good for Chinook." Lovtang was in the Sisters area last week to launch an Oregon State University research project aimed at evaluating habitat quality for Chinook salmon in t... Full story
The late season is a great season. There's thirteen feet of snow and counting at the local ski area. "We've had a great season," said Hoodoo General Manager Tasha McFarland, "our numbers are up, and our snow pack is way up." Last year, a sub-par snow pack caused Hoodoo Ski Area to shut down early, but this year it's an entirely different story. With snow continuing to pile up at Santiam Pass, Hoodoo is now making plans to add two weekends to this season's schedule. Just two weeks ago, the snow pack looked to be on a downward... Full story
USAF Lt. Colonel (Sel.) Dean James Anderson, not a worry in his life. It isn't every day that I get a phone call from one of my sons with: "Hi Pop, I just thought I'd call and let you know I've made Lt. Colonel." That sort of news, dear friends, got my attention. When Dean was just about a year older than the photo above he and his brother, Ross, loved flying in my restored 1947 Piper Cub on a Sunday afternoon. I'd strap them into the back seat, side-by-side, and when we got some altitude I'd turn the stick over to them... Full story
Mark McIntire (left) and Mike Abbott own and operate Suttle Lake Tackle Company. "If you can't catch it with Suttle Lake Tackle, you probably can't catch it." Those are the words of Mike Abbott, Suttle Lake Resort manager and co-founder of one of Central Oregon's newest businesses. Abbott and Mark McIntire, who also works at the resort, partnered up to form the Suttle Lake Tackle Company, which specializes in meeting the needs of Northwest fishermen. "This past year," Abbott said, "there was some stuff we needed for fishing... Full story
A single case of meningitis was reported in Sisters last week. According to Karyn Anderson, a family nurse practioner with Bend Memorial Clinic, it was not the deadly meningococcal form of the illness. Due to confidentiality rules, Anderson was unable to comment on the name or age of the child who contracted the disease, or who might have come into contact with the child. However, Anderson said all those who came in contact with the affected child or are at risk were notified. Meningitis involves the inflammation of the... 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: Re: Craig... Full story
Time to change our way of thinking When Americans reach a certain age -- I don't know if it's 18 or 21 or later -- we seem to believe that we should be perfect. We seem to think that we should have learned everything we need to know and to even reflect on our understanding of the world, let alone change our own behavior, means we've failed or we've lost out to someone else who is "right." How can this attitude serve us? We might as well continue to light fires by rubbing two sticks together because to change and use a match... Full story
- A woman reported finding an aerial salesman with his ear to her door when she opened it. She found this odd. - A man turned in a box of tools another man had mislaid while moving. - Deputies cited a Sisters man for making an unsafe pass. It was kind of obvious, since the man had lost control of his vehicle and rolled it while making the pass. - Another driver rolled his vehicle on icy roads. His pregnant wife (two months) was taken to the hospital for evaluation. - A Tollgate driver turned her vehicle over at Lariat and... Full story
New manufactured homes are making a residential area out of the Circle Five Mobile Home and RV Park on the outskirts of Sisters on Highway 20. New owners Scott and Jane McCleery have hired new managers Cory and Denise Smith and have changed the name to Sisters Mobile Home and RV Park. "We bought five double wides from Fuqua Homes in Bend," McCleery said. "Each is a two bedroom, two bath with about 900 square feet of living space. They'll look like a stick-built house once we put on siding and dormers -- they're real nice.... Full story
