News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 24 of 24
If we strip away all of our differences, we discover that each of us shares a wish to be happy and content, free from hardship and suffering. How different groups go about achieving this end divides us, but these most fundamental motivations serve to unite us. Life is filled with ups and downs. Sometimes we experience success. Other times we are confronted with disappointment, setbacks, and failure. We strive to achieve the life that we imagined for ourselves but we may also “bump up against our limitations.” We forge int... Full story
The annual open enrollment period for Medicare is underway, and runs till December 7. The Medicare maze can be confusing, leaving older adults unsure what they need and what they should do — if anything at all. Local counseling is available to help seniors in Sisters successfully navigate that maze. Linda Alldredge of Country Financial in Sisters urges people to act early and get help evaluating what they already have so that they can make informed and stress-free decisions. “It’s all about knowing what they’ve got and... Full story
For the first time, a professional journal is tying fitness and exercise to reducing susceptibility to COVID-19. This column has already suggested exercise as being protective against the severity of symptoms, and recovery from COVID, but this is the first time published research suggests that whether or not someone gets infected is tied to fitness. The research came out of South Korea and polled over 73,000 individuals. The basics of health and lifestyle questions were asked and participants were followed over the course of... Full story
A local, a couple, a world traveler, and a Pacific Crest Trail through-hike completer are among the seven new certified staff members at Sisters Middle School for the 2021-22 school year The new staff come as a result of retirement, maternity leave, adds, and moves, according to first year principal Tim Roth. All of the new hires mentioned the draw to Sisters including the sense of community, the support of education here, and the love of the outdoors. One name familiar to the... Full story
The Outlaws volleyball team has turned a challenging season into a strong winning record by coalescing around each other, regardless of pandemic impact, injuries, or other adversities. The Lady Outlaws tallied two wins last week to push their league record to 7-2 and 17-3 overall. Sisters recorded a sweep at home against Newport on Tuesday, October 12, and on Thursday they beat the Lady Warriors 3-1 at Philomath. On Tuesday against Newport, the Outlaws played well and controll... Full story
The Lady Outlaws soccer squad had another exceptional week, posting wins over two league foes: a 1-0 win at Stayton on Tuesday, October 12, and two days later a 2-0 victory on the road at Sweet Home. In Tuesday’s action, Sisters had a hard time the first half of play against the Eagles, and were very rushed in their play. Neither team was able to get the ball in the net and at the half the score was even 0-0. Sisters’ lone goal came in the 60th minute of play. Anya Shockley played with her back to the goal and held off her... Full story
The Outlaws were firing on all cylinders in their 8-0 shutout at home over Sweet Home on Thursday, October 14. The win was a big confidence boost after their 0-5 loss at Stayton two days earlier. In Thursday’s match, Sisters controlled possession of the ball from the opening whistle. The Outlaws started their scoring spree at the eight-minute mark when Tate Kaczmarek received a beautiful through pass from Ricky Huffman and scored Sisters’ first goal of the contest. Sis... Full story
Adam Maddox-Castle Coach Clayton Hall said, “I would like to select Adam Maddox-Castle for athlete of the month. He is one of our standout student-athletes on the football team. Through the month of September Adam played a major role on both offense and defense. At fullback, Adam set up the team’s first touchdown of the season on a 60-yard [run] against Madras and has been one of our best tacklers on the defensive side of the ball. “Not only has Adam performed great on the f... Full story
A club of crafters has been turning their talents to the support of the community for nearly half a century now. The Snowflake Boutique is set to run Friday, November 5, 1 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, November 6, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the South Sisters Room at Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center. The Snowflake Boutique is a nonprofit organization. What began as a few friends selling their crafts from their homes 46 years ago, in 1975, has evolved into a major Central Oregon event. Each year, the club donates the post-expense... Full story
Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD) and the Forest Service are partnering up for a Community Cleanup event on Friday, October 22. Folks in Sisters can volunteer to remove trash from designated areas around town, Forest Service land, and surrounding trails. All supplies will be provided. Volunteers are asked to register in order to ensure that adequate supplies are available. Register at https://bit.ly/SPRDClean.... Full story
The Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District has once again modified its traditional Halloween festivities due to COVID concerns. The Halloween carnival the Fire District hosts annually has been an opportunity for the Fire District to connect with youth and to provide fire safety education materials. The CDC and Oregon Health Authority have not addressed Halloween specifically within their published holiday guidance; however, the Fire District is trying to do its part to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and therefore will not... Full story
The Big Meadow golf course at Black Butte Ranch was the scene of the second annual “Clash of the Cascades” cross-country meet Thursday, October 14. Fourteen teams gathered to compete under partly cloudy skies with a threat of rain, but the weather held off and exciting competition ensued. The junior varsity races kicked off the meet, giving the Sisters boys a chance to show their depth. The team placed fourth behind 5A Caldera and Mountain View as well as the Culver var... Full story
Sisters Arts Association’s Fourth Friday Art Walk continues this week, through the fall, right up until the week before Christmas. If you’re planning ahead, December’s Art Walk will take place on the Third Friday, since the Fourth Friday will be Christmas Eve. Featured this month at The Clearwater Gallery is the work of impressionist oil painter Garth Williams, a favorite here in Sisters. His pallet-knife technique and eye-catching aspens make for a very exciting reveal of new pieces from 4 to 6 p.m. along with wine and a... Full story
The Outlaws football team fell 22-50 at Junction City on Friday, October 15, in a hard-fought contest. The Sisters squad lost just two weeks ago to the Tigers, and knew they’d be in for a battle against a very big and physical Tiger squad ranked fifth in the state. Junction City boasts very strong, physical players, and outweigh the Outlaws by 50 pounds or more at every position on both the offensive and defensive lines. Despite the weight difference, the Outlaws battled hard the entire game. Sisters scored twice in the f... Full story
Frequently seen in fall on lawns, roads, suet feeders, and trees, the Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus) are large, black-spotted woodpeckers with a sparkling red slash [male] on their faces, that feed mainly on ants and beetles. They are gathering now in loose groups of 5-10 birds and can be identified by a white tail as they fly away. Raucous sounds are heard in the forest as flickers play while circling around the trunks of trees. The Northern Flicker occurs in either... Full story
A self-help resource guide for Sisters Country is now available. The vision for the Sisters Country Resource Guide began back in 2016 and was inspired by NeighborImpact’s “Answer Book,” a self-help guide to agencies and services in Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson Counties. Thanks to a collaboration between Citizens4Community (C4C), Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC), Xpress Printing, and some dedicated locals, the guide is finally here for the community. It is organized into sections for housing, food access, ser... Full story
Daniel O’Neill, a Sisters High School teacher, is teaching young people the culture of skateboarding – not just how to be a better skater, but the life lessons that can be learned from getting into skateboarding. O’Neill is instructing a class this year at the high school called Skatepark. The skatepark class is offered to anyone who skates, and those who want to be involved in furthering the building project on the Sisters Skate Park located next to Sisters High Sch... Full story
“For Sale” signs are abundant throughout the McKenzie River Valley town of Blue River, in the wake of the devastating Holiday Farm Fire that tore through the valley on Labor Day 2020, burning 144,000 acres. The steep hills on either side of Blue River, once covered in timber, now host blackened tree skeletons, devoid of any life. Miraculously, thanks to the amazing work of firefighters, McKenzie High School was spared. Residents who were unable to evacuate were instructed to... Full story
No October is complete without a viewing of Tim Burton’s dreamlike “Sleepy Hollow.” It is Clan Cornelius’ favorite cinematic tale of the Halloween season — and the Headless Horseman has long been my favorite icon of spookiness. In the original Washington Irving tale, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” the Headless Horseman is the shade of a Hessian officer whose head was carried away by a cannonball “in some nameless battle” of the American Revolution. In the film, his c... Full story
How we talk to each other To the Editor: Maret Pajutee’s wonderful story of Sisters’ Wild West history brought to mind how easily people can become angry and “lathered up” over issues. Today, we do it in our letters to the editor section of this fine newspaper. Maybe we should think about toning down the more personal in-print accusations of misrepresentation, so that something stupid doesn’t end up happening to someone. As Maret’s story illustrates, tensions usually grow; they don’t diminish. We all love this town and its... Full story
Traffic volume and speed are increasing all over town, especially in the downtown core. In an attempt to bypass that bottleneck, residents and tourists alike are using neighborhood streets as alternative routes, especially on Jefferson, Washington, and Creekside Drive. Instead of traveling at the posted speed of 25 mph, drivers often far exceed that limit. The residents in the Timber Creek and Creekside neighborhoods will tell you that, now that the bridge on Creekside Drive... Full story
One thing everyone could agree on at last week’s joint Sisters City Council/Deschutes County Board of Commissioners meeting, is that houselessness in Deschutes County is increasing. One of the major factors in that rise is the increasingly high cost of housing. Colleen Thomas of Deschutes County Health Services, the County’s Houselessness Coordinator, presented to the joint meeting what she and Katy DeVito are doing to meet the houseless population where they are, whether tha... Full story
Stories about the housing shortage in Sisters, often reported as a crisis, appear regularly on these pages. The focus is usually on the lack of so-called affordable inventory and escalating prices of single family homes, which is pricing nearly all entry-level workers out of the market. Little attention is given to the rental market, in particular the lack of affordable apartments. There are literally none in the traditional sense — rents equal to 30 percent of living... Full story
The rooms at Sisters Park and Recreation District (SPRD) preschool are cheerfully bright, with mini tables and chairs for the pint-sized students. Everywhere is evidence of the fun, yet important, learning and creating that takes place in these rooms every weekday. The only thing missing? Two and a half more teachers. Valerie Selig and Carissa Gascon, both well-qualified, experienced, and dedicated teachers who love their jobs, are each responsible for up to 15-18 little... Full story
