News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 20 of 20
The story of poverty has been told in many different ways throughout Sisters Country and Central Oregon. It's hard to imagine in a community like Sisters that there are families who struggle with basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing. The numbers are telling: 19 students in Sisters School District are homeless. "This is one of the highest number of homeless students to start the school year with," says Dawn Cooper, McKinney Vento Homeless Liaison and one of two advocates for the Family Access Network (FAN) here in Sist... Full story
Tradition and gutsy performances carried the Sisters Outlaws boys cross-country team to a thrilling one-point victory at the Sky-Em District cross-country meet on Wednesday, October 21. The girls team won in dominating fashion, which means that both squads have a berth at the OSAA State Championships set for Saturday, October 31. The Outlaws are no strangers to being the district champions as both teams are on four-year winning streaks, but never before has Sisters produced th... Full story
Sisters cyclists have a brand-new playground in Sisters. Phase 1 of the Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD) Community Bike Park is now open to the public. The bike park is the product of about a year of community effort. A core group of volunteers have been working as a committee of SPRD to try to bring this concept to reality, according to SPRD Executive Director Liam Hughes. The committee, along with Hughes, wrote and presented a grant proposal to the Oregon State... Full story
Affordable housing continues to be an issue of intense interest in Sisters. During a joint workshop of the Sisters City Council and the Planning Commission last week, Patrick Davenport, community development director, brought both bodies up to date on the progress of a comprehensive Sisters housing needs assessment being conducted by City staff. Davenport presented a preliminary report of the findings, although work is ongoing in a number of different areas. The analysis is... Full story
To the Editor: The "off-leash" dog story, October 21, prompted me to respond. Recently, a friend and I enjoyed the Harvest Faire, walking up and down, viewing the many excellent exhibits. That is, until two canines, leashed, began a not-so-friendly barking, snarling session with one another. Then, along comes a gentleman parading, again leashed, three greyhounds. And so on... This begs the question: Why do people have to bring their dogs with them to attend events, walk the streets, shop in the stores, and in general be in... Full story
Ross Kennedy was inducted into the Southern Oregon University sports hall of fame last weekend. A standout track-and-field athlete in the mid-1990s, Kennedy is now a real estate agent and family man in Sisters. He says he still benefits from the dedication and discipline he learned as a college athlete. "It taught me to goal-set and go after my goals and my dreams, and I do that today," he said. "I plan out my goals and work diligently to accomplish them." As a Southern Oregon... Full story
Science is a big part of the curriculum at Sisters Elementary School, where students in Clay Warburton's, Katie Parsons', and Julie Holden's classes got to be involved in a fun, hands-on experiment. Students brought supplies from home and constructed their solar ovens during class-time. They had three days to complete the project, and then they had a cook-off. The science project is designed to teach the kids about scientific inquiry. They formed questions, made hypothesis,... Full story
Outlaw radio is off the air. The local low-power community radio station KZSO 94.9 lost its frequency to a commercial radio station based out of Sunriver. Michael Richards, general manager of KZSO, housed at Sisters Art Works, explained: "The bottom line is that commercial stations trump the low-power FM license." Richards said that he would have expected that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would have provided notice that a commercial user was taking 94.9, but for some reason that did not occur. Richards noted th... Full story
Sisters boys soccer team wrapped up league with a vengeance, besting their final two opponents to head into the playoffs with a 10-0 record. The Outlaws will play at home on Tuesday, November 3, but their opponent is yet to be decided. On Tuesday, October 20, the Outlaws played at Cottage Grove on the turf, and staved off the Lions in a close 2-1 victory. Turf is always a bit more difficult to play on, since the Outlaws are used to playing on a grass field, but the team... Full story
Does the petition signed by 104 neighbors of Creekside Campground (CCG) in February 2014 still express the opinions of the signers? Have the improvements made by the City of Sisters so far satisfied their major concerns? Are they aware and in favor of changes to the traffic flow in and out of the campground? These are the questions that came out of a special Parks Advisory Board workshop held last week to allow for brainstorming traffic solutions among all interested parties.... Full story
"I think it's a good way to give back to the ecosystem that provides so much for us, and to study our environment and learn how it changes," said Lauren Wattenburg, Sisters High School (SHS) junior, reflecting on her time helping to replant the riparian zone on the banks of Whychus Creek. Last Tuesday afternoon, 20 juniors from Glenn Herron's SHS science and Interdisciplinary Environmental Expedition (IEE) class arrived by school bus at the creek to help repair its banks. IEE... Full story
The Outlaws wrapped up league play with wins over Cottage Grove (CG) and Sutherlin this past week and finished in a tie with CG for the league championship. The two opponents were to go head-to-head in a tie-breaker on Tuesday, October 27, in a match held on neutral turf at Sweet Home. Sisters defeated the Lions at home on Tuesday, October 20, and two days later swept the Sutherlin Bulldogs 4-0 on the road. The Outlaws were thrilled to beat the Lions, who had bested them 5-2... Full story
Sisters came out on top 21-16 in a hard-fought contest with a very physical and stubborn Elmira squad at home on Friday, October 23. The Outlaws clinched the Sky-Em League football championship. The Outlaws wrapped up their season unbeaten with a 7-0 record. A crowd filled the stands - many more stood along the perimeter - and cheered on the Outlaws in their final league game of the season. The contest was full of intensity and excitement, and the Outlaws played strong and... Full story
An estimated 70-million feral cats are roaming the parks, parking lots, backyards and back roads of the United States. That includes Sisters Country. Last summer Sisters resident Jeri Buckmann, Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce event coordinator, had an eye-opening experience dealing directly with feral cats on her property. Buckmann has always liked cats, and she and her husband Bob have three rescues of their own. "Our youngest kitty Gracie was a stray that my daughter... Full story
A group of hard-working youth put their labors to use to make a difference in their community on Make a Difference Day in Sisters last Friday. Volunteers and participants from Heart of Oregon Corps/Youth Build, Kiwanis, Rotary and the community descended on Harmony Farm Sanctuary and the Seed to Table garden to tackle a host of projects. Make a Difference Day is a national event, officially taking place on the fourth Saturday of October, involving millions of volunteers and... Full story
The night sky over Sisters in November affords the opportunity to view some splendid sights, including planets, stars and a number of other interesting objects. Low in the southern sky, the constellation Sculptor can be seen just below Aquarius and Cetus. It is comprised of faint stars, the five brightest making a pentagon shape representing a sculptor in his studio. The reason there are no bright stars in this part of the sky is largely due to the fact that the south pole of... Full story
The Lady Outlaws wrapped up league with a sweep at home against Cottage Grove on Tuesday, October 20, and claimed the league title for the seventh consecutive year. The Lions came into the game needing a win in order to prevent a second-place tiebreaker with Sutherlin, but Sisters was on fire, and easily won in three quick sets. Sisters honored their two seniors, Allie Spear and Peytan Zanck, both of whom are captains, leaders, and role models for the entire program. Sisters defeated the Lions with scores of 25-6, 25-19, and... Full story
Gene was born September 1, 1924 in Troutdale and passed into the loving arms of her Savior on October 7, 2015. She was 91 years old. Gene lived in Portland most of her life before moving to Sisters in May of 2014 to be near both her children. Gene served in the Civil Air Patrol for two years. She worked as a bank teller in both Gresham and Portland for about three years. But it was in Gresham that her brother-in-law introduced her to Bob Radmacher. She and Bob were married... Full story
Event planners in Sisters are wary of the code changes being proposed by the City of Sisters regarding transient merchants and special events. Sisters City Council on Thursday conducted a public hearing on the proposed transient merchant and public event code changes. Liam Hughes, executive director of Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD), reminded council that his agency runs a number of events that include vendors. He suggested that perhaps SPRD could apply for a varian... Full story
Music lovers will be fully sated this Friday night, with two major shows coming to Sisters. On Friday, October 30 at 7 p.m. at the Sisters High School Auditorium, Sisters Folk Festival and Caldera present OneBeat, 25 musicians from around the world. These boundary-breaking fellows from 17 different countries and territories, including Russia, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Venezuela and the U.S., bring singular and compelling stories, and range from experimental producers to deeply ro... Full story
