News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 16 of 16
Sisters area voters renewed their school district's "local option" levy in the November 2 election. The current levy expires at the end of the 2004-05 school year. The new one will last for another four years. "I think it's a great tribute to the committee that worked so hard to make it happen," said a delighted Ted Thonstad, superintendent of Sisters schools. "It's a tribute to the community and how much (the people here) value education and children." His thoughts echoed those of Board Chairman Glen Lasken when the first el... Full story
What's in a name? photo by Jim Cornelius BEND, Ore. (AP) -- The word "squaw" has long been considered an offensive term for women by American Indians. Yet that is the name of Squaw Creek, which traverses the ancestral land of the Warm Springs tribe. Now, after years of internal debate, the Warm Springs Tribal Council has finally approved a list of 42 words that could be used to rename the creek and other nearby squaw place names. The tribal council of Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, which is comprised of the Wasco,... Full story
Sisters High School teacher and yearbook advisor Diana Prichard and her yearbook staff continue to gain recognition and awards from the Herff Jones Publishing Company. Last year the SHS 2003 yearbook was selected by Herff Jones as a sample book for the southern and western regions of the United States. Only 12 yearbooks were chosen for this honor out of the 1,000 printed at the Logan, Utah plant. Books were chosen for excellence and cutting edge design and use of technology. This year the yearbook staff was notified by Herff... Full story
Americana Project students at Sisters Middle School work on "ghost pots" in an expanded curriculum that includes folk art as well as roots music. photo by Jim Mitchell Previously devoted to exploring grassroots American music, Kit Stafford is taking the Americana Project beyond music to expose students to other aspects of Americana -- history, folklore, art, and geography. Sisters Middle School students recently created "ghost pots" as part of an expanded curriculum within the Americana Project. Local potter Ken Merrill,... Full story
Josh White and Mary Thomas teach at Sisters High School. photo by Jim Cornelius Three teachers are new to the Sisters school system this year. In some ways, they are as diverse as their students. Betsy Leighty-Johnson, 51, has been hired as a special education teacher at the elementary school. She holds a bachelor's degree from Eastern Oregon University and master's degrees in teaching from Willamette University and in special education from Lewis and Clark. For the five years before taking her current job she was a special... Full story
Brad Boyd is finishing ahead of John Rahm to earn a seat on the Sisters City Council, along with incumbent councilors Judy Trego and Dave Elliott. As of press time, the race was still not officially over. According to the Deschutes County Clerk's office there are about 300 countywide "challenge ballots" still to be examined. These are ballots with possible conflicts that for some reason were rejected in the first ballot count. It is unknown how many of those ballots apply to the Sisters City Council race, but an accurate... Full story
Black Butte School students will enjoy their new piano for years to come. photo by Jim Mitchell Black Butte School has a new piano, thanks to a donation from a Dutch foundation with a local connection. Eight years ago Shane Lundgren and Wendela van Beuningen met on the ski slopes in Austria. Three years ago Shane and Wendela married and a year ago moved from Holland to Camp Sherman. Wendela's great-great-grandparents had 12 children. The twelfth was a girl they named Elise Mathilde. Elise Mathilde left her money in a... Full story
Toni Del Guidice works with a student. photo by Jim Mitchell Toni Del Guidice remembers sitting on the beach as a little girl, engrossed in painting with water colors. Now a Sisters resident, she has carried on with an art career that developed into a parallel calling as a teacher. Del Guidice currently works with home school kids in the Sisters area, finding an outlet for talents she has developed over years of interesting and adventurous art and teaching endeavors. She started teaching kids when in her early twenties and fe... Full story
Benjamin and Nick Chappell are tops on their bikes. photo by Conrad Weiler The Chappell brothers, Benjamin and Nick, came away with Oregon State Motocross (MX) championships sponsored by Albany Supercross over Halloween weekend in Salem. Benjamin (number 111) competed in the peewee age 7-8 class championship and Nick (number 66) took the peewee age 3-6 class event. The brothers raced over three weekends at Albany, Madras and finally at Salem. "The two outdoor events in Albany and Madras had good outdoor weather," said their... Full story
Sweet Medicine Nation, on the left, with participants at an international forum for native peoples held in Mexico. photo by Susan Springer A forum of indigenous people representing peoples from Alaska to Argentina was recently held in Mexico. Sisters resident Sweet Medicine Nation was the North American delegate. She and the 360 representatives discussed issues of health, politics and law. One result of their forum will be a report for the United Nations. Sweet Medicine Nation, a holistic health practitioner, was asked to... Full story
Charlotte Nitcher finds inspiration for her art in nature and symbols. photo by Conrad Wieler Many Sisters area residents have met Charlotte Nitcher working behind the desk at the Sisters Library and many have enjoyed her holiday window paintings at the library. Most don't know the extent of her art works. Currently, Nitcher has several of her paintings displayed at the Sisters Library following their showing during the recent art stroll in town. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Charlotte later lived in Arkansas and Florida... Full story
Hayden Homes of Redmond has revealed plans for development of a 40-acre, 400-unit community of mixed housing types in the northwest corner of the City of Sisters, northwest of Three Wind Shopping Center. The site, known as Village at Cold Springs, is bounded on the south by McKinney Butte Road and on the west by McKinney Ranch Road. A street will connect on the east with Railway Street, through the adjoining Relco development, and on to Highway 20. The development plan calls for three lot sizes: estate lots, standard lots, an... 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: Free enterprise... Full story
- City Council Meeting 7 p.m., 2nd and 4th Thursday each month, Sisters City Hall. 549-6022. - School Board Meeting 7 p.m., 2nd Monday each month, middle school lecture/drama room. 549-8521. - Black Butte School District Board of Directors meets 2nd Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m., Black Butte School. 595-6203. - Sisters-Camp Sherman RFPD meets for drill every Monday, 7 p.m. Sisters Fire Hall, 301 S. Elm St. 549-0771. - Sisters Kiwanis Club meets every Thursday, 7:30 a.m., Sisters Fire Hall. 549-1223. - Sisters Habitat for... Full story
- Deputies responded to a motion detector alarm at a Sisters business, only to discover that a holiday display had fallen over and set off the alarm. - Deputies investigated a reported burglary north of Sisters. - A man offered to send in pictures of a site he found while deer hunting in the Sisters area. The hunter found a circle made of sticks with the word "DIE" in the middle of it and a mock tombstone at one end. - A deputy looked into a report of a dog chasing a neighbor's horse. - A woman complained that a neighbor... Full story
Mayor Dave Elliott presents a plaque commemorating the dedication of Cliff Clemens Park to Cliff Clemens on November 2, as Sisters Kiwanis President Jeff McDonald looks on. photo by Jim Mitchell A crowd of about 75 Sisters citizens, past and present, gathered in blustery, rainy weather on Election Day to honor Sisters' most venerable citizen and to dedicate Cliff Clemens Park. Mayor Dave Elliott welcomed the group, talked about Clifton Clemens' contributions and commitment to the community, and turned the platform over to... Full story
