News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 21 of 21
A van driven by Greg Martinez crashed head-on into another vehicle Saturday night. photo by Eric Dolson Greg Martinez, 56, of Sisters died Saturday, November 15, after he plowed his van head-on into an oncoming Ford Expedition just east of Sisters. Debra Haglund and Jodi Murillo, both of Sisters, survived the crash with injuries. According to Deschutes County Sheriff's Office reports, the accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. on a dark and rainy night. Martinez was driving a full-sized 1981 Ford van eastbound in the wrong... Full story
A Ford Explorer driven by Thomas Hansen of Sisters crashed into a tree on Wednesday, killing Hansen and starting a fire. photo by Jim Cornelius A fiery single-vehicle car crash on Camp Polk Road on Wednesday, November 12, claimed the life of 44-year-old Thomas George Hansen of Sisters. According to Deschutes County Sheriff's Office reports, Hansen was traveling northbound on Camp Polk Road just past Aspen Lakes Golf Course when his 1999 Ford Explorer left the roadway for unknown reasons. The Explorer struck a tree and burst i... Full story
A couplet must enhance the downtown commercial area -- at least that's what the Couplet Advisory Committee set as its primary focus in its first meeting on Monday, November 10. The committee, which consists of 18 business owners and community leaders, was created by the mayor last month to help refine plans to disperse highway traffic from Cascade Avenue by creating a one-way Hood/Main Avenue couplet. Members of the committee said the idea of a couplet paints a negative picture for members of the community, who picture a... Full story
The Colson family of Salem has purchased another large chunk of land near Sisters. On July 23, 2003, Sisters Land Company, LLC purchased about 4,220 acres of land just west of Crossroads from the Weyerhaeuser Company of Federal Way, Washington. Weyerhaeuser acquired the land when it took over Willamette Industries in 2002. The parcel lies adjacent to the gravel pit owned by Hap Taylor and Sons. It is about one mile west of Crossroads off of the McKenzie Highway 242. The purchase price of the 4,220 acres was $4,780,000,... Full story
Kids, parents and teachers from Sisters Elementary School, with help from members of the Sisters Garden Club, squeeze into the school's greenhouse to plant strawberries. photo by Tom Chace The red-painted "Greenhouse" at Sisters Elementary School is a busy place these days with young students learning about plants and gardening from parents and members of the Sisters Garden Club. The program is entirely voluntary and when the word went out that the school would resume this innovative program, 80 youngsters signed up instead... Full story
The local community is trying to give back a little of what the Deschutes Chapter Red Cross gave to the community during the fires of the past two summers. The Camp Sherman Community Association has launched a raffle of a side of beef, cut and wrapped, to raise funds for the Red Cross. Tickets are $5 each. All proceeds go directly to the Deschutes Chapter. Black Butte School students will be selling the raffle tickets at Ray's Food Place on Saturday, November 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At the same time, the students will... Full story
We all remember our parents haranguing us to finish our dinners, raising the specter of famished children somewhere across the globe. They never told us about the hungry ones just down the street. They are there, according to Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank Coordinator Glenn Keeran. You won't know who they are, because the food bank is careful about protecting identity; The only questions the staff asks relate to income. The last 18 months have seen a tremendous increase in the number of people regularly accessing the food bank.... Full story
Brush piles are all that remain of a logging operation near Three Creek Lake. photo by Jeff McCaulou The Forest Service recently finished a logging project known as the Broken Rim Sale near Three Creek Lake, off Forest Road 700. The Forest Service contracted with Weyerhaeuser for the project and Weyerhaeuser subcontracted B&S Logging, of Prineville, to thin 462 acres of public land near the Three Sisters Wilderness Area. The 6,315 cubic feet of timber harvested was sent to the Weyerhaeuser mill in Redmond. According to Becky... Full story
A very popular Nordic shelter known as the North Blowout Shelter was destroyed as the B&B Complex Fire consumed forest land west of Sisters. The shelter, located south of the Santiam Highway and east of Big Lake, was a popular winter destination for cross county skiers, snowshoers and snowmobilers traveling in the Santiam Winter Recreation Area. The North Blowout shelter was originally constructed in the mid-1980s by the Willamette Chapter of the Oregon Nordic Club. The Oregon Nordic Club, along with the Forest Service,... Full story
The B&B Complex Fire this summer has left lasting effects to the wilderness ecosystem that will require some changes in public use to help protect the fragile environment. According to the Paul Engstrom, Wilderness Trails and Winter Sports Manager at the Sisters Ranger District, the destructive fires consumed approximately 90,000 acres -- 65,000 acres on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, part of the Sisters Ranger District. Of those 65,000 acres, 42,000 were in the Deschutes National Forest and 23,000 were in the Mt.... Full story
Some Central Oregon teenagers are putting their backs into heavy work this fall, rehabilitating the forest burned by the B&B Complex Fire. The Forest Service's Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation team (BAER) has contracted with the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC) to supply a work force of teens who are not enrolled in high school. Around the headwaters of Abbot Springs, near Abbot Butte, three COIC teens and a crew leader are erecting an A-frame fence to protect budding, green plant life from an elk herd.... Full story
Judy Osborne opened the door of her Black Butte Ranch home at about 6:30 a.m. on Monday, November 10, to let her mini-doxie dog out. It met up with a cougar. According to a note attached to the bulletin board at Black Butte Ranch, Osborne said that the cat was only about 20 feet from their front steps. Maxine, the dog, not much bigger than a shoebox, took off after the mountain lion. Osborne screamed, "so loudly that she knocked her husband, Owen, right out of bed." The dog stopped when she yelled and the cat ran off. Lucky... Full story
Sisters city officials are disappointed with the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners 3-0 vote to deny support of a permanent tax district for sheriff's office services. The vote was taken Wednesday, November 12. Instead of putting a permanent tax system on the ballot in May, the commissioners will support a five-year, temporary property tax levy. Sheriff Les Stiles told the Sisters City Council last month the history of two- to three-year levies must stop, because he is losing hard-working deputies who leave for jobs whic... Full story
Library volunteers Dorthy Davis (L.) and Evelyn Brittingham (R.) study proposed library designs. photo by Conrad Weiler Planning for Sisters' new library building is marching forward after the Wednesday, November 12, "family" meeting at the current facility. About 30 Advisory Council, Friends of the Library, staff and volunteers heard Peg Bermel, Sisters Library manager, and Todd Dunkelberg, Assistant Director, Deschutes Public Library System (DPLS), describe the present course of library planning. Bermel told her audience th... Full story
Construction is well underway on new motel suites. photo by Jeff McCaulou Construction started in October on 28 high-end units and a laundry room facility at the Best Western Ponderosa Lodge at the west end of Sisters. Permits were acquired and the site was surveyed over the summer, but construction was put off until the tourist season was over so as not to disturb guests in the existing rooms, according to owner Bill Reed. "I drove myself crazy trying to design the perfect room," said Reed. While Reed is the general... Full story
Freshmen are benefiting from peer help. photo provided Up until this year, high school freshmen in Sisters turned almost exclusively to professional academic advisors to help with the countless issues they encounter in understanding academic policy, reaching goals and finding their personal niche within a high school social scene. Though academic advisors have excellent experience and know-how, age differences often put them on the back burner as a resource for freshmen with questions. Teenagers often feel that adults don't r... Full story
A City of Sisters utility truck sprays deicer at local intersections. photo by Tom Chace The pickup truck came to a downtown stop sign. It crossed the line on Cascade Avenue and swerved into the oncoming traffic lane for 50 feet. Then it pulled back into its own lane and proceeded to stop at the next intersection where it did the same thing all over again. It was 6:30 in the morning on Saturday, November 15. It would have been suspicious behavior, except that this truck was being operated safely, with great caution and care.... Full story
The Oregon Log Homes production site on Highway 20 just east of Sisters is bare of logs for the first time in most people's memory. That has led many to wonder if the company is going out of business or selling their operation. "No, the business is not for sale," said owner Mike Neary. "What we are doing is selling the 10-acre production site here in Sisters and consolidating in Maupin out at our 80-acre site. "We also have an indoor facility there," said Neary, but "we will open a sales office in Sisters. We are shopping for... 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: Healthy Forest... 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 Area Chamber of Commerce meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month, 8 to 9 a.m. at Sisters Fire Hall, 549-0251. - Sisters-Camp Sherman RFPD meets for drill every Monday, 7 p.m. Sisters Fire Hall, 301 S. Elm St.... Full story
- A man was hit by a passing car as he stood at the scene of a car wreck. He suffered minor injury to his leg. - A woman reported that several of her sandwich board signs had been stolen off the highway. Actually, they were picked up by ODOT because they were in the highway right-of-way. - A man was arrested for drunk driving after hitting two cars in the area of Hood Avenue and Ash Street. - A deputy responded to an argument that had degenerated into a pushing match. One of the parties was gone and the other didn't want to... Full story
