News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 21 of 21
Two Sisters teens were injured on Monday evening, December 16, when their 1992 Geo Prism collided with a 2001 Chevrolet Blazer at the intersection of Highway 20 and Barclay Drive at the west end of Sisters. According to Deschutes County Sheriff's Office reports, the accident occurred shortly after 8 p.m. when the Blazer attempted to turn left from Highway 20 onto Barclay Drive and was struck by the oncoming Prism traveling with no headlights. According to police, Brian Orlando, 18, of Sisters had been traveling westbound on... Full story
City staffers have been waiting for years to move into a new City Hall. It's finally going to happen next week. Starting December 18, all the workings of Sisters' city government - computers, filing cabinets, the paper trail of years of plans and decisions - will be trucked from the ramshackle city headquarters on Fir Street to spacious new accommodations on the corner of Main Avenue and Locust Street. The 9,000-square-foot building is a vast change from the cramped old... Full story
For the second time in less than three years, the Sisters School District is looking for a new superintendent. Ted Thonstad, who joined the district in August 2004, submitted his resignation to the district's board of directors on Monday, December 18. Thonstad will leave the district on June 30, 2007. Thonstad's immediate predecessor was Lynn Baker who served as interim superintendent for a short 11 months from July 2003 until June 2004. Baker replaced Steve Swisher who held the superintendent's post for nearly seven years,... Full story
To the Editor: Win-win-win. Can someone tell me what are we going to win in this total mess created by our wonderful politicians in charge? If win is the right word, the suggestions I have to make this happen are: 1. Turn it all over to the military with power to do what has to be done no matter what that is to protect our people and country. 2. If it's possible to find 10 percent of our politicians (doubtful) that really care more for our country than they do themselves and being reelected, then make the other 90 percent... Full story
Wolftree Central Oregon, a non-profit educational organization based in Sisters, has received a $20,000 Matching Awards Program Grant from the National Forest Foundation (NFF) to continue to implement Phase II of the Deschutes National Forest's Whychus Creek Riparian Protection Project. This project aims to provide shade and streambank stability to devegetated riparian areas within the watershed. The overall goal is to increase community watershed literacy and ensure that riparian habitats are healthy with the potential retur... Full story
The Sisters Folk Festival is inviting those who enjoy music and who support music education for Sisters students to help promote its mission through the Sisters Folk Arts Circle. Brad Tisdel, Director of the festival's Americana Project, encouraged all to join the Sisters Folk Arts Circle Thursday night, December 7, during the The Bills concert at the Sisters High School Auditorium. The Bills, an acoustic quintet from Canada, entertained a crowd of more than 300 at the folk festival's first offering of this season's winter co... Full story
More than 100 theater-goers gathered at Sisters Community Church on Friday evening, December 8, for the Bend Theatre for Young People's (BTYP) third annual Christmas performance in Sisters. Although smaller, the group who assembled for Saturday afternoon's performance was no less appreciative of the high quality performance Sisters middle schoolers presented. Director and drama teacher Gary Bowne explained that because he was working with experienced, young acting students, he... Full story
Sisters author Edna Ostermiller describes her new book as one "whose time has come." The self-published "New Beginnings are Gifts from God" is unashamedly a self-help book, but Ostermiller figured there could never be too many good, encouraging words around. Writing under the name Edna O., Ostermiller feels that the tried and true principles in the book will help those in crisis see their situations objectively. "I come in contact with many hurting women, and I love sharing... Full story
• A Sisters man reported a stolen credit card. • Lots of llamas went on the lam. • A woman reported the theft of her Social Security number. • A deputy contacted a youth's parents regarding their son's alleged harassment of fellow students at Sisters Middle School. • Someone stole a cell phone from a student at Sisters High School. • Deputies managed a non-injury three-car wreck at Highway 20 and Fryrear Road. • A student reported that the passenger side window of her car was shattered at... Full story
Most people have heard about Hospice, but unless a family member has a terminal disease most in Sisters know little else. Hospice of Redmond-Sisters is available to offer end-of-life care for terminally ill patients and their families. The Sisters branch office has been operating locally for a little over a year. Its area of service includes Sisters, Black Butte Ranch and Camp Sherman. The Hospice team brings services to the dying patient and support for family members. These services include caring for the patient as an... Full story
The Outlaws' boys basketball team lost 121-85 in an action-packed game on Tuesday, December 5, at Creswell. Both Creswell and Sisters racked up an incredible number of points, and for the first three quarters it was a five-point game. The Outlaws worked on their "tempo system" and at the half trailed Creswell 47-52. Creswell crushed Sisters in the third quarter. The Outlaws had multiple turnovers, and Creswell seemingly couldn't miss their shots. Drew Harrison led the Outlaws... Full story
The girls' basketball team lost 40-36 to Creswell in a very close match at home on Tuesday, December 5. Though they did not prevail, the Lady Outlaws showed marked improvement on the court. At the half the Outlaws held an 18-13 lead. Sisters outscored Creswell every quarter except for the third. In the third period Creswell went into a zone, and the Outlaws had a hard time creating shots, got out of their rhythm and were outscored 17 to six. With less than a minute to go in the game, Sisters trailed by eight. The Lady Outlaws... Full story
The future of the so-called "golden triangle" of recreation lands east of Sisters will be determined by a new U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) management plan. The BLM is in the process of making decisions about how to manage the Cline Buttes Recreation Area (CBRA). This 32,000 acres (more than 50 square miles) of BLM administered land is located five miles east of Sisters, five miles west of Redmond and nine miles north of Bend. The Cline Buttes area is of great interest to a wide variety of residents. This area of open... Full story
As superintendent Ted Thonstad sees it, the final six and a half months of his tenure with the Sisters School District will be business as usual. He intends to remain the education leader of the district. And he is confident he has full board backing to this end. In the press release the district circulated on December 4 about Thonstad's resignation, school board chairman Rob Corrigan affirmed: "Ted is the educational leader of the district until June 30, 2007 and has the board's full support in those projects that will be... Full story
Sisters' rapidly growing and evolving English as a Second Language class held a Christmas party last Thursday evening that demonstrated the changing nature of this community service outreach. The event was held at El Rancho Grande restaurant in downtown Sisters, where the burgeoning group was overflowing the small private room. What began as a community service offering through St. Edward the Martyr Catholic Church to assist Spanish speakers in perfecting their English skills... Full story
Joey Hougham has a dream for Central Oregon. He retired from Intel Corporation and moved to Sisters six years ago. He wants to see Central Oregon in general and Sisters in particular become trend setters in preparing the next generation to be leaders in the age of globalization. Hougham has seen the changes that have been evolving as the world is shrinking and how both have affected high tech industries. He believes strongly that a good education is one of the most important tools we can provide our children. However, he... Full story
There was a not-so-quiet invasion of Canadian musicians last Thursday at Sisters High School when The Bills, a well respected and high energy band of folk musicians, conducted a workshop for Sisters middle and high school students and contributed to the strong arts program that has made the Sisters school system renowned throughout the state. The popular group, who were headliners at the Sisters Folk Festival in 2005, had returned to Sisters to present the first concert in... Full story
La Posada is a Christmas tradition imported from south of the border that young and old from any culture can enjoy. La Posada can be translated as "The Inn," and variations of this event are celebrated in much of South America, as well as regionally in continental Europe. Sisters' celebration of this traditional festival is open to all and will be held at St. Edward the Martyr Catholic Church on Saturday, December 16, from 2 to 4 p.m. La Posada began in the 16th century as a liturgical event to celebrate the pilgrimage of... Full story
Wages have not kept pace with housing costs in the Sisters area, and that is having an impact on the workforce. That is the conclusion of a housing assessment provided by Housing Works (formerly Central Oregon Regional Housing Authority) to the Sisters City Council in a workshop on Thursday, December 7. "We are a lifestyle community," said Housing Works Director Cyndy Cook. "Jobs are not driving the housing market." According to Housing Works, the median housing price in Siste... Full story
The hearts of two communities came together last summer on a small farm in Northern Uganda. Kelly Moen and Eli Pyke of Sisters will share video and stories of their African experience at 6:30 p.m. on Monday December 18, at Sisters Coffee Company. In the summer of 2006, the pair traveled to Uganda and Tanzania for locally sponsored mission work. After helping with medical and outreach ministry in the Kapchorwa region of eastern Uganda and Tanzania, they stayed on to visit... Full story
Martin Winch's book "Biography of a Place - Passages through a Central Oregon Meadow" is a beautiful work of art. Martin writes as he sings, smoothly and with substance, in tune with what he is doing, what he feels and what is around him. "Biography of a Place" brings the ancient past from geology to hydrology through what he calls "Traditional Time" - when people first lived on Camp Polk Meadow - right up to what we see today. From the moment I opened his book, with the... Full story
