News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 2101 - 2125 of 29581
When he was hired three years ago, the Council knew Cory Misley was a young man on the way up, and that he wouldn’t be in Sisters forever. But for the present, he’s here, fully engaged, and happy. The city manager position for which he recently interviewed in Hood River was filled by another candidate. Misley, who recently received his annual review from the Sisters City Council, wants the residents to know he loves Sisters, has a great staff, an engaged City Council, and is... Full story
Lester Isan Zemansky passed suddenly on the morning of May 12 in Sisters. He was 80 years old. Les was a longtime resident of Magalia, and Paradise, California. After the Camp Fire in Paradise in November 2018, he moved to Sisters. To read the full obituary go to https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicoer/name/lester-zemansky-obituary?id=31530524... Full story
When Harmony Thomas was a fourth-grader at Sisters Elementary School in the 1980s, life was rough. But a teacher, Julie Gravely, took Thomas under her wing and helped her develop a love for art, which brought some positive results in the young girl’s life almost immediately — and which has inspired Thomas to establish a scholarship through Sisters Graduate Resource Organization (GRO). The organization distributes local scholarships to Sisters High School students to supp... Full story
•?Sisters named one of 12 best small towns in Oregon. In the November issue of Travel & Leisure Magazine, an international publication some consider the gold standard in travel publications, Sisters was one of the 12 small towns in Oregon the magazine recommended to its 4.8 million readers. •?New airline debuts at Redmond. Aha — an acronym and brand name for air, hotel, adventure — began service last week with thrice weekly round trips from Redmond to Ren... Full story
The COVID Grinch stole Sisters’ traditional Christmas holiday events last year — but now they’re back, with some modifications. The Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce will host the 2021 Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony on Friday, November 26, starting at 5:30 p.m. with tree lighting at 6 p.m. The Holiday Parade will be the next day starting at 2 p.m. on Hood Avenue. Due to ongoing concerns regarding COVID-19 the Chamber will not be hosting the traditional Visit with Santa. In lieu of Visit with Santa, Hayden Homes wil... Full story
Kevin Marquardt has harnessed his love of climbing cliffs and boulders into a thriving business. But they way he makes a living has him firmly on solid ground. He officially started Dirtbag Conversions in May of last year. The name may be Dirtbag but the van conversions he’s turning out are anything but disorganized or unkempt. In fact, seeing how he transforms the interior of his customer’s vehicles is quite amazing. Getting to a place where his thriving business is boo... Full story
Virtually overnight the number of food trucks in Sisters doubled when The Barn opened last week after a “soft” opening on November 4. The project, begun almost a year ago, looks like it has been a fixture at Main and Fir for years. That’s due in part to its architecture and design plan, giving the appearance of a farm building that may have been renovated and converted for food and beverage. In fact, it’s brand-spanking new from the ground up, the dream of Daniel and Kelly St.... Full story
We’ve been in what seems like an indefinite holding pattern with COVID-19 since March 2020. Clearly the first few months were a time to walk circumspectly, do good research, check the data, and make wise choices. What we learned is that COVID is real, some folks have a real adverse reaction, and for those who have suffered greatly through the virus, I grieve with you for what you have lost. What has been abundantly clear from the health officials is that they have seen COVID-19 as a clear and present danger in which we s... Full story
The Mitchell/Spray/Wheeler football team won the state 1A six-man football title over the Triangle Lake Lakers 30-0 on Saturday, November 13 at Reed Stadium in Sisters. Six-man football, you ask? There’s a history of the six-man game in Sisters. Old-timers and history buffs in Sisters Country know that the Sisters Outlaws won the six-man State title, played in Sisters, all the way back in 1959, their second title in two years. In the smallest rural schools in Oregon, high s... Full story
Patriot’s Pen To the Editor: It was so heartening to read Jonathan M. Burks’ Patriot’s Pen Award essay in The Nugget. His essay had tremendous insight on what it means to be a true American patriot. Any serious student of U.S. history will tell you that we became the United States of America against all odds. And I can see our Founding Fathers’ spirit of independence, fortitude, and responsibility is still alive in our young people! Many people could learn a lot from his essay. As a first-generation American and vet, I have... Full story
Sisters residents who signed in and commented during the Sisters Planning Commission meeting on the Sisters Woodlands project on Wednesday, November 10, were fairly evenly divided between those who supported the project and those who had objections. The proposed development would add some 359 residential units of varying kinds to Sisters. (See related story, at left.) Via Zoom, Dixie Eckford asked if there is going to be any type of fencing around or within the development.... Full story
A project that would add approximately 359 new housing units to Sisters got a hearing before the Sisters Planning Commission on Wednesday, November 10. No final decisions were made: Commissioners voted in favor of continuing the hearing on the Sisters Woodlands project to Thursday, December 2, at 5:30 p.m. The oral and written records pertaining to the Woodlands Master Plan are closed; the purpose of the special December 2 meeting will be to allow the Commissioners time to del... Full story
A 48-year-old Sisters area man — as yet unidentified by law enforcement — was among those swept up in a long-term investigation into the manufacturing and distribution of controlled substances within the Central Oregon area. The investigation involved the Deschutes County Illegal Marijuana Enforcement team and the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Street Crimes Unit. On November 11, around 9:30 a.m., Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Detectives executed three search warrants in Bend, Sisters, and Terrebonne. These l... Full story
For over two decades, the Sisters community has enhanced the educational experience of Sisters students through donations to the Sisters Schools Foundation (SSF). Currently SSF is in the midst of its fall donation campaign to fund a range of educational needs in all three Sisters schools that fall outside the school district’s regular budget. Teachers make requests for high-priority items and programs, which are reviewed and acted upon by the Foundation. Such needs include C... Full story
Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) deputies arrested Tracy Syanovitz, 58, of Sisters on a domestic assault charge late last month. According to DCSO’s public information officer Sgt. Jayson Janes, “Our office received a report of a possible assault on October 30, 2021 at 2:20 a.m. During the investigation the deputy obtained statements and evidence that gave them probable cause to believe Tracy Syanovitz committed the crimes of Assault IV Domestic Violence and harassment. The victim was a 52-year-old male subje... Full story
Sisters High School (SHS) counselor Rick Kroytz is a fervent believer in the impact the ASPIRE mentoring program can have in the lives of high school students as they explore their post-graduation options. Kroytz is the ASPIRE coordinator for the school district and he’s in search of a new crop of mentors to help juniors and seniors at SHS. Sisters High School has long been considered a leader among ASPIRE programs in Oregon, but the impact of COVID-19 has taken a big toll o... Full story
The Lady Outlaws played on the road at Marist, a private school that draws club players from all over the area, in the first round of the State playoffs, on Tuesday, November 3. Although the game ended in a 3-1 loss for the Outlaws, their coach couldn’t have been more proud. “Our girls played so good,” said Coach Brian Holden. “They came out so ready. They passed the ball around Marist on the ground and controlled the ball, creating goal-scoring opportunities from our wings and down the middle. “Our girls had control of the g... Full story
Once a new Sisters Elementary School is built on the campus at the west end of town in 2023, the current site on the corner of Highway 20 and Locust Street will become a community asset. How that asset might best be used is at the forefront of a community conversation. Citizens4Community (C4C) will kick off that conversation with a November 15 “Let’s Talk” session. These talks are conducted monthlyby C4C on a variety of issues important to Sisters, but they are making a particular effort to bring the public into the discu... Full story
Sisters youth are helping to restore the creek that runs through their hometown. Sisters High School (SHS) juniors in the Interdisciplinary Experiential Education (IEE) program participated in the planting of streamside vegetation to rehabilitate the banks of Whychus Creek, where the 17th and final dam/irrigation diversion was removed to allow for safe fish migration in the creek. Two groups of about 20 students each spent the afternoon on two days October 26-27, planting 450... Full story
A recent Oregon poll found Central Oregon region in need of at least 100 units of long-term housing for the 18-24 age group, plus another 170 long-term housing units. There is a complexity of reasons for youth homelessness including family breakdown, mental illness, sexual assault, addiction, family financial difficulty, and/or social isolation. With the adult homeless population, add to that the possibility of PTSD, low-income jobs, and unaffordable housing. Many of our adult homeless began down this road as teenagers and... Full story
Sisters faced No. 6 seed North Marion in the first round of the 4A State playoffs on Wednesday, November 3. Due to excessive rain the game was held on the turf at Canby High School. The Outlaws worked extremely hard all season to achieve the goal of making it to post-season play, and the seniors led the way and provided the leadership needed to make it happen. Although they lost the contest 3-2, they put up a great fight and proved they could match up against anyone in the league. In the first 15 minutes of the contest,... Full story
The past few months have been hard on many of our military veterans. After two decades of war in Afghanistan, they had to watch helplessly as the fruits of a generation of labor fell to the Taliban in a shambolic and bloody withdrawal. Inevitably, many were called to question what it was all for — all the strain and sacrifice, the blood and the treasure expended in a cause where four presidential administrations and the top brass failed in their commitment — and consistently failed to tell the truth. That... Full story
Nonpartisan commissioners To the Editor: Many of you have already signed the citizen’s initiative petition to make the Deschutes County commissioner seats and elections nonpartisan. Thank you so much for your support. We do not have enough signatures and currently are 47 percent of our goal. We want it in the May 2022 election. Unfortunately, citizens’ initiatives can only be signed in person (no e-signature or online allowed). If interested to sign, circulators will be at Paulina Springs Books (PSB) at 252 W. Hood Ave. bet... Full story
It only took a few snow flurries downtown Saturday to signal the start of winter play season. Folks from Sisters Country took off in droves, destination Ray Benson, Santiam, and Potato Hill Sno-Parks, anything above 6,000 feet that got a nice dumping Friday night, and throughout Saturday morning. Oregon Department of Transportation had already made a couple of sweeps as the weather changed seemingly by the minute, from hard-driving snow with 20 mph winds behind it, to pop-up s... Full story
Two Sisters High School students are journeying abroad with instruments in hand as Oregon Ambassadors of Music (OAM). Norma Quero and Justin Bowe, both sophomores at Sisters High School, were nominated by their band teacher, Tyler Cranor, to be a part of the Oregon Ambassadors of Music program in their respective instrument areas.... Full story
