News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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A big heart in a little package might be just the right way to describe a Sisters resident who has contributed to the Sisters community for the 23 years she has called this place home. Annie Marland was one of the first to purchase a home in 2000 in The Pines, the 55-plus community located off McKinney Butte Road. Her neighbors refer to her as “The Historian,” because she’s been there since the beginning of the neighborhood. Her dad lived with her for the first four years... Full story
Brian David Owens stopped by The Nugget last Thursday to clear a couple of things up. Owens lives in the forest west of Ponderosa Lodge, and he was mentioned — by first name only — in Bill Bartlett’s story “Forest thinning reveals forest dwellings,” (The Nugget, January 18, page 1). He and his dog Dude came into the office, and we rang up Bill, and we all had a good conversation. Owens prefers that his full name be used. He wanted it understood that his frien... Full story
Contrasting classified scandals To the Editor: Before I sit down to write something I might seek to have published, I ask myself two questions: What point will I try to make, and who is my intended audience? In his opinion piece “Jammin’ in Joe’s garage” (The Nugget January 18, page 2), Mr. Cornelius fails to explain the first, and it is obvious what is the second. He explicitly promotes the notion that “both sides do it” (mishandle classified documents), as means of eliding the significant differences between the actions... Full story
Knowing the community you are working in on an intimate basis makes a big difference in law enforcement. That was the message that came across loud and clear in a two-night Citizens Academy open house hosted by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) at the Sisters Fire District Community Hall on Wednesday and Thursday, January 18-19. Between 30 and 40 citizens turned out each night to get to know local deputies and to get a glimpse at how the DCSO operates. Everyone a... Full story
The controversial Sunset Meadows development can go forward — if developers meet conditions of approval. Woodhill Homes’ application for their Master Plan development Sunset Meadows, on a 12.92-acre property in the multi-family residential district (MFR) at 15510 McKenzie Highway on the west side of town, won approval — with conditions — from the Planning Commission at their January 19 meeting. The condition of approval requires the applicant to revise t... Full story
Good fences make good neighbors — so the saying goes. The Nugget’s story last week about the Forest Service mowing the underbrush in the Sisters woods, and thereby making homeless camps more visible, caused some readers to make contact in hopes of adding context to the story. One was Ashley Okura, one of the family owners of Ponderosa Lodge, the landmark motel at the Barclay/Highway 20 roundabout. Okura explained the long history of the new 1,700-lineal-foot fence b... Full story
Three City councilors were sworn in at the January 11 Council workshop. Returning councilors Michael Preedin and Gary Ross were elected to four-year terms and Susan Cobb to a two-year term. Following the oath of office, all five councilors received training on roles, protocols on public meetings, and records and ethics from the City attorneys of Bryant, Lovlien & Jarvis. City councilors reelected Michael Preedin to serve as mayor for the next two years, and Andrea Blum was... Full story
The first executive director of Explore Sisters, Scott Humpert, told The Nugget that the primary goal for the new destination management organization (DMO) is to sustain Sisters’ quality of livability by managing tourism to insure they attract “the right person at the right time in the right place.” Rather than simply promoting general tourism through broad marketing, the DMO’s messaging will work to attract certain kinds of tourist who value the small-town atmosphere and sur... Full story
Looking around Sisters Country and seeing standing water in many places might lead one to conclude that we’re inundated with water. Not really. While recent rains and snows are a welcome sign, and indeed there is some slight improvement to our years-long drought, the numbers say we have a long road ahead. Sisters Country is still clocking in at D2 (Severe Drought) as compared to a year ago on this date when we were recording D3 (Extreme). Just a few miles away, Bend remains a... Full story
If you have driven on North Pine Street, or the adjacent FS 100 Road spur, or along Highway 20 just west of the city limits, and the forest looks like somebody came in and mowed it one day — they did. Not in one day of course, but over a period of weeks. Suddenly the forest appears wide open, manicured even. The trees seem taller, more stately. The intent is to reduce fuels — dense underbrush — and is part of an ongoing, multi-year, forest-wide strategy to... Full story
As food insecurity reaches crisis levels in Central Oregon, Newport Avenue Market and Oliver Lemon’s shoppers and employees are bridging the gap, raising over $76,044 to provide food to fuel the local community. Throughout December, shoppers donated money to the Food for February fundraiser, and the 100 percent employee-owned markets matched the funds. The funds will be used to purchase groceries at wholesale cost for Family Kitchen of Bend, Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank, S... Full story
A motorist driving down Cascade Avenue on Tuesday evening, January 17, spotted a person wearing a black ski mask trying to break into Lonesome Water Books. The citizen called 911 at about 6:15 p.m. According to Sgt. Jason Wall of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, as deputies responded to the area, Deschutes County 911 was advised that the person wearing the ski mask had gained entry to the store. When law enforcement arrived, the subject wearing the ski mask left the store, armed with a hatchet. A Deschutes County S... Full story
As 2022 ended, The Nugget ran a section honoring those who died in 2022. Men and women who mattered to the community, in both large and small ways. However, my mind immediately went to those who were left behind, the spouses, the children, the parents. Are they alone? Is someone reaching out to them? Is someone sharing their grief? Whose responsibility is it? Our culture of giving special attention to the deceased individual is honorable, but what about the surviving loved... Full story
According to Scott Crabtree, to get the best from our brain we must feed it with nutritious foods and rich information. In his presentation last Thursday morning at the Sisters Fire District Community Hall, sponsored by Citizens4Community (C4C), Crabtree gave an engaging, information-packed workshop, providing guidelines for better remembering. He used the visual concept of a “memory palace” in which each room represents one facet of memory assigned a vivid visual aid. Mem... Full story
In Sisters we live with a dramatic backdrop of Cascade mountains, close to the wilderness and its mysteries. But one character in the cast of characters of wild places is missing, and people are still out there looking for it. Is the wolverine, a solitary carnivore, gone from our mountains or could it return someday? A month before he passed away, our beloved friend, naturalist Jim Anderson, suggested a quest was still needed to follow a tale he had been intrigued with for... Full story
Sisters Country has its share of pests, from infiltrations of ants to tunneling voles in the grass to rodents getting into the garage or the house. Birds and bats can pose a problem. Pests can be a nuisance — and sometimes they can cause significant damage. Owner-operator Mike Larson has been in the pest control business in Central Oregon since 2002, and he’s developed an approach that goes way beyond period mitigation measures like spraying. “I’m more an integ... Full story
Erika Bolstad, a Portland-based journalist, followed the thread of family lore back to North Dakota to pick up the trail of her great-grandmother Anna, a homesteader in the early 1900s whose husband committed her to an asylum under mysterious circumstances. Bolstad’s journey became her book “Windfall” — finished during a residency at Pine Meadow Ranch Center For Arts & Agriculture in Sisters. Bolstad returns to Sisters on Thursday, January 26, to share her work at Pauli... Full story
What’s with the price of eggs? That’s being asked across the country and especially in Sisters, where a dozen white Grade AA large eggs at Ray’s is $4.99, and at Oliver Lemon’s those same white eggs are sold only by the half dozen for $3.79. Bi-Mart sells a dozen for $2.99. Nationwide the average price of eggs has risen 59 percent from December of 2021 to December 2022. The median price of a dozen rose to $4.25 vs. $1.78 one year earlier according to the latest Consume... Full story
Sisters Ranger District fire specialists are conducting brush removal work with Forest Service staff and contractors to mow approximately 3,300 acres of brush across several sites within three project areas. Equipment operators have been conducting this work since late fall of 2022. Starting this week, they will be shifting brush mastication operations to the Highway 20 Project Area located on National Forest System lands immediately adjacent to Highway 20 and northeast of the West Barclay Drive roundabout. In addition,... Full story
Marilyn O’Hern was the mother of six children, grandmother of eight, and great-grandmother of eight. Her son Shawn O’Hern and wife, Kate; grandchildren Keenan and wife Stacy, Tessa, and Leah O’Hern have lived in Sisters since 2004. Her daughter Bonnie O’Hern lives in Sisters; and grandson Owen and wife Kimberly, and great-grandson live in Bend. Marilyn’s other children: Don, Tamara and Jim, Erin and Doug, and Kerri and Thomas, live out of state. Marilyn and her deceased... Full story
Chuck Marshall of Sisters passed away in his home on Friday, December 2. He was 92 years old. He leaves behind many dear friends in Sisters, where he and his late wife, Peggy, had lived since 1990. Peggy passed away in January 2017. Chuck was born in April, 1930 in Portland, the first-born child of Charles W. Marshall and Gertrude M. Marshall. He attended Lincoln High School and Benson Tech, both in Portland. He met and married Peggy Camp, on January 19, 1951. She was a recept... Full story
Abner Callaway Allen Jr. will be missed by his loving family and the whole Central Oregon community. Cal passed away on January 13, comforted by his wife and close friends. These words cannot possibly sum up the life of such a beautiful person, but serve rather as a glimpse into, and inspiration for, a life well lived. He loved nature, science, community service, and most of all his family. He believed in people, education, and possibilities. He leaves behind a legacy of integ... Full story
Sisters School District (SSD) is looking forward to the next two years and the state budget that will be proposed mid-2023, determining the funding for schools for the 2023-2025 biennium. Superintendent Curt Scholl spoke to The Nugget about what potential budget numbers look like for SSD. “We are looking at a lot of inflationary trends with affordable housing for our staff, and costs of operations being higher with the cost of fuel rising last year, things like that,” sai... Full story
The Sisters Library is closed as of January 15 to allow for remodeling. The updated library will reopen in fall 2023. A temporary Sisters Library facility opens January 24, in a mobile unit on the current library property at 110 N. Cedar St. in Sisters. The library asks that customers hold their returns during the transition week (January 15-23). No late fees will be charged for materials, and holds will be available once the temporary space opens on January 24. Learn more about the new library and get updates at... Full story
The boys and girls basketball squads both lost their games on the road at Harrisburg on Friday, January 13; the boys in a 50-38 loss and the girls a 60-40 loss. In the boys matchup, it was a close first quarter that ended in a 10-10 tie at the close of the period. The Outlaws switched up their norm and, instead of coming out in a man-to-man defense, came out in their 1-3-1 zone. That worked at times, but the Eagles had strong outside shooting and hit two three-pointers in the quarter. Sisters’ offense had several strong shots... Full story
