News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 395
For those of you who have struggled to hook and land a really big bull trout (I am one of you), you might want to not read any further. Okay, I warned you. Here's my tale: One of the coolest things about the Metolius River is that huge, predatory fish - bull trout - lurk in many parts of the river. If you see a log or two sticking out of the water, there's a good chance that a bull trout is lurking under the wood and waiting for a smaller trout or whitefish to make a mistake.... Full story
Perhaps the most visually impactful constellation of summer is Scorpius. There are at least two reasons for this. First, the arrangement of its brightest stars actually does resemble a scorpion, complete with claws, heart, tail, and yes, even the stinger. Secondly, because the Milky Way runs through this part of the sky, many dazzling star fields are found here. While Scorpius can be seen on the southeastern horizon at about midnight as early as May, its full visual potential... Full story
Louis L'Amour is one of the most realistic authors ever published. His descriptions of the country traveled in each book make you feel like you're in the middle of the desert, or high on a mountain, or wherever the travels are. And the personalities of his characters cover all kinds of people, so you understand exactly what they're thinking and feeling in the moment. There are a couple of ways to read his series on the Sackett family. You can read them in chronological order,... Full story
Tattoos are done in a variety of styles, subjects and colors, and the motivations behind getting them, are as varied as the tattoos themselves. It's not unusual to see a heart, a boyfriend's face, or even an exotic animal - but tweezers? Approaching the counter at The Hen's Tooth I look toward the young woman behind the counter and notice a tattoo on her arm of a tweezer. The story behind this tattoo connects to a small box on the counter with the label Grandpa's Tweezers.... Full story
What do we say to our kids when the news brings events unconscionable to most of us adults? Of course, I’m referring to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. That’s just one example. Our kids hear and see much. This is what they are growing up with, what seems to be becoming the norm of our society. How do we explain it? How do we counter it in a way they will understand? Probably the easiest thing to keep in mind is to balance whatever you say with your own values, sharing thoughts about things tha... Full story
Last Thursday, I got a message from a man who had submitted a letter to the editor a couple of weeks ago. He was disappointed that we ran a letter in response to his that — in a negatively personal way — dismissed his substantive argument essentially as “drinking the Koolaide,” referring to the 1979 mass suicide of the Jonestown cult in Guyana. That kind of hyperbole has become so common that we get desensitized to it. It’s over the top — and not much of a contribution to an a... Full story
Food sovereignty To the Editor: In response to commentary on the Sisters Community Garden: Last week Bailey Diemer made an excellent point, one that seems to be forgotten in our current worldview: Food Sovereignty. When considering the best use of a space, how can we seriously be comparing growing our own food with cherishing a lawn? I agree with Bailey’s observation that no one uses that exceptionally large lawn. I have two young children, we play at Cliff Clemens playground. Sometimes, people walk across the lawn to get t... Full story
Despite the afternoon heat a few weeks ago, a demure elderly woman (older than I am but not by much) was knocking on doors in my neighborhood. She held a yellow, lined tablet she had repurposed into a petition to garner signatures. Her cause, she explained, was to stop the Sisters Community Garden from laying claim to a goodly portion of Cliff Clemens Park on Larch Street. I declined to sign it at the time because, well, this was the first I heard about it. Today I now agree with that petitioner. The garden needs to find... Full story
The PCT hikers will soon be passing through Sisters for respite and refueling. They rely on the kindness of locals for rides from the trailhead to town and back. Occasionally, a generous friend of mine will go to the Santiam Pass and offer a hiker a ride. He’s the guy you see driving the Batmobile in town and has Superman in a phone booth on his driveway that is visible from Route 126. He recently installed a spaceship complete with aliens near Superman. I suggested that the next time he picks up a PCT hiker, he should ask t... Full story
Black Butte Ranch Art Guild hosted a fundraiser during Quilt Show weekend — Art at the Ranch — to benefit scholarships for art students at Sisters High School. Since 2003, the BBR Art Guild has granted $91,000 in scholarships, helping nurture the creative spirit in young minds. This year, in addition to donations from Ranch community members, the “Art at the Ranch” committee reached out to many businesses in Sisters, and more than 30 donated an item or items to be auctioned off in a silent auction. The silent auction raised... Full story
Seed to Table To the Editor: As the new Executive Director at Seed to Table, I’d like to thank our community for welcoming me so warmly. Seed to Table truly is a community supported and community serving nonprofit. I look forward to continuing to meet and learn from all of our great partners, supporters, and community members. Recently, I had the honor of attending an awards ceremony with other nonprofit representatives to receive a grant from the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation. This is the second year in a row we have we... Full story
In little over a week, we had an assassination attempt on a former president and the current president dropped out of the running. Immediately pundits and social media tycoons began talking conspiracy, victimization chatter., the need to control what feels out of control. Fear. As this political season ramps up, the wailing pontificators are at it again. So I want to throw out a simple question—a little personal but here it goes. Do you ever think about the breath of life, how it’s used? I once followed a friend to an obs... Full story
The Nugget’s story on the proposal by two companies to provide shuttle services to and from several trailheads on the Sisters Ranger District appeared in the July 17 edition, two days before the end of the official Forest Service comment period on July 19. That timeframe is not optimal for informing our readers about a project of interest in our National Forest. Unfortunately, The Nugget was made aware of the scoping letter for the project — by a citizen — only on July 15. We... Full story
“There’s no place for this kind of violence in America.” So said President Joe Biden in response to an attempt to assassinate former president Donald Trump on Saturday, in a shooting at a campaign rally that left an attendee dead and two others severely injured. The shooter was taken out by a Secret Service counter-sniper team. It was, of course, the right thing — the only thing — to say. But violence directed at political figures has all too often found its place in Americ... Full story
Forest Service Shuttle Proposal To the Editor: Our Deschutes National Forest does some very good things, such as prescribed burning to clear out historically dangerous fuel loads, and the wrongly maligned Green Ridge forest management project, designed to preserve — not harm —the older growth forests. But two recent USFS proposals are a direct threat to those who enjoy hiking, horseback riding, and traditional natural activities in our taxpayer-funded forest. The Forest Service proposes to introduce to numerous trails in the... Full story
Bill Kelly, president of Rotary Club of Sisters, and Kellen Klein, executive director of Citizens4Community (C4C), wrote: Rotary Club of Sisters and C4C extend our heartfelt thanks to the community for your overwhelming support of the inaugural Sisters 4th Fest. Your participation and enthusiasm made the event a resounding success. We want to express gratitude to our generous sponsors: The Nugget, Explore Sisters, Les Schwab, St. Charles, Big Chief Vintage, Blazin Saddles, Eurosports, Bivvi Homes, Next Phase Realty, Sisters... Full story
Eight-year-olds from cabin 3 practiced doing the splits while others banged on old pianos. Counselors rinsed blue finger paint from a little girl’s hair. There was glue everywhere. The kids danced and sang “the blessing song” before dinner, with hand motions to go with the ever-quickening pace of the guitar. Squeals, laughter, and ruckus filled the room. Dinner plates, full from the buffet, had heaps of black olives only (“I love olives”) or an excessive amount of sliced limes (“I squeeze one lime onto each tortilla ch... Full story
I was told many years ago that it takes just one consistent and caring person in a child’s life for them to develop resilience — resilience that will help them succeed in spite of circumstances like poverty, homelessness, and a challenging family life that deprive them of reliable care, support, and opportunities. If you don’t know about Circle of Friends, now is your chance to learn about its positive impact on the lives of underserved kids in our Sisters community. Circle of Friend’s annual fundraiser, “Changing Futures... Full story
You might be wondering why things seem to be so very, very weird out there in the wide world, and one explanation could be right under our feet. Scientists, it turns out, have recently determined that the earth’s core is now rotating backwards. That may be a hard sell to most of us, having never seen the thing with our own eyes, but taking the occasional scientific claim on good faith isn’t always a bad choice — the late covid conundrum notwithstanding. The earth’s core is a s... Full story
Over four years ago, I ran for City Council and lost. I ran because at that time, the city was lucky to find any candidates at all to fill the three open seats. That was a rather sad state of affairs. As a member of Indivisible Sisters Steering Committee, we encouraged running for local offices. We were not having much luck at it, so I ran as an example. I filed early, there was one other candidate and me for three open seats. Soon after filing my candidacy, I submitted a letter to the editor of The Nugget explaining the step... Full story
Community garden To the Editor: I was dismayed to learn that the city is considering Clemens Park as one of the sites for the Community Garden. The park is one of the few expansive green spaces in the city and is used by many of us on a regular basis. Perhaps they don’t realize how much the park is used for our children to run and play, for walking our dogs, the occasional neighborhood event, and just sitting and enjoying the outdoors. Removing a large portion of the beautiful lawn and surrounding the resulting dirt patch w... Full story
The summertime constellation of Ophiuchus was among the first star patterns to be cataloged by Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy in the Second Century. The name means "Serpent Bearer" in Greek, though it is sometimes referred to by its Latin name, Serpentarius. Ophiuchus is usually depicted in star charts as a man holding a snake, namely Serpens. Ophiuchus is the eleventh largest constellation by area on the celestial sphere but contains no stars brighter than second... Full story
Politics are a necessary way of organizing our society around the values we hold dear. We all have political decisions to make. But if we lose sight of what our values are, we allow political parties to determine them and often we vote for the lesser of two evils. Politics are to be lived out. We can make a political difference in our own neighborhoods and towns. Whether our neighbors are Republicans, Democrats, or Independents, we are called to organize our values around... Full story
Common sense immigration To the Editor: Mass deportation as a solution for illegal or unauthorized immigration is wedging itself into our politics. That’s an impossibility and a distraction. We need a functional immigration plan. The Migration Policy Institute reports data for 11,047,000 unauthorized immigrants. Most were born in Mexico, Central or South America, or the Caribbean, some in Africa, Asia, Canada, or Europe. Of that total, 63 percent (6,933,000) have resided in the U.S. ten years or more; 33 percent (... Full story
Destroying America To the Editor: I appreciated Steve Woodside’s letter to the editor on June 19, where he wrote “the voting public can sit on a fence complaining about their choices in this election cycle, or they can understand where we are as a country, that there are people who actively want to destroy us from inside and outside our country.” The fact that so much threat to our country is coming from the “inside” is what is so chilling, and it is time we woke up to why that is the case. My friends, take a good hard look... Full story
