The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Last week, while some Oregon legislators were resisting the cyanide pill of a “climate bill” — whose only certain result will be the destruction of of good jobs for mostly rural Ore... — Updated 6/25/2019 Full story

Way back a thousand years ago, when I came off the desert to try once again — reluctantly — to reconcile myself to the vagaries of human civilization, I committed a cardinal sin:... — Updated 6/4/2019 Full story

I took some time off from working the colt, writing, and fixing the myriad things around the Figure 8 that broke in the last big snowstorm. I put all that away for a three-day fishing trip... — Updated 5/22/2019 Full story

Juanito Mendiolea was a Basque immigrant who over many years donated considerable time and energy helping my family with our sheep. He was an enduring presence at our place, during winter lam... — Updated 4/16/2019 Full story

Out here in the West water is precious, particularly when living on the east side of any mountain range between the Sierra-Cascades and the Rockies. Eastsiders live within a perpetual loop... — Updated 4/2/2019 Full story

Challenges travel in packs, and this winter is no exception. No sooner had our second generational snowstorm in four years ransacked an otherwise placid winter, than one of the dogs ripped... — Updated 3/5/2019 Full story

I'm writing this on Sunday morning, during the first real snowstorm we've enjoyed this year-though I almost didn't believe it was going to happen. I stopped believing the weather woman about... — Updated 2/26/2019 Full story

We are, in our travels, occasionally blessed to spend time with incredible people who, against every conceivable cultural and political roadblock, still manage to make a difference. This... — Updated 2/19/2019 Full story

Last week provided a sobering look in the American mirror. Much of that ugly reflection was concentrated in the State of Virginia, where Governor Ralph Northam first admitted, then denied, th... — Updated 2/12/2019 Full story

The field of candidates for the 2020 Presidential Challenge Blowout is taking shape just in time for pitchers and catchers - they report for spring training in early February - and what... — Updated 2/11/2019 Full story

There is a concept in the art world known as "negative space." The basic idea is that instead of trying to draw the branches in a tree, one draws the space between the branches, and... — Updated 2/5/2019 Full story

Now that the APA (American Psychological Association) has decided that the political opinions of psychologists are a legitimate factor in mental-health care, we've reached another crossroads... — Updated 2/3/2019 Full story

One idea that surfaced from the recent VAT (Vision Action Team) meetings was to foster a vision of Sisters Country as the artisanal capital of Oregon. That idea may be one of the better ones... — Updated 1/8/2019 Full story

Americans have become a fearful lot. And I really do mean scaredy-cats, a bunch of whimpering, simpering, cowardly lions afraid of everything from chocolate milk to clowns, from fake... — Updated 12/24/2018 Full story

My detective brain tells me that President Donald Trump is lying, though it's unclear to me exactly what he's lying about. It also seems clear that fired FBI Director James Comey, too smug by... — Updated 12/11/2018 Full story

If you don't know, artificial intelligence, AI, is creeping inexorably into our lives. From facial recognition technology to autonomous vehicles, from drone swarms to Siri, from Tesla to... — Updated 11/27/2018 Full story

Last week I was elk hunting out east and saw, for the first time, a wolf in the wild. I've seen just about all of the other big predators in North America at one time or another: homo... — Updated 10/31/2018 Full story

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico - If you are one who cares about horses or, as in my case, embrace an unreasonable affinity for all things equine, sooner or later you are going to end up in... — Updated 10/16/2018 Full story

For many people, the Great American Kaepernick Conundrum looks more like a spoiled brat dishonoring genuine sacrifice than a meaningful protest. The other side views Kaepernick's crusade as... — Updated 9/11/2018 Full story

We are going to be hearing a lot about tribalism in the coming years. That's mostly because so many Americans now see solutions to their angst in joining identity clubs. Pick something about... — Updated 9/4/2018 Full story

Sisters doesn't need its own police department. To begin with, we can't afford one. Police departments, like an effective military, are extremely expensive to operate and maintain. That's par... — Updated 8/28/2018 Full story

Sisters resident Jeff Ramsey is a passionate man. As a Hollywood stuntman and stunt coordinator he has been lit on fire by Drew Barrymore, kidnapped Mel Gibson, and been bashed over the head... — Updated 8/7/2018 Full story

San Jose, California native Brythnie Tobar, 28, is no stranger to challenges. After six years in the Navy conducting combat intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions as a radar... — Updated 7/24/2018 Full story

Last week's Letters to the Editor offered an important study in contrasts. One was a well-considered essay in which the writer expressed her concerns, approached the discussion with a... — Updated 7/17/2018 Full story

Independence is a funny thing. These days many of the folk who enjoy its fruits - liberty and freedom - are pilloried, marginalized or, as in the case of this column during the late IP43... — Updated 7/3/2018 Full story