News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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Jeri Fouts and her son Ryan Burbank were on the 24th floor of the Westin Downtown Hotel in Dallas, Texas, last Friday, August 23, waiting for an elevator to take them down to a birthday dinner with a family friend. They waited. And waited. "We almost considered walking down because we were going to miss the dinner," Jeri recalled. Finally, an elevator pinged, and a door opened onto an express elevator filled with football players from the Los Angeles Chargers. Jeri and Ryan st... Full story
Ann Ford knows a thing or two about senior living establishments. She managed three of them, including a memory care facility in Bend. Now she's a resident at Sisters Senior Living (formerly known as The Lodge in Sisters) - and she chose the place for one reason in particular: Alea Schliep. Alea is the life enrichment coordinator at the senior living home on Larch Street at the north end of Sisters. "I'm the one who basically creates the fun," she said. And creating that fun...
Anita Gail Jones loves book festivals. "It's fun to meet readers," she said. "People who go to book festivals love books, so you're really with your people when you go to book festivals." Jones is among the roster of authors who will offer readings and discussion at the Sisters Festival of Books September 13-15. Jones is the author of "The Peach Seed," recently long-listed for the Crook's Corner Book Prize. The novel is set in Albany, Georgia, where an under-recognized... Full story
Sheriff Shane Nelson announced last week that Captain Paul Garrison had been named Undersheriff in the midst of an election that pits two current Deschutes County Sheriff's Office personnel against each other. In a message posted to Facebook, Sheriff Nelson said, "The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office has two internal candidates for the Office of Sheriff, Captain William Bailey and Sergeant Kent Vander Kamp. Like many political matters, this dynamic can be divisive for our... Full story
For the second time in the space of a week, a wreck closed a major highway into Sisters from the east. A three-car pile-up on Highway 126, at the intersection with Camp Polk Road near Aspen Lakes, blocked traffic for a time in the late afternoon of Friday, August 23. Cloverdale Fire District personnel responded, along with an ambulance crew from Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District. According to Captain Travis Bootes of the Cloverdale District, one woman was transported to the... Full story
"A perfect day for my birthday!" Gerry Jimerson proclaimed on Saturday, August 17, as she stood next to Sam, who had just taken her on a nine-mile trail ride out of Sisters Cow Camp. A day in the saddle and an afternoon relaxing with friends at Sisters Cow Camp is as fitting a celebration of a 91st birthday as it is possible to have for a woman who has spent her life in the saddle - and decades maintaining trails and camps in Sisters Country. Jimerson has taken the lead on... Full story
Art lovers across Central Oregon are preparing for a feast of top-tier art in a wide range of media as Art in the High Desert returns to Bend August 23-25. The show will run Friday evening through Sunday afternoon at Riverbend Park across from the Old Mill District. The venue marks a return to Bend after 2023's show ran in Redmond, a development welcomed by both organizers and patrons. "Bend is where we've been for so many years, it seemed like the right place," said board... Full story
Jacob deSmet started painting houses and refinishing decks during college at George Fox University, where he was pursuing a degree in business management. He enjoyed the work, and when he had finished school, he decided to combine his educational background with the work he'd found a knack for, and he launched his own painting company. He joined his family in a move to Sisters, and brought Peak Performance Painting with him. "I do interior and exterior painting and I also do d...
My 5.11 Tactical Rush72 2.0 pack — a fabulous piece of gear, BTW — proudly bears a morale patch that proclaims “ I Cannot Live Without Books.” Truer words never rode on nylon and velcro. The forthcoming Sisters Festival of Books (see story) got me thinking about my relationship with books. Reading made me who I am. I’m sitting at my desk at The Nugget banging out this string of words on a keyboard because some time around 12 or 13 years old I read things that made me say to... Full story
When Marilyn and I pulled into Sisters in October of 1993, one of the first things I did was stop in at Paulina Springs Books. There, I picked up a book titled “Legends of the Fall” by Jim Harrison. It’s a collection of three novellas: the title story, about three brothers entwined in tragedy in Montana in the years around World War I; “Revenge,” a tale of love and betrayal in Mexico, and “The Man Who Gave Up His Name,” the story of a man who upends his life in search of his... Full story
Aesthetics and health and wellness are a life-long passion for Kimberly Canaday. With a deep medical background, including board certification as an Adult Nurse Practitioner, she brings science-based, safe, and effective practices to bear in her practice, Imagine Natural Beauty, helping people in Sisters look and feel their best. "Helping people - that's what drove me into medicine in the first place," she told The Nugget. "How people feel about themselves is so core to their... Full story
The music of Led Zeppelin will thunder and roar across downtown Sisters on Saturday night as Hardtails Bar & Grill hosts Valhalla, a tribute to one of the most influential bands in the history of rock music. Vocalist Larry Smith told The Nugget, "We have the privilege and honor to do probably the best band that ever existed." Recreating the potent sound of Led Zeppelin is no easy task. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham each brought unique elements to... Full story
John Grant and Jim Cunningham have walked in each others' tracks over 50 years of service. The two men were squadron mates in special air operations during the Vietnam War. Both went on to careers as pilots for United Airlines, and both continued to serve in the military - Cunningham in the Oregon Air National Guard, Grant with the U.S. Air Force Reserves. "He went into the Reserves, I went to the Guard - that's the only difference as far as our service went," Cunningham told... 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
Sisters’ government agencies play a big role in the community — from City Hall to the school district, from the U.S. Forest Service to fire and police services. Covering the functions and actions of those agencies is one of our responsibilities. Local government has a big impact on the community. Sisters is deeply invested in the success of our schools, and there is a high level of interest in what goes in in the classroom, on performance stages and athletic fields. Sisters fo...
While The Nugget staff and freelancers put out our weekly newspaper 52 weeks a year, year in and year out, the paper is far from our only publication. We produce programs for organizations and agencies across Central Oregon, the visitors guide that is a primary marketing tool for Sisters, and a now-biannual magazine. The spring edition of Spirit of Central Oregon is on the street now - and it is one of my favorite projects in more than 30 years of creating content at The...
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
A chip-sealing project on Locust Street/Camp Polk Road went badly awry this week, causing damage to numerous vehicles. The Deschutes County Road Department is making good on the damage. Road Department Director Chris Doty told The Nugget what happened on Wednesday, July 10. "Chip sealing can be very finicky," he said. "In this case, a little too much oil was applied and we released the road to traffic before the oil had time to settle." The result was "traffic driving on the... Full story
Coaching high school sports can be extraordinarily rewarding - helping young people grow and realize their potential, and creating bonds and memories that last a lifetime. Sports means a lot in Sisters, and many programs have had exceptional success. Coaching also comes with a high degree of stress and pressure, even in - perhaps especially in - the most successful programs. Last month, two-time Coach of the Year and 2023 state champion volleyball coach Rory Rush resigned her... Full story
Quilters from all around the globe are already in Sisters, getting ready to watch the downtown bloom into color on Saturday, July 13, as volunteers hang some 1,060 quilts from one end of town to the other. The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) is in its 49th year, and it remains the biggest show of its kind anywhere. The show is unique in many ways: it’s free to the public, and the display is not in a convention hall or other institutional environment — it’s outside in the summer sun, and takes visitors all around Siste... Full story
Two small fires serve as a warning to campers as the region heads into dangerous fire weather. Fire crews jumped quickly on a small brush fire southeast of town on July 4. According to Sisters District Ranger Ian Reid, the fire that broke out on Thursday afternoon off the 4606 road between Sisters and the Rodeo Grounds “sounds like it was caused by ashes that were disposed of that were still hot.” The area sees a mix of recreational campers and forest dwellers. Reid said that the person responsible for the hot ash disposal wa... Full story
(UPDATED June 30 to include statement from Black Butte Ranch). Nine people who worked at Robert’s Pub on Black Butte Ranch have filed a $13.5 million lawsuit alleging that they were sexually abused and harassed by long-time Ranch server Michael Woosley — and that the Ranch and its managers failed to act to correct and stop Woosley’s actions. Attorneys Christopher Larsen of Pickett Dummigan McCall LLP and Jason Kafoury of Kafoury & McDougal held a press conference in Bend on Thursday, June 27, shortly after the lawsuit was f... Full story
Matt Faldmo's journey into a career promoting wellness began with his efforts to improve his own well-being. "I started with nutritional therapy," he recalled. "I didn't realize how much the food I was putting in my body was affecting me. So it started with food and nutrition." He has added a variety of modalities to his practice, located at Daybreak Wellness in Sisters, in an effort to meet the varied requirements of people in need. "Everybody is so different and they need... Full story
I am on my third rewatch of HBO’s legendary series, Deadwood. I have found this perambulation along the muddy thoroughfare of that Dakota Black Hills mining camp more resonant than ever, given the tenor of our times. Strangely comforting, too. Deadwood is not for everybody. It is as raw as the lumber that built Al Swearengen’s Gem Variety Theater (a theater, yes, but also a saloon and brothel), notoriously violent and foul-mouthed. As was the historical town — although the r... Full story
