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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2020)
The Nugget Vol. XLIII No. 15 P OSTAL CUSTOMER News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon www.NuggetNews.com Drug trafficking bust made on Cascade Avenue Detectives assigned to the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement (CODE) team arrested two Prineville resi- dents in Sisters on Tuesday, March 31, as the result of a long-term investigation by the CODE team into the ille- gal trafficking of commercial quantities of methamphet- amine into Central Oregon. Detectives assisted by the Deschutes County Sheriff9s Department contacted and PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15 Wednesday, April 8, 2020 The mountains abide& The Sisters backcountry still beckons, offering solitude and solace in times of trouble. See DRUG BUST on page 23 PHOTO BY BRETT MILLER — BARRAGE STUDIOS, SISTERS Volunteers rally to sew Birdwatching comforts during pandemic homemade face masks By Jodi Schneider Correspondent By Jodi Schneider Correspondent Last week, a respected sci- entific panel told the White House that research now shows that the coronavirus can be spread by talking, or possibly even just breathing. According to a fed- eral official, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been preparing to recommend that everyone wear homemade face coverings in public set- tings, like pharmacies and grocery stores, to avoid spreading the virus. Public health officials have continued to stress that N95 masks and surgical masks should be saved for frontline doctors and nurses, who have been in dire need of protective gear. With a whole lot of heart in the effort, seamstresses See FACE MASKS on page 14 Sisters students will learn from a distance By Charlie Kanzig Correspondent In a school district like Sisters, which is continually striving to keep students feel- ing engaged, prepared and connected, the <Distance Learning for All= mandate from Governor Kate Brown9s office has local teachers and administrators working hard to make the best of a very dif- ficult situation. Inside... The mandate comes out of the <Stay At Home, Save Lives= executive order the governor issued last month. In a letter to the com- munity published April 2, Superintendent Curt Scholl said that on April 6, when teachers got back on the job after spring break, <We intend to immediately start reach- ing out to our students and See SCHOOLS on page 22 With the world on lock- down, public spaces closed, and only so many episodes of <Outlander= to keep us enter- tained, we9ve got little left but to stare out our windows. The optimistic isolationist will find a whole amazing world of wildlife out there, enough to keep us busy until this is all over. It9s time to become a backyard birder. Birding is a perfect hobby for the quarantined. It9s a fun activity you can do from home in your own backyard. It requires little more than eyes and ears, some open sky, and maybe a few ponderosa pine or juniper trees where you can spot many species of birds. You can be an active participant by having a feeder or building bird boxes, or you can just watch the action unfold. It helps to have some binoculars, because birds are small and far away and because getting a closer view greatly enhances your appre- ciation of their beauty and behavior. Birds are loudest and most active 4 and so are easiest to see 4 in the morn- ings. Birds spend most of the rest of the day feeding on and off, so if you9ve got feed- ers in your backyard, you9re PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER An end-of-March flicker in a Sisters-area backyard. good all day long. Between 50 and 60 mil- lion Americans list bird- watching as a hobby. To start, all you need is a bird feeder. For safety and comfort, position feeders near a tree or bush at least 15 feet from windows. An unmarked win- dow looks like an escape route. They won9t see the glass. Products like Window Alert, a decal that reflects ultraviolet rays that birds see but humans don9t, can pre- vent a crash. Central Oregon is part of the Pacific Flyway, the See BIRDWATCHING on page 22 Letters/Weather .................2 Your Story Matters ..............6 Announcements ................10 Face Mask Pattern .........12-13 Classifieds ................... 19-21 Meetings ............................3 Obituaries ..........................7 Sisters Country Naturalist..11 Crossword ........................ 18 Real Estate .................. 21-24