The Nugget
Vol. XLV No. 2
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Snow play...
Storms
were
good, but
won’t bust
drought
Vigil marks
January 6
Capitol riot
By T. Lee Brown
Correspondent
By Bill Bartlett
Correspondent
Looking out the window
at the Three Sisters or hiking
along Whychus Creek, one
might think the deep snow
and partial flooding would
be a good predictor that our
years-long drought might be
alleviated. Not so fast say
the folks who make a living
measuring and tracking these
things.
Drought maps like the
one shown on page 8 from
January 4 produced by the
National Integrated Drought
Information System, a federal
agency, are still discouraging.
Sisters Country is still in cat-
egory D3-Extreme Drought
as is 57.9 percent of Oregon
overall.
Stream flows are deceiving
if looked at only over a period
of a few day or weeks. Winter
is a months-long process of
PHOTO BY BRENDA JAROS
Chloe the Bernadoodle enjoying a romp in the snow with her friends.
See DROUGHT on page 8
Editor in Chief
State education officials
are making ominous rum-
blings about the potential
for the omicron variant of
COVID-19 to push students
back to online learning.
<Student access to in-
person instruction is under
serious threat,99 the Oregon
Department of Education and
the Oregon Health Authority
said, as students returned to
school after Christmas break.
Sisters schools are deter-
mined to keep students in
class.
<It9s always been our pri-
ority since the start of this
thing to keep in-person edu-
cation,= said Sisters Schools
Inside...
Sisters residents com-
memorated the January 6,
2021 riot at the United States
Capitol with a lively online
event. Members of Indivisible
Sisters hosted 72 attend-
ees, gave rousing speeches,
and presented guest speaker
Jamie McLeod-Skinner, a
local candidate who has per-
sonal experience related to
authoritarian governments.
Master of Ceremonies
Mary Chaffin opened with
a land acknowledgment to
tribes that historically lived
in or roamed upon what is
now called Sisters Country.
She drew attention to <the
grievous wound to our
democracy= served by the
insurrection. Last January
represented the only time <in
244 years that we didn9t have
peaceful transition of power=
after a presidential election,
she observed.
McLeod-Skinner spoke
of coming together in <a
combination mourning
See VIGIL on page 18
Schools determined
to keep kids in class
By Jim Cornelius
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
Superintendent Curt Scholl.
<We know it9s critically
important to have our kids
live, in person, in school.=
Scholl told The Nugget
that he hasn9t heard anything
directly from the State that
would indicate that in-person
education is under immedi-
ate threat.
<The biggest rumbling is
that they9re looking at co-
curricular,= he said.
According to Associated
Press, state officials have
suggested schools suspend
extracurricular activities or
ensure they follow safety
protocols. They also warned
that rapid transmission of the
omicron variant is expected
See SCHOOLS on page 22
Charging up in Sisters
to get easier
PHOTO BY BILL BARTLETT
Mainline Station’s EV charging station is currently the only one in Sisters available to the general public.
By Bill Bartlett
Correspondent
Laura, a reader and recent
transplant from Portland,
was frustrated by the dearth
of EV (electric vehicle)
charging stations in Sisters.
While she took the time
to let The Nugget know of
her experiences in recharg-
ing while shopping, there is
ample anecdotal evidence of
See CHARGING on page 21
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Sisters Naturalist .............. 6 Entertainment ................. 11 Fun & Games ....................16 Classifieds ................. 19-20
Meetings .......................... 3 Announcements ...............10 Fit for Sisters ...................15 Crossword .......................18 Real Estate .................21-24