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The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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Sisters post office takes precautions
By Jim Cornelius

Sisters is a long way from the Washington D.C.-New York City epicenter of terrorist anthrax attacks.

Yet the Sisters Post Office, like facilities all around the United States, is taking some precautions.

ìWe have made gloves available, we've made filtering face masks available to employees who choose to use them," said Sisters Postmaster Ed Wilson. "They're not required to, but they're encouraged. And most are using gloves."

The steps are precautionary, not the result of a specific threat or even the likelihood of a threat.

"We're not alarmed at this point, but we are more conscientious about the mail we're working," Wilson said.

Postal employees are instructed to be on the lookout for suspicious packages --those with hand-written addresses and no return address or those with stains that may be from a leaking substance. Such packages are isolated, and the local post office consults with the Portland postal inspector for further action.

One suspicious package has already been dealt with by Sisters postal employees.

According to Wilson, a letter came in with no return address and covered with "strange" writing and drawings that Wilson described as "demonic" (possibly Halloween related). It was also painted or stained.

The letter was isolated as per procedure and the postal inspector recommended contacting the addressee to see if the letter was expected.

The addressee reportedly acknowledged that the letter was for him and that he and a friend were "playing a game." Wilson said the addressee also acknowledged that the game was not very funny. The addressee accepted delivery of the letter.

While postal employees operate with a "heightened awareness," they feel safe in Sisters and morale is high, Wilson said.

Wilson said that the precautions in Sisters are based on the premise that mail tampering is a remote, but nevertheless real, possibility.

"Hopefully it will never happen here," Wilson said. "But it could happen here."

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