Wednesday, March 3, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Gov. extends state of emergency
reviews and reevaluates each
of her emergency orders
every 60 days
Brown first declared an
emergency declaration in
March 2020, when there were
only 14 known COVID-19
cases in the state.
<As we vaccinate thou-
sands of Oregonians each
day and reopen more school
buildings and businesses
as safely as possible, now
is not the time to let up our
guard. New, more infectious
COVID-19 variants are cir-
culating in the United States,
including several confirmed
cases in Oregon.
Oregon Republican sena-
tors refused to show up to
Thursday9s floor session,
objecting to the governor9s
COVID-19 restrictions
and handling of reopening
schools, vaccine rollout, and
economic recovery.
In a statement from Senate
Republicans, the lawmakers
said, <Despite declining case
counts, today you extended
your emergency declaration,
squeezing Oregonians even
more. The Legislature cannot
do its work to help Oregonians
By Sara Cline
Associated Press/Report for America
PORTLAND (AP) 4
Governor Kate Brown on
Thursday, February 25
extended Oregon9s declara-
tion of a state of emergency
until May 2 as confirmed
COVID-19 cases drop but
hundreds of new cases con-
tinue to be reported daily.
<Throughout the pan-
demic, Oregonians have
made smart choices that have
protected our families and
loved ones,< Brown said.
<Our infection and mortal-
ity rates have consistently
remained some of the lowest
in the country. And, for the
first time, COVID-19 critical-
care units are seeing fewer
and fewer patients.=
The Oregon Health
Authority on Thursday
reported 553 new confirmed
COVID-19 cases, bringing
the state total to 154,554. The
state9s death toll is 2,204.
The agency9s weekly
COVID-19 report, which was
released Wednesday, shows a
sharp decrease in daily cases,
hospitalizations, and deaths
from the previous week.
The health authority
reported a 35 percent decrease
in cases and a 42 percent
decrease in hospitalization.
The emergency declara-
tion is the legal underpinning
for the executive orders the
governor has issued, includ-
ing her orders surrounding
reopening Oregon, childcare,
schools, and higher educa-
tion operations. Extending
the state of emergency decla-
ration allows those orders to
stay in effect. The governor
The Legislature
cannot do its work to help
Oregonians recover when
people cannot go back to
work because of orders
requiring small businesses
to stay closed.
— Senate Republicans
...Oregonians have
made smart choices
that have protected our
families and loved ones.
— Gov. Kate Brown
recover when people cannot
go back to work because of
orders requiring small busi-
nesses to stay closed.=
As case counts have
improved, the governor
announced that 16 counties,
including Marion County
where the Capitol is, will be
moving to lower risk levels
4 allowing increased capac-
ity for indoor dining and
gyms. The new risk levels go
into effect Friday.
Five counties 4 Benton,
Coos, Douglas, Jefferson and
Josephine 4 remain in the
8extreme risk9 level, which
bans indoor dining.
<For the second time in a
row, we are seeing great prog-
ress in stopping the spread
of COVID-19 across Oregon
and saving lives,= Brown said.
The Oregon Health
Authority also reported that
22,841 new doses of the
COVID-19 vaccinations were
added to the state immuniza-
tion registry.
A cumulative total of
881,206 first and second
doses of COVID-19 vaccines
have been administered to
Oregonians.
Last week, vaccine eli-
gibility opened up to people
70 and older. As of Monday,
people who are 65 or older are
eligible for vaccine.
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Grazing rights rescinded
for controversial ranchers
PORTLAND (AP) 4 A
senior adviser in the U.S.
Department of Interior on
Friday rescinded a January
Trump administration deci-
sion to grant grazing allot-
ments to an Oregon ranch-
ing family whose members
were convicted of arson in
a court battle that triggered
the takeover of a federal
wildlife refuge by right-wing
extremists.
The new memo from the
Interior secretary9s office
found that the Trump admin-
istration hadn9t allowed for
sufficient time to receive and
consider public challenges
to the permit for Hammond
Ranches Inc.
The
Oregonian /
OregonLive reports the latest
action came just days before
the cattle were expected to
be turned out on public lands
neighboring the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge in
eastern Oregon.
Steven Hammond, co-
owner of the ranch, and his
father, Dwight, were both
convicted of arson for set-
ting fire to range land and
sent to prison for mandatory
five-year sentences.
That led to the armed
occupation of the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge for
41 days in 2016
President Donald Trump
pardoned the Hammonds in
2018, allowing them to be
freed from prison. In 2014,
when Barack Obama was
president, the BLM denied
Hammond Ranches a graz-
ing permit renewal.
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