WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021 | SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Oregon’s spike in deaths wasn’t just COVID-19
Bill Poehler
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Some of the older patients Salem oncologist Dr. Bud
Pierce had been treating for cancer stopped showing
up for regular visits in March 2020 as the state went on
lockdown due to COVID-19.
It’s unclear whether they had been afraid to venture
out, or were unable to leave their assisted-living com-
munities, or didn’t have anyone willing to help them
get to their appointments in the fearful days of the
Experts believe deaths from drug overdoses, cancer, heart
conditions and Alzheimer’s disease are related to the pandemic
pandemic.
But they never came back.
Pierce said they died not from COVID-19, but from
the lack of access to life-saving cancer treatments.
It was expected 2020 would be the deadliest year in
Oregon history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But
new data shows the spike can be attributed to more
Lawsuit targets
post-fire logging
than just people dying after contracting the coronavi-
rus.
According to the Oregon Health Authority, 40,150
people died last year, 3,853 more than the state’s five-
year average. Experts label those as excess deaths.
See EXCESS, Page 2A
Silverton sergeant
sentenced for
attacking wife
Virginia Barreda and
Whitney Woodworth
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
A former Silverton police sergeant was sentenced to
three years of probation for attacking his wife, barri-
cading himself in their Keizer home and engaging in an
hours-long standoff with a SWAT team.
Rene Bravo, 61, was sentenced following a five-day
trial in mid-March in Marion County Circuit Court. A
jury found Bravo guilty of two counts of second-degree
attempted assault constituting domestic violence, two
counts of unlawful use of a weapon, interfering with a
police officer and attempted fourth-degree assault.
Bravo’s wife, who is also in law enforcement, attrib-
uted the sleep-aid Ambien, which her husband was
prescribed to help with insomnia related to his over-
night shifts and changing work hours, to his behavior
the night of the attack.
She pointed to the trauma and stress her husband
endured after decades in law enforcement — child
abuse calls, suicides and fatal crashes. She said he was
given a life-saving award for pulling a person attempt-
ing suicide from a carbon monoxide-filled garage.
“These are traumas law enforcement deals with on a
daily basis,” she said.
According to online law enforcement records, Bravo
joined the Silverton Police Department in 2009 and
was promoted to sergeant in 2018. He previously
worked with the Aurora Police Department, Hubbard
Police Department and the Oregon Army National
Guard.
With his certification revoked, his gun rights taken
away and his status as a felon, Bravo’s entire way of life
is gone, his wife said.
It is the Statesman Journal’s policy to not name vic-
tims of domestic violence.
Damage from wildfires is seen at the Shellburg Falls area in the Santiam State Forest.
OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY
Environmental groups sue to stop what
they view as an overly aggressive harvest
Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK
Seven environmental groups filed a lawsuit seek-
ing to halt post-fire logging in Santiam State Forest.
The suit aims to stop the Oregon Department of
Forestry from current logging and stop it from moving
forward with timber sales and hazard tree removal
across 3,000 acres of state forest burned by the Labor
Day Fires around the Santiam Canyon.
The groups cited concerns over recreation, drink-
ing water and forest health in asking a Multnomah
Circuit Court judge to issue an injunction at a hearing
scheduled for April 30. If successful, all logging would
be halted until the case was decided.
That delay is important because burned and killed
trees only remain viable for wood products for a lim-
ited time before they become too rotten, meaning any
delay could impact the timber’s market value.
It’s the latest salvo in an increasingly contentious
battle over how to manage over 1 million acres of forest
burned in the Labor Day fires. Environmental groups
say officials are being too aggressive in clearing
burned forest that should regenerate naturally, while
timber interests highlight turning burned forest into
wood products that create jobs and helps communi-
ties rebuild.
In the case of the Santiam State Forest, environ-
mentalists are turning to a tried and true tactic — law-
suits — to stop what they view as an overly aggressive
harvest.
“Salvage logging the Santiam State Forest will do
great damage to spotted owls, struggling salmon pop-
ulations, water quality and forest recovery,” Noah
Greenwald, endangered species director with the
Center for Biological Diversity, said in a news release.
Multiple locals disagreed.
“The plan that was put forward is very responsible
and only accounts for a very small percentage of what
was burned,” Marion County Commissioner Kevin
Cameron said. “It’s good stewardship to go in and use
some of those salvaged logs and put them to use while
supporting our communities’ rebuilding efforts.”
The lawsuit specifically targets the North Cascade
District 2021 Annual Revised Operations Plan, which
was completed after the wildfires and would generate
around 56.2 million board feet of timber in 2021 to pay
for reopening and restoration expenses while sending
logs to local mills.
See LOGGING, Page 2A
Some Oregon residents wary of taking vaccine
Among reasons: Quick development, unknown long-term side effects
Tracy Loew
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Demand for COVID-19 vaccines is leveling off in
some Oregon counties, even as eligibility drastically
expands.
All Oregonians over the age of 16 will be eligible for
vaccines on April 19. But officials expect by mid-May
— well before the state achieves enough community
immunity to stop the virus’ spread — some areas will
have more shots than people willing to get them.
Nationwide, about 25% of adults say they probably
or definitely won’t get the vaccine, according to a poll
from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public
Affairs Research.
The Oregon Health Authority doesn’t track or esti-
mate the number of people refusing shots overall or in
certain categories, such as health care workers, OHA
spokeswoman Delia Hernández said.
But after weeks of eligibility for seniors, Oregon da-
ta is beginning to reflect that vaccine hesitancy.
In seven of the state’s less populous counties, few-
Hiding guns, pills, car keys
“The defendant was in complete control of how
much of his prescription Ambien he took and the evi-
dence will demonstrate he took it pretty much all day
long and into the evening, impairing himself in control
of what he was doing to himself,” Marion County Depu-
ty District Attorney Katie Suver said during opening
statements.
Bravo’s wife said she knew her husband had taken a
significant amount of Ambien throughout the day, but
she didn’t know how much.
Bravo slept in the home office the night before and
didn’t come out of the room for most of the day, but his
wife heard his pill bottle rattling several times, Suver
said.
When Bravo asked his wife for help cutting his hair,
she noticed he was impaired. She also observed him
taking a pill before he got in the shower after his hair-
cut.
He was supposed to go to a range training for work in
Woodburn that evening, but “she realized she could not
let him go,” Suver said.
At some point, Bravo’s wife took the Ambien bottles
and put them in a safe in their bedroom.
She hid his duty weapon in the garage and brought
some of his rifles into the office.
She also hid his car keys and offered to drive him to
the training.
But he refused and insisted he was OK to drive, Suv-
er said.
Later that night, the woman heard the sound of vel-
cro coming from downstairs. In her testimony before
the jury, she said she could tell he was putting on his
ballistic vest and could hear him looking for his gear to
go to the gun range.
The woman acknowledged she brought a landline
phone upstairs to the bedroom — so dispatchers could
ping the address, if needed— because she had a sense
See SENTENCED, Page 2A
See VACCINE, Page 3A
Vol. 140, No. 18
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QEAJAB-07403y
Former Silverton police sergeant Rene Bravo listens
during his sentencing for a domestic violence
attack. BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL