2A — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2020
REGION
DAILY Oregonians can travel — but to where is the question
State parks,
PLANNER campgrounds,
more
TODAY
Today is Saturday, March
28, the 88th day of 2020.
There are 278 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On March 28, 2003,
American-led forces in Iraq
dropped thousand-pound
bombs on Republican Guard
units guarding the gates
to Baghdad and battled
for control of the strategic
city of Nasiriyah. President
George W. Bush warned of
“further sacrifi ce” ahead
in the face of unexpectedly
fi erce fi ghting.
ON THIS DATE
In 1898, the U.S. Supreme
Court, in United States v.
Wong Kim Ark, ruled 6-2 that
Wong, who was born in the
United States to Chinese im-
migrants, was an American
citizen.
In 1941, novelist and critic
Virginia Woolf, 59, drowned
herself near her home in
England.
In 1963, the Alfred
Hitchcock fi lm “The Birds”
premiered in New York.
In 1969, the 34th president
of the United States, Dwight
D. Eisenhower, died in
Washington, D.C., at age 78.
In 1978, the U.S. Su-
preme Court upheld, 5-3,
the judicial immunity of
an Indiana judge against a
lawsuit brought by a young
woman who’d been ordered
sterilized by the judge when
she was a teenager.
In 1979, America’s worst
commercial nuclear accident
occurred with a partial
meltdown inside the Unit 2
reactor at the Three Mile Is-
land plant near Middletown,
Pennsylvania.
In 1987, Maria von Trapp,
whose life story inspired the
Rodgers and Hammerstein
musical “The Sound of
Music,” died in Morrisville,
Vermont, at age 82.
In 1990, President George
H.W. Bush presented the
Congressional Gold Medal
to the widow of U.S. Olym-
pic legend Jesse Owens.
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DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
receiving your Observer, call
the offi ce at 541-963-3161.
TODAY’S QUOTE
“You cannot fi nd peace
by avoiding life.”
— Virginia Woolf (
1882-1941)
Idaho residents
told: Stay at
home 3 weeks
The Associated Press
BOISE — Idaho
Gov. Brad Little on
Wednesday issued a
statewide stay-at-home
order as the coronavirus
continues to spread.
Little announced the
order will remain in
effect for 21 days.
Idaho has more than
189 confi rmed cases
of COVID-19 through
Thursday spread
throughout the state.
The order requires
Idaho’s 1.75 million res-
idents to self-isolate at
home unless they are
health care workers,
public safety employees
or other “essential
workers” such as gro-
cery store employees.
Little said some com-
munities now had com-
munity spread, in central
Idaho’s Blaine County
and highly populated
southwestern Idaho,
which includes Boise.
Community spread
means it’s not clear
where or from whom a
person became infected.
Washington state and
Oregon have also issued
statewide stay-at-home
orders in recent days.
other are closed
By Dick Hughes
For the Capital Bureau
Gov. Kate Brown said
the far-reaching executive
order she issued this week
should not stop immediate
families from motoring for
relaxation or driving to a
trailhead, as long as they
maintain proper social dis-
tancing while hiking.
“The goal here is to
limit your social circles.
The goal is to stay away
from crowds. The goal is to
maintain social distancing,”
Brown said of Oregon’s
efforts to stem the spread of
COVID-19.
“Oregonians are very
innovative and creative,
and I encourage them to
comply with the spirit and
the letter of the executive
order.”
Oregon State Police
Superintendent Travis
Hampton noted most camp-
grounds and boat ramps
are closed, so Oregonians
and visitors should research
their plans before heading
out.
In a letter sent to all
police agencies in Oregon,
he emphasized Brown’s
order was not close to mar-
tial law. People don’t need
documentation showing
they are traveling legally to
or from work or other per-
mitted activities.
“There are no cur-
fews and a person’s move-
ments are not restricted
under the Governor’s Exec-
utive Order,” Hampton
wrote. “While details are
offered in the order relating
to social distancing, spe-
cifi c business closures
and non-essential social
gatherings, (Oregonians’)
movements are generally
unrestricted.”
Motorists should not be
pulled over under suspicion
of violating the executive
order. “If, however, you are
committing a traffi c viola-
tion or crime that would be
enforced independent of the
order, you may be stopped,
like any other day,” he
wrote.
As Hampton noted, the
challenge may be fi nding a
place to recreate.
In her executive order,
Brown said the need for a
strong “Stay Home, Save
Lives” directive was rein-
forced by seeing crowds
had gathered last weekend
at the Oregon Coast, Smith
Rock State Park, Columbia
River Gorge and other
places in defi ance of social
distancing guidelines.
State parks, public and
private campgrounds and
many other recreation
sites now are closed, either
under the governor’s order
or voluntarily. Oregonians
are allowed to go outside
for recreation so long as
they maintain appropriate
social distancing — at least
for 6 feet, except for family
members living in the same
residence.
Oregon’s beloved ocean
beaches are not closed but
getting there – legally –
could be problematic.
“The state parks closure
doesn’t impact the ocean
shore, but it does close all
state park-managed parking
efforts to maintain social
distancing and strains our
supply channels, public
safety resources and health
care system.
“We look forward to
hosting you again when
things are back to normal.”
Friends of the Columbia
Land Trust also has
closed the Mosier Plateau
in Oregon and the Lyle
Cherry Orchards in Wash-
ington. Both are popular
for hiking.
But the rules for some
activities remain unclear.
At Brown’s Wednesday
teleconference with
reporters, the governor
was asked whether her
stay-home order applied to
couples in long-term rela-
tionships who don’t live
together but frequently
stay over at one another’s
residence.
“Every family is in a
different situation,” Brown
responded. “The spirit of
the executive order is to
severely limit your social
circles. So that’s all I will
say about sleeping together
at this point.”
AG targets stores
for price gouging
during outbreak
Oregon’s Justice
Department sends
letters to four
convenience stores,
expects more
By Jake Thomas
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Oregon
Department of Justice is
accusing four convenience
stores of price-gouging
on its sales of toilet paper,
bottled water and surgical
masks.
The agency on Tuesday
issued cease-and-desist let-
ters to two stores in Salem,
one each in Keizer and
Portland stating they were
charging an “unconscio-
nably excessive price” for
goods that have been in
high demand during the
coronavirus outbreak.
Last week Gov. Kate
Brown declared an
“abnormal disruption to
the Oregon marketplace”
because of the coronavirus
pandemic. The declaration
followed reports of stores
selling out of toilet paper
and hand sanitizer or selling
these and other items at
exorbitant prices.
Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum can use the
state’s consumer protec-
tion laws against companies
that increase the price of
essential products by 15%
or more. Essential products
include food, fuel, water,
cleaning products and med-
ical supplies and services.
Since setting up a price-
gouging hotline on March
16, the Justice Department
received more than 100
phone calls and complaints,
according to spokeswoman
Kristina Edmunson.
The letters don’t
specify how much stores
were charging for essen-
tial goods. They notify
each store that the depart-
ment has received one or
more complaint about them
charging excessive prices
and orders them to stop.
The letters also warn the
stores the attorney general
may seek civil penalties
of up to $25,000 per viola-
tion and require businesses
to pay restitution to injured
consumers.
The department sent two
of the letters to 7-11 stores
for charging excessive
prices for surgical masks.
One store is at 4715 N.E.
Columbia Blvd., Portland,
the other is at 2002 Lan-
caster Drive N.E., Salem.
REPORT PRICE
GOUGING
VIOLATIONS
If you have been
charged an excessive
price for a product or
service under normal
circumstances, fi le
a complaint with the
Attorney General’s
Consumer Protection
Hotline by calling 503-
378-8442, or go online
to www.doj.state.or.us,
click on the link for con-
sumer protection and
open the online com-
plaint form.
Photo contributed by the Oregon Zoo
American beaver Filbert (left) with Maple in the beaver den at the Cascade Stream and
Pond habitat at the Oregon Zoo. The zoo added Maple this month.
Oregon Zoo adds beaver
3-year-old Maple
joins Filbert in
Cascade Stream
and Pond habitat
Phone numbers listed for
each of the 7-11 stores were
not functional.
A message sent to an
email address for media
inquires on 7-11’s corpo-
rate website Thursday after-
noon was not immediately
answered.
Another letter accused
the AM-PM convenience
store at 501 Lancaster Drive
N.E., Salem, of selling
excessively priced bottled
water. No one answered the
phone at a number for the
store listed online and the
call did not go to voicemail.
The department sent
the fourth letter to Keizer
Food Market at 4495 River
Road North for exces-
sively raising its price of
toilet paper. Luke Peca,
store manager, denied the
accusation.
“We don’t even sell toilet
paper,” he said.
Edmunson said in an
email the department has
followed up on many com-
plaints by contacting the
business or sending out an
investigator. She said busi-
nesses often don’t under-
stand the state’s price-
gouging laws and will lower
prices after being contacted.
“If we are not satisfi ed,
we will follow-up with a
cease-and-desist letter,”
she said. “We have been
monitoring the complaints
closely and will probably be
sending more out.”
The declaration also
applies to online retailers.
Rosenblum was one of
33 state attorneys general
who signed a letter sent on
Wednesday to Amazon,
Craigslist, eBay, Facebook
and Walmart warning them
that they aren’t exempt from
state price-gouging laws.
The letter cited one
incident where a two-liter
bottle of hand sanitizer
was sold online for $250
on Craigslist.
10106 N. ‘C’ • Island City
Observer staff
PORTLAND —
“Branch manager” Filbert
welcomed a new coworker
this month when Maple,
a 3-year-old North Amer-
ican beaver, joined him at
the Oregon Zoo’s Cascade
Stream and Pond habitat.
“Maple settled in
right away,” according
to a news release from
the zoo, “and the toothy
twosome are already
swimming and playing
together.
“Beavers are very
social animals, so it’s
wonderful to wel-
come a new member to
the family,” said Julie
Christie, senior keeper
for the zoo’s North Amer-
ican animals. “Filbert and
Maple are getting along
really well, and it’s great
for both of them to have a
friend to play with.”
Filbert was born at the
zoo in 2011 to Willow and
Aspen. Since they died
last year, he’s been get-
ting a lot of special atten-
tion from his care staff,
including adventure walks
around the zoo. He’s espe-
cially popular on the zoo’s
social media channels,
where his industrious
wood-gathering activities
have earned him the title
541-975-1364
“branch manager.”
Filbert also is known
for his skills as a research
assistant. In 2015, he lent
his services to Oregon
State University for its
Beaver Genome Project.
Maple joins Filbert in
the zoo’s Great Northwest
area, near the river otters
and western pond turtles.
The two beavers share
a lodge and spend their
days chewing on wood
to keep their large, pow-
erful teeth worn down. To
encourage these natural
behaviors, keepers anchor
branches to the beach
or clamp the branches
upright for them to chew.
Though Oregon is
known for its beaver pop-
ulation, that hasn’t always
been the case.
In the 19th century,
American beavers were
hunted and trapped for
their fur; by about 1900,
they were almost gone
from many of their orig-
inal habitats. Pollution
and habitat loss also
affected their survival.
In the last 100 years,
thanks to re-establish-
ment programs and
hunting regulations, bea-
vers have made a suc-
cessful comeback. The
International Union of
Conservation of Nature
now lists beavers as “a
species of least concern.”
Metro, the regional
government that man-
ages the Oregon Zoo, has
preserved and restored
more than 90 miles of
river and stream banks
in the region through
its voter-supported nat-
ural area programs. By
protecting water quality
and habitat, these pro-
grams are helping to pro-
vide the healthy ecosys-
tems needed for beavers,
fi sh and other wildlife to
thrive. Beavers are fre-
quently observed in Metro
region waterways.
The zoo also reported
it is working to save
endangered California
condors, Oregon silver-
spot and Taylor’s check-
erspot butterfl ies, western
pond turtles and northern
leopard frogs. Other proj-
ects focused on saving
animals from extinction
include studies on polar
bears, orangutans and
cheetahs.
Support from the
Oregon Zoo Foundation
enhances and expands
the zoo’s efforts in con-
servation, education and
animal welfare. Members,
donors and corporate and
foundation partners help
the zoo make a differ-
ence across the region and
around the world.
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lots and beach accesses,”
said Liz Merah of the
Governor’s Offi ce. “The
Oregon Parks and Recre-
ation Department has the
authority to close the beach
temporarily for health
reasons.”
And that department
said in the FAQs posted
online, “If people don’t get
the message that clumping
up and overwhelming local
areas is a bad idea, we’ll
have to revisit the decision
to leave all beaches open.”
Some coastal cities and
counties also have closed
beach access, as well as
lodging, in part to keep vis-
itors from spreading coro-
navirus and overwhelming
local health facilities.
In the Columbia Gorge,
local offi cials also urged
visitors to stay away — for
now.
Hood River County
Chair Mike Oates, Hood
River Mayor Kate McBride
and Cascade Locks Mayor
Tom Cramblett issued a
statement saying: “An
infl ux of visitors creates
an undue burden on our
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