STATE
THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2021
Oregon health offi cials update mask guidance
STATE NEWS BRIEFS
Oregon hires arborist
after outcry about
excessive tree cutting
PORTLAND — Oregon
is hiring a Pacifi c North-
west-based arborist to
review the state’s removal
of trees in wildfi re burn
areas after recent concerns
that the operation has been
hasty and excessive.
The Oregon Offi ce of
Emergency Management
announced Monday, May
17, that Galen Wright has
been hired as an indepen-
dent contractor to review
the hazard tree eff ort,
Oregon Public Broadcasting
reported.
Wright is president of
Washington Forest Consul-
tants, Inc. He is tasked with
providing a full assessment
of Oregon’s program and
his recommendations are
due in June.
“As this adaptive and
evolving emergency
response operation con-
tinues to make signifi -
cant progress, Oregonians
deserve to have confi -
dence in the good work
underway,” said Mac
Lynde, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation’s
head of the three-agency
Debris Management Task
Force. It has been coordi-
nating the tree-removal pro-
gram in the aftermath of the
2020 wildfi res that burned
over 1 million acres.
The state is in the midst
of the eff ort to cut down an
estimated 140,000 burned
trees that could be dan-
gerous to people on state
roads or burned properties.
Transportation offi cials
told a legislative panel two
weeks ago that it would
bring on an indepen-
dent arborist after several
workers publicly voiced
concerns about the hazard
tree program. They have
said the operation, led by
a contracting fi rm out of
Florida, has irresponsibly
marked trees for removal
that weren’t dead or dying.
Woman sues, saying
landlord coerced her into
sex to avoid eviction
EUGENE — A law-
suit fi led by a woman who
rented from a Bell Real
Estate subsidiary alleges the
property owner harassed
her then coerced her into
having sex with him to
avoid eviction.
The woman claims the
company did nothing when
alerted to the situation, The
Register-Guard reported.
In a federal lawsuit fi led
in U.S. District Court for
the District of Oregon in
Eugene in March, a woman
living in Lane County
claims Pinewood Proper-
ties owner and manager
Richard Sorric coerced her
into a sexual relationship to
keep her home then retali-
ated and asked for back rent
when she refused to keep
having sex with him.
The newspaper and
The Associated Press do
not identify survivors of
sexual harassment or abuse
without their consent. The
lawsuit uses a pseudonym
“because of the sensitive,
humiliating and stigma-
tizing nature of the factual
allegations” in the case,
according to a complaint
footnote.
She started renting from
Pinewood Properties in
November 2018 and moved
out of the property over
a year ago, said Meredith
Holley, her attorney.
Attorneys representing
Bell Real Estate, Pinewood
Properties and Sorric deny
nearly all of the woman’s
claims in legal fi lings and
say her lawsuit fails to state
a claim and was fi led too
late for damages.
Sorric “absolutely and
categorically denies the
defamatory allegations
made against him in the
plaintiff ’s Complaint,” Jef-
frey Daly, one of his attor-
neys, wrote in an email.
Daly added that Bell also
has “denied all wrongdoing
in this matter, and will con-
tinue to do so.”
Bell Real Estate is now
suing her for back rent and
other costs.
Assault suspect dies in
shooting involving deputy
ROGUE RIVER —
A person suspected of
domestic assault has died
in a shooting involving a
deputy in southwestern
Oregon, according to a
news release from the
Jackson County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce.
At 11 a.m. Tuesday, May
18, deputies were sent to a
domestic assault in progress
near Rogue River, the news
release sent by spokesman
Mike Moran said.
Before deputies arrived,
the suspect had left in a
vehicle, according to the
sheriff ’s offi ce. The sus-
pect returned several min-
utes later and “subsequently
the deputy reported shots
fi red,” the news release
said.
The suspect died at the
scene.
The deputy was not hurt,
the news release said.
The Jackson County
Major Assault Death Inves-
tigation Unit, led by Med-
ford police, will investigate
the incident.
Moran said the names
of the people involved will
be released after relatives
are notifi ed. Details of what
happened will be released
after an initial investigation
is complete, he added.
— Associated Press
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she set earlier this month.
On May 18, Brown
announced that fi ve
Oregon counties have
reached the county vac-
cine threshold — 65%
of the county’s popula-
tion who are 16 or older
have received their fi rst
COVID-19 vaccine dose.
By reaching that target
Benton, Deschutes, Hood
River, Lincoln and Wash-
ington counties will move
to the state’s lowest risk
category allowing for
increased capacity — 50%
— in restaurants, theaters,
gyms and other indoor
entertainment spaces.
Brown also set a state
vaccination goal of 70%
for residents 16 or older
who have received their
fi rst vaccine dose. When
the state reaches the vac-
cination target, Brown
said most of Oregon’s
restrictions, including
capacity limits, will be
lifted.
Currently, nearly half of
Oregon’s eligible residents
have received at least their
fi rst vaccine dose.
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CDC emphasizes the
point that safe and eff ec-
tive vaccines are the
very best way to protect
people from getting and
spreading COVID,” said
Patrick Allen, the director
of the Oregon Health
Authority. “That’s why it’s
safer for life to look more
like normal for people
who are fully vaccinated.
And why people who hav-
en’t had a chance to get
vaccinated should do so as
soon as they can.”
Oregon’s Gov. Kate
Brown pointed to the
CDC announcement as
“another sign that as more
people become fully vac-
cinated, the closer we are
to ending this pandemic.”
Oregonians have been
required to wear masks —
inside public spaces such
as grocery stores, shops,
gyms and restaurants
and outside where people
cannot remain 6 feet apart
from others — since last
summer.
Brown said she is
hopeful that the state’s
economy will soon reopen
if people continue to be
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and employees,” then
everyone in that building
will still be required to
wear masks.
Many have questioned
how businesses will be
able to check the authen-
ticity of vaccination cards.
Some worry that proof
will be forged.
“We hope that Orego-
nians will not lie or cheat
and put others at risk by
forging a vaccine record if
they are not vaccinated,”
Sidelinger said. “Individ-
uals who choose not to (get
vaccinated) or don’t want
to share that they have
already been vaccinated
can wear a mask and keep
their distance while being
served by the business.”
Oregon’s new mask
guidance comes after
the U.S. Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Preven-
tion announced last week
that individuals who are
fully vaccinated against
COVID-19 could stop
wearing masks and stop
physical distancing in
most public spaces.
“(Last) week’s
announcement from the
PORTLAND — Under
updated mask guidelines
in Oregon, which were
released Tuesday, May
18, businesses can now
choose whether or not
customers will still be
required to wear a mask.
But in order to do that,
customers must provide
proof that they have been
fully vaccinated.
“If (businesses,
employers and faith
institutions) have a pro-
cess to review vaccina-
tion records and show
that people are fully vac-
cinated, they’re free to
serve customers in that
manner,” said Dr. Dean
Sidelinger, the state’s
epidemiologist. “If they
don’t want to, or cannot
implement a system like
that, they can continue to
operate under the OHA
(Oregon Health Authority)
guidance that requires
masks and physical
distancing.”
Everyone — vaccinated
or not— is still required
to wear a mask while on
public transportation and
in schools, hospitals and
clinics, homeless shelters,
correctional facilities and
long-term care facilities.
In addition, mask
requirements are no
CB
longer applied to anyone
who is outdoors, although
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tinue to wear a mask in
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Management
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large gatherings.
However, businesses,
employers and faith insti-
tutions can choose to no
longer require masks and
physical distancing for
fully vaccinated people,
defi ned as individuals
who received their second
COVID-19 vaccine dose
at least two weeks prior.
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those individuals must pro-
vide proof of their status in
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