OREGON
A6 — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022
Oregonians to vote on gun control
By CATALINA GAITÁN
The Oregonian
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife/Contributed Photo
A trail camera photo shows an adult wolf with fi ve pups in the Upper
Deschutes Wildlife Management Area in Central Oregon. ODFW
has designated a new “Area of Known Wolf Activity” in the area,
including parts of Deschutes and northern Klamath counties.
New wolf area
designated in
Central Oregon
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
BEND — A new
group of wolves has taken
up residence in Central
Oregon, including parts
of Deschutes and northern
Klamath counties.
State wildlife offi cials
designated an “Area of
Known Wolf Activity” in
the Upper Deschutes Wild-
life Management Unit,
which extends from near
Bend south to Crescent
along Highway 97 and west
to the Pacifi c Crest Trail.
Ranchers in the area
should consider nonlethal
measures to protect their
livestock, according to
the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife, such as
hiring range riders or using
fl ashing lights and alarms
to scare away wolves.
ODFW also recommends
removing any carcasses or
bone piles that might attract
wolves. Other deterrents
may include guard dogs,
electrifi ed fencing of small
pastures and fl adry.
While Oregon’s wolf
management plan does
allow for killing wolves
in the event of repeated
attacks on livestock, this
does not apply west of
highways 395, 78 and 95,
where wolves remain fed-
erally protected under the
Endangered Species Act.
That includes the Upper
Deschutes area.
The minimum known
MORE INFORMATION
Wolf sightings from the public
can be reported to ODFW
online at www.dfw.state.or.us/
wolves.
wolf population in Oregon
based on verifi ed evidence
was at least 175 at the end
of 2021, though ODFW
acknowledges the actual
population is likely higher.
Biologists began mon-
itoring reports of a single
wolf in the area in August
2021, and one wolf was
counted during ODFW’s
annual winter survey.
Earlier this year, tracks
of four wolves were found
in the area, though it wasn’t
immediately clear if they
came from a new group of
wolves or from the Indigo
Pack, which occupies terri-
tory just to the south.
On July 4, a trail camera
in the area snapped a photo of
an adult wolf with fi ve pups,
confi rming the new group.
Depending on how many
wolves are in the group by
year’s end, it may be desig-
nated the Upper Deschutes
Pack, with a pack being
defi ned as having at least
four wolves traveling
together in winter — typ-
ically with at least two
adults and their off spring.
ODFW says additional
surveys will be conducted
to learn more about the
Upper Deschutes wolves’
home range.
Report: Health care costs rose
49% in Oregon from 2013-19
By HILLARY BORRUD
The Oregonian
SALEM — Oregonians’
health care costs rose 49%
over a six-year period, with
the increase largely driven
by a huge jump in drug
prices, according to a new
state report.
Prescription pharmaceu-
tical costs “grew the most
of any service category
from 2013 to 2019, driven
by a 20% annual growth
in Medicare” drug costs,
according to the report
issued by the Oregon Health
Authority.
Prescription drug costs
rose 185% over the six-
year period for patients
on Medicare to more than
$2,200 per person, annu-
ally. Prescription drug costs
rose 92.8% for people with
commercial insurance and
79.4% for those on Med-
icaid, according to the state.
Inpatient care remained
the most expensive category
of health care in Oregon, but
prescription drug costs sur-
passed per-person outpatient
care costs in 2018 to become
the third-most costly ser-
vice, according to the state.
Last year, lawmakers
in the Democratically con-
trolled Oregon Legislature
considered a proposal to set
upper limits on how much
companies could charge for
prescription drugs, but ulti-
mately gutted the plan after
the pharmaceutical industry
spent nearly $2 million
lobbying against it. Law-
makers did pass a bipartisan
law to limit patients’ copays
for insulin to $900 a year.
After prescription drug
costs, the category of pro-
fessional services, which
covers primary care visits
and medical procedures
at doctors’ offi ces, was
the second major driver
of increasing health care
costs, according to the
state. Those costs increased
75.9% for people with com-
mercial insurance, 56.7%
for patients on Medicare
and 41.8% for people with
Medicaid.
The Observer, File
Jocelyn Brown, right, and Ausha Beckrich, students of the Oregon
Health & Science University School of Nursing at Eastern Oregon
University, La Grande, demonstrate usage of a tablet computer for
use in telemedicine on Monday, May 11, 2021.
SALEM — Oregonians will get to
vote on statewide gun-control legisla-
tion this November, the Oregon Sec-
retary of State’s offi ce confi rmed ear-
lier this week.
Initiative Petition 17, also known
as the Reduction of Gun Violence
Act, earned enough valid signatures
to qualify for the general election.
The petition garnered 131,671
valid signatures, almost 20,000 more
than it needed to land on the ballot.
The measure would require people
to get a permit and pass a back-
ground check before buying a gun,
and it would prevent the sale of gun
magazines that hold more than 10
rounds.
Rabbi Michael Cahana, of Con-
gregation Beth Israel, one of the ini-
tiative’s chief petitioners, said on July
19 that he is feeling “very confi dent”
that voters will pass the measure in
November.
“I am not going to be compla-
cent — none of us are,” Cahana said.
“We’re working very hard to edu-
cate Oregon voters because we know
there will be a lot of misinforma-
tion. But I know people want to see
change.”
A caravan of gun-control advo-
cates drove from Portland to Salem
July 8 to hand deliver the initiative’s
fi nal batch of signatures to the state
Capitol. Rev. W.J. Mark Knutson of
Augustana Lutheran Church, also
one of the initiative’s chief peti-
tioners, sat aboard a school bus
crowded with volunteers.
“Today has to be a day of joy,”
Knutson said that day. “Because this
will give Oregonians a chance to step
out in the nation with the most pro-
gressive piece of legislation this year
for public safety.”
The eff ort to push for stricter gun
laws in Oregon has also led to push-
back from pro-gun organizations.
In a July 1 statement, the Oregon
Firearms Federation said the new
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin, File
A large group rallies during March for Our Lives, a gun-violence protest in Bend on
Saturday, June 11, 2022. An initiative that would require permits and background checks
before allowing a gun purchase has qualifi ed for the November ballot.
permitting process required by the
measure, which would include com-
pletion of a fi rearms safety training
and a background check, would be
“far more onerous.”
The organization asked its sup-
porters to send their input on the
measure to the Oregon Secretary
of State Shemia Fagan, who will
approve the text explaining the initia-
tive on the ballot.
Lift Every Voice Oregon, the lob-
bying group behind Initiative Petition
17, launched shortly after the 2018
mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School in Parkland,
Florida.
Support for Initiative Petition 17
started small but grew exponentially
this year, skyrocketing from less than
3,000 signatures in March to almost
100,000 three months later. About
1,600 volunteers helped gather signa-
tures across the state. A wave of gun
violence, including mass shootings
at an elementary school in Uvalde,
Texas, and a grocery store in Buf-
falo, New York, “spurred people to
action,” Cahana said.
“There was a strong sense that
we’ve had for decades now that
nothing is going to happen, that
things aren’t going to change, and
people are fed up. They really want
to see substantive change,” he said.
“This is how democracy works —
we actually care and can change our
country. We can change the direction,
we can turn away from hopelessness,
and that just lifts my spirit.”
HIV isn’t
just a big city issue.
More than half of Oregonians with HIV
live outside of Portland, often in suburbs and
small towns like this one.
Good neighbors chip in to get the job done. And we’ve got
work to do on HIV prevention. People in rural Oregon are
more likely to get a late-stage diagnosis, and a lack of HIV
treatment may harm your health, or your partner’s. Detected
early, HIV is more easily managed and you can live a long,
healthy life. Getting tested is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Learn more and find free testing at endhivoregon.org