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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2020)
March 18, 2020 Page 3 INSIDE L O C A L N E W S The Week in Review page 2 page 6 M ETRO PhoTo CourTesy u.s. C ensus 2020 U.S. Census notices are going out to households everywhere. Census Begins with Mail Notice No citizenship questions ease concerns b everly C orbell T he P orTland o bserver 2020 Census notices are be- ing mailed between now and the end of the week on March 20 and households are being asked to complete a Census count online. If requests are not followed up there will be forms sent by and door-to-door Census counts. The results of the Census directly affect what resources the feder- al government provides to local communities and determine the number of representatives in Congress. According to the website 2020census.gov, for example, the Census influences what is by Arts & ENTERTAINMENT pages 7-8 allocated from Congress to high- way planning and construction for states and municipalities based on population, impact grants for local public tran- sit like TriMet, and determine federal allocations for teachers serving diverse populations, in- cluding Head Start and special education. “The list goes on,” the Census website states, “including pro- grams to support rural areas, to restore wildlife, to prevent child abuse, to prepare for wildfires, and to provide housing assis- tance for older adults.” Census data also helps com- munities respond to natural di- sasters and secure funding for hospitals and fire departments, libraries, nutrition programs and as well as determining the num- ber of members each state sends to the House of Representatives. Everyone is required by law to respond to the census, which is conducted every 10 years. About 145 million households will receive an initial invitation by mail to complete the census form. About 112 million house- holds will receive either an in- vitation to respond online or by phone and about 31 million households in areas with little or no cell phone service or internet access will also receive a paper questionnaire. Misty Slater, U.S. Census me- dia specialist for Oregon, Ne- vada and Idaho, said in a phone interview with the Portland Observer that people have sev- eral options to respond to their Census form. They can respond via mail, phone or online at my- 2020census.gov. C onTinued on P age 4 Prison Visits Stopped to Fight Virus Spread O PINION C LASSIFIED /B IDS pages 9-10 pages 10 The Oregon Department of Corrections has suspended all vis- iting at all 14 state prisons as a re- sponse to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Oregon. The re- striction was imposed Friday fol- lowing Gov. Kate Brown’s state of emergency and will last for at least 30 days to include non-con- tact visits where people speak to one another through glass. “All of us at the Oregon De- partment of Corrections value visiting and especially the con- nections that visiting affords to family and friends. We know that relationships reduce the risk of fu- ture criminal behavior. However, during this State of Emergency, it is critical we take appropriate pre- cautions necessary to protect our employees and those in our care and custody. This decision was not made lightly, and we understand the impact that this necessary ac- tion will have on the people in our custody and on their families. We are working hand-in-hand with our state and local partners to keep our institutions as healthy as pos- sible.” Multnomah County Sherriff Mike Reese also announced that, as of Friday, the sheriff’s office is no longer allowing “social visita- tion” at the two jails in the county in an effort to prevent the further spread of the of the coronavirus. “The outbreak of COVID-19 has far-reaching implications for all of us in public safety,” said Reese, “To be clear, there are no presumptive cases of COVID-19 among our employees at the sher- iff’s office or in our jail popula- tion.” The interim restrictions on jail visits will not impact an inmate’s ability to see their attorney, ac- cording to Reese. Families and loved ones can still access some- one in custody through the jail’s teleconferencing and video con- ferencing kiosks.
