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145th Year, No. 72
REGONIAN
APRIL 3-4, 2021
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WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Governor: Fourth wave of COVID-19 hits Oregon
State’s reported
cases are averaging
392 per day
ONLINE
More information on the COVID-19
situation in Oregon and how to
fi nd vaccinations can be found at
getvaccinated.oregon.gov.
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — COVID-19 infec-
tions are on the rise again in
Oregon, a fourth wave of increas-
ing cases since the pandemic began.
“This virus is at our doorstep
— our numbers are rising and
we are back on alert,” said Gov.
Kate Brown at a Friday, April 2,
CAPECO
makes
a new
‘Promise’
Allen
Sidelinger
press conference.
A steep drop in infections since
Jan. 1 had shown signs of bottom-
ing out in recent weeks, but the most
current data shows COVID-19 is
again on the rise.
The April numbers are showing
that the most pessimistic forecasts
last month are coming true.
“The virus appears to be
rebounding,” said Dr. Dean
Sidelinger, Oregon Health Author-
ity’s top infectious disease expert.
“COVID-19 is a resilient enemy.”
OHA reports cases are averag-
ing 392 per day, while hospital-
izations are up and the percentage
of tests that come back positive is
3.7%. That is still below the 5%
level above which OHA has said
growth of the virus becomes expo-
nential.
The rise comes despite the
arrival of three vaccines that can
inoculate people from the virus.
But only 18% of Oregonians are
currently completely vaccinated,
slightly higher than the national
average.
OHA had hoped to have at least
one shot of vaccine given to every
Oregonian over age 16 who wanted
one by late May. Due to vaccine
delivery issues, OHA is now look-
ing at early June to reach the goal.
The state is getting an average of
about 30,000 new shots of vaccine
into arms of people per day, though
mostly the Moderna and Pfizer
vaccines that require two shots
spaced out over about a month.
OHA had been hoping for a
surge of new one-shot Johnson &
Johnson vaccines. But the company
See COVID-19, Page A9
EO SPOTLIGHT
State judge rules
TRCI failed to
provide adequate
care in inmate case
Nonprofi t debuts
new homeless
shelter, transitional
housing project
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The soft open-
ing for the motel formerly known as
The Whiskey Inn began on a side-
walk on Southeast Second Street.
About a half-dozen of Pendle-
ton’s unhoused residents gathered
Thursday, April 1, across the street
in front of the Episcopal Church of
the Redeemer, where Paula Hall,
the chief executive offi cer of the
Community Action Program of
East Central Oregon, explained why
the new homeless shelter and tran-
sitional housing project had been
renamed the Promise Inn.
“We are making a promise to the
homeless population and a promise
to the community that we are going
to keep this as an asset,” she said.
Among the assembly was Bob
Beltran, who said he has been living
on the streets on and off since he
moved to Pendleton in 2008.
Beltran said he usually works as
a restaurant cook or waiter as a way
to make a living, but the COVID-19
pandemic made fi nding a job diffi -
cult as most restaurants shut down
or curtailed their services.
Beltran was hopeful about what
the Promise Inn could do for him.
U
MATILLA — A state judge last
week ruled that staff at Two Rivers
Correctional Institution in Umatilla
demonstrated “deliberate indiff er-
ence” after failing to adequately care
for an inmate’s serious medical condi-
tions for months and ordered the state to imme-
diately take action, according to court fi lings
reviewed by the East Oregonian.
Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge
Gregory F. Silver issued his fi ndings and orders
in a letter after inmate Richard Flores sued the
prison through Umatilla County Circuit Court.
Flores was sentenced to TRCI in November
2019 on two counts of the unlawful use of a
weapon and one count of possessing a fi rearm
as a convicted felon, according to the Oregon
Department of Corrections website.
Silver concluded “(TRCI’s) failure to
provide reasonable care for (Flores’) serious
medical conditions went beyond mere negli-
gence.” He ruled TRCI “has demonstrated,
and is continuing to demonstrate, a deliberate
indiff erence” to Flores’ medical conditions,
which include hypertension, asthma and other
breathing problems and hepatic dysfunction.
The judge’s ruling said the prison failed
to provide adequate care even as the inmate
“likely contracted COVID-19 in the spring of
2020.”
Flores, however, was not tested because a
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
A sign stands at the entrance of Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla as the sun
rises on Friday, April 2, 2021.
nurse told him that “he could not have COVID
because there was phlegm in his cough,” the
records show. A doctor, testifying on behalf of
Flores, confi rmed for the court that the nurse’s
statement “was known to be incorrect at the
time it was made and is incorrect now.”
The judge’s ruling said “(Flores) used to run
three or so miles but has been unable to since
he likely contracted COVID.”
medical treatment and testing. The order also
stated prison staff “are prohibited from retali-
ating against (Flores) for reporting symptoms
and/or seeking redress from this court.”
“This is another one of our cases with medi-
cal claims where it’s just irrefutable, once you
get it up on its feet, that they were not provid-
ing a constitutional level of care,” said Tara
Herivel, Flores’ attorney, who is based out of
Portland.
Two Rivers Correctional Institution was
represented by Nathan K. Riemersma, the
Salem-based assistant attorney general for the
Department of Justice.
Offi cials at TRCI and the Oregon Depart-
ment of Corrections declined to comment for
this story.
Court documents show that three witnesses
Ruled indiff erence
Flores filed claims stating the care he
received was so poor that it violated his consti-
tutional rights. His case ultimately prevailed
under the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits
cruel and unusual punishment, showing that
the state’s treatment refl ected indiff erence.
Silver ordered the state to immediately
provide Flores with adequate care, refer him
to medical experts and waive co-pays for his
See TRCI, Page A9
See CAPECO, Page A9
The fences at Two Rivers Correctional Institution are sil-
houetted against the rising sun on Friday, April 2, 2021.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
COVID-19 NUMBERS
TOTALS FOR WEEK ENDING 4/1/2021
IN UMATILLA COUNTY
RISK LEVEL
HIGH
NEW
CASES
OVER 2 WEEKS
90
TOTAL
CASE GOAL
40
OR LESS
OVER 2
WEEKS
POSITIVE
TEST RATE
5.0
%
POSITIVE
TEST GOAL
5 %