NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
New law would ban bias offenders from public wilderness
ment can not only be harm-
ful to those experiencing the
behavior, but to those witness-
ing it.
“These actions may exclude
Black, indigenous and people
of color and others including
LGBTQI persons, and these
effects ripple outward to others
who observe and avoid these
behaviors,” Morris Collin said.
“The combined effect makes
public outdoor recreation a
risky endeavor for those who
do not want to confront these
behaviors or the contexts
in which they may become
vulnerable.”
By ISABELLE TAVARES
Columbia Insight
SALEM — When Chad
Brown, Navy veteran and
fly fisherman, parked his car
before setting out to a river, he
never expected he’d return to
find his brake lines cut. But
they had been.
His apparent offense?
Being a Black man fishing in
Oregon.
Brown — who recounted
his experience with back-
woods bias for Columbia
Insight in 2020 — was one of
more than 20 Oregon residents
who testified earlier this month
before an Oregon Senate
committee on bias they’ve
experienced in outdoor spaces.
On April 8, Oregon’s
Senate Energy and Environ-
ment Committee approved
legislation that safeguards
the public from bias and hate
crimes committed on public
lands. People convicted of a
bias crime on public lands or
waters will not be allowed in
those areas for up to five years.
Their permits, licenses
and tags would be revoked
for the same period for crimes
committed while angling,
taking shellfish, hunting or
trapping.
“There are people in my
district who are afraid to go to
a state park, to get on a river
in a boat,” Sen. Lew Freder-
ick, D-Portland, told Salem’s
Statesman Journal. “They
Next steps
Renee Patrick/Contributed Photo
Oregon’s Senate Energy and Environment Committee recently approved legislation that safeguards the public from bias and
hate crimes committed on public lands. People convicted of a bias crime on public lands or waters will not be allowed in those
areas for up to five years.
believe if someone decides to
harass them because of their
race, their ethnicity, nothing
will happen.”
The Oregon State Police,
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife and Oregon State
Marine Board have expressed
support for the bill.
“The conservation commu-
nity cannot be silent on issues
of justice, equality and access
to the outdoors,” said Kevin
Gorman, executive direc-
tor of Friends of the Colum-
bia Gorge, in a press release.
“At a time when hate and bias
crimes are increasing around
the country, including here in
the Pacific Northwest, we can
and must do better.”
Outdoor recreation ‘a
risky endeavor’
A bias crime, or hate crime,
is propelled by bias against
someone based on their
race, color, religion, gender
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
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identity, sexual orientation,
disability or national origin.
People convicted of a first-
or second-degree crime fall
under the new bill.
The legislation comes at a
time when hate crimes have
spiked to their highest levels in
more than a decade, according
to a 2020 FBI report, and when
public attention, in particu-
lar, has been focused on hate
crimes against members of
Asian communities.
B.1.1.7 variant now responsible for
most COVID-19 cases in Oregon
By AIMEE GREEN
The Oregonian
Intervals of clouds
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high clouds
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pleasantly warm
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PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
69° 44°
76° 50°
83° 54°
76° 51°
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HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
74° 45°
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87° 56°
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OREGON FORECAST
76° 47°
ALMANAC
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PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
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Seattle
Olympia
56/42
62/40
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Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
67/46
Lewiston
65/41
75/42
Astoria
57/42
Pullman
Yakima 75/43
62/41
69/44
Portland
Hermiston
67/45
The Dalles 74/45
Salem
Corvallis
63/39
Yesterday
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La Grande
64/38
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
68/40
66/35
62/34
Ontario
71/40
Caldwell
Burns
67°
45°
68°
41°
84° (2013) 25° (2008)
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Albany
65/39
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WINDS (in mph)
67/36
61/27
0.00"
0.21"
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5.06"
4.96"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
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TEMP.
Pendleton 60/34
68/41
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
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HERMISTON
Enterprise
69/44
70/44
61°
45°
65°
41°
86° (1904) 25° (1924)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
62/40
Aberdeen
63/41
68/46
Tacoma
Yesterday
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Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
63/46
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
71/42
Wed.
WSW 7-14
W 7-14
SW 6-12
W 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
62/28
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:49 a.m.
7:57 p.m.
9:08 p.m.
6:22 a.m.
Last
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First
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May 3
May 11
May 19
May 26
In Oregon, reported bias
crimes between January and
April 2020 rose 366%, accord-
ing to Oregon Public Broad-
casting.
The bill allows courts to
sentence violators to commu-
nity service, including habitat
restoration and maintenance of
recreation facilities.
Robin Morris Collin,
professor at Willamette
University College of Law,
testified that public harass-
If passed into law, it’s
unclear how the bill would be
enforced.
But violators can’t roam too
far. Oregon is one of 48 states
that participate in the Wildlife
Violators Compact, accord-
ing to Shannon Hurn, deputy
director of Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife.
“This Compact allows for
the revocation of a license(s) to
occur across all of the partic-
ipating states,” said Hurn
during public testimony.
“This prevents individuals
from just applying outside the
state where the criminal act
occurred, and continuing to
participate and harvest wild-
life in other states.”
It’s not known when the
bill will be scheduled for a full
vote of the Oregon Legislature.
SALEM — The more
contagious B.1.1.7 variant
of the coronavirus has now
become the dominant strain
in Oregon, and is help-
ing fuel a fourth surge in
COVID-19 despite 4 out of
every 10 Oregonians having
received at least one dose of
vaccine, public health offi-
cials say.
B.1.1.7 was first detected
in December 2020 in the
U.K. as it sent COVID-19
cases skyrocketing and some
studies say led to an increase
in more serious disease,
including a 55% increase in
death. A definite answer is
still unclear, however, with
at least two other studies
finding B.1.1.7 didn’t result
in more hospitalizations or
severe cases.
“As the governor has said
repeatedly, this really is a
race between vaccination
and the spread of COVID,
especially the spread of the
B.1.1.7 variant, which we
believe now is a majority of
cases in the state,” Oregon
Health Authority Director
Patrick Allen told a group of
lawmakers last week.
Officials warned the
American public in February
that they expected B.1.1.7 to
become the dominant strain
in the U.S. by March, and
one study found the variant
was doubling in cases every
10 days. On April 7, the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention announced
it had become the dominant
strain in the U.S. — with
some estimates pinning it at
50% more contagious than
the previous most common
strain in the country.
It took roughly two
more weeks — after the
CDC’s April 7 announce-
ment — before Oregon offi-
cials concluded B.1.1.7 was
accounting for most cases in
Oregon, as well.
Oregon Health Author-
ity spokeswoman Erica
Heartquist said there’s a
weekslong lag in data report-
ing.
In the third week of
March, B.1.1.7 accounted
for 8% of cases analyzed for
variants. A week later, that
tripled to 24% and rose to
30% by the following week.
The next week — April 4
to 10 — B.1.1.7 made up an
eye-opening 53% of all cases
where genomic sequencing
testing had been done. That’s
the latest data state officials
have available.
Officials say they can’t
extrapolate with certainty to
say that by April 10 B.1.1.7
was accounting for 53%
of all coronavirus cases in
Oregon, because only about
3% of cases in Oregon are
analyzed for variants. But
the rapid rise in B.1.1.7
cases has led Oregon offi-
cials to feel confident in
saying B.1.1.7 is dominating
— surpassing strains first
identified in California.
“This has very real impli-
cations for the surge that we
appear to be entering now,”
said Heartquist, in an email.
New cases over the past
two weeks have been accel-
erating faster in Oregon than
in any other state in the coun-
try — with a 63% increase in
the past two weeks, accord-
ing to The New York Times‘
ranking of states. Oregon
ranks 25th overall in new
cases per capita over that
same time period.
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 97° in Zapata, Texas Low 14° in Truckee, Calif.
Oregon surpasses 300
COVID-19 hospitalizations,
new restrictions possible
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
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E AST O REGONIAN
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SALEM — Oregon has surpassed a trig-
ger that could bump a dozen counties into
the most extreme category of business and
social restrictions meant to curb the spread
of COVID-19.
On Monday, April 26, the state reported
319 hospitalizations, more than the 300 Gov.
Kate Brown set as the limit to keep counties
out of the “extreme risk” category in her four-
level system of restrictions.
Brown is expected to announce early this
week which counties will move into “extreme
risk.” New restrictions will take effect on
April 30.
In those counties, restaurants and bars
would have to close indoor dining, gyms and
indoor entertainment will have to signifi-
cantly reduce capacity, and social gatherings
will be restricted.
Last week, Brown called Oregon’s
Circulation Dept.
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COVID-19 statistics “horrifying.”
On April 26, they were worse:
Oregon now ranks first among the 50
states and Washington, D.C., on a New York
Times analysis of where cases are increasing
the fastest.
The state is third nationwide for where
hospitalizations are increasing the fastest,
behind Montana and Washington.
Oregon’s Grant County ranks third in the
country for number of cases per 100,000 resi-
dents, with 103. Umatilla County ranks first
in the nation for counties where hospitaliza-
tions are increasing the fastest.
And several Oregon clusters rank on the
paper’s list of the nation’s worst. They include
outbreaks at Lighthouse Pentacostal Church
in Island City, with 236 cases, an Amazon
fulfillment center in Troutdale, with 180
cases, and Salem Hospital, with 158 cases.
Oregon counties expected to move into
“extreme risk” are: Baker, Clackamas,
Columbia, Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Jackson,
Josephine, Klamath, Linn, Marion, and Polk.
— Salem Statesman Journal
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