A10
OREGON
East Oregonian
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
Capitol to start security screening
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon will
join 33 other states in requir-
ing visitors, elected offi cials
and staff to pass through metal
detectors and submit to bag
checks when they enter the
Capitol.
The enhanced security
in Salem will start Jan. 27.
Senate President Peter Court-
ney and House Speaker Tina
Kotek, the Legislature’s
presiding offi cers, said in a
statement it will be similar to
the procedure for entry into
court buildings. State employ-
ees staff trial courts, but
Oregon’s 36 counties provide
the courtrooms and maintain
security.
The Legislature is respon-
sible for management of the
Capitol under a 1969 law.
The secretary of state was the
previous legal custodian of the
Capitol and its grounds.
The enhanced security
will apply at the two public
entrances open and two other
entrances for employees and
others with special identifi -
cation cards. The State Street
entry, facing Willamette
University to the south, and
the main entry with its iconic
revolving doors are closed
because of construction.
The Capitol, the third in
Oregon history, opened in
October 1938.
The Capitol’s offi ce wings,
opened in 1977 and renovated
in 2008, are undergoing seis-
mic reinforcement as part of a
larger building improvement
project. The wings house
offi ces for individual legisla-
tors.
The Capitol was reopened
to the public on July 12, 2021,
after the close of the regular
By NOELLE CROMBIE
The Oregonian
EO Media Group, File
The Oregon Capitol is enhancing security on Jan. 27, 2022, before the start of the new legis-
lative session.
session. It had been closed for
16 months after the onset of
the coronavirus pandemic.
Firearms ban
The added security follows
a recent law (Senate Bill
554) barring fi rearms, even
those carried by people with
concealed-handgun licenses,
from the Capitol.
During the 2021 session,
lawmakers barred fi rearms
from the Capitol and the
passenger terminal at Port-
land International Airport
as part of broader legisla-
tion to require safe storage
of fi rearms by their owners.
Schools, community colleges
and universities have the
option to do so by action
of their governing boards.
Opponents failed to submit
signatures for an attempt to
refer the legislation to a state-
wide election, so the new law
took eff ect Sept. 25. Signs are
posted at the public entrances.
Lawmakers acted after
anti-lockdown demonstra-
tors, some of them armed,
attempted to force their way
into the Capitol during a
special session on Dec. 21,
2020, when the Capitol still
was closed to the public. Some
of them got into a vestibule
before police ejected them;
police blocked their second
attempt at a diff erent entry
later in the day.
Anti-lockdown, pro-Don-
ald Trump demonstrators also
appeared at the Capitol on Jan.
6, 2021 — the same day as the
insurrection at the U.S. Capi-
tol in Washington — but were
confi ned to the Capitol Mall
across from the Capitol. The
Oregon Capitol was closed to
all employees, and ground-
level windows in the offi ce
wings and main building
were covered with plywood.
The boards were removed a
couple of months later.
On June 10, 2021, the
House expelled Rep. Mike
Nearman, a four-term Repub-
lican from Polk County, after
Capitol surveillance video
showed he opened the vesti-
bule door and allowed demon-
strators to enter the building.
He reentered through another
door on the other side. A cell-
phone video surfaced later
during which Nearman told
a pre-session audience that
if he received a text message,
they might gain access to the
Capitol. Once that video was
disclosed, the 22 other Repub-
licans joined all 37 Democrats
in the 59-1 expulsion vote, the
fi rst since Oregon became a
state in 1859.
Nearman pleaded guilty
July 27 to one count of fi rst-de-
gree offi cial misconduct, but
expressed no regret for his
action during his appearance
in Marion County Circuit
Court. The district attorney
dropped a second charge of
criminal trespass.
OHSU cited for animal welfare violations, again
By COURTNEY
VAUGHN
Oregon Capital Bureau
PORTLAND — Federal
regulators have charged
Oregon Health & Science
University with breaking
federal animal welfare laws.
The university was issued
a critical violation by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
following a Dec. 6, 2021,
inspection at one of OHSU’s
animal research labs.
Ac c o r d i n g t o t h e
complaint, a Mongolian
gerbil died of starvation
during an experiment in
which a group of gerbils
had their food rationed. The
animals were part of a hear-
ing loss study, and were given
regulated access to food as
part of a round of behavioral
tests for food rewards.
“A verbal request for
services by a laboratory staff
member to the husbandry
supervisor was not communi-
cated to the husbandry tech-
nician responsible for feeding
in the room,” a USDA inspec-
tion report notes. “Conse-
quently, fi ve animals were
not given their daily ration
on Oct. 2, 2021. The prob-
lem was identifi ed on Oct. 3,
2021, and the animals were
immediately provided food.
State audit: OSP should
revamp staffi ng method
In addition, the veterinarian
was notifi ed and conducted
a physical exam. Accord-
ing to the facility, four of the
fi ve gerbils were bright and
alert. One animal, however,
presented as lethargic and
was administered fl uids by
the veterinarian.”
The inspector noted the
animals’ condition improved,
but that same animal soon
became lethargic again and
despite veterinary interven-
tions, the animal died on Oct.
4.
“Animals must be given
food as required to ensure
their health and comfort.
These animals were under an
IACUC-approved protocol
describing how food was to
be provided and the amount
of the daily ration to be given
to each animal,” the inspec-
tor said, siting the Institu-
tional Animal Care and Use
Committee.
The violation is the latest
in a string of recent incidents
citing inadequate technician
oversight and lack of veter-
inary care at OHSU animal
testing labs. It’s the fourth
critical violation in two years
and the 17th violation in four
years, critics noted.
Violations include inci-
dents in which two lab
monkeys were scalded to
death after accidentally being
placed in a high-temperature
cage washer, while another
primate was injured after
being caught in a drain cover
and two others were eutha-
nized after developing brain
infections due to delayed
veterinary care following
experiments. In another inci-
dent, prairie voles died of
dehydration when they were
left without water.
The slew of mishaps has
led animal rights activists
to label the research univer-
sity as the worst off ender of
animal rights violations in
the nation.
Offi cials at OHSU say it
takes animal care seriously,
and relies on regular inde-
pendent inspections.
“OHSU understands and
embraces the responsibil-
ity to provide compassion-
ate, leading-edge health and
veterinary care that comes
with the privilege of work-
ing with animals,” a state-
ment from OHSU reads. “We
employ hundreds of dedi-
cated staff who care deeply
for the animals in our care
and work around the clock to
ensure humane, respectful
treatment. Any time there is
an unexpected issue or event
involving these animals, it is
deeply upsetting to all of us.”
The university points to
annual reviews of its labo-
ratories by government
agencies and its voluntary
participation in the Asso-
ciation for Assessment and
Accreditation of Laboratory
Animal Care International,
AAALAC.
Animal welfare advocates
say all of that is meaningless
if repeated violations are
occurring.
Stop Animal Exploitation
Now!, an Ohio-based watch-
dog group that monitors
the nation’s research facili-
ties for illegal activities and
animal abuse, fi led a federal
complaint against OHSU
with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, urging the
agency to make an example
of OHSU with stiff er penal-
ties.
“These violations demon-
strate the most basic failures
which could possibly occur in
a laboratory,” the complaint
states. “OHSU has passed
the level for a normal prose-
cution. ...Dozens of animals
have died or been injured.
Dozens of violations have
occurred.”
People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals also
chimed in saying OHSU’s
animal research should be
stopped.
SALEM — Oregon State
Police should move away
from the longstanding prac-
tice of using population to
dictate how many troopers
the agency needs and shift
to an approach that relies
instead on workload, a state
audit recommends.
State police also should
do more to analyze their
overtime use, according
to the audit by the Oregon
Secretary of State’s Offi ce.
Auditors looked at
whether the agency’s work-
force plans address public
and trooper safety.
The audit included other
details:
State police spent more
than $2.5 million on over-
time, travel, protective
gear and special training to
deploy troopers and supervi-
sors to respond to civil unrest
in Portland in 2020.
The agency sent between
50 to 100 personnel to the
protests, according to the
audit.
It spent another $700,000
on overtime and other
expenses related to historic
wildfi res that burned across
the state that year.
The audit also makes
clear that the agency’s work-
force fails to reflect the
demographics of Oregon.
About 90% of the work-
force is white, while 71.8%
of Oregonians are white,
according to the audit. And
while 13.9% of the state’s
population is Hispanic or
Latino, 4.2% of the agen-
cy’s workers are Hispanic or
Latino.
Auditors recommended
changes in how the agency
approaches staffi ng, calling
the current model “the least
eff ective available” and one
that fails to “account for
Oregon’s changing policing
environment.”
A system that analyzes
troopers’ workload instead
is more responsive to public
safety concerns, the audit
says.
“The diff erence between
workload demand and
trooper capacity may reveal
a surplus, which could
suggest an excess of staff -
ing,” the report says. “Alter-
natively, the analysis may
show there is more work than
trooper time. In that case, the
analysis can also help OSP
estimate how many addi-
tional positions it would need
to cover that defi cit.”
Phone and Internet Discounts
Available to CenturyLink Customers
The Oregon Public Utility Commission designated
CenturyLink as an Eligible Telecommunications
Carrier within its service area for universal
service purposes. CenturyLink’s basic local
service rates for residential voice lines are
$24.00 per month and business services are
$38.00-$40.00 per month. Specific rates will be
provided upon request.
CenturyLink participates in a government
benefit program (Lifeline) to make residential
telephone or broadband service more affordable
to eligible low-income individuals and families.
Eligible customers are those that meet eligibility
standards as defined by the FCC and state
commissions. Residents who live on federally
recognized Tribal Lands may qualify for
additional Tribal benefits if they participate in
certain additional federal eligibility programs.
The Lifeline discount is available for only one
telephone or qualifying broadband service per
household, which can be either a wireline or
wireless service. Broadband speeds must be 25
Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload or faster to
qualify.
A household is defined for the purposes of the
Lifeline program as any individual or group of
individuals who live together at the same address
and share income and expenses. Lifeline service
is not transferable, and only eligible consumers
may enroll in the program. Consumers who
willfully make false statements in order to
obtain Lifeline telephone or broadband service
can be punished by fine or imprisonment and can
be barred from the program.
If you live in a CenturyLink service area,
please call 1-800-201-4099 or visit centurylink.
com/lifeline with questions or to request an
application for the Lifeline program.
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