A2 THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2021
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DESCHUTES COUNTY
Total COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, Jan. 7:
Deschutes County cases: 4,322 (44 new cases)
Deschutes County deaths: 24 (zero new deaths)
Crook County cases: 509 (15 new cases)
Crook County deaths: 8 (zero new deaths)
Jefferson County cases: 1,582 (20 new cases)
Jefferson County deaths: 20 (zero new deaths)
Oregon cases: 121,085 (867 new cases)
Oregon deaths: 1,568 (10 new deaths)
COVID-19 patients hospitalized at
St. Charles Bend on Thursday: 32 (6 in ICU).
130
(Dec. 4)
120
108 new cases
(Jan. 1)
110
90 new cases
100
(Nov. 27)
7 ways to help limit its spread: 1. Wash hands often with soap and water for
at least 20 seconds. 2. Avoid touching your face. 3. Avoid close contact with sick
people. 4. Stay home. 5. In public, stay 6 feet from others and wear a cloth face
covering or mask. 6. Cover a cough or sneeze with a tissue or cough into your
elbow. 7. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
90
80
7-day
average
70
60
47 new cases
50
(Nov. 14)
40
31 new cases
28 new cases
(Oct. 31)
30
16 new cases
(July 16)
(Sept. 19)
9 new cases
www.bendbulletin.com
BULLETIN
GRAPHIC
129 new cases
What is COVID-19? It’s an infection caused by a new coronavirus. Coronaviruses
are a group of viruses that can cause a range of symptoms. Some usually cause
mild illness. Some, like this one, can cause more severe symptoms and can be
fatal. Symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.
8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
ONLINE
SOURCES: OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY,
DESCHUTES COUNTY HEALTH SERVICES
New COVID-19 cases per day
20
(May 20)
1st case
10
(March 11)
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Sisters schools to reopen later this month
BY JACKSON HOGAN
The Bulletin
Secondary students in the
Sisters School District will re-
turn to classrooms for the first
time since March in a hybrid
style, starting Jan. 25.
The two youngest grades at
Sisters Middle School and Sis-
ters High School will return
first, according to a letter Su-
perintendent Curt Scholl sent
to families Wednesday morn-
ing. Seventh, eighth, 11th and
12th graders will wait an extra
week, returning to in-person
classes on Feb. 1, he wrote.
The Sisters Elementary stu-
dents, comprising grades K-4,
will return to in-person classes
Monday after learning online
this week. They were the only
public school in the district,
and Deschutes County as a
whole, to be open for in-per-
son learning this fall.
Two days before Christmas,
Gov. Kate Brown ceded control
of school reopenings to local
school districts after setting
strict reopening standards for
months during the pandemic.
There are two main reasons
for splitting the middle and
high schoolers’ return in half,
Scholl told The Bulletin on
Wednesday.
One reason is that fifth and
ninth graders have never at-
tended regular in-person
classes at the middle and high
school, respectively.
“We figured we could transi-
tion and get them back earlier
before the other students ar-
rive,” Scholl said. Only having
half of the schools’ students
back during the first week of
in-person learning will help
staff work out any kinks with
Dean Guernsey/Bulletin file
In this December 2020 file photo , students at Sisters Elementary School
walk apart, guided by pictures of horseshoes on the floor.
COVID-19 distancing and
mask-wearing rules, Scholl
said.
“It gives those buildings a
chance to test the protocol with
less kids,” Scholl said. “If we get
a bottleneck (in the hallway)
somewhere, we can see it with
a couple hundred kids, rather
than 400.”
All K-12 students will return
in a hybrid fashion. That means
from Monday through Thurs-
day, half the students will be in
classrooms, and the other half
will learn online from home.
All students will learn online
Fridays, giving teachers a day to
prepare simultaneous work for
students working at home and
in-person, Scholl said.
The district chose the hybrid
model in order to maintain 6
square feet of distance between
each student, as is mandated by
the state, Scholl said.
Scholl expressed excitement
about having staff and students
return to classrooms for the
first time in months.
“It’ll have benefits for every-
body,” he said. “Reestablishing
relationships, being in-person,
that’s the best way to do this
work.”
Reporter: 541-617-7854,
jhogan@bendbulletin.com
Salem-Keizer board member criticized for
Redmond couple
sentenced for sexual violating state rules with maskless party
relationship with teen
BY RACHEL ALEXANDER
Salem Reporter
Morses asked girl to
become ‘second wife’
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
A Redmond couple was sen-
tenced for sexually abusing a
teenage girl whom they tried to
add to their marriage.
Zachary Andrew Morse and
Jessette Nicole Morse plied
a 15-year-old girl with alco-
hol and abused her numerous
times in 2016. He was 29 at the
time, and his wife was 21.
“What you did to me was
wrong,” the victim, now 19,
said in a statement read aloud
Thursday at Zach Morse’s sen-
tencing in Deschutes County
Circuit Court, where he was
sentenced to three years and
eight months in prison. “The
relationship was rough and
confusing. The manipulation
was constant.”
The Morses met the girl
through their church and soon
began a sexual relationship
with her, said prosecutor Rosa-
lie Beaumont.
“The couple frequently pro-
vided the girl with alcohol and
marijuana and would have sex
with her while she was intoxi-
cated,” Beaumont said.
After the girl moved with her
family out of state, the couple
sent her a ring and asked her to
be a “second wife.” Zach Morse
told the girl he wanted her to
have his child, Beaumont said.
The girl handed over the ring
and a card to police, and detec-
tives soon learned that in 2015
Zach Morse had supplied alco-
hol to a different 15-year-old
girl and had sex with her.
Morse pleaded guilty to
first-degree sexual abuse, sec-
ond-degree sexual abuse, sod-
omy and furnishing alcohol to
a minor.
“This is a pattern of pred-
atory behavior,” Beaumont
said. “From our perspective,
it doesn’t seem like he has any
remorse or sympathy for his
victims.”
The couple is raising four
young children.
Jessette Morse was sentenced
Dec. 8. For pleading guilty to
two counts of second-degree
sexual abuse, one of sodomy
and one of furnishing alcohol
to a minor, Jessette Morse re-
ceived 30 days jail and three
years probation.
Zach Morse’s attorney, Val-
erie Wright, noted the wide dif-
ference in court.
“Jessette received a short
amount of time, and that was
great. We were in support of
that. We wanted you to know
that,” Wright told the judge.
Reporter: 541-383-0325,
gandrews@bendbulletin.com
SALEM — A Salem-Keizer
School Board director is fac-
ing criticism after attending a
maskless New Year’s party with
about a dozen friends.
Jesse Lippold posted pho-
tos on his Instagram page over
the weekend showing him, his
girlfriend and other friends at
a party.
Gov. Kate Brown and public
health officials have frowned
upon these types of gatherings
and said that holding them
would delay the reopening of
schools and local businesses.
Since November, social gath-
erings of more than six peo-
ple who do not live together
have been prohibited in Mar-
ion County under the state’s
C OVID-19 restrictions.
Lippold’s post described
the event as a “modern speak-
easy” and said the group didn’t
social distance but “were still
less packed than every mall,
Walmart or Costco.”
Screenshots of the post have
been shared by Salem parents
and teachers on Facebook,
with many criticizing Lippold’s
choice to ignore state rules.
Health officials in Marion
County and at Oregon Health
Authority have said for months
that informal social gatherings
are a driver of the virus’ spread.
“It’s unacceptable that a pub-
lic schools official is doing this
while the rest of us are desper-
ately abiding by rules in an ef-
fort to try and get our kids an
opportunity to attend school,”
wrote Stephanie Koski, a par-
ent with an eighth grader in
the district and who has advo-
cated for school reopening.
“While so many cry out for
leadership, this isn’t it. Our
kids are literally suffering, our
community is hurting, and
businesses are closing. You
have officially lost my respect
and vote,” wrote Reid Sund,
a former candidate for Salem
City Council, on his Facebook
page.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Police: Father shoots
son near Prineville
and first-degree assault consti-
tuting domestic violence, ac-
cording to the Crook County
A Prineville man was ar-
Sheriff’s Office. He was taken
rested for allegedly shooting
to the Crook County jail,
his adult son Wednes-
where he’s being held
day afternoon, trig-
on $425,000 bail.
gering a manhunt for
Around 1:40 p.m.,
the victim when he
sheriff’s deputies were
fled.
called to a report of a
A police drone ul-
trespassing in prog-
timately located a
ress in the 12400
critically injured Jon-
block of U.S. Highway
athan Sharp, 35, and
26 north of Prineville.
Peter Sharp
took him to a nearby
Responding offi-
hospital.
cers learned a shooting had
Sharp’s father, Peter Wylie
just occurred and that the vic-
Sharp, 77, was arrested on sus- tim had fled into the nearby
picion of six criminal counts,
woods, according to the sher-
including attempted murder
iff’s office. Peter Sharp was ar-
rested and deputies attempted
to find the victim so medics
could treat him. Jonathan
Sharp was reportedly armed
and officers used caution and
called in support from the
Central Oregon Emergency
Response Team, which as-
sisted in the search and a 10-
mile closure of Highway 26
between Prineville and Ma-
dras.
Jonathan Sharp was found
and taken by ambulance to
St. Charles Prineville and air-
lifted to St. Charles Bend. He
remains in critical condition,
Crook County Sheriff John
Gautney said in a statement.
— Bulletin staff report
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