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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 2021)
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50 TUESDAY • January 12, 2021 PLEA FOR HELP COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF Championship game coverage inside Sports • Pullout section, A5-8 Bend’s Planet Fitness location and others are appealing to the governor to roll back the state’s restrictions on gyms • BUSINESS, A11 COVID-19 | Conflict over closures Redmond may seek more control over business openings Summit High staff asks board to wait for vaccine before opening BY JACKSON HOGAN The Bulletin BY JACKSON HOGAN The Bulletin F Two days before Christmas 2020, Gov. Kate Brown announced that school reopenings as the COVID-19 pandemic continued would be decided by local authorities, not state metrics. When Redmond Mayor George Endicott heard about that decision, he wondered if a similar move could help local small businesses, particularly restaurants, that are struggling financially due to COVID-19 regulations. orty-seven teachers and certified staff members at Summit High School asked Bend-La Pine Schools leaders in a let- ter Monday to hold off on reopening schools until they can be vaccinated. The letter was sent to the Bend-La Pine School Board and Superintendent Lora Nordquist late Mon- day afternoon. It states that rising COVID-19 cases locally, as well as the recent discovery of a new COVID-19 strain found in the United See Redmond / A4 About 65% of unionized teachers at the Bend school sign a letter asking to delay in-person classes Kingdom, are causes for waiting to bring back high school students for in-person learning as planned on Feb. 8. “Rushing back to school now seems fool- hardy, especially with the promise of a vaccine on the near horizon,” the letter states. Local COVID-19 case counts have begun to rise again after a brief late-December lull, according to data from Deschutes County Health Services. James Williams — an English teacher at Summit who wrote the letter — told The Bul- letin that unionized staff at other Bend-La Pine high schools are working on sending the school board their own letters before the board’s meet- ing Tuesday night. About 65% of unionized teachers at Summit signed his letter, he said. See Summit / A13 BEND DON9T LIMIT OFF-LEASH ACCESS Dog-friendly group tells Bend park district: Woman injured on Christmas Day dies Man arrested in case not yet charged BY GARRETT ANDREWS The Bulletin The Bend woman criti- cally injured in an alleged Christmas Day assault died from her injuries over the weekend at St. Charles Bend. The man police be- lieve is responsible, Ran- dall Kilby, could now face a murder charge. Bend Police officers ar- rested Kilby around noon Dec. 25, several hours af- ter he called 911 to say Daphne Banks had fallen and hit her head in a house in the 6000 block of Gran- ite Drive. Doctors at St. Charles Bend told police her inju- ries weren’t consistent with a fall as Kilby described. He was taken to jail on suspi- cion of second-degree as- sault. See Death / A4 A political action committee for dogs in Central Oregon is challenging a proposal to limit off-leash access to the Deschutes River in Bend parks to one location. Bend Park & Recreation District is in the middle of a two-year process to up- date its River Access and Habitat Resto- ration Plan, which includes a proposal to create a permanent off-leash access point upstream from the existing site in Riverbend Park. The new site would re- place the existing site, said Julie Brown, park district spokesperson. Two other seasonal locations are also being considered in Riverbend Park and Farewell Bend Park. But members of the political action committee DogPAC believe if the dis- TODAY’S WEATHER trict continues to limit permanent off- leash access to a single site, dog owners will continue to find informal access sites to let their dogs swim in the river. Both the park district and DogPAC are con- cerned that some unofficial locations could have steep, unsafe river banks or access where the river’s current is too fast. It would be better to have several ap- proved access sites, said DogPAC mem- ber Val Gerard. “DogPAC is trying to help BPRD re- duce that informal access by identifying multiple approved sites,” Gerard said. DogPAC is encouraging residents to share their opinions with the park board before the board’s next meeting Jan. 19, when district staff is scheduled to present recommendations for off- leash access. “We would like the board to under- stand how important this issue is to the dog owners of Bend, who comprise Breezy, some rain High 57, Low 41 Page A13 INDEX Business Classifieds Comics A11 A7 A9-10 Dear Abby Editorial Horoscope about half the population,” Gerard said. A total of 20,588 dogs are currently licensed in Deschutes County. Some es- timates show a similar amount of dogs are unlicensed, making the actual num- ber of dogs much higher. Brown said the district is welcoming public feedback on the park plan, which wouldn’t be finished until the fall. “These discussions are ongoing, and there will be more opportunities for dog owners, and all public input, in the months ahead,” Brown said. The district is planning to change the off-leash access point in Riverbend Park because it is on Old Mill District prop- erty. The proposed new location up- stream would be on park district-owned property, Brown said. DogPac members say the new site would only be a fraction of the riverside park property in Bend. See Dogs / A4 A7 A8 A7 Kid Scoop Local/State Lottery A12 A2 A6 Obituaries Puzzles Sports A4 A10 A5-7 BY GARY A. WARNER Oregon Capital Bureau Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin The Oregon Legislature returned to the Capitol on Monday amid a raging pan- demic that has the Salem area under an “Extreme Risk” list for COVID-19 in- fections. The 60 members of the House and 30 members of the Senate wore face masks and maintained 6 feet of separation while meeting in the chambers in the 1938 art deco Capitol. The agenda was to swear in members, elect leaders and set rules for the session. The session won’t officially get underway until Jan. 19. Julia Foran, of Bend, watches as her dog Wesley explores along the Deschutes River while visiting the Riverbend Dog Park on Thursday. “These discussions are ongoing, and there will be more opportunities for dog owners, and all public input, in the months ahead.” — Julie Brown, with the Bend Park & Recreation District See Salem / A13 The Bulletin ù An Independent Newspaper We use recycled newsprint Vol. 119, No. 10, 14 pages, 1 section DAILY BY KYLE SPURR The Bulletin Legislature returns as COVID-19 crisis rages U|xaIICGHy02329lz[