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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2021)
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50 SATURDAY • January 23, 2021 IT’S WAIT AND SEE ON THE PPP AFTER GETTING CANCELED IN 2020, POLE PEDAL PADDLE RACE STILL UNCERTAIN FOR THIS YEAR • SPORTS, B1 COVID-19 | Redmond schools Reopening is delayed to Feb. 22 as cases rise BY JACKSON HOGAN The Bulletin Nearly 7,500 students in Redmond schools will have to wait about three weeks longer than planned before they can return to in-person learning, the school district announced Friday afternoon. The Redmond School Dis- trict said it will delay its return to classrooms to Feb. 22, 20 days after the original plan. Superintendent Charan Cline said a primary reason for the delay was because too many school staffers are in COVID-19 quarantine, which would make staffing schools difficult. “It was clear that it was going to be hard to reopen on the second because of person- nel,” Cline told The Bulletin on Friday. Cline declined to say how many staffers were in quar- antine, but noted that it was a higher number than when Redmond had to temporar- ily shutter limited in-person classes in early December, when there were 91 students Charan Cline: “It was clear that it was go- ing to be hard to reopen on the second be- cause of per- sonnel.” and staff combined in quar- antine. A recent COVID-19 out- break at St. Charles Redmond also sent a warning about re- opening schools on Feb. 2, Cline said. See Redmond / A7 COVID-19 | Vaccines Central Oregon welcomes winter weather Storm brings 4 to 5 inches of snow to Bend, Redmond; more expected Brown defends giving priority to teachers BY GARRETT ANDREWS The Bulletin BY GARY A. WARNER Oregon Capital Bureau Central Oregon saw its first real snow of winter early Fri- day, brought by a mid-season storm that largely avoided the rest of the state. By midday, observers with the National Weather Service in and around Bend and Redmond were reporting a snowfall of 4 to 5 inches, as a low-pressure storm system passed through on its way to Northern Cali- fornia. Meanwhile, TripCheck roadside cameras showed clear roads and sunshine at Govern- ment Camp, Siskiyou Summit and Santiam Pass. Another inch or two was forecast to fall in Central Or- egon by the end of the after- noon, according to Ann Ad- ams, weather technician for the National Weather Service’s Pendleton office. A winter weather advisory was to remain in effect until 10 p.m. The Oregon Depart- ment of Transportation was reporting two weather-related road closures, U.S. Highway 97 a mile north of Terrebonne and state Highway 126 about 8 miles east of Sisters. The winter storm concen- trated on the Bend-Redmond area. Mt. Bachelor reported receiving 4 inches in the past 24 hours, bringing its total on the ground to 18 inches. Mean- while, Hoodoo Ski Area out- side Sisters got just half an inch. Gov. Kate Brown said Friday that she will stick with her controversial plan to vaccinate school staff ahead of elderly resi- dents. “My priorities have not changed,” Brown said during a press conference. The current state vac- cination priority list calls for an estimated 100,000 K-12 teachers, school staff, child care workers and preschool employees to be eligible for vaccination Monday. Residents 80 and over Brown: “It’s re- will be eligible two weeks ally pretty sim- later, on Feb. 8. The min- ple. I am using imum age will drop five every single years each week until those tool I have to 65 and over are eligible on get kids back March 1. into the class- Eligibility does not en- room this sure availability. Brown has school year.” set a goal of the state’s pro- gram administering 12,000 shots per day. With the current vaccines requiring two shots spaced several weeks apart, the goal means 6,000 residents would be fully vacci- nated each day in the near future. Oregon is one of only five states in the na- tion where the inoculation of those 65 and over has not begun. As of Friday, it is the only state to priori- tize educators and staff ahead of older resi- dents. Oregon has an estimated 767,500 resi- dents who are aged 65 or over out of a total population of about 4.2 million. The state ranks 11th in percentage of el- derly residents at just over 18%. See Snow / A7 Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin Kerstin Brady, 82, clears several inches of fresh snow from the sidewalk in front of her house Friday in Bend. See Vaccines / A7 Appeals court reverses ban on pot Why at least 45 states will vaccinate operations near youth activity centers seniors against virus before Oregon The state Court of Appeals has affirmed earlier rulings from the Land Use Board of Appeals, which ruled last year that Deschutes County can’t stop marijuana production near “youth activity centers” because the term is too ambiguous. In a ruling issued Jan. 13, the court found the legal merits of the decision made by the Land Use Board of Appeals, otherwise known TODAY’S WEATHER Mostly sunny High 40, Low 20 Page A8 as LUBA, to be correct. “Simply put, as LUBA recognized, no one could tell by reading the Deschutes County Code what is likely to be deemed a ‘youth ac- tivity center,’” the state Court of Appeals wrote in the ruling. Last summer, LUBA decided the factors De- schutes County used to reject the applications of two separate marijuana growing and processing facilities don’t fit with the state’s land use law. See Marijuana / A7 INDEX Business Classifieds Comics A5-6 B7-8 B5-6 Dear Abby Editorial Horoscope A6 B4 A6 AIMEE GREEN The Oregonian Seniors in Oregon will wait longer than almost anywhere else in the country to be eligi- ble for coronavirus vaccina- tions, a review by The Orego- nian has found, undercutting claims that the federal govern- ment is to blame. And that has shifted focus Local/State Lottery Nation/World A2-3 B2 A4 Obituaries Puzzles Sports A6 B6 B1-3 back to Gov. Kate Brown’s deci- sion to prioritize teachers over the elderly. Brown had already decided to vaccinate educators before seniors in an attempt to reopen K-12 schools. But she briefly reversed course last week based on expectations more vaccines would be pro- The Bulletin ù An Independent Newspaper We use recycled newsprint Vol. 119, No. 20, 16 pages, 2 sections vided by the federal govern- ment, announcing that seniors 65 and older would join day care, preschool and K-12 em- ployees as being eligible for vaccines Jan. 23. Yet when the prospect of ex- tra vaccines fell apart, Brown said she had no choice but to make elderly Oregonians wait. See Seniors / A4 DAILY BY BRENNA VISSER The Bulletin U|xaIICGHy02329lz[