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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2021)
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50 MONDAY • January 25, 2021 An acidic solution Oregon firefighters make a virus-killing disinfectant BY KRISTEN WOHLERS Pamplin Media Group SNOW MUCH FUN Photos by RYAN BRENNECKE • The Bulletin ABOVE: Jackson Antonio, 10, tries to steer with his hands while sledding with family and friends in the NorthWest Crossing neighborhood Saturday. BELOW: Abriella Gatto, 8, smiles as she sleds down the street. A Bulletin photographer spent the day in Bend’s NorthWest Crossing neighborhood after the first significant snowfall this season — and locals were seen taking advantage of the weather. Next chance for snow is Wednesday, according to the forecast. ABOVE: Mackenzie Fish, 5, smiles as she slides down the street on an inflatable unicorn while playing with family and friends. RIGHT: A beam of sunlight shines through a row of trees onto a freshly made snowman. In the spring, when COVID-19 began to spread in the United States, first responders were charged with en- suring safe transport to hospitals. So, the Molalla Fire Depart- ment went looking for a fast and effective way to decontaminate am- bulances and facilities, and they found it. The answer: hypo- chlorous acid. Hypochlorous acid is produced naturally in human bodies, and in all mammals, for healing and protec- tion. But, as Molalla Fire discovered, it also can be made using salt and water through elec- tro-chemical activation. Hypochlorous acid is approved by the Food and Drug Administra- tion, the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture Organic and the World Health Administration. It sanitizes surfaces, killing the COVID-19 virus in 10-15 seconds. Yet it is safe for the skin and is even food-safe at the right potency. Dustin Hamilton, a Molalla firefighter and EMT, in April re- searched and found the product for a decent price. But because of the demand, that price skyrocketed. So Hamilton con- tacted Service Wing Or- ganic Solutions in Tulsa, Oklahoma, about a gen- erator it sells. Through a grant from the CARES Act, Molalla Fire was able to purchase that generator for $46,500 and three 330-gallon storage tanks for $1,500, and the department is now making hypochlor- ous acid for its own use. “We understand it seems like a lot of money for the machine,” Ham- ilton said, “but to keep our station open, keep our people healthy and able to run emergency calls is something you cannot put a price on.” See Molalla / A10 INAUGURATION DAY IN PORTLAND ‘What are they marching for?’ Reporting from the scene of a protest that confused observers — and some protesters As about 50 people dressed head- to-toe in black stood in a standoff with Portland Police blocking a park- ing lot behind Benson High School, parents and coaches from a youth soccer program on the nearby field walked up to see what was going on. “What are they marching for?” one soccer mom asked. The anarchists, antifa and activ- ists seemed at times to question that themselves. “Who set this (expletive) up?” TODAY’S WEATHER Reese Monson asked over a mega- phone as the demonstration got un- derway two hours earlier outside Revolution Hall. A voice in the crowd yelled back, “We don’t have leaders.” Those meeting on Inauguration Day outside the music venue carried on what has become a cat-and-mouse call for disruption in the city over the last few months — a vestige of Port- land’s summer protests that devolved at night into clashes with police. The latest iteration has wrought extensive property damage recently, Chilly, some clouds High 35, Low 15 Page A10 INDEX Comics Dear Abby Horoscope INSIDE • Right-wing extremism has evolved, from isolated areas to the centers of power, A2 including apparently indiscriminate window-smashing. The “direct action” events have tied Portland’s mayor and police in knots — as well as others in the larger Black Lives Matter movement who want po- lice reform, even abolition, but have condemned property destruction and have worked to separate themselves from those who advocate vandalism. See Inauguration Day / A4 A7-8 A4 A4 Kid Scoop Local/State Nation/World A9 A2-3 A4 Puzzles Sports Weather The Oregonian Demonstrators march in Portland during a protest Wednesday. People carried anti-Biden signs on the day Joe Biden was sworn in as president, and others damaged the headquar- ters of the Democratic Party of Oregon. A8 A5-6 A10 The Bulletin ù An Independent Newspaper We use recycled newsprint Monday E-Edition, 10 pages, 1 section DAILY BY MAXINE BERNSTEIN The Oregonian U|xaIICGHy02329lz[