THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2021 A3
TODAY
Today is Monday, Jan. 25, the
25th day of 2021. There are 340
days left in the year.
Today9s Highlight in History:
On Jan. 25, 1981, the 52 Amer-
icans held hostage by Iran for
444 days arrived in the United
States.
In 1533, England’s King Henry
VIII secretly married his second
wife, Anne Boleyn, who later
gave birth to Elizabeth I.
In 1759, Scottish poet Robert
Burns was born in Alloway.
In 1915, America’s first official
transcontinental telephone call
took place as Alexander Graham
Bell, who was in New York,
spoke to his former assistant,
Thomas Watson, who was in
San Francisco, over a line set
up by American Telephone &
Telegraph.
In 1924, the first Winter Olympic
Games opened in Chamonix,
France.
In 1945, the World War II Battle
of the Bulge ended as German
forces were pushed back to their
original positions. Grand Rapids,
Michigan, became the first
community to add fluoride to its
public water supply.
In 1947, gangster Al Capone
died in Miami Beach, Florida, at
age 48.
In 1949, the first Emmy Awards,
honoring local Los Angeles
TV programs and talent, were
presented at the Hollywood
Athletic Club.
In 1959, American Airlines
began Boeing 707 jet flights
between New York and Los
Angeles.
In 1971, Idi Amin seized power
in Uganda by ousting President
Milton Obote in a military coup.
In 2004, NASA’s Opportunity
rover zipped its first pictures of
Mars to Earth, showing a surface
smooth and dark red in some
places, and strewn with frag-
mented slabs of light bedrock
in others.
In 2017, President Donald Trump
moved aggressively to tighten
the nation’s immigration con-
trols, signing executive actions
to jumpstart construction of his
promised U.S.-Mexico border
wall and cut federal grants for
immigrant-protecting “sanctu-
ary cities.” Death claimed actor
Mary Tyler Moore at age 80 and
actor John Hurt at age 77.
In 2019, President Donald
Trump’s confidant Roger Stone
was arrested by the FBI in a pre-
dawn raid at his Florida home
and charged with lying about
his pursuit of Russian-hacked
emails damaging to Hillary Clin-
ton’s 2016 election bid. (Stone
was convicted in November
2019 on charges including
lying to Congress and witness
tampering; Trump commuted
his 40-month prison sentence
just days before Stone was due
to report to prison in July 2020
and issued Stone a pardon in
December of that year.)
Ten years ago: Pleading for
unity in a newly divided govern-
ment, President Barack Obama
used his State of the Union ad-
dress to implore Democrats and
Republicans to rally behind his
vision of economic revival, de-
claring: “We will move forward
together or not at all.” In Egypt,
thousands of anti-government
protesters clashed with police
during a Tunisia-inspired demon-
stration to demand the end of
President Hosni Mubarak’s rule.
Five years ago: President
Obama said he would ban the
use of solitary confinement for
juvenile and low-level offenders
in federal prisons, citing the po-
tential for “devastating, lasting
psychological consequences”
from the use of the isolation as
punishment.
One year ago: President Donald
Trump’s defense team opened
its arguments at his Senate im-
peachment trial, casting the ef-
fort to remove him from office as
a politically-motivated attempt
to subvert the 2016 election and
the upcoming 2020 contest. Can-
ada, Australia and Malaysia each
reported their first cases of the
new coronavirus. LeBron James
of the Los Angeles Lakers moved
past former Laker Kobe Bryant
for third place on the NBA’s ca-
reer scoring list.
Today9s Birthdays: Country
singer Claude Gray is 89. Actor
Leigh Taylor-Young is 77. Actor
Jenifer Lewis is 64. Country mu-
sician Mike Burch (River Road) is
55. R&B singer Kina is 52. Actor
China Kantner is 50. Actor Ana
Ortiz is 50. Drummer Joe Sirois
(Mighty Mighty Bosstones) is 49.
Musician Matt Odmark (Jars of
Clay) is 47. Actor Mia Kirshner is
46. Actor Christine Lakin is 42.
R&B singer Alicia (ah-LEE’-shuh)
Keys is 41. Actor Michael Trevino
is 36. Pop musician Calum Hood
(5 Seconds to Summer) is 25.
Actor Olivia Edward is 14.
— Associated Press
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
COVID-19 | Vaccines
OREGON ZOO
What older
Oregonians
should know
Rare bat baby
being hand-reared
using a sock mom
BY KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL
Oregon Public Broadcasting
BY JOHN NOTARIANNI
Oregon Public Broadcasting
I
f you’re an older Oregonian who’s desperate to
get a COVID-19 vaccine in Oregon, it’s been a
frustrating few weeks.
People living in congregate settings are already be-
ing widely vaccinated, but unlike most other states,
Oregon hasn’t yet begun getting doses to the larger
population of older adults.
In mid-January, it looked like educators and peo-
ple over the age of 65 were at the front of the line for
Phase 1b of the state’s vaccination plan. On Jan. 12,
Gov. Kate Brown said both groups would become el-
igible for the vaccine Jan. 23.
But three days later, Brown tweeted: “States will
not be receiving increased shipments of vaccines
from the national stockpile next week, because there
is no federal reserve of doses.”
That meant Oregon had to revise its vaccination
timeline, and Brown made the controversial deci-
sion to prioritize education staff ahead of older Or-
egonians. A week later, Brown presented a revised
timeline for vaccination:
Week of Feb. 7: Seniors 80 and over are eligible.
Week of Feb. 14: Seniors 75 and over.
Week of Feb. 21: Seniors 75 and over.
Week of Feb. 28: Seniors 70 and over.
Week of March 7: Seniors 65 and over.
That means some older Oregonians who were re-
cently expecting to be eligible this week will now be
waiting another six weeks before they even have the
chance to be vaccinated.
It’s an agonizing delay for a population that’s vulner-
able to COVID-19’s most deleterious effects. People
70 and older have accounted for 77% of COVID-19
deaths, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
Dr. Elizabeth Eckstrom is the Chief of Geriatrics
at Oregon Health & Science University. She said she
sees the disappointment in the patients she treats
every day. “Just the thought that the vaccine is com-
ing is really exciting,” Eckstrom said, “so a lot of peo-
ple are feeling very acutely that they’re not able to
see family yet; they’re not able to get out and do the
things that they care about.”
Still, Eckstrom said the decision to give Oregon’s
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
A sign reminds visitors to schedule their second vaccina-
tions at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center in Red-
mond on Saturday.
152,000 teachers, early childhood workers and other
school employees a head start on vaccination isn’t a
bad idea. “If educators are not vaccinated until after
older adults, it means schools probably won’t be able
to reopen at all this year,” she said. “We need to con-
sider all members of our state, and vaccinating edu-
cators now is worth it.”
Once vaccinations for adults 80 and older begin
on Feb. 8, they will mostly be available at large vac-
cination sites like the Oregon Convention Center in
Portland. Eckstrom said this could pose an accessi-
bility challenge for older adults who don’t drive. She
said there’s no comprehensive plan in place to get
vaccines to people who are completely homebound.
“There really may not be any way for them to get
out to these large vaccination sites,” Eckstrom said,
“and many clinics, including my own, are not plan-
ning on vaccinating people within our clinic.”
Eckstrom said people who know older adults
should volunteer to take them to get vaccinated. She
said seniors need to be courageous about reaching
out to friends, family members and church groups.
“Obviously it means getting in the car with some-
one,” Eckstrom said, “but wear your mask, wash
your hands and take that risk to get your vaccine.”
STATE BRIEFING
Boy, 3, dies months after
car strikes him on street
A 3-year-old boy has died
months after being hit by a
driver on a Portland street.
The driver hit two children
who ran out into N. Fessenden
Street while playing on the eve-
ning of Sept. 2, according to
Portland Police. The 3-year-old
suffered life-threatening inju-
ries and was taken to a hospi-
tal, while the other child was
treated at the scene.
Police said Saturday the boy
died overnight.
Investigators determined
there was no cause to charge
the driver with a crime. Nei-
ther the boy nor the driver has
been publicly identified.
Arrest after store worker
hit with anti-Muslim slurs
A 43-year-old man was ar-
rested Friday after allegedly
berating a Portland gas station
employee with anti-Muslim
slurs, throwing items at the
worker and threatening to kill
him.
Brian Christopher Miller
was arrested on suspicion of
first-degree criminal mischief
and third-degree robbery. He
was booked into jail but has
since been released on his own
recognizance.
The incident unfolded Fri-
day night at a Chevron store.
Video footage shows a man
yelling a string of anti-Muslim
slurs while stealing merchan-
dise, throwing items at the
worker and destroying a food
case and cash register. He then
starts approaching the worker
behind the counter until the
worker appears to hide in a
back room.
The worker told Portland
Police that the man threatened:
“I am going to come back and
kill you.” He also said Miller
grabbed a pack of cigarettes
without paying for them.
The video was posted on
social media by someone who
said he’s the worker’s son. The
video description says the
worker is a 68-year-old Af-
ghan man.
Portland Police responded
to the incident about 7:44 p.m.
and found Miller outside the
store. Police allege he was most
likely under the influence of al-
cohol or drugs.
The employee was not phys-
ically hurt, police said.
Man accused of escaping
Portland jail cell indicted
A man accused of ramming
a Portland police officer while
driving a stolen pickup on
Christmas Eve — then later
escaping custody — has been
indicted on attempted murder
and other charges.
David Dahlen III, 24, escaped
a holding cell on the Portland
Police Bu-
reau’s detec-
tive floor in
the downtown
Multnomah
County Jus-
tice Center,
ran down a
Dahlen
stairwell and
out a door of
the building Jan. 2. He was ap-
prehended Jan. 8 in Portland.
Dahlen was indicted Tues-
day on six felony charges
and one misdemeanor, and
he pleaded not guilty to the
charges the next day. He re-
mains jailed in the Multnomah
County Detention Center.
He initially allegedly fled
police on Dec. 24 after officers
boxed in a stolen pickup he’s
accused of driving in the lot
of a gas station in Southeast
Portland. Dahlen is accused of
ramming the pickup into Of-
ficer Jennifer Pierce, who had
stepped out of a patrol car, a
witness said.
The driver of the stolen
pickup then backed up and
went forward again, hitting
Pierce’s patrol car as it peeled
out of the lot. Pierce fired at
Dahlen and the truck, wit-
nesses said.
Pierce was hospitalized for
a pelvic fracture and has since
been released from the hos-
pital.
— Bulletin wire reports
Three Rodrigues flying foxes were born this month
at the Oregon Zoo, adding to a bat population once
considered among the most imperiled on earth.
In the 1970s, much of the Rodrigues bat forest habi-
tat had been cleared on their only native island — Ro-
drigues Island in the Indian Ocean, 900 miles east of
Madagascar.
After one particularly bad storm, only about 100
bats remained. But after four decades of conservation
efforts, there are now 20,000 bats on the island and in
zoos around the world.
Oregon Zoo animal curator Amy Cutting said its
colony had three babies in one month, which is un-
usual. “Any time an animal is reproducing and caring
for its young,” Cutting said, “you can have confidence
that they’re living a fulfilled life.”
Two newborns are being cared for by their mothers.
The mother of the third newborn died, so it’s now be-
ing hand-reared using an upside-down bat sock mom.
“Normally when you’re hand-raising an animal, you
have to make sure it’s upright, so it (doesn’t) aspirate,”
said Cutting. “With bats, you have to make sure they’re
upside down so they don’t aspirate. So it is a little bit
different from other species.”
The newborn is fed a formula of milk and fruit, like
mashed banana, made specifically for bats.
Rodrigues bats are comparatively large for bats,
closer in size to a prairie dog. They play an important
ecological role on Rodrigues island, where few other
pollinators and seed dispersers exist.
The Oregon Zoo began housing “Rods” in 1994, and
has raised more than 50 pups, sending some to other
zoos as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquari-
ums’ Species survival plan. The plan helps maintain a
genetically diverse, self-sustaining population for the
long-term benefit of the animals.
“Keeping a healthy insurance population in zoos
is especially important for this species,” Cutting said.
“With so few left and such a limited geographic range,
a severe weather event on their island could essentially
wipe them out.”
Read more about the bats’ story and view photos at the
Oregon Zoo website: j.mp/oregonbats