Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
TUESDAY • January 26, 2021
THE KOBE BRYANT TRAGEDY LAUNCHED A YEAR OF MISERY
A sports columnist reflects one year after the NBA legend’s death | SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
Restrictions could ease within 3 weeks
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Falling COVID-19 infection rates
will allow the state to lift some restric-
tions on businesses and activities over
the next three weeks, the state’s top
health official said Monday.
Oregon Health Authority Director
Pat Allen told the Senate Commit-
tee on Health Care that the infection
rate in Oregon had dropped to 5.1%
for the week of Jan. 17, the lowest rate
since late October.
The rate has been steadily dropping
since the first week of January and has
reached a point where growth in the
COVID-19
Vaccines now available for
Central Oregon residents
75 and older, A2
daily number of cases is expected to
stay relatively flat or drop further.
The rate means the state can move
more of the state’s 36 counties lower on
the four-tier risk-level measures. The
latest two-week ratings will be released
in the next two days and will show
some counties dropping a level, while
no county’s risk level is on the rise.
“It’s the hard work of Oregonians,”
Allen told the panel.
Allen said Oregon has the
fourth-lowest infection rate and the
fifth-lowest death rate of the 50 states.
Allen said that if the trend sustains
for another two weeks, several more
counties will move down the risk level
scale, including some with larger pop-
ulations.
Gov. Kate Brown is also expected
to make an announcement this week
to allow some gyms and other indoor
recreation to operate again.
The lower rate of infection is good
news as the state continues to strug-
gle with obtaining enough of the new
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to ramp
up inoculations. The two-shot vaccines
are the key to ending the pandemic
that has killed 420,000 people nation-
wide, including 1,882 Oregonians.
“Our real challenge right now is just
flat out not having enough vaccine,”
Allen said. The state has received more
than 492,000 doses of the Moderna and
Pfizer vaccines that have been approved
for use on adults. The vaccines require
two shots spaced about a month apart.
Oregon is on pace to get more than
12,000 shots administered per day. Al-
len said that OHA estimates 3.2 million
adults are eligible for vaccination, mean-
ing that the state will need 6.4 million
doses of vaccine to finish the job.
Allen said the state had enough
centers for inoculation and qualified
workers to give the shots. It just didn’t
have vaccine to put to work.
There is hope that new vaccines
from Astra Zeneca, Johnson & John-
son and others will be approved and
increase the flow of available doses
across the country.
See Restrictions / A4
Is Redmond
ready for pot?
Leaders debate
BEND-LA PINE | First day in school
‘GLAD’ TO
BE BACK
Some fear ceding business to Bend,
Madras; others want feds to act first
A chilly January day couldn’t dampen
many families’ excitement to return to
in-person elementary classes for the first
time since lockdowns began in March
BY JACKSON HOGAN
The Bulletin
Despite recreational marijuana being legalized
statewide, the city of Redmond has never allowed
dispensaries within its city limits.
However, three Redmond city councilors want to
look into the possibility of approving dispensaries
in Redmond. And two of those councilors strongly
believe the city is missing out on significant revenue
by not allowing dispensaries.
“We can’t let money slip out of our hands and
move to places to the north and south of us,” said
city Councilor Clifford Evelyn, who noted that both
Bend and Madras allow dispensaries.
See Pot / A4
Elder abuse bill
in Salem has a
Bend connection
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
A bill proposed this week in the Oregon Legisla-
ture would allow mental health counselors to testify
against their patients in instances of elder abuse or
abuse of a developmentally disabled person.
Senate Bill 176 was inspired by a 2016 case pros-
ecuted in Bend, that of Angela Christine Judd,
who pleaded guilty to smothering her 92-year-old
grandmother to death with a pillow.
The bill is sponsored by the Oregon Department
of Justice.
The state’s elder abuse reporting law was mir-
rored after its child abuse reporting law, but the
Judd case exposed an important difference in the
language of the two.
See Legislation / A13
kids early Monday morning at Jewell, the Hens-
leys were happy to see their daughter back in
school after learning at home for more than 10
onday didn’t look like a typical
months due to COVID-19.
first day of school for students
“I’m glad she’s going back,” Richard Hens-
at R.E. Jewell Elementary in
ley said. “I think it’s important for
Bend.
their education and social life.”
Instead of Septem-
Thousands of Bend-La Pine
ber sun, there was
students in grades K-3 returned
January snow at 8:15 a.m. Parents
Bend-La-Pine families to classrooms full time Monday
made sure their kids were wearing
their face masks correctly. The adults sending their children morning for the first time since
back to in-person
mid-March. They’re the first wave
had to say goodbye to their children
classes, according to a
of Bend-La Pine students to go
from inside their parked cars or on
survey this month
back to classrooms.
the sidewalk, as Bend-La Pine School
Fourth and fifth graders in the
forbade anyone not a student or a
district will also return to in-person school
staffer to enter the building due to COVID-19
this week, but just for a one-day orientation.
precautions.
They’ll begin two-day-a-week, hybrid learning
Still, the frigid weather didn’t stop Richard
on Feb. 1. Middle and high school students are
and Regan Hensley from taking a first-day-of-
expected to return to hybrid in-person school
school picture of their fourth grade daughter,
on Feb. 8.
Hailey, in front of Jewell Elementary.
Like many of the parents dropping off their
See Schools / A13
BY JACKSON HOGAN • The Bulletin
M
PHOTO AT TOP: First
grader Vanessa Loza
kisses her mom, Maria,
before entering R.E.
Jewell Elementary
School on Monday, the
first day of in-person
learning in more than
10 months.
86.5%
ABOVE: Jewell Principal
Scott Edmondson greets
students. Bend-La Pine’s
elementary students
are the first to return.
Grant to boost COCC9s
manufacturing classes
BY MICHAEL KOHN
The Bulletin
Central Oregon Community College has been
awarded a $320,000 grant from the U.S. Department
of Labor to develop its manufacturing skills program, a
boost for regional education and training as the econ-
omy looks to rebound and add jobs in coming years.
The funds will be issued in stages — $80,000 a
year for the next four years, according to a news re-
lease from COCC.
The grant is part of a $5 million funding request
from a consortium of nine Oregon community
colleges and the Higher Education Coordinating
Commission.
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Cloudy
High 33, Low 24
Page A13
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
A11
A14
A9-10
Dear Abby
Editorial
Horoscope
A7
A8
A7
Kid Scoop
Local/State
Lottery
A12
A2
A6
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A4
A10
A5-7
The Bulletin
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An Independent Newspaper
We use
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See COCC / A4
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