WEDNESDAY • January 27, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
COVID-19
CENTRAL OREGON TRUMPETER SWANS
U.S. to boost vaccine deliveries, A4
ELOISE ALONE
Methods
for annual
count of
homeless
see change
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
Some Central Oregon social service pro-
viders are worried the number of homeless
people will be underreported because of fed-
eral COVID-19 guidelines limiting interaction
between the homeless and the volunteers who
tally them in the annual Point-in-Time Count.
Each year, Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson
counties participate in the federally-mandated
Point-in-Time count, where volunteers count
the number of people experiencing homeless-
ness or are in transitional housing on one day
in January. The national effort offers a snap-
shot of how many people are experiencing
homelessness in a region, and often is tied to
funding for homeless services.
See Homeless / A4
Eloise, a trumpeter swan, sits on a frozen pond without her mate, Pete, who died Saturday at Aspen Lakes.
Dean Guernsey/For The Bulletin
Vaccinations in
Central Oregon
proceed to next
group: seniors
With death of Pete, tragedy
strikes trumpeter swan
breeding program again
BY KYLE SPURR
The Bulletin
BY SUZANNE ROIG
The Bulletin
The most prolific trumpeter swan pair in
Deschutes, Jefferson and
Crook counties opened up
vaccinations to people 75 and
older ahead of the state sched-
ule after rapidly dispensing
shots to health care professionals and teachers.
It’s part of a priority process the Oregon
Health Authority has set up for counties that
have moved through each group and want to
go to the next on the priority list.
“Deschutes County was one of those coun-
ties, and began vaccinating educators last
week,” said Charles Boyle, a spokesman for
Gov. Kate Brown.
Oregon’s breeding program experienced a tragic
turn of events Saturday when the male, Pete, died
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin file
Pete and his mate, Eloise, produced 15 young in
In this 2018 file photo, Pete, a male swan donated to the Aspen
Lakes Golf Course to enhance Oregon’s trumpeter swan breeding
program, swims with his cygnet Sydney on a small pond at the golf
course in Sisters. Pete died Saturday.
the past three years from their home at the Aspen
Lakes Golf Course in Sisters. The pair was a boost
to lose a mate in recent months, after Gracie, the resident
to the state’s effort to repopulate the threatened
swan at Sunriver Nature Center, was killed in October,
species.
leaving her mate, Gus.
Eloise is now the second swan in Central Oregon
See Vaccinations / A4
See Swan / A13
New COVID-19
rule allows gyms
leeway to reopen
DESCHUTES COUNTY COMMISSION
No decision yet on whether to go nonpartisan
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
Deschutes County commis-
sioners do not appear interested
in asking voters this year to de-
cide whether their seats should be
nonpartisan, but they are still con-
sidering it for next year. During a
meeting Monday, commissioners
discussed what it would take for
this issue to make it to the ballot.
State statute prevents a commis-
sion from putting an issue like this
TODAY’S
WEATHER
on the ballot of a May special elec-
tion, according to county attorney
Dave Doyle, leaving a special elec-
tion in November as the soonest
the commissioners could put the
issue before voters.
But the commission unani-
mously decided against that after
learning that a special election in
November would cost the county
$140,000 if no other issue joined
the ballot.
“I could not justify calling an
Rain or snow
High 40, Low 27
Page A12
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
election in November just for this
item,” Commissioner Phil Chang
said Monday.
The idea was raised by Chang,
the newly elected Democrat to the
commission who earlier this month
asked the commission to explore
changing the seats to be nonparti-
san. Currently, candidates for the
commission must win a Republican
or Democratic primary before fac-
ing off in the November election.
The last time this issue was con-
A11-12
A14
A9-10
Dear Abby
Editorial
Horoscope
A7
A8
A7
Local/State A2-3, 13
Lottery
A6
Nation
A4, 13-14
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
sidered was in 2006. Residents
voted against this, as well as in-
creasing the number of commis-
sioners from three to five and
against making a commission po-
sition a part-time job.
Chang argued making races
nonpartisan would allow every-
one in Deschutes County to decide
who gets to be on the commission,
not just those who are registered
Democrats or Republicans.
Gyms can reopen under tight guidelines
to control COVID-19 infections, Gov. Kate
Brown announced Tuesday.
The new rules for “indoor recreation” were
included in an update of county risk levels.
There was little movement among counties
from their risk levels two weeks ago. Nearly
all of the state’s most populous counties were
among the 26 that remained in the extreme
risk category.
Under the four-tier risk ratings, counties are
assigned a level based on COVID-19 spread:
lower, moderate, high or extreme. As the levels
go up, more health and safety measures, along
with business and activity restrictions, are re-
quired.
See Commission / A13
See COVID-19 / A4
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A4
A10
A5-7
The Bulletin
ù
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
newsprint
Vol. 119, No. 23, 14 pages, 1 section
DAILY
from a bacterial infection.
INSIDE
• How to
make an
appoint-
ment, A4
U|xaIICGHy02329lz[