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SATURDAY • January 30, 2021
SNO-PARK IMPROVES GROOMING
MEISSNER NORDIC CLUB BUYS SNOWCAT FOR THE POPULAR AREA NEAR BEND • SPORTS, B1
‘YOU NAME IT,
I’VE SEEN IT’
COVID-19 pandemic
U.K. variant
found in Bend
wastewater
Bend’s Olga ‘Honey’ Canney celebrates 105th birthday
BY SUZANNE ROIG
The Bulletin
The highly contagious strain
of COVID-19, the U.K. variant,
has been found in a wastewater
sample taken from the Colo-
rado Avenue collection point
in Bend, state scientists said
Friday.
The sample was taken on
Dec. 22, and nearly a month
later genome sequencing de-
tected the variant, said Brett Ty-
ler, director of the Oregon State
University Center for Genome
Research and Biocomputing.
“We all know that Bend is
a tourist magnet,” Tyler said.
“That’s one of the challenges
for your community. That’s
how the virus spread, through
travelers. We’re guessing that’s
how it got there.”
The variant has also been
detected in Yamhill County
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Olga “Honey” Canney smiles Friday as she talks about her life in Bend at Whispering Winds retirement community. Canney will cele-
brate her 105th birthday Saturday.
BY KYLE SPURR • The Bulletin
I
t took a pandemic to slow down Olga “Honey” Canney, who at 105 would still be teaching water aerobics
community in Bend, where the staff smile every time they see her.
Canney, who celebrates her 105th
birthday Saturday, has been making the
most of life with the threat of coronavi-
rus. After all, this isn’t her first pandemic.
She was born in Bangor, Ireland in
1916 and remembers when her family
moved to Seattle in 1920, the same year
her mother became sick with the Span-
ish flu, a pandemic that began in 1918.
Doctors said her mother would die if
she stayed in the busy city of Seattle, so
Canney’s father temporarily moved the
family to Lake Elsinore, California. The
family eventually moved permanently
to Alameda, California, and then to
Bend in 1972.
Through the years, Canney experi-
enced all the major historical moments
of the past century, from the Great De-
pression to World War II, silent films to
color TV, laptops, cellphones and foot-
prints on the moon.
“I’ve seen it all,” Canney said. “I’ve
seen depressions and wars. You name
it, I’ve seen it.”
Canney struggled with back pain
most of her life since a boy jumped off
a high dive and onto her back at a pool
Bulletin file photo
Canney leads a water aerobics class at Bend Golf & Country Club in 2019.
party when she was 13. She discovered
water aerobics when she was in her 30s
and started teaching classes at the Bend
club in 1978.
She taught the class at least three
days a week until March, when the pool
closed due to the virus.
See 105th / A7
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention is
tracking emerging variant
cases per state. The number
of cases are updated three
times each week. A7
and in two individuals in Port-
land. Two of the three individ-
uals did not travel, Tyler said.
The United Kingdom variant
does not make people any
sicker, but spreads faster and
can affect vulnerable commu-
nities, he said.
Dr. George Conway, De-
schutes County Health Ser-
vices director, said Friday that
it was a matter of time before
the variant would be detected
in the county.
See Variant / A7
Some are getting
vaccine early in
Deschutes County
at Bend Golf & Country Club if the pool was open. But even in quarantine, Canney is staying active. She
wears running shoes and only needs a walker to get around her home at Whispering Winds retirement
By the numbers
BY SUZANNE ROIG
The Bulletin
Nothing would make Anne
Yost happier than getting a vac-
cine against COVID-19.
At age 65, she’s not anywhere
near eligibility. Yet she hears
from friends and reads news
reports of others who have
been able to slip in under the
radar of the vaccine guidance
established by the
Oregon Health Authority and
get a dose of the COVID-19
vaccine.
“If they need an arm for an
extra dose, I’d rather they take
mine then toss it,” said Yost, a
Bend resident. “I don’t want
to be the person who drives to
another county and insists on
a vaccine. In some places, I am
hearing that if you just show
up you can get a vaccine.
“Here, it will be a problem
to wait outside for a shot when
it’s 18 degrees. I figure I’ll just
wait. I could be seeing my
grandkids.”
Deschutes County is one
of many in the state that have
plowed through its first re-
sponders and teachers and
moved to the next level, while
“If they need an arm for an
extra dose, I’d rather they
take mine then toss it. I don’t
want to be the person who
drives to another county
and insists on a vaccine. In
some places, I am hearing
that if you just show up you
can get a vaccine.”
— Anne Yost, the Bend resident
is not yet eligible for a COVID-19
vaccine
other counties are lagging be-
cause of access or limited vac-
cination supplies.
This inequity has prompted
the Oregon Health Authority
to announce on Friday that
it would limit the number
of doses to counties that are
ahead of the governor’s sched-
ule and direct these first doses
to counties behind schedule,
said Oregon Health Author-
ity Director Patrick Allen in a
press briefing.
See Vaccine / A4
Madras councilor on hot
Oregon desert beauty captured in online tool
seat over ‘terrorist’ remark
Oregon Natural Desert
A newly elected Madras City
Council member is in hot wa-
ter over a Facebook post calling
a fellow councilor a terrorist.
Austin Throop claims he
was upset with Councilor
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Jennifer Holcomb for her dis-
regard of COVID-19 protocols
when he made the remark,
though he apologized to her
and others at a special council
meeting called Friday to dis-
cuss the comment.
See Councilor / A7
Jim Davis/
Mostly cloudy
High 47, Low 39
Page A8
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
A5-6
B7-8
B4-5
Dear Abby
Editorial
Horoscope
Association tool combines
photos, video, audio clips
BY MICHAEL KOHN • The Bulletin
January often means long, dark
nights spent inside with a movie and
cup of tea. Fortunately, the Oregon
A6
B6
A6
Local/State
Lottery
Obituaries
A2-3
B2
A6
Puzzles
Sports
B5
B1-2
Natural Desert Association has cre-
ated an online tool to beat the winter
blues and inspire a summer trip to the
wilds of southeastern Oregon.
The tool is an online story-map that
combines photography, video clips,
audio clips and snippets of informa-
tion on a webpage that is viewed by
scrolling up and down.
See Beauty / A7
The Bulletin
ù
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
newsprint
Vol. 119, No. 26, 16 pages, 2 sections
DAILY
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
A Hart
Mountain
antelope
is featured
on the Ore-
gon Natural
Desert
Association
webpage.
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