WEDNESDAY • February 17, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
DESCHUTES COUNTY
Deschutes fairgrounds hangs
on through pandemic losses
Housing
permits
surged
in 2020
The grounds of the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center are quiet Monday. Officials hope for more events this year but plan for any contingency.
BY MICHAEL KOHN
The Bulletin
New housing unit permits
were up nearly 19% in De-
schutes County in 2020 com-
pared to the previous year, in-
dicating that more homes are
coming on the market, even as
prices continue to soar and in-
ventory remains at historic lows.
In Deschutes County, there
were 2,403 new housing units
that were permitted for con-
struction last year, 375 more
than in 2019, according to data
from the U.S. Census. These
include 464 units inside apart-
ment buildings and 1,792 sin-
gle-family homes.
That makes 2020 the year
with the most permits issued
since 2006.
In 2019 there were 2,028
units permitted in the county.
These include 458 units inside
apartment buildings and 1,488
single-family homes. In 2018,
there were 1,982 total units
permitted.
See Permits / A4
L
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
ike every other government entity
or business in 2021, the Deschutes
County Fair & Expo Center is trying
to predict the future.
After surviving a year of event can-
cellations or postponements due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the expo center
is trying to move forward, hoping for a
world that returns to some sense of nor-
malcy, but preparing for the worst in case
it doesn’t, said Geoff Hinds, director of
the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Cen-
ter.
“I think the future looks good, assum-
ing we can get back to a level of nor-
malcy,” Hinds said Friday. “We under-
stand it’s going to be a long process.”
The fund that finances the fairgrounds
was one of the hardest hit within De-
schutes County government, losing
roughly $700,000 — or 30% of its entire
budget — just between March and July of
last year due to pandemic-related cancel-
lations, Hinds said. The loss of revenue
prompted the county to reassign several
fair workers to other departments within
the county, as well as some temporary sal-
ary reductions and furloughs, he said.
The annual county fair was also, for the
most part, canceled, except for the live-
stock auction.
Deschutes County is not alone. All fairs
across the state have taken a financial hit,
said Casey Daly, the Crook County Fair-
grounds manager and president of the
Oregon Fair Association. Only three or
four fairs were able to operate last year,
which included Crook County, he said.
“We’re all struggling based on the
guidelines the governor’s got out right
now,” Daly said.
Some fairs are financially doing better
than others, Daly said. Those doing bet-
ter are in lower-risk counties or those that
have been able to be creative and hold
more events outdoors, where restrictions
are more forgiving, he said. Many, includ-
ing Crook County, have held drive-thru
events, for example.
While the Deschutes County Fair &
Expo Center took a financial hit, the im-
pacts were muted thanks to some revenue
being generated from some events that
were able to take place later in the year,
Hinds said. Being able to provide public
services like hosting trials for the circuit
court, being an evacuation facility for the
summer’s fires and now as a COVID-19
testing and vaccination site, also has
helped keep the expo center stable.
Sisters puts
bond on the
ballot for
new school
Proposal to replace
elementary school
won’t raise area
property taxes
See Fairgrounds / A4
BY JACKSON HOGAN
The Bulletin
Sisters Elementary School
has run out of room.
The school will need portable
classrooms next year to accom-
modate student growth. It’s so
small that fifth graders, who are
traditionally the oldest students
in an elementary, have attended
Sisters Middle School for more
than a decade. And when small
groups of students are taken
outside the classroom for in-
struction, there’s no common
rooms or small classes for them.
They’re taught on the stage,
in the hallway or even inside a
closet.
“We lived through it this year, and
we’ll still be in existence. We’ll still be
able to pay the bills. But it certainly
doesn’t happen without challenges.”
— Geoff Hinds, director of the Deschutes County Fair & Expo
Center, shown Tuesday at right in the entryway of the complex
Dean Guernsey/Bulletin photos
See Bond / A4
Residents urged to take down bird feeders due to salmonella
Wildlife officials are worried about
a salmonella outbreak among song-
birds in Central Oregon that is linked
to bird feeders, where birds are con-
gregating and consuming contami-
nated food and water.
Residents are being asked to take
TODAY’S
WEATHER
down their bird feeders for the next
month to stop the spread of salmo-
nella, a potentially deadly bacterial
infection that is common among
seed-eating birds in the winter.
Sally Compton, executive direc-
tor of Think Wild, a wildlife reha-
bilitation facility in Bend, said hav-
ing bird feeders in the winter is a
Clouds and sun
High 41, Low 23
Page A12
INDEX
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A13-14
A9-10
double-edged sword. The feeders
help supplement the food supply
for birds through the cold weather,
but then many birds gather at the
feeders and leave feces infected with
salmonella. The feces can end up in
the water and food, spreading the
infection.
“That’s where we start to see the
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potential to have an outbreak like we
have right now,” Compton said.
The Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife warned the public in De-
cember about finding dead birds due
to salmonella and other bacteria and
viruses. At that time, residents in Sis-
ters reported finding several sick and
dead birds.
A4
A10
A5-7
Reports went down until recently
when Think Wild received an up-
tick in calls over the past two weeks
related to salmonella infections in
finches and pine siskins. One man re-
cently brought in five dead birds he
found around his bird feeder, Comp-
ton said.
See Salmonella / A13
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