THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2021 A3
TODAY
Today is Wednesday, Feb. 17, the 48th day of 2021.
There are 317 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
In 1815, the United States and Britain exchanged the
instruments of ratification for the Treaty of Ghent,
ending the War of 1812.
In 1801, the U.S. House of Representatives broke an
electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron
Burr, electing Jefferson president; Burr became vice
president.
In 1863, the International Red Cross was founded in
Geneva.
In 1864, during the Civil War, the Union ship USS
Housatonic was rammed and sunk in Charleston Har-
bor, South Carolina, by the Confederate hand-cranked
submarine HL Hunley in the first naval attack of its
kind; the Hunley also sank.
In 1897, the forerunner of the National PTA, the Na-
tional Congress of Mothers, convened its first meeting
in Washington.
In 1944, during World War II, U.S. forces invaded Eni-
wetok Atoll, encountering little initial resistance from
Imperial Japanese troops. (The Americans secured the
atoll less than a week later.)
In 1964, the Supreme Court, in Wesberry v. Sanders,
ruled that congressional districts within each state had
to be roughly equal in population.
In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon departed the
White House with his wife, Pat, on a historic trip to
China.
In 1988, Lt. Col. William Higgins, a Marine Corps offi-
cer serving with a United Nations truce monitoring
group, was kidnapped in southern Lebanon by Irani-
an-backed terrorists. (He was later slain by his captors.)
In 1996, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beat
IBM supercomputer “Deep Blue,” winning a six-game
match in Philadelphia. (However, Kasparov lost to
Deep Blue in a rematch in 1997.)
In 2015, Vice President Joe Biden opened a White
House summit on countering extremism and radi-
calization, saying the United States needed to ensure
that immigrants were fully included in the fabric of
American society to prevent violent ideologies from
taking root at home.
In 2018, President Donald Trump’s national security
adviser, H.R. McMaster, told a conference in Germany
that there was now “incontrovertible” evidence of
a Russian plot to disrupt the 2016 U.S. election; the
statement stood in stark contrast to Trump’s claim that
Russian interference in his election victory was a hoax.
Ten years ago: A group of Democratic Wisconsin
lawmakers blocked passage of a sweeping anti-union
bill, refusing to show up for a vote and then abruptly
leaving the state in an effort to force Republicans to
the negotiating table. Iowa high school wrestler Joel
Northrup defaulted on his first-round state tourna-
ment match rather than face Cassy Herkelman, one of
the first girls ever to qualify for the event, saying that
wrestling a girl would conflict with his religious beliefs.
Five years ago: A three-way feud among the GOP’s
leading White House contenders escalated, with Ted
Cruz daring Donald Trump to sue him for defamation
and dismissing Marco Rubio’s charges of dishonesty
during a CNN forum just days before South Carolina’s
high-stakes primary. Travis Hittson, a former Navy
crewman, was executed in Georgia for killing a fellow
sailor, Conway Utterbeck.
One year ago: More than 300 American cruise ship
passengers, including 14 who tested positive for
coronavirus, were quarantined at military bases in
California and Texas after arriving from Japan on
charter flights. A push by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam
to ban the sale of assault weapons failed after some of
his fellow Democrats in the state Senate balked at the
proposal. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he planned
to spend $10 billion of his own fortune to help fight cli-
mate change. Novelist Charles Portis, whose best-sell-
er “True Grit” was twice adapted into Oscar-nominat-
ed films, died at 86. Hall of Fame golfer Mickey Wright,
winner of 82 LPGA tournaments including 13 majors,
died in Florida; she was 85.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor-comedian Barry Hum-
phries (aka “Dame Edna”) is 87. Actor Christina Pickles
is 86. Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown is 85. Actor
Becky Ann Baker is 68. Actor Richard Karn is 65. Actor
Lou Diamond Phillips is 59. Basketball Hall of Famer
Michael Jordan is 58. Actor-comedian Larry, the Ca-
ble Guy is 58. TV personality Rene Syler is 58. Movie
director Michael Bay is 57. Singer Chante Moore is 54.
Rock musician Timothy J. Mahoney (311) is 51. Actor
Dominic Purcell is 51. Olympic gold and silver medal
skier Tommy Moe is 51. Actor Denise Richards is 50.
Rock singer-musician Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)
is 49. Rock musician Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) is 49.
Actor Jerry O’Connell is 47. Actor Kelly Carlson is 45. Ac-
tor Ashton Holmes is 43. Actor Conrad Ricamora is 42.
Actor Jason Ritter is 41. TV personality Paris Hilton is
40. Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is 40. TV host Daphne
Oz is 35. Actor Chord Overstreet is 32. Singer-songwrit-
er Ed Sheeran is 30. Actor Meaghan Martin is 29. Actor
Sasha Pieterse is 25.
— Associated Press
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
Brooke Herbert/The Oregonian
Ice clings to power lines Monday in northeast Portland, causing power outages that closed schools.
Willamette Valley continues recovery
from snow and ice brought by storm
The Oregonian
At least 140,000 customers still had no power
Tuesday morning as the havoc wrought by a
powerful winter storm lingered around Port-
land. In Marion County, another 60,000 homes
and businesses were without power.
The lack of power and damage from the
storms may have contributed to six people suf-
fering from possible carbon monoxide poison-
ing in Clackamas County, closed many school
districts in the Portland metro area and led to a
number of roads being closed.
Portland General Electric reported three sub-
stations were still out of commission, 21 trans-
mission lines had been knocked out and more
than 6,000 individual lines were still down as
of 6 a.m. Despite the efforts of more than 2,500
utility workers trying to restore service, some of
whom were brought in from out of state, there
STATE BRIEFING
was still no estimate when power would return
for many customers.
For some, Tuesday would be their fourth day
without electricity.
In Gladstone, emergency crews were treating
the six people suspected in the carbon mon-
oxide poisoning Tuesday morning. Few details
were immediately available, but the Clackamas
County Sheriff’s Office said the poisoning may
have occurred after a generator was left running
in an enclosed area attached to a home on E.
Fairfield Street. The condition of all of the people
affected was not immediately available.
The weight of ice and snow proved too much
for the roof of a Safeway store in Troutdale, and
it collapsed Monday morning. Customers were
inside when the collapse occurred, and one per-
son sustained minor injuries, officials said.
A Les Schwab tire store in southeast Portland
suffered a similar fate Monday evening, with the
roof partially caving in while a cleaning crew was
inside. Everyone was evacuated, and no injuries
were reported.
While the Portland metro area returned to
normal winter weather Tuesday, the effects of
the storm lingered as many school districts were
forced to cancel even their virtual classes due to
power outages.
Eight public school districts in Oregon and
southern Washington were closed Tuesday,
including Portland Public Schools. Portland,
Clackamas and Mt. Hood community colleges
were also closed.
Travel also remained difficult Tuesday morn-
ing. The Portland Bureau of Transportation re-
ported about 50 road closures early Tuesday.
Washington and Clackamas counties also re-
ported several road closures.
Find it all online bendbulletin.com
2 dead, 1 detained in Monmouth after
‘suspicious activity’ reported, police say
Two people were dead and a third was in po-
lice custody after police responded to reports of
“suspicious activity” in Monmouth on Tuesday
morning. Officers responded about 3:30 a.m. to
the 300 block of S. Warren Street, officials said in
a statement.
Investigators found two people suffering from
critical injuries who later died, police said. A
third person was also suffering from minor inju-
ries and was later detained, though officials did
not say if the person was facing charges.
There was no further threat to the public, offi-
cials said.
Police did not say who the victims were, how
they died or what the suspicious activity was
that prompted the call. Questions sent to the po-
lice department were not immediately returned
Tuesday.
— The Oregonian