THURSDAY • February 18, 2021
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $3
TEACHABLE MOMENTS:
SHOWS HOW LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS HAVE
SHIFTED IN A PANDEMIC
SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
Local police slowly add body cams
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
Around a half-dozen Bend
police officers are wearing
body cameras as the depart-
ment nears the end of a pilot
program testing various prod-
uct models.
The Bend Police Depart-
ment will know in a few weeks
whether it will move forward
quickly with a vendor and
start spending the more than
$400,000 budget allotment the
City Council set aside for add-
ing body cams, a move popular
with police groups and reform-
ers alike.
Bend, often described as a
progressive leader in small-
town policing, has been be-
hind the curve in equipping
its more than 100 officers with
body cameras, which are in use
at more than 10,000 agencies
nationwide. Nearby Redmond
Police Department has used
the technology for five years.
“I’m really excited,” said
Bend Police Capt. Jason Man-
iscalco, project manager of the
body camera project. “We’ve
been trying to do this for a
long time.”
Maniscalco said every offi-
cer and patrol vehicle will soon
be outfitted with a camera, but
he couldn’t provide a specific
timeline for when.
“We really don’t know,” he
said. “It really comes down
to availability of equipment,
availability of staff from the
vendor we chose, and also
some internal IT equipment
needs to be updated before we
go live.”
See Body cams / A4
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
Bend Police officer Karin Porter activates a body cam Wednesday.
Lawsuit
holds fate
of sick trees
at Walton
Lake (again)
School garden program
takes root in Central Oregon
BY MICHAEL KOHN
The Bulletin
A plan by the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice to remove trees areas around
Walton Lake due to laminated
root rot is being challenged in
court by the nonprofit Blue
Mountains Biodiversity Project.
At stake is the future of hundreds
of trees that form the scenic
backdrop for the popular lake.
The infected trees around
Walton Lake, and what to do
with them, have drawn consider-
able controversy in recent years.
The Forest Service says it intends
to remove weakened trees that
pose a threat to the public.
Environmentalists argue
that the tree disease is natu-
ral, the threat can be managed
safely and cutting them down
would destroy the scenic ambi-
ance of the lake.
See Trees / A4
CAPITOL
ROUNDUP
Amy Anderson, dean of students at Realms Middle School in Bend, places a handful of debris into a compost pile at the school’s garden on Wednesday.
Delays have
legislation,
redistricting
up against
deadlines
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin photos
Environmental
Center program is
an outdoor learning
option for teachers
BY KYLE SPURR
The Bulletin
Last spring, the future of a gar-
den education program in Cen-
tral Oregon was in question when
schools shut down due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
But as students started return-
ing to classes in the fall, the garden
program became an attractive op-
tion for teachers who wanted to
offer outdoor learning. Interest has
continued to grow this year in the
program, which is run by The En-
vironmental Center, a sustainabil-
ity organization in Bend.
The organization recently
awarded about $15,000, divided
among 13 local schools, to fund
educational gardens and outdoor
classroom spaces in the spring.
Realms Middle School in Bend
received about $1,000 for its school
garden. The middle school will be
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
After a double-dose of win-
ter storms across the Wil-
lamette Valley knocked out
power to hundreds of thou-
sands from Portland to Salem,
state government is trying to
thaw out a few hot issues.
Redistricting delay
Oregon should know by
April 30 if it will be adding a
sixth congressional seat for the
2022 election. Census officials
have unofficially said Oregon’s
population growth has been
enough to ensure the state’s
first new seat in 40 years.
The new added representa-
tion in Congress would be a
rare piece of good news in an
otherwise disastrous rollout
of U.S. Census information
needed for reapportionment.
Anderson pulls a tarp back to check on the progress of a cob oven.
able to build an outdoor oven to
keep students warm and a native
plant garden on its 3-acre campus.
Amy Anderson, Realms’ dean of
students who oversees the school’s
garden, said the program is not
just an extra activity for students,
but rather a critical part of the
school’s curriculum.
“We consider time in the garden a
complement to the classroom,” An-
derson said. “They are reading about
food and they are growing food.”
See Garden / A4
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Rain and drizzle
High 45, Low 34
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An Independent Newspaper
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Vol. 119, No. 42, 14 pages, 1 section
SUN/THU
See Delays / A13
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