A2 THE BULLETIN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2021
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LOCAL, STATE & REGION
DESCHUTES
New COVID-19
COVID-19 cases
cases per
DESCHUTES COUNTY
COUNTY L. New
per day
day
CIRCULATION
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COVID-19 data for Wednesday, Feb. 17:
Deschutes County cases: 5,795 (50 new cases)
Deschutes County deaths: 56 (zero new deaths)
23,115
Jefferson County cases: 1,900 (10 new cases)
Jefferson County deaths: 27 (zero new deaths)
Number of vaccinations
given by St. Charles
Health System
Oregon cases: 151,257 (473 new cases)
Oregon deaths: 2,143 (5 new deaths)
GENERAL
INFORMATION
8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
ONLINE
108 new cases
120
(Jan. 1)
90
new
cases
110
*No data
available on
Jan. 31
due to state
computer
maintenence
(Nov. 27)
90
70
50
(Nov. 14)
7-day
average
40
31 new cases
28 new cases
(Oct. 31)
30
16 new cases
(July 16)
(Sept. 19)
20
(May 20)
1st case
100
80
47 new cases
9 new cases
www.bendbulletin.com
130
(Dec. 4)
60
COVID-19 patients hospitalized at St. Charles
Bend on Wednesday: 16 (2 in ICU).
541-382-1811
BULLETIN
GRAPHIC
GRAPHIC
129 new cases
What is COVID-19? It’s an infection caused by a new
coronavirus. Symptoms include fever, coughing and
shortness of breath. This virus can be fatal.
7 ways to help limit its spread: 1. Wash hands often
with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. 2. Avoid
touching your face. 3. Avoid close contact with sick
people. 4. Stay home. 5. In public, stay 6 feet from others
and wear a mask. 6. Cough into your elbow. 7. Clean and
disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
LOCAL
VACCINATIONS
Crook County cases: 751 (2 new cases)
Crook County deaths: 18 (zero new deaths)
SOURCES:
OREGON HEALTH
HEALTH AUTHORITY,
AUTHORITY,
SOURCES: OREGON
DESCHUTES COUNTY
COUNTY HEALTH SERVICES
SERVICES
10
(March 11)
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Lottery results can now be found on
the second page of Sports.
LOCAL BRIEFING
District buys land for new
park in southwest Bend
The Bend Park & Recreation
District is buying 3.5 acres of
land in the new Shevlin West
development with the intent to
build a new park.
On Tuesday, the park board
voted unanimously to enter a
purchase and sale agreement
with Empire Shevlin LLC, the
developer behind the planned
116 lot subdivision in south-
west Bend for $147,287.
The park will have direct
trail access to Shevlin Park, ac-
cording to park district docu-
ments. The park district plans
to use roughly $1.4 million in
system development charges,
which the park district charges
to developers to pay for new
parks and new trails, to pur-
chase and develop the prop-
erty.
A district goal is to have a
park at least ½ mile away from
most homes within the district,
according to park documents.
Redmond man accused of
sexually abusing girl
A Redmond man was
charged Wednesday with five
felonies for allegedly sexually
abusing a girl
younger than
12.
Adam Gor-
don Lovett,
35, was ar-
raigned in
Deschutes
County Cir-
Lovett
cuit Court on
four counts of first-degree sex-
ual abuse and one of first-de-
gree unlawful sexual penetra-
tion. He was listed as an inmate
of the Deschutes County jail
with no bail amount set.
According to Lovett’s in-
dictment, he abused a girl over
three dates in 2020 — July 1,
Aug. 1 and Nov. 25. On Tues-
day, a grand jury approved the
current charges against him.
A judge earlier approved an
order forbidding Lovett from
attempting to contact the al-
leged victim, who is referred in
court records by her initials.
He has a plea hearing sched-
uled for next month.
Sheriff’s office investigates
arson at home in Sisters
office and OSP to continue the
investigation.
Anyone with information
related to the fire is encouraged
to contact the sheriff’s office at
541-693-6911.
Redmond approves $283K
for downtown parking lot
A Redmond City Council
vote Tuesday night was the fi-
nal bureaucratic step in trans-
forming a blighted patch of
downtown Redmond into 36
parking spots.
The City Council — acting
as the Urban Renewal Agency
Board — unanimously ap-
proved a $282,906.30 contract
to build a parking lot with
Redmond contractor McKen-
zie Cascade at a board meeting
Tuesday night.
The lot will be built at the
northwest corner of NW
Fourth Street and SW Ever-
green Avenue, only two blocks
away from Redmond’s main
downtown strip.
The city purchased the va-
cant land in September 2019
with the intention of building
the parking lot, city docu-
ments state.
Not only would the project
add more parking to down-
town Redmond, but it would
also add a sidewalk along
Fourth Street, between Ever-
green and Deschutes avenues,
city documents state.
The city expects construction
on the lot to begin in March,
with parking available by June.
Deschutes library to host
virtual series on nature
Throughout March, De-
schutes Public Library will host
eight virtual events focused on
nature, wildlife and environ-
mentalism.
The series, dubbed “Know
Wild,” will cover a range of top-
ics from local wolf populations,
to saving bees, to how climate
change is impacting Central
Oregon’s wildlife, according to
a library press release.
All eight events are free, and
will be presented over Zoom.
For a list of events, dates and top-
ics — along with corresponding
Zoom registrations — visit De-
schutes Public Library’s website
at www.deschuteslibrary.org.
— Bulletin staff reports
Poll: Self-service, grocery
liquor sales are popular
BY ZANE SPARLING
Oregon Capital Bureau
Hands off that gas pump!
The quirks of life in the
Beaver State might bemuse
outsiders, but surely true-
blue Oregonians cherish our
time-honored idiosyncrasies,
right?
It’s just not so, according to a
new survey.
A poll by the Oregon Values
and Beliefs Center, a project of
DHM Research, found that a
majority of state residents are
ready to pump their own gas
and buy a bottle of spirits at the
local supermarket.
Just don’t expect them to
vote in a sales tax, which three
out of four here oppose.
“Support tends to increase
among higher-income Ore-
gonians, but no demographic
groups reach 30% support for
this policy change,” according
to a DHM policy brief on a po-
tential sales tax.
Here are the key findings:
• Nearly two-thirds of Ore-
gonians (63%) are in favor of
allowing motorists to pump
their own gas, rather than re-
lying on an attendant. Demo-
graphics showing the strongest
support include those making
more than $100,000 per year
(73%) and political conserva-
tives (71%). Support is lowest
among political moderates,
pegged at 55%.
• Even more unifying is the
proposal to allow hard alcohol
sales in grocery stores, instead
of restricting them to state-li-
censed liquor stores. Roughly
two-thirds (65%) support
such an idea, including 70% of
Democrats and 69% of those
living outside the metro area
and Willamette Valley. Those
aged 65 and up registered the
least support, with just 57% in
favor.
• Oregonians overwhelm-
ingly gave the thumbs down to
creating a new statewide sales
tax, with 75% of residents in
opposition. Demographics that
most strongly rejected the idea
include those without school-
age children (79%), those earn-
ing less than $50,000 per year
(73%), conservatives (79%)
The Deschutes County Sher-
iff’s Office is investigating a
suspected arson in Sisters.
After a house fire Saturday
at 152 N. Larch St., an inves-
tigation determined the fire
started outside the house and
the cause was arson, according
to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies responded to the
fire at 9 p.m. Saturday along
with local fire departments.
Fire crews were able to quickly
extinguish the fire. Damage
was estimated to be $75,000.
An investigator from the Or-
egon State Fire Marshal’s Office
and a detective from the Or-
egon State Police Arson Unit
were sent to the house.
The sheriff’s office is work-
ing with the state fire marshal’s
Find
Find it it all
all
online
online
bendbulletin.com
bendbulletin.com
EOMG file photo/Oregon Capital Insider
and those living in the outer
suburbs (88%). Those making
more than $100,000 per year
were most in favor, but only
26% offered support.
• The idea of paying a tax
at the cash register became
slightly more palatable when
paired with a proposed reduc-
tion in the state income tax,
with half opposed, one-third
in favor and the remainder un-
sure. Opposition was strongest
among those aged 65 and up
(67%), while those with college
education evinced the most
support (40%).
At age 76, Bob Fankhauser
remembers pumping thou-
sands of dollars’ worth of gas at
a service station in San Fran-
cisco — and that was when it
only cost 25 cents on the gal-
lon.
“It’s always presented as, ‘if
you pump your own gas, you’ll
save money,’” said Fankhauser,
who lives in the Garden Home
area of Washington County.
But he’s not buying the argu-
ment. “They charge you the
same amount in Washington
as they do in Oregon.”
Today, New Jersey is the
only other state still requiring
attendants, though Oregon
lawmakers allowed rural res-
idents to pump their own gas
in 2018.
Fears of viral transmis-
sion early last year prompted
a pilot project for self-service
gas, because motorists feared
being near gas station atten-
dants might help spread the
COVID-19 virus. But that pi-
lot project didn’t last long, and
the state soon returned to at-
tendants-only service in May.
“I am sometimes a little
annoyed that I can’t pump
my own gas,” admitted
Fankhauser, “but it provides
employment to people who
might not otherwise have it.”
On the topic of liquor sales,
southeast Portlander Suzanne
Bader is in favor of loosening
the rules slowly, potentially
through a pilot program.
“I would not like to see it
available in convenience stores
or sold 24/7,” the 59-year-old
said.
Fankhauser disagreed, say-
ing the restrictions smacked of
“lingering puritanism.”
And the two survey respon-
dents split on the topic of a
sales tax, with Fankhauser in
opposition, noting that a sales
tax is “regressive”— that is, it
puts the heaviest burden on
those with the least income.
But Bader said the state
doesn’t have enough revenue
to match the ever-rising ex-
pense of providing services. “I
don’t think our residents have
a realistic view of what things
cost,” she said.
DHM surveyed 603 Oregon
adults in January, using re-
spondents from a professional
panel who were selected to be
representative of state demo-
graphics. The margin of error
for the poll is 2.4% to 4%.
Taylor Towery
Towery and
and the
the team
team at at
The
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have been
been knowledgeable,
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