TUESDAY • February 23, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
500,000+
The United States has now surpassed half a million
COVID-19 deaths, by far the worst toll in the world.
Globally, about 2.5 million people have perished.
About as many Americans have now died from
COVID-19 as on the battlefields of World War II,
the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined.
Sources: Johns Hopkins University, The Associated Press
« BACKGROUND PHOTO: Cindy Pollock has planted tiny flags
across her yard in Boise, Idaho — one for each of the more than
1,800 deaths attributed to the disease in her state. Story on A4
Otto Kitsinger/AP
COVID-19 CONFUSION | IN OREGON AND BEYOND
Patchwork of pandemic rules creates ethical issues
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
O
regon vaccinates teachers before seniors.
California punishes hospitals for
vaccinating teachers.
Washington vaccinates all seniors — and
warns older Oregonians against trying to
sneak north for an early shot.
Governors around the country have issued
edicts during the COVID-19 crisis that often
conflict with neighboring states, creating a na-
tional patchwork of do’s and don’ts.
“States are all over the place,” said Dr. Ar-
thur Caplan, director of New York University
Langone’s Division of Medical Ethics. “It’s
rarely clear why restrictions are expanded or
removed. Criteria are modified without expla-
nation.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest
public health crisis in a century, made all the
more difficult by strict adherence to a geo-
graphical fiction: The United States is 50 dis-
tinct states.
Hawaii is an island in the middle of the Pa-
cific. All other states are connected by land
mass, with demarcations of boundaries some-
times a river or mountain range, but often just
a 19th-century surveyor’s line. The problem is
the virus doesn’t factor in whether the human
it is infecting lives on the Idaho or Oregon
side of the Snake River.
The result has been 50 states fighting
COVID-19 in 50 different ways. Masks or no
masks. Open for business or shut for safety.
Lockdown or liberty.
See Patchwork / A4
BEND
Mt. Bachelor introduces a new avalanche rescue dog
St. Charles
medical techs
warn of strike
Workers set March 4 to protest
wages and working conditions
BY MICHAEL KOHN
The Bulletin
Medical techs at St. Charles Bend are threat-
ening to strike if hospital administrators are
unwilling to meet union contract terms. The
strike could put further strain on a medical sys-
tem already reeling from the coronavirus pan-
demic.
The strike will begin March 4 if the two par-
ties fail to resolve matters related to pay and
benefits, according to Samuel Potter, a spokes-
man for the Oregon Federation of Nurses and
Health Professionals. The decision to strike
comes after a year of negotiations between the
medical techs and St. Charles management.
The techs are seeking to resolve the differences
as part of their first union contract.
“Management’s unwillingness to settle the
contract has pushed these essential healthcare
employees to take a stand so that they can gain
living wages and a voice on the job,” according
to a statement released by the federation.
See St. Charles / A4
ABOVE: Shasta the puppy explores in the snow while spending
time with her handler, Drew Clendenen, and a fellow avalanche
rescue dog, Riggins, at Mt. Bachelor on Friday.
Shasta fantastic
the
SALEM
Legislature wants
its day in court
for redistricting
BY KYLE SPURR • The Bulletin
MT. BACHELOR —
he most popular visitor at the Mt. Bachelor ski
area west of Bend this winter might be Shasta,
a 10-week-old golden retriever training to be-
come the resort’s next avalanche rescue dog.
For the past two weeks, skiers and snow-
boarders have enjoyed seeing Shasta get familiar with the
mountain.
Shasta’s handler, Drew Clendenen, a ski patroller at Mt.
Bachelor for the past nine years, walks her around the re-
sort’s base area and takes her on snowmobile rides. Soon
she will learn to ride a chairlift, Clendenen said.
By next winter, Shasta will be trained to find someone
trapped under the snow.
“The end goal is you have a dog that uses its nose to
smell someone that could be 10 feet in the ground,” Clen-
denen said.
Shasta is the 16th dog to join Mt. Bachelor’s Avalanche
Rescue Dog Program, which started in the mid-1990s.
Shasta joins three other rescue dogs in the program — two
8 -year-old golden retrievers, Mango and Banyan, and a
9-year-old black Lab, Riggins.
Betsy Norsen, Mt. Bachelor National Ski Patrol direc-
tor, said golden retrievers and Labs make some of the best
avalanche rescue dogs because they are agile and have a
strong drive. Finding a person under the snow is fun for
the dogs, and they are rewarded with a treat or toy when
they accomplish the goal, Norsen said.
T
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Democrats and Republicans in the Legisla-
ture are uniting to reset the clock on delays that
would cut them out of drawing political maps
for the 2022 election.
Citing the overwhelming challenge of count-
ing heads during the COVID-19 pandemic,
the U.S. Census Bureau
INSIDE
said the data due April 1
won’t arrive until Sept. 30 • More political news
— six months late.
from Salem, A2
“We are going to blow
by all the deadlines at this point,” said Rep.
Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego, chair of the
House Redistricting Committee, at a press call
Monday.
Legislators want the courts to reset the clock,
saying the extraordinary U.S. Census delay
shouldn’t take away their rightful job of draw-
ing lines for 60 House, 30 Senate and up to six
congressional seats.
See Redistricting / A14
See Shasta / A14
Correction
In a story titled “Gun sales break records in Oregon,”
which appeared Sunday, Feb. 21, on Page A1, the num-
ber of firearm background checks nationwide last year
was incorrect. The number is 39.6 million.
The Bulletin regrets the error.
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin photos
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
A11,13
A14
A9-10
Dear Abby
Editorial
Horoscope
A7
A8
A7
Kid Scoop
Local/State
Lottery
A12
A2-3
A6
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A4
A10
A5-7
The Bulletin
ù
An Independent Newspaper
We use
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Vol. 119, No. 46, 14 pages, 1 section
DAILY
Mostly sunny
High 44, Low 25
Page A13
LEFT: Shasta licks Drew Clendenen on the face as he carries
her back to the Mt. Bachelor National Ski Patrol building after
exploring the snow together Friday.
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