WEDNESDAY • February 24, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
COVID-19
risk tiers
NEW HOMELESS SHELTER
Bend proposes 2 code changes
to smooth process
Crook
County
drops
to high
risk
The lack of beds has prompted discussion about changing
codes in order to make it easier for organizations to create
shelters for homeless people. Without adequate space,
they have had to find other places to go, like Hunnell Road,
where more than 30 vehicles were parked Tuesday.
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
A steep drop in COVID-19
infections nationwide was re-
flected Tuesday with 16 Ore-
gon counties improving their
infection risk levels.
Other than Multnomah,
the largest county to not im-
prove its level was Deschutes,
which had already dropped to
high-risk level in the previous
report. The county showed sig-
nificant improvement in cases
and is on pace to move to the
moderate tier on March 9.
Crook County dropped
from extreme risk to high risk.
Jefferson County remains at
extreme.
Gov. Kate Brown said Tues-
day that 10 of the state’s 36
counties were dropping off the
extreme-risk tier. The moves
mean that restrictions on busi-
nesses, dining and activities will
be less strict on Friday for a long
list of Oregon cities, including
Prineville in Central Oregon.
Among the larger cities that
will see fewer restrictions are
Eugene, Salem, Medford, Bea-
verton, Albany, McMinnville,
Ontario, Oregon City and The
Dalles.
“We are seeing great prog-
ress in stopping the spread of
COVID-19 across Oregon and
saving lives,” Brown said. “Or-
egonians continue to step up
and make smart choices.”
Five counties — Jefferson,
Benton, Josephine, Douglas
and Coos — remain at the ex-
treme-risk level. That com-
pares to 26 counties in late
November at the height of the
holiday spike in infections.
The state’s four-tier risk level
rates counties at lower, moder-
ate, high and extreme levels for
COVID-19 spread.
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
Changes needed to allow Old Mill Inn & Suites to become homeless shelter
BY BRENNA VISSER • The Bulletin
It could be easier to create a homeless shelter in Bend if newly
proposed codes are adopted.
On Monday, the city planning commission heard two
proposals that are designed to make establishing a homeless
shelter easier in Bend, according to city staff.
The city wants to remove a code
that requires 1,000 feet of separa-
tion between temporary housing
facilities and make transitional
housing, which includes warming
and permanent homeless shelters,
an outright use in commercial
zones and in the section of the
Bend Central District that is west
of Third Street. The Bend Central
District sits east of U.S. Highway
97 and west of Fourth Street and is
centered on Third Street.
The proposed changes are in
response to the city’s effort to buy
a hotel and turn it into a homeless
shelter as a part of a state program
called Project Turnkey. Earlier
this month, the city entered a pur-
chase and sale agreement with the
owner of the Old Mill & Suites
Motel on Third Street.
The changes also come at a time
when the city is focused on how to
close the gap between a growing
homeless population and an in-
adequate number of shelter beds.
According to a presentation from
the city, there are roughly 600
shelter beds in Bend year-round.
An annual count of homeless
people, called the Point-in-Time
count, surveyed nearly 1,000
homeless residents in Bend in
January 2020. Colleen Thomas,
the homeless services coordina-
tor for Deschutes County, said in
an email new figures are not out
yet for 2021, but early data sug-
gests the population has grown
again.
“We see why they are camping
off Hunnell Road, or off Knott
Road or making their own place
at Juniper Ridge because we just
don’t have enough safe places,
structures for them to go,” said
Carolyn Eagan, the city’s eco-
nomic development director, at
the planning commission meeting
Monday.
See Shelter / A4
See Risk / A13
BY KEVIN HARDEN
Oregon Capital Bureau
A Senate hearing on legislation
to alter state gun laws drew a cav-
alcade of passionate opposition.
Members of the Senate Com-
mittee on Judiciary and Ballot
Measure 110 Implementation
heard four hours of virtual testi-
mony Monday on Senate Bill 554,
which allows local jurisdictions
to prohibit people with concealed
handgun permits from carrying
firearms into public buildings.
Anyone caught with a firearm in a
public building could face Class C
felony charges.
The bill is necessary, advocates
say, because state law allows peo-
ple with concealed handgun per-
mits to carry firearms into some
public buildings.
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Bill allows local jurisdictions to classify carrying
concealed firearms in public buildings as a felony
It was the first time this session
that the committee heard testi-
mony on gun-related legislation.
Committee members will discuss
SB 554 again during an online
work session at 8 a.m. Thursday.
Most of the more than 200 peo-
ple who testified online told the
committee that the legislation
seemed like a “mean-spirited” slam
at law-abiding people who went
through a legal process to get a
concealed handgun permit. A total
of 330 people wanted to speak in
person, but the committee ran out
of time to hear them all. The com-
mittee’s witness registration list was
Mostly sunny
High 42, Low 29
Page A12
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
27 pages long. More than 630 peo-
ple submitted written testimony.
Sen. Kim Thatcher, a Keizer Re-
publican and committee vice chair-
woman, said after the hearing that
gun issues always drew a big re-
sponse. “Gun legislation, especially
legislation that targets members
of the public who don’t commit
crimes (concealed handgun license
holders), will always be controver-
sial,” she said. “It deals with consti-
tutional rights.”
Public officials 8vulnerable9
A handful of city and county
officials who testified told the
A11-12
A13-14
A9-10
Dear Abby
Editorial
Horoscope
A7
A8
A7
committee the legislation was nec-
essary to protect public buildings.
Some also warned against adopt-
ing the bill, claiming it would
criminalize otherwise lawful be-
havior.
Yamhill County Commis-
sioner Lindsay Berschauer told
the committee that as a sex-
ual assault survivor and single
mother, she obtained a concealed
handgun permit for protection.
She said SB 554 would create a
“minefield of gun-free zones”
across the state.
“We are not the cause of gun
violence,” said Berschauer, who
three days earlier proposed
an ordinance to make Yamhill
County a Second Amendment
sanctuary.
Local/State
A2
Lottery
A6
Nation/World A4, 13
See Gun / A13
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A4
A10
A5-7
Redmond man
guilty for murder
of his ex-girlfriend
he is sentenced next
month for the death of
A Redmond man
Jakubek, 54.
pleaded guilty
He recently
to killing Ni-
accepted the
cole Gayle
terms of a
Jakubek, his
plea agree-
ex-girlfriend he
ment tying
was known to
together
be violent with.
the Jakubek
Clinton
murder case
Holland
Kevin “Clint”
with a slate of
Holland, 62,
crimes com-
will almost certainly
mitted in Hood River
receive a life sentence
County while on the
with parole possible
run from the law.
See Murder / A4
after 25 years when
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
The Bulletin
ù
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
newsprint
Vol. 119, No. 47, 14 pages, 1 section
DAILY
Hundreds take aim at Senate gun bill
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