A6 The BulleTin • Friday, FeBruary 26, 2021
COCC
Continued from A1
This flexible teaching style is
perhaps one of many reasons
why a national culinary pro-
fessional organization deemed
Cascade Culinary Institute as
the best culinary school in Or-
egon — and one of the five best
on the West Coast.
Earlier this month, the
school received an exemplary
accreditation from the Flori-
da-based American Culinary
Federation for both its pro-
grams — baking and pastries,
and culinary arts. It is the only
school in Oregon to receive
this prestigious honor, accord-
ing to the federation’s website.
COCC officials say this ac-
creditation will not only help
current students start careers
at prestigious restaurants and
bakeries, but it could also help
attract potential new students
to Cascade Culinary Institute.
“This organization, which is
the biggest and best of its kind
in the world, has said that we
operate at the highest standard
in their eyes,” said Yeatman. “It’s
just an extra layer of confidence,
that a student knows they’ll
have a top-notch education.”
Representatives from the
American Culinary Federation
visit culinary schools once ev-
ery few years to evaluate them
on numerous aspects, Yeatman
said. Typically, the represen-
tative will name a few infrac-
tions, and if the school ad-
dresses them within 90 days,
the federation issues the ac-
creditation.
However, if a school passes
its evaluation with flying col-
ors, the federation awards an
exemplary accreditation,
Walkout
Continued from A1
Oregon currently has the
second lowest rate of infection
in the nation, which Brown
and Oregon Health Authority
leaders have credited to strong
measures to cut off the spread
of the virus. While trends in
the past month have shown
a steep drop in COVID-19
cases, the OHA says the vi-
rus is still a major threat and
spikes have been caused by
earlier moves to loosen the
rules to allow more social and
business interaction.
“When I issued my first
state of emergency declara-
tion last March, there were 14
known cases of COVID-19 in
Oregon,” Brown said. “Today,
we have now seen more than
150,000 cases across the state,
and, sadly, 2,194 deaths.”
The walkout caught senators
who arrived at the Capitol by
surprise, with 18 Democrats
gathering on the Senate floor,
an activity that some lawmak-
ers have worried could expose
them to infection. All lawmak-
ers were wearing face cover-
ings on Thursday.
Senate President Peter
Courtney, D-Salem, the Legis-
lature’s longest-serving mem-
ber, came to the podium after
the roll call showed no Repub-
licans had come to the floor.
“I did not know they would
do this,” Courtney told the
senators. “Yes, there are hard
feelings here and there, but
nothing of this magnitude.”
Courtney called the Repub-
lican action “gameplaying”
and said he wouldn’t take part,
opting instead to adjourn until
next Wednesday.
“They need to be here and
Beer tax
Continued from A1
Jennifer Sitton, spokes-
woman for the Oregon Wine
Council, a statewide indus-
try advocacy association, told
the Capital Press the council
is “strongly opposing this ex-
treme proposal.”
According to the council,
wine tasting room sales have
already declined during the
pandemic by an estimated
80%, a $3 billion loss, while
smaller wineries relying on
tasting room and restau-
rant sales lost more than
60% of their revenue due to
COVID-19 closures.
Sam Tannahill, founder and
winegrower at A to Z Wine-
works and Rex Hill winery in
Newberg, said in an emailed
message Wednesday that the
idea of increasing the tax on
Yeatman said.
The institute’s culinary arts
program earned exemplary
accreditation in 2014, but its
baking and pastry program
— which launched in 2012 —
didn’t earn the honor until very
recently. The federation won’t
give a program exemplary ac-
creditation on the first visit,
so COCC had to wait until a
representative returned in Oc-
tober 2020 to prove the pastry
program was still performing
above and beyond, Yeatman
said.
“They want to see a second
visit with the same results,” he
said.
Although two other Oregon
culinary schools, in Eugene
and Coos Bay, have base-level
accreditation from the feder-
ation, only Cascade Culinary
has received exemplary marks.
And just four other West
Coast schools earned the same
honor: Institute of Technolo-
gy-Clovis and Orange Coast
College in California, along
with Bellingham Technical
College and Seattle Culinary
Academy in Washington.
This honor could help boost
Cascade Culinary’s enrollment
in the 2021-22 school year,
Yeatman said. After a couple
years of growth, the culinary
school saw enrollment drop
from about 100 to 80 stu-
dents this school year due to
COVID-19, he said.
Laurie Chesley, president of
COCC, agreed that this exem-
plary accreditation could put
Cascade Culinary on the map
across the country.
“I think a distinction such as
this is going to make us even
better-known in the culinary
realm nationally,” she said.
“We’re certainly going to use it
as a recruiting tool.”
Yeatman said graduates
from the culinary school have
gone on to work in prestigious
restaurants — including Can-
lis, one of Seattle’s swankiest
spots, and eateries in Austin,
Texas, Chicago and the Napa
Valley area.
A 2018 graduate, Nick Stan,
stayed in Bend to start a restau-
rant: Mediterranean joint Kefi
Fresh.
Stan wasn’t surprised that
Cascade Culinary Institute re-
ceived recognition. He appre-
ciated its attention to detail,
hands-on teaching approach
and focus on avoiding food
waste.
“Their thing was, ‘How can
we work greener?’” Stan said.
“Instead of throwing away
parsley stems, (we) throw it in
a stock. I don’t know if a lot of
schools do that.”
Current student Avalon
Peterson said the institute’s
teachers — who are experi-
enced and friendly — make
the school stand out.
“You can tell that they love
coming to work,” she said.
“Everyone is really passionate
about cooking and baking.”
Sam La Duca — an assistant
professor of hospitality man-
agement at COCC who teaches
many classes at Cascade Cu-
linary Institute — said the
school stands out because it
has high goals for its students.
‘We don’t want our students
to be line cooks; we want them
to be executive cooks,” he said.
“You’ve got to start (as a line
cook) … but we want to set
you up to be the leaders.”
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do what they need to do to
show their opposition on the
floor and allow us to move for-
ward,” Courtney said.
The Republicans’ move
meant five bills that could have
been moved into position for
votes next week are now de-
layed. The 18 Democrats could
not move ahead without some
GOP help.
“We need two more to sat-
isfy our constitution to have
a quorum to do the people’s
business — all the people’s
business, not just our own.”
He asked the Republicans
to return to the floor for the
session next week. He then
gaveled the chamber into ad-
journment.
“Very regrettable,” a glum
Courtney said.
Republicans walked out in
2019 and 2020 over carbon
cap legislation that Democrats
said they had enough votes to
pass in both chambers. House
Republicans joined in the 2020
walkout.
Knopp and then-Rep. Cheri
Helt, R-Bend, did not join the
2020 walkout. Both lawmak-
ers were locked in tight reelec-
tion campaigns in increasingly
Democratic districts. Knopp
narrowly won his district,
while Helt was defeated by
Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend.
Republicans attended three
special sessions last year to
deal with emergency legisla-
tion addressing the COVID-19
pandemic, its associated eco-
nomic upheaval, wildfire re-
covery and police reforms.
Knopp and Hansell con-
firmed the letter to Brown also
called on her to open schools,
open businesses and not redi-
rect shipments of vaccine away
from rural counties that have
met the current Phase 1 vacci-
nation goals and want to move
onto other groups.
“The governor continues to
keep schools closed, continues
to keep businesses closed, de-
spite science that shows they
can open safely with appropri-
ate health measures,” Knopp
said. “We hope this will open
a dialog about what is import-
ant to all Oregonians, not just
the advocates who got them
elected.”
Hansell said the edicts from
Brown and the Oregon Health
Authority have his constitu-
ents confused and angry.
“I get emails from teach-
ers saying ‘please open the
schools,’ from parents who say
‘please open the schools, this
is driving our child to depres-
sion,’ from seniors who can’t
understand why they can’t get
a vaccination and the state
took it away from Morrow
County.”
Senate Democratic Leader
Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego,
slammed the Republicans for
using the walkout again, espe-
cially amid a pandemic.
“Senate Republicans con-
tinue to sabotage Oregon’s de-
mocracy and undermine the
will of voters,” he said. “They
have abdicated the oaths of
office many of them took just
weeks ago.”
Democrats have introduced
legislation to lower the quo-
rum required to a majority
and force any member who
misses 10 calls to the floor
without permission of the pre-
siding officer to be punished
by forfeiting their ability to
run for reelection. Both would
need voter approval to amend
the constitution.
small, local wineries during an
economic crisis is “incompre-
hensible.”
“As written, this proposal
would potentially force most
of Oregon’s prized wineries
to simply shut down, as they
would be unable to sustain
their operations with this dras-
tic of a tax increase,” wrote
Tannahill.
The bill’s advocates, includ-
ing Oregon Recovers, the non-
profit coalition backing the
bill, say the proposal is an im-
portant step toward addiction
recovery.
The text of the bill says the
funding will be used to estab-
lish an Addiction Recovery
District for each geographic re-
gion and tribe in the state and
will fund treatment beds, de-
toxification centers and inten-
sive outpatient openings.
But the bill’s critics point
out that most consumers don’t
want a tax hike. According to
a survey last month taken by
Patinkin Research Strategies,
a research firm, 3 out of 4 Or-
egonians say Oregon’s exist-
ing alcohol taxes are either too
high already or about right.
The Oregon Beverage Al-
liance, comprised of brewers,
winemakers, cidermakers, dis-
tillers and suppliers, said in
a statement the potential tax
hike could be harmful to their
industries.
“Oregon already has some
of the highest alcohol prices
in the country,” the Oregon
Beverage Alliance reported.
Tax increases, the organization
said, will “only make it harder
for these businesses to invest in
rehiring, equipment, upgrades
and expansion, and will result
in higher prices for consum-
ers.”
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Caldera
Continued from A1
Gavin Meyers — an engi-
neering teacher at Bend High
School who’s part of a group
of future Caldera teachers
shaping the school’s academic
goals — said one class would
focus on the popular online
shop Etsy. Students would
make a product in woodshop,
then pair with students in a
marketing class to sell that
product online, Meyers said.
Another proposed class
would be intentionally
Bend-centric. Students would
combine engineering, graphic
design and construction les-
sons to build skis and/or
mountain bikes, then test
them out at Mt. Bachelor or
Phil’s Trail, Meyers said.
“What we’re doing at Cal-
dera is breaking down those
walls (between subjects),” he
said.
Boyd also plans to have
every student participate in
an advisory class. Freshmen
and sophomores will focus on
building connections between
students, which will be cru-
cial for a school where many
students might be unfamiliar
with most of their new class-
mates, he said.
During junior and senior
years, that advisory class will
shift focus toward having each
student create a senior presen-
tation about post-graduation
career plans. Students will
have to meet with an adult
in that career for the project,
Boyd said.
This senior presentation
will teach students the adult
skills of networking and goal
setting, he said.
OSHA
Continued from A1
Both River Roofing and
Kirby Nagelhout have filed
notices of appeal with Ore-
gon OSHA. Both dispute the
claims and maintain infor-
mation in the citation is in-
accurate. “(Kirby Nagelhout)
met or exceeded all criteria
set forth in (the relevant law),”
wrote Kirby Nagelhout safety
director Jeshua Scheer.
Kirby Nagelhout is a Bend-
based general contractor with
a heavy focus on school proj-
ects around the state. It’s the
16th largest builder in the
state, according to annual bill-
ings.
River Roofing is a mid-sized
Redmond roofing contrac-
tor with 44 employees. At the
time of the accident, it was in-
stalling a new roof on the gym
at the Caldera project, with an
average daily crew of about 15
employees.
On Aug. 4, a five-person
River Roofing crew arrived
to work an hour early — at
6 a.m. — because that day was
expected to be hot, the inspec-
tion report states.
For Bickers, who’d been
hired a month earlier, it was
his first day working “cart
crew” on the gymnasium roof,
hauling materials to where
they were needed.
At 6:58 a.m., Bickers and
the four others in the cart crew
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
The gym at Caldera High School on Wednesday.
“How do you develop a
plan and execute that plan?”
he said. “That’s important for
becoming your adult self.”
Building nearing completion
As of late February, Caldera
High School is about 70% to
80% complete, said project
manager Mike Condon.
However, the COVID-19
pandemic slowed down work
— because a few construction
workers have gotten sick and
because outbreaks have peri-
odically shut down factories
that deliver needed materials,
Condon said.
The construction site also
completely shut down for a
week this fall, due to poor air
conditions caused by wildfire
smoke, he said.
But Condon is still happy
with the progress his crew has
made on Caldera High.
“All things considered, it
certainly could’ve been a lot
worse,” he said.
These delays will result
in construction continuing
through mid-September,
meaning crews will be putting
finishing touches on the final
classrooms while students are
starting school, Condon said.
Luckily, because Caldera
were relocating a 200-pound
rubber-wheeled cart carrying
a 900-pound bundle of rigid
insulation. At the time, part of
the roof was covered in ply-
wood and the remainder in a
water shield that was covered
with dew, making it slightly
slick, the report states.
The crew took positions
around the 1,100-pound cart,
two in front and three in the
back. After lifting it over an
8-inch gap, it began to roll
away from them. As the cart
came within 10 feet of the
edge, the two men in front
dove to the side and the other
two men in back let go of the
cart, the report states.
It’s thought Bickers held on
longer than the others and his
momentum carried him over
the edge, the report states.
Bickers fell 45 feet to the
concrete below. Paramed-
ics attempted CPR before
pronouncing him dead at
7:05 a.m.
Safety inspectors with Or-
egon OSHA were on site a
total of seven days, and 14
employees of Kirby Nagel-
hout and River Roofing were
interviewed. They reported
that numerous loads had been
transported in the same man-
ner in the weeks before the
accident. The roofing fore-
man overseeing Bickers that
day told inspectors using the
cart was the best way to move
materials on the roof and he’d
will only host freshmen and
sophomores in its first year,
the school won’t be at full ca-
pacity, so crews can finish the
job without disturbing class,
he said. If the work is too
loud, workers will either put
up a temporary wall, or do the
work early in the morning or
after the school day ends.
“It won’t disrupt any of the
learning,” Condon said.
Caldera’s southern wing,
comprised of core classrooms
and a large library, is the fur-
thest from completion. There
are walls and ceilings in place,
but it still is very much an ac-
tive construction site with lots
of exposed steel, pipes and in-
sulation.
The central commons hall-
way, with its Hogwarts-esque
high ceiling, is a little more
complete. And the northern
end of the school — with CTE
classrooms, weight and fitness
rooms, music rooms and the
gym — is nearly complete. It
just needs furniture, flooring
and the dust cleared. There
are even analog clocks in-
stalled throughout, although
few of them show the correct
time yet.
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never had any close calls using
it. But several River Roofing
employees reported that us-
ing the cart was difficult and
“sketchy,” the report states.
The report states that River
Roofing violated safety rules
by not ensuring Bickers was
trained on using the cart on a
pitched roof. Additionally it
did not provide him all pos-
sible safety measures. The
report includes a blown-up
photo of the cart involved in
the accident showing a warn-
ing sticker advising that the
device is intended for use on
flat surfaces.
In October, Bickers’ parents,
Mary and Bill, were named
representatives of his estate.
They’ve retained Portland civil
attorney Thomas D’Amore to
sue for wrongful death.
D’Amore expects to file suit
in two to three weeks, he told
The Bulletin.
“This kid was beloved by a
lot of people, not just his fam-
ily,” D’Amore said. “It’s a real
tragedy for a lot of people.”
Bickers died two weeks be-
fore he was to be married. His
fiancee, Brooke Takacs, told
The Bulletin on Thursday she
was relieved the report found
fault with the contractors. She
called Bickers an “amazing
man” who was no stranger to
dangerous jobsites and work-
ing at height.
e e
Reporter: 541-383-0325,
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