THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2021 A3
TODAY
It’s Saturday, Feb. 27, the 58th
day of 2021. There are 307 days
left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
In 1933, Germany’s parliament
building, the Reichstag, was
gutted by fire; Chancellor Adolf
Hitler, blaming the Communists,
used the fire to justify suspend-
ing civil liberties.
In 1922, the Supreme Court, in
Leser v. Garnett, unanimously
upheld the 19th Amendment to
the Constitution, which guaran-
teed the right of women to vote.
In 1939, the Supreme Court, in
National Labor Relations Board
v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp.,
effectively outlawed sit-down
strikes.
In 1942, the Battle of the Java
Sea began during World War II;
Imperial Japanese naval forces
scored a decisive victory over
the Allies.
In 1951, the 22nd Amendment
to the Constitution, limiting a
president to two terms of office,
was ratified.
In 1968, at the conclusion of a
CBS News special report on the
Vietnam War, Walter Cronkite
delivered a commentary in
which he said the conflict ap-
peared “mired in stalemate.”
In 1973, members of the Ameri-
can Indian Movement occupied
the hamlet of Wounded Knee
in South Dakota, the site of the
1890 massacre of Sioux men,
women and children. The occu-
pation lasted until the following
May.
In 1982, Wayne Williams was
found guilty of murdering two
of the 28 young Blacks whose
bodies were found in the Atlanta
area over a 22-month period.
Williams, who was also blamed
for 22 other deaths, has main-
tained his innocence.
In 1991, Operation Desert
Storm came to a conclusion as
President George H.W. Bush de-
clared that “Kuwait is liberated,
Iraq’s army is defeated,” and
announced that the allies would
suspend combat operations at
midnight, Eastern time.
In 1998, with the approval of
Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s
House of Lords agreed to end
1,000 years of male preference
by giving a monarch’s first-born
daughter the same claim to the
throne as any first-born son.
In 2003, children’s television
host Fred Rogers died in Pitts-
burgh at 74.
In 2010, in Chile, an 8.8 magni-
tude earthquake and tsunami
killed 524 people, caused $30
billion in damage and left more
than 200,000 homeless.
In 2015, actor Leonard Nimoy,
83, world famous to “Star
Trek” fans as the pointy-eared,
purely logical science officer
Mr. Spock, died in Los Angeles.
Boris Nemtsov, a charismatic
Russian opposition leader and
sharp critic of President Vladimir
Putin, was gunned down near
the Kremlin.
Ten years ago: “The King’s
Speech” won four Academy
Awards, including best picture;
Colin Firth won best actor for
his portrayal of Britain’s King
George VI. Frank Buckles, the
last surviving American veteran
of World War I who’d also sur-
vived being a civilian prisoner of
war in the Philippines in World
War II, died in Charles Town,
West Virginia, at 110.
Five years ago: Hillary Clinton
overwhelmed Bernie Sanders
in the South Carolina primary. A
cease-fire brokered by the Unit-
ed States and Russia went into
effect across Syria. “Fifty Shades
of Grey” nabbed five prizes at
the Golden Raspberry Awards:
worst screenplay, actor, actress,
screen combo, and film of the
year in a tie with “Fantastic Four.”
One year ago: U.S. stocks
posted their worst one-day drop
since 2011, as worldwide mar-
kets plummeted amid growing
anxiety about the coronavirus;
the Dow tumbled nearly 1,200
points. President Donald Trump
declared that a widespread U.S.
outbreak of the virus was not in-
evitable, even as top health au-
thorities at his side warned that
more infections were coming.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Jo-
anne Woodward is 91. Consumer
advocate Ralph Nader is 87. Ac-
tor Barbara Babcock is 84. Rock
musician Adrian Smith (Iron
Maiden) is 64. Country singer
Johnny Van Zant is 61. Basket-
ball Hall of Famer James Worthy
is 60. Actor Adam Baldwin is 59.
Actor Grant Show is 59. Actor
Noah Emmerich is 56. R&B singer
Chilli (TLC) is 50. Chelsea Clinton
is 41. Actor Brandon Beemer is
41. Rock musician Jake Clem-
ons (Bruce Springsteen and the
E Street Band) is 41. R&B singer
Bobby V is 41. Singer Josh Gro-
ban is 40. Actor Kate Mara is 38.
TV personality JWoww is 35.
— Associated Press
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
COVID-19
Amid pandemic, flu has disappeared
February is usually the peak of influenza season, but not this year
BY MIKE STOBBE
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — February is
usually the peak of flu season,
with doctors’ offices and hospi-
tals packed with suffering pa-
tients. But not this year.
Flu has virtually disappeared
from the U.S., with reports
coming in at far lower levels
than anything seen in decades.
Experts say that measures
put in place to fend off the
coronavirus — mask wearing,
social distancing and virtual
schooling — were a big factor
in preventing a “twindemic”
of flu and COVID-19. A push
to get more people vaccinated
against flu probably helped,
too, as did fewer people travel-
ing, they say.
Another possible explana-
tion: The coronavirus has es-
sentially muscled aside flu and
other bugs that are more com-
mon in the fall and winter. Sci-
entists don’t fully understand
the mechanism behind that,
but it would be consistent with
patterns seen when certain flu
strains predominate over oth-
ers, said Dr. Arnold Monto, a
flu expert at the University of
Michigan.
Nationally, “this is the low-
est flu season we’ve had on
record,” according to a sur-
veillance system that is about
25 years old, said Lynnette
Brammer of the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Pre-
vention.
Hospitals say the usual
steady stream of flu-stricken
patients never materialized.
At Maine Medical Center
in Portland, the state’s largest
hospital, “I have seen zero doc-
umented flu cases this winter,”
said Dr. Nate Mick, the head of
the emergency department.
Ditto in Oregon’s capital city,
where the outpatient respira-
tory clinics affiliated with Sa-
lem Hospital have not seen any
confirmed flu cases.
Nationally, “this is the
lowest flu season we’ve had
on record,” according to a
surveillance system that
is about 25 years old, said
Lynnette Brammer of the
U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
“It’s beautiful,” said the
health system’s Dr. Michelle
Rasmussen.
The numbers are astonish-
ing considering flu has long
been the nation’s biggest in-
fectious disease threat. In re-
cent years, it has been blamed
for 600,000 to 800,000 annual
hospitalizations and 50,000 to
60,000 deaths.
Flu death data for the whole
U.S. population is hard to com-
pile quickly, but CDC officials
keep a running count of deaths
of children. One pediatric flu
death has been reported so far
this season, compared with 92
reported at the same point in
last year’s flu season.
“Many parents will tell you
that this year their kids have
been as healthy as they’ve
ever been, because they’re not
swimming in the germ pool
at school or day care the same
way they were in prior years,”
Mick said.
LANDSLIDE
BURIES ROAD
NEAR ASTORIA
Ken Matson was hanging out
Monday in his garage along Old
U.S. Highway 30 near Astoria
when he heard what sounded
like a street sweeper outside.
When he and his wife, Cheryl,
got outside, they saw a large
chunk of the steep ridge above
had crashed down and bur-
ied the road just north of their
house, one of the few homes
beneath the former Blue Ridge
military housing development
at Tongue Point. It destroyed a
shed and pushed a truck, a boat
and a trailer down a hill. City
crews helped sandbag and trench
around the house to divert water
and mud.The road outside their
house is controlled by the U.S.
Department of Labor, which over-
sees the Tongue Point Job Corps
Center down the road. Local of-
ficials have reached out to the
federal agency and U.S. Rep. Su-
zanne Bonamici for assistance.
Edward Stratton, The Astorian
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
ROSEBURG
IDAHO
Oregon fines Days Inn Hundreds of wolves could be
$31K for price gouging killed under new legislation
during wildfire
NICOLE BLANCHARD
Idaho Statesman
SCOTT CARROLL
The (Roseburg) News-Review
The Days Inn by Wynd-
ham in Roseburg has been
fined $31,000 for overcharg-
ing dozens of area residents
who sought rooms after
fleeing the Archie Creek
Fire.
SUBH Investment LLC,
which does business as
Days Inn by Wyndham in
Roseburg, entered into an
agreement, known as an as-
surance of voluntary com-
pliance, with the Oregon
Department of Justice on
Monday.
Devon Kumar, who lives
in a suburb of Portland,
is listed with the state as
the owner of the Days Inn.
He declined to comment
Wednesday. Kumar was rep-
resented in the agreement
by Portland attorney James
Dowell.
Kumar agreed to pay
$31,000 in fines to the Ore-
gon Department of Justice,
spread out in payments over
the next six months.
Kumar has already re-
funded 31 customers a total
of $4,860 in overcharges, ac-
cording to court documents.
If the Days Inn violates
any terms of the agreement
it can face contempt of court
charges and fines of up to
$25,000 for each violation.
The outstanding balance on
the fines would also be due
immediately.
Kumar also agreed to take
steps to ensure that Days
Inn management and staff
know about state laws con-
nected to price gouging and
“are trained to recognize and
identify potential violations”
of state laws that govern such
overcharges. Kumar also
agreed to notify the Depart-
ment of Justice of any poten-
tial violations of the law.
At the time of the fire, the
Days Inn rented or offered
to rent at least 31 rooms at
a price that was at least 15%
higher than the normal room
price, the agreement said.
The single highest rate
Days Inn charged in October
was $150 a night, yet during
the fire the hotel rented 12
different rooms for over $200
a night, including six rooms
for over $300 a night, the
Department of Justice said.
BOISE, Idaho — State law-
makers have introduced a bill
that aims to cut Idaho’s wolf
population by two-thirds and
remove most hunting regula-
tions for the animals in much
of the state.
Former Sen. Jeff Siddoway
told a state House committee
this week that the aim of the
bill is to address what he called
“the increasing wolf population
that we’ve been living with”
since the animals were reintro-
duced to Idaho in 1995.
Wolves were removed from
Endangered Species Act pro-
tections in Idaho and sur-
rounding states in 2011, and
the Idaho Department of Fish
and Game has managed the
state’s wolf population since
then.
Earlier this month, the Fish
Dawn Villella/AP, file
A gray wolf roams at the Wildlife
Science Center in Forest Lake,
Minnesota
and Game Department said
there are an estimated 1,556
wolves in the state now.
The bill designates nine
hunting units in Central Idaho
where the agency would “re-
tain management authority
and will be able to sell licenses
and tags to manage the wolves
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in those areas,” Siddoway said.
In the remaining units
around the state, wolves would
be classified as predators in-
stead of their current designa-
tion as big game animals.
“When you make that re-
classification to a predator, you
still have to have a hunting li-
cense to shoot that predator,
but there are no seasons, no
limits,” Siddoway said.
Currently, each hunter is
limited to killing 15 wolves per
calendar year.
The bill would still require
hunters to report wolf kills to
Fish and Game.
The reclassification would
also allow hunters to shoot
wolves from motorized vehi-
cles, including ATVs, helicop-
ters and snow machines.
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