WEDNESDAY • March 3, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
Coronavirus in Oregon
Every county to get J&J vaccine this week
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Every Oregon county will receive
100 doses this week of the new John-
son & Johnson single-shot COVID-19
vaccine that President Joe Biden said
Tuesday is a key part of vaccinating all
Americans before summer.
“We’re now on track to have
enough vaccine supply for every adult
in America by the end of May,” said
Biden at a press conference in Wash-
ington on Tuesday.
Biden likened the effort to ramp up
production of vaccines to efforts by
manufacturers to join together during
World War II.
The key to cutting the timeline for
inoculating the public is the introduc-
tion of the Johnson & Johnson one-
shot vaccine. Biden announced a deal
with pharmaceutical giant Merck to
commit two of its manufacturing fa-
cilities to making the Johnson & John-
son vaccine. Biden said he will invoke
the Defense Production Act to help
ready Merck’s facilities and to ensure
it gets the raw ingredients required for
making the vaccine.
Along with increased orders of the
previously approved two-shot Mod-
erna and Pfizer vaccines, enough
doses will be available to suppress the
virus, which has killed over 515,000
Americans over the past year, includ-
ing more than 2,200 in Oregon.
Scientists with the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
have said that suppressing the virus as
quickly as possible will limit the con-
tinued mutations, some of which have
proven to be more contagious and vir-
ulent than the original virus.
In early February, the timelines for
inoculating all American adults was as
long as early 2022 in some estimates.
Recently, the increase in Moderna and
Pfizer vaccines shortened estimates to
the end of summer.
See Vaccine / A13
MCKAY PARK IN BEND
Newport Avenue in Bend
Parking
restrictions
may become
permanent
$26M street repairs
to start March 21
Pilot program deemed
success by parking services
manager, area residents
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
Traffic on NW Newport Avenue looking east from the roundabout at NW Ninth Street on Monday.
Before the parking restrictions took
effect two years ago around McKay
Park in Bend, local optometrist Pat-
rick Ayres would regularly arrive at
his office off Shevlin Hixon Drive to
find vans parked on the street plugged
into the side of his building, siphon-
ing off power.
On top of that, much of the parking
around his business was being used
by campers instead of his customers
and employees. It’s a problem that had
been plaguing businesses in the area
for years.
But ever since the city of Bend put
in and enforced four-hour parking
limits in this area as a part of a pilot
project two years ago in response to
these complaints, Ayres said the prob-
lems have decreased by 99%.
“It’s helped a lot. It was much
needed,” Ayres said, referring to the
parking time limits. “Before the restric-
tions, this was turning into a camp-
ground unfortunately down here.”
See Parking / A4
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
A
$26 million project to fix an aging,
collapsed stormwater pipe under
Newport Avenue that could lead
to flooding if not addressed will prompt
multiple detours and closures for drivers,
cyclists and pedestrians, for the next sev-
eral months.
Starting March 21, the city of Bend will
begin work on the busy road between
Ninth Street and College Way, rebuilding
failing and aging stormwater infrastruc-
ture, replacing water distribution pipes
and installing new sidewalks and other
amenities in this area. The work is ex-
pected to last until the fall of 2022.
The timing for the project is driven
by the fact there is an existing stormwa-
ter pipe under Newport Avenue that is
structurally compromised, said George
Franklet, a principal engineer with the
city. This is due to the fact the pipe is
more than 50 years old and has had more
cars driving over it, and more frequently,
than it was originally designed for, he
said.
“We don’t want to do it on a schedule
where (the city is) reacting to something
that isn’t operational any longer,” Fran-
klet said.
If the pipe wasn’t fixed, there could be
flooding issues, Franklet said.
The project will also improve the qual-
ity of and reduce the amount of stormwa-
ter discharged into the Deschutes River,
according to the city’s website.
See Repairs / A4
“In like a lion, out like a lamb”
may be true for March weather, but
the saying is unlikely to apply to this
month’s political scene in Oregon.
Percolating political issues could
make the end of the month more like
a shark than a sheep.
Capitol in virus hot zone
The Legislature returns to Salem
this week, with the Senate and House
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Mostly sunny
High 64, Low 35
Page A12
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
A11-12
A14
A9-10
So far, there are no reported in-
fections among Oregon’s 60 House
and 30 Senate members. Through
Feb. 25, there have been 177 state of-
ficeholders around the country who
have been infected with COVID-19,
with eight deaths.
Walkout worries
Democrats have supermajorities
in both the House and Senate to pass
legislation, including taxes without
Republican votes. But for a third
Dear Abby
Editorial
Gardening
A7
A8
A7
Horoscope
Local/State
Lottery
A7
A2-3
A6
BY SUZANNE ROIG
The Bulletin
straight year, the specter of GOP
walkouts over anything they don’t
like hangs over the Capitol. Republi-
cans boycotted the Senate floor ses-
sion Thursday, denying a quorum to
do any business.
Oregon is one of only four states
that require more than a majority of
lawmakers to be present to consti-
tute a quorum. Oregon requires two-
thirds of lawmakers must be present
to do any business.
See Politics / A13
See St. Charles / A4
March arrives with virus, voting and political turmoil
each meeting once in the Capitol.
The statehouse is in the middle of the
97301 ZIP code, which has the high-
est number of COVID-19 cases since
the pandemic began: 3,362.
Last week, it was No. 2 in new
cases at 65. The Legislature has only
met a handful of days since the first
virus case was reported in Oregon on
Feb. 28, 2020. But the calendar gets
busier this month with an average of
two floor sessions a week. In April,
there is no cap on meetings.
Court upholds
technicians
walkout plans
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that
his court did not have jurisdiction to
place a temporary halt on the sched-
uled walkout of St. Charles Bend tech-
nologists, technicians and therapists
and urged both parties to get back to
the bargaining table.
In the ruling in U.S. District Court
in Eugene, the judge said the law
is clear this matter remains in the
hands of the National Labor Relations
Board.
St. Charles filed lawsuits in De-
schutes County and U.S. District
Court to stop Thursday’s planned
walkout of 154 employees. The work-
ers joined the Oregon Federation
of Nurses and Health Professionals
union in September 2019. Soon after,
the union began negotiating a con-
tract for the workers, with both sides
meeting 28 times since then.
OREGON POLITICS
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
ST. CHARLES
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A4
A10
A5-7
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Roundabout at Ninth Street
to close beginning in April
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