A2 THE BULLETIN • THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021
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LOCAL, STATE & REGION
DESCHUTES COUNTY
COVID-19 data for Wednesday, March 3:
Deschutes County cases: 5,975 (10 new cases)
Deschutes County deaths: 61 (1 new death)
Crook County cases: 776 (zero new cases)
Crook County deaths: 18 (zero new deaths)
Jefferson County cases: 1,966 (5 new cases)
Jefferson County deaths: 28 (zero new deaths)
Oregon cases: 156,287 (276 new cases)
Oregon deaths: 2,252 (27 new deaths)
COVID-19 patients hospitalized at
St. Charles Bend on Wednesday: 14 (1 in ICU).
129 new cases
130
(Dec. 4)
What is COVID-19? It’s an infection caused by a new coronavirus. Coronavi-
ruses are a group of viruses that can cause a range of symptoms. Some usually
cause mild illness. Some, like this one, can cause more severe symptoms and
can be fatal. Symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.
108 new cases
120
(Jan. 1)
90
new
cases
110
*No data
available on
Jan. 31
due to state
computer
maintenence
(Nov. 27)
7 ways to help limit its spread: 1. Wash hands often with soap and water for
at least 20 seconds. 2. Avoid touching your face. 3. Avoid close contact with
sick people. 4. Stay home. 5. In public, stay 6 feet from others and wear a cloth
face covering or mask. 6. Cover a cough or sneeze with a tissue or cough into
your elbow. 7. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
90
70
50
(Nov. 14)
7-day
average
28 new cases
(July 16)
40
31 new cases
(Oct. 31)
30
16 new cases
(Sept. 19)
20
(May 20)
1st case
100
80
47 new cases
9 new cases
ONLINE
BULLETIN
GRAPHIC
60
8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
www.bendbulletin.com
SOURCES: OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY,
DESCHUTES COUNTY HEALTH SERVICES
New COVID-19 cases per day
10
(March 11)
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Park district receives federal permit for Drake Park project
BY MICHAEL KOHN
The Bulletin
NEWSROOM FAX
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Bend, OR 97702
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B
ADMINISTRATION
Publisher
Heidi Wright ..............................541-383-0341
Editor
Gerry O’Brien .............................541-633-2166
Bulletin file
Pedestrians walk the trail along Mirror Pond in Drake Park in this file
photo from March 2014.
A $6.6 million project to
improve trails, beach access
and deteriorating sections of
the riverbank in and around
Drake Park in Bend moved a
step closer toward construction
with the recent issuance of a
federal permit to proceed.
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers approved a joint ap-
plication permit for the Drake
Park project on Feb. 9, accord-
ing to Brian Hudspeth, de-
velopment manager for Bend
Park & Recreation District.
The permit is one of several
needed by the district before it
can break ground.
Drake Park is 13 acres of
grassy lawn and trees along
Bend’s iconic Mirror Pond.
Constructed in 1921, it is one
of the city’s oldest parks and
features a variety of trees, in-
cluding ponderosa pine, juni-
per, and deciduous trees.
Many of the trails in the park
are crumbling and lack a cohe-
sive connection to Pacific Park
to the north. Both these issues
are expected to be fixed with
the Drake Park project.
But the project is not with-
out controversy, mainly due
to the planned cutting down
of more than 30 trees to make
way for the eight to 10-foot-
wide footpath.
Hudspeth said some trees sit
squarely in the way of the path
and need to be removed.
“We will try to save every sin-
gle tree we can,” said Hudspeth.
“But there are some in the mid-
dle of where the trail has to go
and they are going to come out.”
The remaining permits still
pending include a “fill permit”
that will allow drilling into
Mirror Pond to install piles
that will support a boardwalk,
said Hudspeth.
Upon receipt of the remain-
ing permits for construction,
the district plans to start work
on the trail in October. Huds-
peth is hopeful that the permit-
ting process could be complete
this month.
Reporter: 541-617-7818,
mkohn@bendbulletin.com
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Lottery results can now be found on
the second page of Sports.
Schools spent most of federal aid on virtual learning
BY EDER CAMPUZANO
The Oregonian
Since the start of the pan-
demic, the federal government
has earmarked nearly $620 mil-
lion in emergency funds for Or-
egon schools.
About $121 million that has
arrived in Oregon so far has
helped schools across the state
purchase laptops, internet hot
spots and program licenses to
set up the virtual learning pro-
grams that have dominated the
Oregon classroom experience
over the last year.
But a second round of federal
funds is expected to deliver an-
other $499 million to school dis-
tricts by the end of the month,
the state’s share of a $900 billion
relief bill passed in December.
And the bulk of that money
should go toward reopening
schools.
What that looks like will dif-
fer from district to district.
Some may need to upgrade
ventilation systems or purchase
air filters and fans. Others might
opt to renovate classrooms to
provide more space for students
as the pandemic wears on.
Mike Wiltfong, the Oregon
Department of Education’s di-
rector of school finance and
facilities, said schools that are
already open for in-person in-
struction provide a glimpse at
how districts will need to spend
federal aid.
“We’re already seeing where
schools are struggling — some
students sit in the hallway,” he
told The Oregonian.
Wiltfong is concerned that
Oregon schools will start burn-
ing through their federal aid
allocations as districts begin
rolling out their in-person offer-
ings. In December, about 50,000
of Oregon’s 580,000 public K-12
students were getting some sort
of in-person instruction.
As of last week, that number
was just over 136,000.
In states where governors or-
dered schools to reopen, such
as Iowa, Texas and Arkansas,
districts went through large
chunks of their share of federal
aid by the end of November, ac-
cording to the most recent data
from the U.S. Department of
Education.
By December, Texas schools
spent 42% of their allocation in
federal aid. In Iowa, it was 92%.
Wiltfong said that once Or-
egon schools fully reopen for
in-person learning, it’ll cost
about $500 per student to edu-
cate them safely every year, or
about $290 million.
Even though the White
House has pledged to inoculate
every adult in the country by
the end of May, it doesn’t mean
COVID-19 goes away. And that
means schools will still need a
steady supply of hand sanitizer
and cleaning materials.
Some may even have to take
on construction projects to in-
crease ventilation or expand
classrooms.
“What is going to be the ap-
propriate spacing for students
in the future?” Wiltfong said.
“What happens if we have a
run-in with another variant of
the virus?”
Wiltfong said districts are
wary of tapping into too much
of the federal pot at this point
in the pandemic. Even though
Oregon’s economy fared bet-
ter than expected over the last
year and schools avoided much-
feared cuts in funding, that sort
of fortune isn’t guaranteed in
the future.
And such unknowns are part
of the reason districts have until
September of next year to apply
for reimbursements for federal
coronavirus aid.
“They’re proceeding in the
best manner they can based on
local decisions,” Wiltfong said.
closed through May , accord-
ing to the city of Bend website.
A detour will be provided on
Emkay Drive. Parking will be
restricted to one side of Em-
kay Drive during this detour.
A second roundabout proj-
ect at the intersection of Co-
lumbia Street and SW Simp-
son Avenue will begin in May.
The goal is to make both
intersections, which currently
just have stop signs, safer, ac-
cording to the city’s website.
For more information about
both projects, visit bendore-
gon.gov.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Redmond man sentenced
for sex abuse of a minor
A Redmond man received
a month in jail and five years
probation Wednesday for a sex
crime involving a young victim
in late summer.
Dillen Alan Hart, 21, had
earlier pleaded guilty in De-
schutes County Circuit Court
to one count of second-degree
sexual abuse for subjecting a
minor to sexual intercourse in
August .
He was arrested that month
and originally charged with
first-degree rape, in addition to
three other counts, for engag-
ing in sex with someone “inca-
pable of consent by reason of
mental incapacitation and/or
physical helplessness.”
On Wednesday, Judge Ray
Crutchley assigned Hart 30
days in jail, which he’d already
served. Hart was additionally
ordered to register as a sex of-
fender and have no contact
with the victim.
Bend Parkway paving to
prompt closures, detours
A paving project that will
cover more than 6 miles of U.S.
Highway 97 in Bend will be-
gin Monday, prompting night-
time single-lane closures on
the Bend Parkway and full clo-
sures in one direction starting
March 14.
Construction is expected to
continue through May 15.
The $7.5 million repaving
project will add 2 inches of new
pavement to address deterio-
ration and rutting, according
to the Oregon Department of
Transportation. ODOT will also
add 64 new ADA curb ramps,
push-button controllers and
other upgrades at crosswalks.
Detours will be present
when closures are in effect to
redirect traffic to Third Street,
which doubles as the U.S.
Highway 97 business route, ac-
cording to ODOT.
Closures will happen in two
stages. The first stage will close
southbound traffic on U.S.
Highway 97, first from Exit
135A to Reed Market Exit 139,
and then from Exit 139 to Exit
141.
In the second stage, High-
way 97 northbound will be
closed from Exit 141 to Exit
139. Then the closure will go
from Exit 139 to Exit 135B.
Closures will take place
nightly from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Sunday night to Friday morn-
ing.
From March 7 to 12 there
will be single-lane closures
Sunday night into Friday
morning. Full closures will be-
gin March 15 and go through
May 15.
On two weekends, March 19
through March 22 and March
26 through March 29, a single
lane will be closed 24 hours a
day northbound from Reed
Market to Revere Avenue.
For more information about
detours and the project, visit
oregon.gov.
Colorado, Columbia
intersection to close
Starting Thursday, the in-
tersection at Colorado Avenue
and SW Columbia Street will
close so the city of Bend can
build a new roundabout.
The intersection will be
— Bulletin staff reports