WEDNESDAY • March 10, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
A pandemic, a plan and a return to golf
SPORTS PULLOUT, A7-10
Coronavirus | Easing state restrictions
COVID-19 risk levels drop in all 3 counties
Trends looking better in
Oregon, governor says; new
ratings take effect Friday
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Central Oregon restaurants and
other facilities should be able to ex-
pand capacity starting Friday un-
der new COVID-19 risk levels an-
nounced Tuesday.
Deschutes County will move from
high to moderate risk, while Crook
County goes from high to lower and
Jefferson County drops from extreme
to high.
Under moderate risk, indoor din-
ing, entertainment and recreational
centers can go to 50% capacity or 100
people, whichever is smaller. Indoor
gatherings can go up to eight people
and outdoor gatherings to 10 people.
Stores and malls can increase capacity
of shoppers to 75%, however curbside
pickup is still preferred.
New COVID-19 risk levels for Or-
egon’s 36 counties showed continued
improvement in the latest two-week
report, signaling more areas will be
able expand business and dining oc-
cupancy starting Friday, while allow-
ing for more activities.
“We are largely seeing case rates de-
cline across the state, with the most
counties in the lower-risk level since the
framework was introduced in Novem-
ber,” Gov. Kate Brown said in officially
announcing the new levels on Tuesday.
They will go into effect Friday.
In all, 13 counties lowered their
risk level ratings, while three showed
worsening trends to move up a level.
Only Coos and Douglas counties re-
main on the extreme risk level, which
once contained well over half of Ore-
gon’s counties.
Statewide, Oregon reported 4,615
cases between Feb. 26 and March 6.
The statewide average was 108.9 cases
per 100,000 residents and the positive
test rate dropped to 3.2, indicating
that numbers statewide should con-
tinue to drop.
COMING THURSDAY
ONE YEAR
OF COVID-19
» We asked Central Oregonians: How
did the pandemic change your life?
» Plus: Key moments and photos
show how the coronavirus pandemic
left a mark on our region
See Risk / A4
‘REDMOND FIVE’
MURDER CASE
THE SHOW GOES ON
State court
strikes blow
to Justin
Link’s parole
chances
Sportsmen’s Show gears up for its first run in a COVID-19 world
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
BY BRENNA VISSER • The Bulletin
T
he Central Oregon Sportsmen’s Show
at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo
Center this weekend is one of the first
major events the county has seen since
the pandemic began a year ago.
Trey Carskadon , who does marketing for
O’Loughlin Trade Shows, which puts on the
event, said the company is making several
changes to the long-running annual event to
make it as safe as possible in the COVID-19 era.
“Our goal from the outset is to create a zero
transmission environment,” Carskadon said
Tuesday.
Aside from masks and social-distancing re-
quirements, the biggest change is a limit on the
number of people who will be allowed into the
show at any one time. The event is being held
in four-hour shifts to manage the number of
people in the facility at one time. For example, a
ticketholder can only go to the show within that
four-hour window.
When that window closes, those patrons are
filtered out and a new group can attend. Un-
der state guidelines, the event could have more
Justin Alan Link, a mem-
ber of the the “Redmond Five,”
who were responsible for the
murder of a Tumalo woman in
2001, has been dealt a blow to
his prospects for early release,
with a recent
ruling by the
Oregon Su-
preme Court.
The court’s
decision
March 4
concerned
Link
the kinds of
prison sen-
tences lawmakers can mandate
for minors. Link, who was 17
at the time of the murder, was
tried and sentenced as an adult
under Oregon’s Measure 11
statute, which in 2003 allowed
the teenager to be sentenced to
life without the possibility of
parole.
The supreme court over-
turned an earlier appellate
court decision and ruled that
the Oregon Legislature did
have the authority to impose
lengthy sentences like the one
Link received.
Since he was given a “true”
life sentence in 2003, Link’s
case has wended a labyrinthine
path through the justice sys-
tem.
Setup is underway for the Central Oregon
Sportsmen’s Show at the Deschutes County Fair &
Expo Center in Redmond, where booth and aisle
dimensions have been modified along with plastic
screens to help with COVID-19 safety.
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
than 4,600 people at once, but the company
has lowered the threshold to 2,000 people,
Carskadon said.
See Show / A14
See Link / A14
BY PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
House Speaker Tina Kotek says
she wants to see a legislative fast
track for an extension of Oregon’s
moratorium on residential foreclo-
sures.
An overall moratorium ended on
Dec. 31. House Bill 2009, which the
House Business and Labor Commit-
TODAY’S
WEATHER
tee heard last week, would be retroac-
tive to Dec. 31 and extend the mora-
torium to Sept. 1. But the new version
would apply only to a set number of
residential properties — the bill pro-
poses five, although an amendment
would raise it to 10 — and commer-
cial property would be excluded.
Kotek, a Portland Democrat, is a
chief sponsor of the bill along with
A passing shower
High 48, Low 31
Page A10
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
committee Chairman Paul Holvey,
D-Eugene.
Kotek said lawmakers should
have passed the extension during
the Legislature’s third special ses-
sion on Dec. 21. The original mor-
atorium, first imposed by an execu-
tive order of Gov. Kate Brown, was
passed in a special session June 26.
See Moratorium / A4
A13
A16
A11-12
Dear Abby
Editorial
Horoscope
A9
A6
A9
Local/State
Lottery
Nation/World
A2-3
A8
A14
Pandemic delays more diverse
curriculum for Bend-La Pine
The goal: More viewpoints,
and quicker to change
BY JACKSON HOGAN
The Bulletin
Bend-La Pine Schools’ mission to use
textbooks and learning materials with
more diverse viewpoints was moving
along in early 2020.
English classes planned to add new
authors, from outside the traditional,
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A4
A12
A7-10
Eurocentric canon, by fall 2020.
Elementary teachers were finding
ways to integrate lessons on equity and
diversity into pre-existing curriculum.
High school social studies teachers
were testing out new textbooks and
materials to see which one could be ad-
opted districtwide.
But in March of that year, COVID-19
arrived in Central Oregon, closing schools
and monopolizing the conversation.
See Curriculum / A14
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
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recycled
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Vol. 119, No. 59, 16 pages, 1 section
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Oregon House wants fast track
for foreclosure moratorium
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