A4 The BulleTin • Friday, March 12, 2021
TODAY
Today is Friday, March 12, the
71st day of 2021. There are 294
days left in the year.
Today’s Highlights in History:
On March 12, 2020, the stock
market had its biggest drop since
the Black Monday crash of 1987
as fears of economic fallout from
the coronavirus crisis deepened;
the Dow industrials plunged
more than 2,300 points, or 10%.
In 1664, England’s King Charles
II granted an area of land on the
East Coast of present-day North
America known as New Neth-
erland to his brother James, the
Duke of York.
In 1864, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
assumed command as Gener-
al-in-Chief of the Union armies in
the Civil War.
In 1912, the Girl Scouts of the
USA had its beginnings as Ju-
liette Gordon Low of Savannah,
Georgia, founded the first Ameri-
can troop of the Girl Guides.
In 1933, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt delivered the first
of his 30 radio addresses that
came to be known as “fireside
chats,” telling Americans what
was being done to deal with the
nation’s economic crisis.
In 1943, Aaron Copland’s “Fan-
fare for the Common Man” had
its world premiere with Eugene
Goossens conducting the Cincin-
nati Symphomy.
In 1947, President Harry S. Tru-
man announced what became
known as the “Truman Doctrine”
to help Greece and Turkey resist
Communism.
In 1955, legendary jazz musician
Charlie “Bird” Parker died in New
York at age 34.
In 1980, a Chicago jury found
John Wayne Gacy Jr. guilty of the
murders of 33 men and boys.
In 1994, the Church of England
ordained its first female priests.
In 2003, Elizabeth Smart, the
15-year-old girl who vanished
from her bedroom nine months
earlier, was found alive in a
Salt Lake City suburb with two
drifters.
In 2008, New York Gov. Eliot
Spitzer resigned two days after
reports had surfaced that he was
a client of a prostitution ring.
In 2009, disgraced financier
Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty
in New York to pulling off per-
haps the biggest swindle in Wall
Street history; he would be sen-
tenced to 150 years behind bars.
Ten years ago: Fifteen passen-
gers were killed when a tour bus
returning from a Connecticut
casino scraped along a guard rail
on the outskirts of New York City,
tipped on its side and slammed
into a pole that sheared it nearly
end to end.
One year ago: The White House
said President Donald Trump
had no plans to be tested for
the coronavirus or go into quar-
antine, even though a Brazilian
official who attended weekend
events with Trump in Florida
had tested positive. Trump said
he was temporarily halting his
campaign rallies. The NCAA can-
celed its basketball tournaments
after earlier planning to play in
empty arenas. The NHL joined
the NBA in suspending play.
Major League Baseball delayed
the start of its season by at least
two weeks. (An abbreviated
60-game season would begin
in July.) New York’s governor or-
dered Broadway theaters to shut
down for a month; all gatherings
of more than 500 people were
temporarily banned. (The the-
aters remain closed.) Disneyland
in California said it would close
for the rest of March. (The park
has yet to reopen.)
Today’s Birthdays: Politician,
diplomat and civil rights activist
Andrew Young is 89. Actor
Barbara Feldon is 88. Former
broadcast journalist Lloyd
Dobyns is 85. Actor-singer Liza
Minnelli is 75. Sen. Mitt Romney,
R-Utah, is 74. Singer-songwriter
James Taylor is 73. Former Sen.
Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is 73. Rock
singer-musician Bill Payne (Little
Feat) is 72. Actor Jon Provost
(TV: “Lassie”) is 71. Author Carl
Hiaasen is 68. Rock musician
Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) is
65. Actor Lesley Manville is 65.
Actor Jerry Levine is 64. Singer
Marlon Jackson (The Jackson
Five) is 64. Actor Jason Beghe is
61. Actor Courtney B. Vance is 61.
Actor Titus Welliver is 59. Former
MLB All-Star Darryl Strawberry
is 59. Actor Julia Campbell is
58. Actor Jake Weber is 58. Sen.
Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is 53.
Actor Aaron Eckhart is 53. CNN
reporter Jake Tapper is 52. Rock
musician Graham Coxon is 52.
Country musician Tommy Bales
(Flynnville Train) is 48. Actor
Rhys Coiro is 42. Country singer
Holly Williams is 40. Actor Samm
Levine is 39. Actor Jaimie Alexan-
der is 37. Actor Tyler Patrick Jones
is 27. Actor Kendall Applegate
is 22.
— Associated Press
STATE & NATION
Pandemic | one year later
May 1 target to have all adults vaccine-eligible
President Joe Biden
outlines his plan
BY ZEKE MILLER
AND JONATHAN LEMIRE
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — One year
after the nation was brought to
a near-standstill by the corona-
virus, President Joe Biden used
his first prime-time address
Thursday night to announce
his plan to make all adults vac-
cine-eligible by May 1 and “be-
gin to mark our independence
from this virus” by the Fourth
of July. He offered Americans
fresh hope and appealed anew
for their help.
Speaking in the White House
East Room, Biden announced
moves to speed vaccinations,
including lifting eligibility qual-
ifications, deploying an addi-
tional 4,000 active-duty troops
to support vaccination efforts
and allowing more people —
such as medical students, veter-
inarians and dentists — to de-
liver shots.
He is also directing more
doses toward some 950 com-
munity health centers and up
to 20,000 retail pharmacies,
to make it easier for people to
get vaccinated closer to their
homes.
His aim: let Americans
Andrew Harnik/AP
President Joe Biden speaks about the pandemic during a prime-time
address from the East Room of the White House on Thursday.
gather at least in small groups
for July Fourth and “make this
Independence Day truly spe-
cial.”
Biden was marking one year
since the onset of the pan-
demic that has killed more
than 530,000 Americans and
disrupted the lives of countless
more.
“While it was different for ev-
eryone, we all lost something,”
Biden said, calling the past year
“a collective suffering, a collec-
tive sacrifice.”
Earlier Thursday, Biden
signed into law a $1.9 trillion
relief package that he said will
help defeat the virus, nurse the
STATE BRIEFING
Card skimmer sentenced
to 4 years in prison
A 35-year-old man de-
scribed as “an experienced
credit card skimmer” has been
sentenced to four years in fed-
eral prison for bank fraud.
The case started in April
2018 in New York City, the
U.S. Attorney’s Office in Or-
egon said in a news release.
Ciprian Simion was arrested
there for using fake ATM
cards and pins to withdraw
cash. Investigators later found
about 100 forged debit cards
and three forgery devices,
KOIN reported.
A grand jury indicted him
on more than 200 counts for
fraud.
But after the charges in
New York, Simion moved to
Oregon. In March 2019, Si-
mion and another man, Ga-
briel Tigmarau, put a credit
card skimmer on a River-
mark Community Credit
Union ATM in Newberg,
along with skimmers at sev-
eral other ATMs.
With the stolen account
information, they made
fake credit and debit cards
to withdraw cash, prosecu-
tors said. But on April 27,
2019, the men were caught
tampering with an ATM at
the IBEW Credit Union in
Portland. Investigators later
determined Simion stole the
numbers from at least 354 ac-
counts.
A federal grand jury in-
dicted Simion and Tigma-
rau on 11 counts related to
the bank fraud. In 2020, they
both pleaded guilty to one
count each of bank fraud and
aggravated identity theft.
In February 2021, Tigmarau
was sentenced to 42 months in
federal prison. On Wednesday,
Simion was sentenced to four
years in federal prison. Both
also must serve five years of
supervised release.
Klamath County declares
drought in basin
With water conditions in
the Klamath Basin on track
to be worse than they were
last year, the Klamath County
Commissioners declared a
drought for the Klamath Ba-
sin on Tuesday.
While local precipitation
has been slightly higher this
winter than last, the extra
snow hasn’t been enough to
make up for exceedingly dry
soils left over from water year
2020. The soil will soak up
a significant portion of the
snow as it melts.
According to water mon-
itoring data from the U.S.
Geological Survey, Upper
Klamath Lake’s surface is
currently more than a foot
of water lower than it was at
this time last year, which will
make it extremely difficult for
the Bureau of Reclamation to
satisfy lake level requirements
outlined in the Endangered
Species Act, let alone provide
water to the Project.
Commissioners will send
the drought declaration let-
ter to the Oregon Water Re-
sources Department and
Oregon Office of Emergency
Management, requesting
that the governor declare a
drought at the state level with
the federal government.
That will allow water us-
ers in the basin to apply for
drought relief programs
through federal and state
agencies.
— Bulletin wire reports
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economy back to health and de-
liver direct aid to Americans in
need. Some direct checks could
begin arriving this weekend.
“This historic legislation is
about rebuilding the backbone
of this country,” Biden said as
he signed the bill in the Oval
Office.
Most noticeable to many
Americans are provisions pro-
viding up to $1,400 in direct
payments and extending $300
weekly emergency unemploy-
ment benefits into early Sep-
tember. Also included are ex-
panded tax credits over the next
year for children, child care and
family leave — some of them
credits that Democrats have sig-
naled they’d like to make per-
manent — plus spending for
renters, feeding programs and
people’s utility bills.
In his Thursday night ad-
dress, Biden said that as vaccine
supplies continue to increase,
he will direct states and terri-
tories to make all adults eligi-
ble for vaccination by May 1.
The U.S. is expecting delivery
of enough doses for those 255
million adults by the end of that
month, but the process of actu-
ally administering those doses
will take time.
Biden said his administration
is launching a nationwide web-
site to help people find doses,
saying it would address frustra-
tions so that there would be “no
more searching day and night
for an appointment.”
Even as he offered optimism,
Biden made clear that the July
4 timetable applied only to
smaller gatherings, not larger
ones, and requires cooperation
from Americans to continue
to wear face coverings, main-
tain social distancing and fol-
low federal guidelines meant
to slow the spread of the virus
in the near term. He also called
on them roll up their sleeves to
get vaccinated as soon as they’re
eligible.
This is “not the time to not
stick with the rules,” Biden said,
warning of the potential for
backsliding just as the nation is
on the cusp of defeating the vi-
rus. “I need you, the American
people,” he added. “I need you.
I need every American to do
their part.”
The House gave final con-
gressional approval to the
sweeping package by a near
party line 220-211 vote on
Wednesday, seven weeks af-
ter Biden entered the White
House and four days after the
Senate passed the bill. Republi-
cans in both chambers opposed
the legislation unanimously,
characterizing it as bloated,
crammed with liberal policies
and heedless of signs the crises
are easing.
Biden originally planned to
sign the bill on Friday, but it ar-
rived at the White House more
quickly than anticipated.
“We want to move as fast as
possible,” tweeted chief of staff
Ron Klain.
Biden’s initial prime-time
speech was “a big moment,” said
presidential historian and Rice
University professor Douglas
Brinkley. “He’s got to win over
hearts and minds for people to
stay masked and get vaccinated,
but also recognize that after the
last year, the federal govern-
ment hasn’t forgotten you.”
Klamath Community College expands
into Lake County area formerly of COCC
Herald and News (Klamath Falls)
Klamath Community College
could soon count northern Lake
County residents among its ser-
vice population, pending the
passage of a bill by the Oregon
Senate and Gov. Kate Brown.
The bill approves an order
from the Oregon Higher Edu-
cation Coordinating Commis-
sion that transfers the northern
quarter of Lake County from
Central Oregon Community
College’s district to Klamath
Community College’s district.
The Oregon House passed
the bill on Monday.
The Higher Education Co-
ordinating Commission re-
ceived a petition in 2019 from
residents in north Lake County
to remove the area from the
COCC district, saying COCC
wasn’t adequately serving them.
The petitioners indicated that
they preferred not to have their
taxes go to a community college
and instead contract directly
with KCC, which had already
been offering distance learning
to some residents in northern
Lake County.
The commission rejected that
petition but said it would pur-
sue transitioning the north Lake
district from COCC to KCC.
The commission issued an or-
der to that effect later that year,
which said that both colleges
were on board with the move.
“If we’re going to remain in
a taxing district, I would like
to be affiliated with Klamath
Community College because
they have ag programs,” peti-
tioner Alan Parks said before
the commission’s initial vote in
2019. “They have a far better
outreach to our community and
our county.”
KCC President Dr. Roberto
Gutierrez said the college has
been operating some remote
classes in Lake County, for sev-
eral years — from high school
dual credit classes to fire science
and medical education classes.
He said the college received a
grant from the U.S. Department
of Education to fund the tech-
nology equipment required for
that, and would have continued
to offer those services regardless
of the district switch.
“It was the citizens of that
community that came up with
the idea [to move districts],”
Gutierrez said. “We’re honored
that they want to be part of our
district.”
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