SUNDAY • March 14, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $3 DID YOU SET CLOCKS AHEAD? DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME STARTS — BUT THE CONCEPT OF TIME CHANGES MAY END SOON FOR GOOD • STORY ON A4 St. Charles, union end strike After 10 days of a work stoppage, St. Charles Bend and the union represent- ing therapists, technicians and technol- ogists at the hospital reached an agree- ment Saturday to return the employees to work by Monday. The agreement ensures the two par- ties will continue to bargain over the est to return to the table and continue bargaining,” the union and hospital said in a joint statement Saturday. The hospital and the Oregon Feder- ation of Nurses and Health Profession- als have disagreed about salary and shift wages for about 154 workers. The hospital objected to the union’s request to require any new employees to join the union. The agreement ensures the two parties will continue to bargain over the next few days and secure a contract by March 31, according to union and St. Charles Health System officials. next few days and secure a contract by March 31, according to union and St. Charles Health System officials. “The agreement came together as both parties believe patient care is and should be the top priority, the strike has been distracting and difficult for all in- volved, and it is in everyone’s best inter- See St. Charles / A9 A DEADLY YEAR ON U.S. HIGHWAY 97 C rash data from the Oregon Department of Transportation shows 2020 was the deadliest year in recent memory along U.S. Highway 97 through Central Fatal crashes along U.S. Highway 97 in 2020 See Maps / A5 In Oregon, who’s policing the police? Area in detail 224 97 26 The stretch of U.S. Highway 97 in Central Oregon in 2020 saw the largest increase in fatal crashes over the past five years, resulting in 20 deaths. Time 1. April 7 7:37 p.m. 259 Klamath 2. June 12 3:30 p.m. 118 Deschutes County 3. July 6 8:56 p.m. 118 Deschutes 4. July 10 6:33 p.m. 151.4 Deschutes 5. July 23 2:32 a.m. 235 Klamath 6. Aug. 1 1:22 p.m. 118.5 Deschutes 7. Aug. 15 3:58 p.m. 108 Jefferson 8. Aug. 18 1:24 p.m. 99.9 Jefferson 9. Oct. 13 9:10 a.m. 245 Klamath 10. Nov. 4 11:59 p.m. 232 Klamath 11. Nov. 6 11:56 p.m. 110.6 Jefferson 12. Nov. 8 9:42 a.m. 181 Klamath 13. Nov. 11 7:45 a.m. 158 Deschutes 14. Nov. 19 12:51 p.m. 168.2 Deschutes 15. Nov. 19 5:14 p.m. 137 Deschutes 16. Dec. 14 11:10 a.m. 194 Klamath 17. Dec. 24 9:07 a.m. 118.8 Deschutes 8 22 JEFFERSON 11 20 126 Sisters 242 c Bywa (Data is preliminary, as of Feb. 23.) 12 11 11 Up 42% from 2019 7 97 2 17 15 26 3 6 Redmond Bend y 20 DESCHUTES 97 4 13 14 La Pine 58 12 Crescent 31 58 BY NICK BUDNICK Oregon Capital Bureau On May 18, 2019, a longtime member of the most influential police oversight body in Oregon, Officer Craig Halupowski, got ready to arrest a man accused of making threats at the local mall in Wood- burn. Walk- ing to- ward the man, the cop looked around to make Halupowski sure no- body but his two fellow officers could hear, ac- cording to a subsequent investigation. “If he resists, we beat the s--- out of him,” Ha- lupowski said, according to a video from a co-work- er’s body camera. See Police / A6 16 138 97 Legend KLAMATH 17 Madras Terrebonne 20 126 s Na tional Sceni Order/date Fatal crashes, 2016-20 WARM SPRINGS RESERVATION Detroit Approx. milepost Cascade Lake See Highway 97 / A9 The fuzzy future of Or- egon politics east of the Cascades was unveiled to the public last week: No diagrams, charts, data — really nothing tangible at all to show how new legislative and congres- sional district should be drawn. “We don’t have any maps,” said Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego, chair of the House Redistricting Committee. “We don’t have any numbers from the census.” Submitted photo: La Pine Rural Fire Protection District. Background photo: Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin file Oregon from Klamath Falls to Madras. Twenty people died in 17 crashes last year, the data shows. That is the same number as the previous two years combined, when 19 fatal crashes killed 20 people in 2018 and 2019. Central Oregon is following a na- tional trend of higher fatalities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because more peo- ple have stayed home during the pandemic, transportation officials suspect more people are speeding on the open roads and driving impaired. Kacey Davey, an ODOT spokesperson for the Central Oregon region, said the causes of last year’s crashes are still being investigated but it appears a majority are related to speed and intoxication. “It’s hard to say yet why the fatalities in- creased on this stretch of highway,” Davey said. “There are some national reports that are showing a trend toward increased speed and intoxication as factors.” Oregon State Police Sgt. Caleb Ratliff, who has worked in the Bend area since 2012, said the overwhelming factor in fatal crashes, especially on Highway 97, has been speed. People are driving over the speed limit and driving too fast in potentially hazardous con- ditions, such as in snow and ice, Ratliff said. Drivers are not taking into account road conditions, other drivers and the volume of traffic, and those tendencies increased during the pandemic, Ratliff said. BY GARY A. WARNER Oregon Capital Bureau LEFT: Two people were killed and two injured in a crash that closed U.S. Highway 97 in both directions about a mile south of La Pine in November. The majority of the fatal crashes along Highway 97 last year were between Bend and Redmond and south of La Pine, areas where traffic has increased in recent years. BY KYLE SPURR • The Bulletin Fuzzy math, absent maps 230 National forest TODAY’S WEATHER 138 Reservation LAKE Water CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK 10 Cloudy, cooler High 55, Low 29 Page B6 U.S. highway 5 State route INDEX 62 7 Chiloquin 97 Upper Klamath Lake 140 County line 9 State boundary 1 140 2016 ’18 An Independent Newspaper 66 Sources: Oregon Department of Transportation; Data.Oregon.Gov Alan Kenaga/For The Bulletin Ore. Calif. 97 Lottery B2 Market Recap B4 Mon.Comics C5-6 Obituaries A9 Puzzles C4 Sports B1-6 The Bulletin Klamath Falls 2020 Business C1-8 Classifieds B4-5 Dear Abby C3 Editorial A8 Horoscope C3 Local/State A2-3 39 25 miles Vol. 119, No. 63, 28 pages, 4 sections ù We use recycled newsprint SUN/THU BY KYLE SPURR The Bulletin OREGON’S POLITICAL REDISTRICTING U|xaIICGHy02330rzu