THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2021 A3
TODAY
Today is Wednesday, March 17, the 76th day of 2021.
There are 289 days left in the year. This is St. Patrick’s Day.
Today’s Highlight in History:
In 1762, New York held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade.
In 1776, the Revolutionary War Siege of Boston ended as
British forces evacuated the city.
In 1936, Pittsburgh’s Great St. Patrick’s Day Flood began
as the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers and their
tributaries, swollen by rain and melted snow, started
exceeding flood stage; the high water was blamed for
more than 60 deaths.
In 1941, the National Gallery of Art opened in Washing-
ton, D.C.
In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India in the wake of
a failed uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule.
In 1966, a U.S. Navy midget submarine located a missing
hydrogen bomb that had fallen from a U.S. Air Force
B-52 bomber into the Mediterranean off Spain. (It took
several more weeks to actually recover the bomb.)
In 1969, Golda Meir became prime minister of Israel.
In 1970, the United States cast its first veto in the U.N.
Security Council, killing a resolution that would have
condemned Britain for failing to use force to overthrow
the white-ruled government of Rhodesia.
In 1988, Avianca Flight 410, a Boeing 727, crashed after
takeoff into a mountain in Colombia, killing all 143 peo-
ple on board.
In 2003, edging to the brink of war, President George W.
Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave his coun-
try. Iraq rejected Bush’s ultimatum, saying that a U.S.
attack to force Saddam from power would be “a grave
mistake.”
In 2009, U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were
detained by North Korea while reporting on North Kore-
an refugees living across the border in China. (Both were
convicted of entering North Korea illegally and were
sentenced to 12 years of hard labor; both were freed in
August 2009 after former President Bill Clinton met with
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.)
In 2010, Michael Jordan became the first ex-player to be-
come a majority owner in the NBA as the league’s Board
of Governors unanimously approved Jordan’s $275 mil-
lion bid to buy the Charlotte Bobcats from Bob Johnson.
Ten years ago: The U.N. Security Council paved the way
for international air strikes against Moammar Gadhafi’s
forces, voting to authorize military action to protect
civilians and impose a no-fly zone over Libya. U.S. drone
missiles hit a village in Pakistan; U.S. officials said the
group targeted was heavily armed and that some of its
members were connected to al-Qaida, but Pakistani of-
ficials said the missiles hit a community meeting, killing
four Taliban fighters and 38 civilians and tribal police.
Five years ago: An Arizona man was convicted of a
terror charge tied to an attack on a Prophet Muhammad
cartoon contest in Texas, marking the second conviction
in the U.S. related to the Islamic State group; Abdul Malik
Abdul Kareem, an American-born Muslim convert, was
later sentenced to 30 years in prison. Finally bowing to
years of public pressure, SeaWorld Entertainment said it
would no longer breed killer whales or make them per-
form crowd-pleasing tricks.
One year ago: A three-week shelter-in-place order
took effect in six San Francisco-area counties, requiring
most residents to stay inside and venture out only for
food, medicine or exercise. State TV in Iran warned that
“millions” could die if Iranians kept traveling and ignored
health guidance; the coronavirus death toll in Iran
neared 1,000. More movie theaters closed nationwide;
the nation’s largest chain, AMC, said its theaters would
close for at least six to 12 weeks. Bus riders in Detroit
were stranded after most drivers didn’t report to work.
The Kentucky Derby and the French Open were each
postponed from May to September. A case of the coro-
navirus was reported in West Virginia, the only U.S. state
that hadn’t seen one until that point. As Florida, Arizona
and Illinois went ahead with presidential primaries, hun-
dreds of poll workers dropped out, forcing state officials
to scramble. .
Today’s Birthdays: The former national chairwoman of
the NAACP, Myrlie Evers-Williams, is 88. Former astronaut
Ken Mattingly is 85. Singer-songwriter John Sebastian
(The Lovin’ Spoonful) is 77. Former NSA Director and
former CIA Director Michael Hayden is 76. Actor Patrick
Duffy is 72. Actor Kurt Russell is 70. Actor Lesley-Anne
Down is 67. Actor Gary Sinise is 66. Actor Christian Cle-
menson is 63. Former basketball and baseball player
Danny Ainge is 62. Actor Arye Gross is 61. Actor Casey
Siemaszko is 60. Writer-director Rob Sitch is 59. Actor Rob
Lowe is 57. Rock singer Billy Corgan is 54. Actor Mathew
St. Patrick is 53. Rock musician Melissa Auf der Maur is 49.
Olympic gold medal soccer player Mia Hamm is 49. Rock
musician Caroline Corr (The Corrs) is 48. Actor Marisa
Coughlan is 47. Sports reporter Tracy Wolfson is 46. Actor
Brittany Daniel is 45. Singer and TV personality Tamar
Braxton is 44. Country musician Geoff Sprung (Old
Dominion) is 43. Reggaeton singer Nicky Jam is 40. TV
personality Rob Kardashian is 34. Pop/rock singer-song-
writer Hozier is 31. Actor Eliza Hope Bennett is 29. Actor
John Boyega is 29. Olympic gold medal swimmer Katie
Ledecky is 24. Actor Flynn Morrison is 16.
— Associated Press
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
Portland-area libraries shrug
off Dr. Seuss book controversy
BY KEVIN HARDEN
Portland Tribune
When Dr. Seuss’ publisher de-
cided to no longer license or sell
six particular titles, some of Ore-
gon’s public libraries didn’t flinch.
They mostly shrugged.
On March 2, Dr. Seuss Enter-
prises announced that six of the
children’s books would no longer
be published or licensed because
they include images and text that
“portray people in ways that are
hurtful and wrong.”
Libraries aren’t likely to pull the
books from their shelves. Instead,
say leaders in Washington and
Multnomah counties, individual
libraries will decide what to do
with the books if issues arise.
It’s a balancing act between
community concerns and a com-
mitment to intellectual freedom,
said Lisa Tattersall, manager of
Washington County Cooperative
Library Services, which has 13 li-
braries with 16 locations across
the county.
“This isn’t something new to
us,” Tattersall said. “But just be-
cause it’s not new doesn’t mean
it’s not uncomfortable. We have
policies and procedures in place
to handle things like this for peo-
ple who are offended by material
in our libraries.
“It’s a good opportunity to dis-
cuss with the community our
commitment.”
The decision came after a re-
view by educators and experts
of Seuss’ catalog, more than 60
children’s books going back to
the 1930s. “Ceasing sales of these
books is only part of our commit-
ment and our broader plan to en-
sure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog
represents and supports all com-
munities and families,” according
to the company statement.
Portland Tribune
Portland-area libraries are taking the Dr. Seuss book controversy in stride. This isn’t new to libraries, say librarians.
That touched off a media storm
blaming “cancel culture” for the
decision.
A week after the announce-
ment, a pile of Dr. Seuss books
shot to the top of Amazon’s best-
seller list. During the week of
March 7, 12 of the top 20 bestsell-
ing Amazon fiction books were
by Dr. Seuss.
Nationally, libraries took the
announcement in stride, said
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director
of the American Library Associa-
tion’s Office for Intellectual Free-
dom. “For libraries, the fact that
they made that decision is not a
reason to take the books off the
shelves,” she said.
It could be “time to think crit-
ically about these books,” Cald-
well-Stone said. “It’s a great op-
portunity to think carefully about
how they’re sharing them with
the children in their lives and to
have good conversations about
racism and racial issues in our
society.”
Dr. Seuss books rarely are chal-
lenged by library patrons across
the nation, she said. The associ-
ation’s list of top 100 challenged
books between 1990 and 2019 did
not include one Dr. Seuss title.
In Oregon, no Dr. Seuss book
has been removed from library
collections because of patron chal-
lenges.
Libraries plan to rely on that
experience when it comes to the
six Dr. Seuss books in their col-
lections. Shawn Cunningham,
director of communications and
strategic initiatives for Mult-
nomah County Library, said Port-
land-area library branches would
stay true to their “core value” of
intellectual freedom.
“Multnomah County Library
Director Vailey Oehlke has af-
firmed our library’s commitment
to dismantling systemic racism
and oppression,” Cunningham
said.
OREGON LEGISLATURE
Bills would address access to menstrual products
BY LIZZY ACKER
The Oregonian
Several bills under consider-
ation in the Oregon Legislature
would help people who menstru-
ate feel less of the financial strain
of paying for period products.
Senate Bills 717 and 521 and
House Bill 3294 all address men-
strual products in various forms.
SB 717 would provide $10 per
month to people who receive
Supplemental Nutrition Assis-
tance Program benefits to “pur-
chase personal hygiene items.”
SB 717 has the support of the
Oregon Food Bank and Partners
for a Hunger-Free Oregon.
“SB 717 would make critical
investments to improve SNAP
by adding $10/month for the
purchasing of personal hygienic
items. Many of the 1,400 food
pantries Oregon Food Bank
serves across the state stock such
“Our students deserve to learn with dignity, and our failure to
take action has negatively impacted our students. As legislators,
we must change our view of our educational systems from school-
ready students, to student-ready institutions.
— Rep. Ricki Ruiz, D-Gresham, in a press release
items for this very reason,” wrote
Matt Newell- Ching, Public Pol-
icy Manager for the Oregon Food
Bank, in written testimony in fa-
vor of the bill.
SB 521 would exempt busi-
nesses from paying “commercial
activity” on sales of period prod-
ucts as well as diapers, formula
and prescription drugs.
The commercial activity tax
was passed in 2019 to help Ore-
gon fund education.
The third bill, HB 3294, would
require all public schools to pro-
Coming this
FRIDAY
Don’t miss
the Spring edition
of Pulse of Oregon
inside The Bulletin
this Friday,
March 19.
vide pads and tampons to stu-
dents at no charge.
That bill, called the Menstrual
Dignity Act, has more than 15
sponsors.
“This bill is for all our students
who have missed school due to
lack of menstrual product avail-
ability,” said Rep. Ricki Ruiz,
D-Gresham, in a press release.
“Our students deserve to learn
with dignity, and our failure to
take action has negatively im-
pacted our students. As legisla-
tors, we must change our view
of our educational systems from
school-ready students, to stu-
dent-ready institutions. I’m
excited to be partnering with
legislators, partners and most
importantly, our students —
who are at the center of our
work.”
This isn’t the first time the Or-
egon Legislature has turned its at-
tention toward people who men-
struate.
In 2019, officials passed a law
requiring free pads and tampons
be made available in adult correc-
tional settings.
That law wasn’t extended to in-
clude youth facilities even after
reporting showed that youth in
the care of the state at a Klamath
Falls facility could only get tam-
pons if a family member brought
them in, they were donated or the
youth earned points with good
behavior and “bought” them.