A4 The BulleTin • Friday, March 19, 2021
TODAY
DESCHUTES COUNTY
It’s Friday, March 19, the 78th
day of 2021. There are 287 days
left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
In 2013, Pope Francis official-
ly began his ministry as the
266th pope, receiving the ring
symbolizing the papacy and a
wool stole exemplifying his role
as shepherd of his 1.2-billion
strong flock during a Mass at the
Vatican.
In 1931, Nevada Gov. Fred B. Bal-
zar signed a measure legalizing
casino gambling.
In 1942, during World War II,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
ordered men between the ages
of 45 and 64, inclusive, to regis-
ter for non-military duty.
In 1962, Bob Dylan’s first album,
titled “Bob Dylan,” was released
by Columbia Records.
In 1966, the Texas Western Min-
ers defeated the heavily favored
Kentucky Wildcats, 72-65, to win
the NCAA Championship played
in College Park, Maryland; mak-
ing the contest especially note-
worthy was that Texas Western
became the first basketball team
to start five Black players in a
national title game as it faced an
all-white Kentucky squad.
In 1977, the series finale of
“Mary Tyler Moore” aired on
CBS-TV, ending the situation
comedy’s seven-season run.
In 1987, televangelist Jim Bakker
resigned as chairman of his PTL
ministry organization amid a sex
and money scandal involving
Jessica Hahn, a former church
secretary.
In 1991, Polish President Lech
Walesa arrived in Washington
for his first state visit to the Unit-
ed States.
In 1993, Supreme Court Justice
Byron R. White announced plans
to retire. (White’s departure
paved the way for Ruth Bader
Ginsburg to become the court’s
second female justice.)
In 2003, President George W.
Bush ordered the start of war
against Iraq. Because of the time
difference, it was early March 20
in Iraq.
Ten years ago: The U.S. fired
more than 100 cruise missiles
from the sea while French fight-
er jets targeted Moammar Gad-
hafi’s forces from the air, launch-
ing the broadest international
military effort since the Iraq war
in support of an uprising.
Five years ago: A FlyDubai Boe-
ing 737 plunged into the ground
near the airport in the Russian
city of Rostov-on-Don, killing all
62 people on board. A Turkish
suicide bomber killed five peo-
ple, including two Americans,
in Istanbul’s main pedestrian
shopping street; Turkish officials
said the bomber was linked to
Islamic State.
One year ago: Italy’s coronavi-
rus death toll surged past 3,400,
surpassing China’s; worldwide
deaths topped 10,000. President
Donald Trump focused attention
on a malaria drug, chloroquine,
as a possible virus treatment; the
FDA issued a statement saying
that there were “no FDA-ap-
proved therapeutics” to treat
COVID-19.
Today’s Birthdays: Singer Clar-
ence “Frogman” Henry is 84.
Singer Ruth Pointer is 75. Actor
Glenn Close is 74. Actor Bruce
Willis is 66. Playwright Neil La-
Bute is 58. Actor Connor Trinneer
is 52. Rock musician Gert Bettens
(K’s Choice) is 51. Rapper Bun B
is 48. Rock musician Zach Lind
(Jimmy Eat World) is 45. MLB
pitcher Clayton Kershaw is 33.
Actor Philip Bolden is 26.
— The Associated Press
Former gymnastics coach sentenced
Judge doubles jail time for
two sex-abuse cases
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
A Deschutes judge on Thursday dis-
regarded a plea deal and doubled the
jail sentence of a former Redmond
Gymnastics Academy coach who had
inappropriate relationships with two
young gymnasts.
Kellee Christian Johnson came to
Deschutes County Circuit Court on
Marijuana
Continued from A1
Residents in the fall 2020
voted to keep the moratorium
in place.
Since the moratorium be-
gan, the county has not re-
ceived its portion of mari-
juana revenue. The Oregon
Liquor Control Commis-
sion argues this is because
the state rule that governs
how this money is allocated
says a county must allow all
licensed recreational mari-
juana activity in order to re-
ceive tax revenue.
But Deschutes County has
argued that this rule did not
anticipate or account for the
situation Deschutes County
now finds itself in, and that
the rule needs to be clarified,
potentially by House Bill
3295.
Last year, the county filed
a complaint in Oregon Tax
Court about the revenue, but
has paused the proceedings,
said Adam Smith, an attor-
ney with Deschutes County.
“I think it’s safe to say we
are focusing on the legisla-
tive fix at this time,” Smith
said.
In a public hearing on
March 8 at the state Legisla-
ture, Kropf said the current
rule is a “binary on and off
switch,” which made sense
when the state first legalized
marijuana and counties were
choosing to either permit
marijuana or not. But the dy-
namic has changed.
“Now we’ve created a sit-
uation where a county that
can have existing businesses
are no longer able to receive
a share of the marijuana
Museum
Continued from A1
“That took significant re-
sources for the museum be-
cause of the child care and
school guidelines, but there
were so many families … who
couldn’t stay home with their
kids while their kids needed to
stay learning, and we were able
to completely change our edu-
cational operation to support
families in need in La Pine.”
In March and April, IMLS
is providing a “Share Your
Story” social media campaign
to showcase the nominated in-
stitutions on designated days.
In the case of the High Des-
ert Museum, that’s April 8.
Thursday having
agreed to serve two
30-day sentences in
exchange for plead-
ing guilty to a count
of second-degree sex-
ual abuse and one
Johnson
of third-degree sex
abuse. Johnson, who
had no prior criminal record, was to
serve the jail terms at the same time.
Since he’d already served 29 days in De-
schutes County jail following his arrest,
he would have had only one day re-
revenue to address the im-
pacts of legalized marijuana,”
Kropf said.
The bill would introduce
a “dimmer switch,” instead,
Kropf said. The bill still pro-
hibits counties that don’t al-
low all forms of marijuana
business — retail, whole-
sale, processing and growing
— from receiving revenue.
Counties like Deschutes,
which now only ban new
processing and growing,
could still receive revenue.
The idea would be to
make it so marijuana rev-
enue allocation would be
based on existing marijuana
businesses in a county, Kropf
said.
That means an area with
more businesses would get
more money, and an area
with fewer businesses would
get less money, he said.
The bill would only apply
to Deschutes County at the
moment, and would only ap-
ply to taxes collected in the
future, Kropf said.
Rob Bovett, a lawyer with
the Association of Oregon
Counties who helped write
Measure 91, which legal-
ized marijuana back in 2015,
called the rule about
distributing tax revenue “an
error.”
“I didn’t think about this,
to be honest,” Bovett said, re-
ferring to Deschutes Coun-
ty’s situation.
He said not allocating
marijuana tax revenue to
Deschutes County is funda-
mentally unfair, and com-
pared the situation to the
state, which placed a mora-
torium on producer licenses
but was never faced with the
Members of the public whose
lives have been touched by the
museum are invited to share
memories and pictures on
Facebook and Twitter using
the hashtag #IMLSMedals.
Other institutions named as
finalists for the 2021 IMLS Na-
tional Medal include the New
York-Historical Society, Brook-
field Zoo in Illinois and Great
Lakes Science Center in Cleve-
land, Ohio. The High Desert
Museum was previously a fi-
nalist in 2018.
“Much to our dismay, we
did not win the medal then,”
Whitelaw said, “but I think this
is our year.”
e e
David Jasper: 541-383-0349,
djasper@bendbulletin.com
maining to serve.
But on Thursday, Judge Beth Bagley
ordered his sentences run consecutively,
doubling his sentence to 60 days.
“The court does not believe it is ap-
propriate for two sex abuse sentences in-
volving two different victims to run con-
currently,” Bagley said. “Mr. Johnson,
I’m sorry, but the judge determines your
sentence. Not your lawyer or the state.”
Additionally, Johnson was given
three years probation and ordered to
register as a sex offender.
Johnson was 25 at the time the abuse
e e
Reporter: 541-383-0325,
gandrews@bendbulletin.com
Oregon Senate votes to
make health care a right
question of whether it would
continue to receive tax rev-
enue.
Deschutes County Com-
missioner Tony DeBone also
testified in support House
Bill 3295, saying that the
county is currently missing
out on roughly $500,000 a
year in revenue. With the
passage of Measure 110,
however, 72% of this amount
will be redirected away from
counties.
“We really would like to
come up with a bill that pro-
vides clarity on the distribu-
tion to the taxes,” he said.
The bill is opposed by the
Oregon Retailers of Can-
nabis Association, which
called it “fundamentally un-
fair.”
“The policies that prohibit
cities and counties from re-
ceiving tax money were spe-
cifically established to stop
areas from receiving finan-
cial gains from business op-
erations that they chose to
disallow,” the association said
in written testimony. “From
our read of the bill, this
would create a way for coun-
ties to prohibit, for instance,
cannabis production in their
jurisdiction, while still allow-
ing them to receive shares of
cannabis tax revenues.”
e e
took place and the girls were 17. He en-
gaged in a relationship that included
sexual contact with a girl who assisted
in coaching younger gymnasts.
Johnson’s lawyer, Peter Parnickis, said
a psychosexual evaluation performed
on his client found his conduct was
rooted in emotional immaturity and
relational inexperience. “(His conduct)
was opportunistic and situational rather
than based on any type of sexual devia-
tion,” he said.
If House approves
resolution, it would
be placed on ballot
BY ANDREW SELSKY
The Associated Press
SALEM — The Oregon
Senate on Thursday approved
a resolution that would ask
voters to decide whether the
state is obligated to ensure that
every resident has access to af-
fordable health care as a funda-
mental human right.
The resolution, whose aim
is to amend the state Constitu-
tion, was approved along party
lines, with Democratic sena-
tors in favor and Republicans
opposed. It next goes to the
House in the Democrat-con-
trolled Legislature.
A similar effort in 2018 was
approved by the House but it
died in committee in the Sen-
ate. If it had been put on the
ballot and approved by voters,
it would have been the first
constitutional amendment in
any state to create a fundamen-
tal right to health care.
“Every Oregonian deserves
access to cost-effective and
Reporter: 541-633-2160,
bvisser@bendbulletin.com
“The bill doesn’t fund any
system to deliver on that
promise. If Democrats
are serious about giving
Oregonians free health care,
they should come up with
an actual plan.”
— Fred Girod, Senate
Republican leader
clinically appropriate health
care,” said Senate Majority
Leader Rob Wagner. “Oregon’s
Constitution should reflect
that truth.”
If the House passes the bill,
voters would be asked to con-
sider amending the state’s
162-year-old Constitution.
Republicans said any prom-
ise to ensure all Oregonians are
entitled to health care lacks fi-
nancial backing.
“The bill doesn’t fund any sys-
tem to deliver on that promise,”
Senate Republican Leader Fred
Girod said. “If Democrats are
serious about giving Oregonians
free health care, they should
come up with an actual plan.”
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