A2 THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021
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LOCAL, STATE & REGION
DESCHUTES COUNTY
COVID-19 data for Tuesday, March 23:
Deschutes County cases: 6,201 (24 new cases)
Deschutes County deaths: 70 (zero new deaths)
Crook County cases: 798 (2 new cases)
Crook County deaths: 18 (zero new deaths)
Jefferson County cases: 2,005 (1 new case)
Jefferson County deaths: 31 (zero new deaths)
Oregon cases: 162,016 (316 new cases)
Oregon deaths: 2,367 (2 new deaths)
COVID-19 patients hospitalized at St. Charles
Bend on Tuesday: 2 (zero in ICU)
8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
ONLINE
BULLETIN
GRAPHIC
129 new cases
130
(Dec. 4)
What is COVID-19? It’s an infection caused by a new coronavirus.
Symptoms (including fever, coughing and shortness of breath)
can be severe. While some cases are mild, the disease can be fatal.
108 new cases
120
(Jan. 1)
90
new
cases
7 ways to help limit its spread: 1. Wash hands often with soap
and water for at least 20 seconds. 2. Avoid touching your face.
3. Avoid close contact with sick people. 4. Stay home. 5. In public,
stay 6 feet from others and wear a cloth face covering or mask.
6. Cover a cough or sneeze with a tissue or cough into your elbow.
7. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
110
*No data
available on
Jan. 31
due to state
computer
maintenence
(Nov. 27)
50
new
cases
90
70
60
(Feb. 17)
50
(Nov. 14)
7-day
average
28 new cases
(July 16)
40
31 new cases
(Oct. 31)
30
16 new cases
(Sept. 19)
20
(May 20)
1st case
100
80
47 new cases
9 new cases
www.bendbulletin.com
SOURCES: OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY,
DESCHUTES COUNTY HEALTH SERVICES
New COVID-19 cases per day
10
(March 11)
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B
Colleges sued for refunds over online learning
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — Three stu-
dents have filed class-action
lawsuits against Oregon’s two
largest colleges saying they
were charged full-price for on-
line classes of poorer quality
than in-person classes.
When the University of Or-
egon and Oregon State Uni-
versity closed their campuses
because of the coronavirus
pandemic, they didn’t offer to
refund students’ tuition bills,
The Oregonian reported.
The University of Oregon
says on its website that in order
to provide quality education
now and in the future, it cannot
discount tuition. The univer-
sities did agree to refund por-
tions of their room and board.
“The University of Oregon,
we believe, has unfairly contin-
ued to charge tuition payers for
all of the things they were not
allowed to experience and use
during the COVID-19 campus
closure and switch to online
classes,” said Steve Berman,
managing partner of Hagens
Berman and attorney for stu-
dents in the class action.
Caine Smith filed the suit
against Oregon. Danielle
Pranger and Garrett Harris
filed the complaint against Or-
egon State.
The complaints were filed
in Multnomah County Circuit
Court earlier in March. The
suits did not specify how much
they are seeking in damages.
In the complaint against
OSU, students allege before the
pandemic the college charged
much lower tuition for remote
students using the “Ecampus”
program. But when the in-per-
son students were forced to go
online, they continued to be
charged the full in-person tui-
tion, the lawsuit claims.
Spokesman Steve Clark said
OSU prorated charges for room
and board.
“The lawsuit is wrong on the
law and the facts,” the Univer-
sity of Oregon said in a state-
ment. “Despite what the lawsuit
COVID-19
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LOCAL BRIEFING
ASHES OF 911 DISPATCHER
RECEIVE ESCORT HOME
TALK TO AN EDITOR
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Wallowa County
Sheriff Joel Fish,
right, watches
as Deputy Jeff
Baty hands the
ashes of late 911
dispatcher and
reserve deputy
Bret Bridges,
shown inset, to
Bridges’ parents,
Dolores and
David Bridges,
at their Joseph
home March
12. Fish and
Baty escorted
the ashes home
from Portland,
where Bridges
died March 2 of
COVID-19.
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suggests, the university’s costs
for delivering instruction have
not decreased as a result of the
pandemic. In fact, our costs
have increased due to a variety
of new technology and infra-
structure investments.”
Hagens Berman, based in Se-
attle, has filed similar lawsuits
on behalf of students against
over a dozen other colleges in-
cluding the University of Wash-
ington.
Nationally, more than 200
similar lawsuits have been filed.
Lottery results can now be found on
the second page of Sports.
Bill Bradshaw/
Wallowa County
Chieftain
T
he ashes of a 911 dis-
patcher and reserve
Wallowa County dep-
uty were delivered by police
escort to his parents’ Joseph
home March 12, and a spe-
cial “last call” over the county’s
911 system was issued for Bret
Bridges.
The 47-year-old Bridges died
March 2 at Portland’s Legacy
Emanuel Medical Center after
testing positive for COVID-19
on Jan. 25. He reportedly had
underlying issues, according to
a press release from the Oregon
Health Authority.
The “last call” was to be is-
sued at 1 p.m. March 16.
“It’s a very honorable thing
to do in the 911 world,” said
Brenda Micka, administrative
services director for Wallowa
County. “We’ve lost one of our
own. It’s nice to do that, to do
the ‘last call’ on the radio.”
Sheriff Joel Fish and Deputy
Jeff Baty went to Portland to
retrieve Bridges’ ashes. They
were joined by other local law
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BY BILL BRADSHAW • Wallowa County Chieftain
enforcement and emergency
vehicles once they arrived in
the county for the escort to the
home of David and Dolores
Bridges.
“He was awesome,” Fish
told the Bridges as he and Baty
handed over the ashes.
“Bret has been a dispatcher
and reserve deputy for about
three years,” Fish said later. “He
was a very devoted third-shift
dispatcher. He never missed
a day until this past episode.
He didn’t want to take off. He
didn’t want to be gone. He was
very devoted to his position.”
Bridges had lived in Wallowa
County since September 2017.
“We invited him,” his fa-
ther said. “He was living in
Colorado at the time and had
no family close to him and
he accepted our invitation. It
brought our family closer to-
gether.”
He said Bret was first hospi-
talized at Wallowa Memorial
Hospital for a week before be-
ing transferred to Tri-Cities for
a week and then to Portland.
He said it both was and was not
a surprise that his son fell ill.
Bridges said he never was
told by a medical professional
what the “underlying condi-
tions” that contributed to
his son’s death were. To his
knowledge, Bridges said, his
son was healthy other than
being overweight.
“Nothing surprises me
in this pandemic,” David
Bridges said. “It was a huge
blow and a disappointment.
It’s truly a terrible disease.”
Bend man arrested in
sexual assault cases
A 30-year-old Bend man
was arrested in connection
with two separate sexual as-
sault cases, and authorities be-
lieve there are more victims,
according to
Bend Police.
Brigham
“Briggs” Scott
Lazalde is
suspected
of two sex-
ual assaults
Lazalde
that were
reported in
January and February, police
said.
In each case, Lazalde al-
legedly met the women on
dating websites, provided
controlled substances and
then sexually assaulted the
women, according to police.
The women are Bend resi-
dents. One is 20 and the other
is 29, according to police.
Lazalde was arrested Mon-
day morning in the 20000
block of Merriewood Lane
and booked in Deschutes
County jail on charges re-
lated to the February report.
The Deschutes County Dis-
trict Attorney’s Office is still
considering charges for the
January report.
Lazalde has been charged
with five counts including
first-degree sexual penetra-
tion, first-degree sodomy
and furnishing alcohol to a
minor.
— Bulletin staff report