THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 2021 A7
Guns
Continued from A1
Submitted photo
The Bowen family, who run the Green Drive Mercantile in Culver, plan to join the Farm-to-Table market in Madras this summer. The family in-
cludes Devon and Cheri and their three boys, Tyson, Blake and Colt.
Madras
Continued from A1
The City Hall plaza is vis-
ible from U.S. Highway 97,
which becomes Fourth Street
in the city.
“We think it’s just a perfect
time, day of the week, and lo-
cation for us to catch passers
through and provide a central
location for our citizens,” Vat-
timo said.
Cheri Bowen, who runs a
5-acre farm in Culver with
her husband, Devon, said she
plans to attend the market and
sell similar goods that are in
her family’s farm store, Green
Drive Mercantile.
Bowen said the market will
help connect her farm with
people who want to support
local businesses. Her farm
produces beef, pork, eggs and
several vegetables.
“It seems like a lot of people
are choosing local more than
Vaccines
Continued from A1
Brown said Friday that
front-line workers and people
with underlying health con-
ditions are eligible to get vac-
cinated April 5. That is two
weeks earlier than Brown an-
nounced last week when she
moved the original May 1 date
to April 19.
Brown said discussions
with the Biden administra-
tion had given her confidence
on its ability to deliver on its
promise of a major increase in
vaccine supply.
Eligibility does not mean
availability. The state has fully
vaccinated about 570,000 peo-
ple since December. Estimates
put the number of people
aged 16 and over who can be
inoculated at 3.5 million.
In Deschutes County, about
81% of residents 65 and older
have been vaccinated with at
least their first shot.
Oregon Health Authority
officials told Brown that coun-
ties across the state had made
enough progress on vaccinat-
ing people aged 65 and over to
move onto new groups.
There are now 22 counties
that have begun vaccinat-
ing Oregonians in Phase 1B,
Group 6. It includes people
aged 50 and over with under-
lying medical conditions that
could lead to a severe illness
or death from contracting
COVID-19. The long list of
groups also includes pregnant
women aged 16 and above,
seasonal and migrant workers,
the homeless and others.
“With so many counties
across Oregon ready to begin
the next phases of vaccination,
I am accelerating our vaccina-
tion timelines statewide rather
than proceeding county-by-
county,” Brown said.
Under Brown’s directive
on Friday, vaccination will be
available beginning Monday
for Phase 1B, Group 7.
Under a federal direc-
tive from the Department of
Health and Human Services,
Oregon and other states must
scrap any eligibility limits for
those aged 16 and over no
later than May 1. The date was
chosen by President Joe Biden
ever, which is nice because
they realize they can get a lot
of products they would nor-
mally get from the stores right
here,” Bowen said.
Bowen, who works as a po-
tato seed harvest inspector for
Oregon State University, said
the market will also give her
farm more visibility and hope-
fully draw in visitors to the area.
“If there are travelers, it
could be something nice from
them to stop and learn a little
bit about our community and
what we do out here,” Bowen
said.
Neighboring farms and
ranches have told Bowen they
are interested in the market.
She hopes most are able to
join the market this season.
“The more people hear
about it and learn about it, I
think it will spark more in-
terest,” Bowen said. “A lot of
times the hardest part is find-
ing time away from the farm
and announced during his na-
tional address on March 11.
Oregon had planned a
phased roll-out of vaccine that
would not have allowed unre-
stricted eligibility until July 1.
But the federal edict changed
the timeline and compressed
the period that vaccine could
be targeted to specific groups
to just 51 days between Biden’s
March 11 announcement and
the directive going into effect
May 1.
OHA Director Pat Allen
said during a press call Friday
that if all goes well, Oregon
will consider moving the un-
restricted eligibility for those
aged 16 and over to April 26
— five days before the May 1
date.
The advanced timeline
would not be statewide.
Counties that submit a letter
to the Oregon Health Author-
ity by April 15 stating they are
ready to handle the additional
demand will be told by April
22 if they can lift all restric-
tions on April 26.
While mass vaccination
centers will continue to be
operated by county and state
health authorities, Allen said
federal supplies will increas-
ingly go to pharmacies that
are easier for most residents
to visit.
Allen said Oregon should
have enough vaccine by June
to be able to vaccinate every-
one who wants a shot.
As the percentages rise,
OHA is increasingly con-
cerned with the number of
people who are not seeking
inoculation or are actively op-
posed to it.
In some parts of southwest-
ern Oregon, Allen said less than
50% of seniors were indicating
they wanted to be vaccinated.
Some of those counties are
among those with the highest
infection rates as the rest of the
state’s caseload drops.
If the state continues on
its trend of lowering the in-
fection rate and case totals
statewide, more steps can be
taken toward allowing ever
larger events, said Dr. Dean
Sidelinger, the state’s top infec-
tious disease expert.
Large outdoor events such
as the Olympic Trials in Eu-
or ranch.”
In addition to providing a
space for the market, the city
of Madras will offer assistance
to farmers and ranchers to ad-
vertise their products.
Vattimo said she found
many farmers and ranchers
do not know how to market
their products, so she will
help them share photos on the
market’s social media pages
and reach a wider audience.
“We are going to cross polli-
nate with them and go out and
take photos and help them
learn how to market their
products,” Vattimo said.
Another aspect to the mar-
ket will be an internship pro-
gram with the Future Farmers
of America, through the 509J
School District in Madras.
The city will fund the intern-
ship and the FFA students will
receive school credit. The stu-
dents will assist vendors at the
market and learn how to sell
gene in June and the Pendle-
ton Round-Up in mid-Sep-
tember could be held with
masking and hygiene safe-
guards.
Sidelinger said the state
hoped to send out guidance
for major summer events by
next month.
“We’re in a much better
place” coming into the sum-
mer event season than last
year, Sidelinger said.
An increase in infection
rates or an outbreak of one
of the new more contagious
variants of the virus that are
circulating in the nation could
undercut progress.
The OHA team under-
scored that the best way to en-
sure that popular events and
places can once again be safely
enjoyed was to get vaccinated
as soon as possible.
Brown promised that the
state will work to ensure that
vaccine access for underrepre-
sented communities.
“As we vaccinate our front-
line workers and all Orego-
nians with underlying health
conditions, we will work to
make sure vaccines reach the
communities that have been
hardest hit by COVID-19:
Oregon’s Black, Indigenous,
Latino, Latina, Latinx, Pacific
Islander, Tribal and commu-
nities of color,” Brown said.
Currently, most people are
inoculated with two shots of
either Moderna or Pfizer vac-
cine given a month apart. A
third vaccine, a single-shot
dose by Johnson & Johnson
was recently approved.
Allen testified Wednesday
that the state was receiving re-
ports of manufacturing and
delivery delays on the John-
son & Johnson doses. He told
the House COVID-19 sub-
committee that the new one-
shot vaccine was a key part
of reaching state and federal
goals for inoculations.
Allen earlier this week
signed an order activating
Oregon’s use of a federal law
that allows for a vast expan-
sion of who can give vaccina-
tions. There are now 30 differ-
ent professional and student
groups approved to inject
people with vaccine. The law
protects them from liability
farm-to-table products, Vat-
timo said.
The long-term goal for the
market is to transition into a
permanent storefront in the
downtown area that is run
and managed by the farmers
and ranchers.
“The store would not only
provide a sustainable location
for selling products, but an
opportunity to train young
people in entrepreneurism,”
Vattimo said.
Vattimo also envisions part-
nering with local food pan-
tries and using the market to
address hunger in the region.
Once the market opens this
season, the possibilities are
endless, she said.
“I feel like this is cracking
open the seed of hope and
now we are going to see what
grows,” Vattimo said. “You just
don’t know until you try.”
Reporter: 541-617-7820,
kspurr@bendbulletin.com
with the exception of “gross
negligence.”
Brown said mobile health
units and pop-up vaccine cen-
ters would increase the state’s
ability to get shots into arms
in more areas.
“Increased supplies, ex-
panding eligibility will allow
health care providers and
community-based organiza-
tions to be more efficient in
their efforts to vaccinate hard-
to-reach communities,” she
said.
Brown’s new directives
came as the state reported a
slight upswing in infection
rates after a long decline since
the peak levels around the end
of last year.
The United States passed
another milestone this week,
with over 30 million cases
since February 2020, resulting
in 546,915.
Worldwide, there have been
just under 125.7 million in-
fections and over 2.75 million
deaths
gwarner@eomediagroup.com,
sroig@bendbulletin.com
At the moment, Bend-La
Pine Schools does not al-
low students, staff or volun-
teers to bring concealed guns
onto school property or to
school-sponsored events.
However — in accordance
with state law — other peo-
ple, like visitors or parents, can
bring concealed weapons into
schools if they are permitted to
do so, said Julianne Repman,
director of safety and commu-
nication for Bend-La Pine.
School resource officers,
or law enforcement stationed
inside schools, are allowed to
carry weapons, Repman said.
Carrie Douglass, chair of the
Bend-La Pine School Board,
declined to state her personal
feelings on allowing concealed
carry in schools. First, she
wanted to review the bill and
the district’s policies, as well
as speak with experts, she told
The Bulletin.
Fellow board member Amy
Tatom also said she wanted to
see the bill for herself before
making any comments.
But generally, Tatom —
whose family owns guns, she
said — doesn’t think firearms
should be inside schools.
“I think guns, with educa-
tion and proper safety mea-
sures, are something that exist
in our society, and aren’t going
away anytime soon,” she told
The Bulletin. “But do I believe
guns belong on school prop-
erty? Absolutely not.”
Jace Bracelin, a junior at
Summit High School, had
mixed feelings on not allowing
concealed carry in schools. On
one hand, he knew people cur-
rently had the right to do so,
but he also believes it would be
smart to not allow guns inside
schools.
“I would hope it’s common
sense not to bring a gun into a
school,” Bracelin, 17, said. “If
it isn’t, I could see the need for
action to be taken.”
Furthermore, if visitors
shouldn’t have guns in school,
then neither should police of-
ficers stationed at the schools,
Bracelin said.
“I don’t necessarily think
anybody should have a gun
in a school: no students, no
adults, and no cops,” he said.
“I think guns, with
education and proper safety
measures, are something
that exist in our society, and
aren’t going away anytime
soon. But do I believe guns
belong on school property?
Absolutely not.”
— Amy Tatom, Bend-La Pine
School Board mem ber
This bill is also being mulled
over by Deschutes County and
city of Bend officials.
Commission Chair Tony
DeBone said the commission
has yet to discuss the bill, but
that in general he does not
support the idea of creating a
subset of places where people
can and can’t concealed carry
weapons.
“I have not been support-
ive of implementing a ban like
that,” DeBone said Friday.
Commissioner Phil Chang
said he did not have a com-
ment. Commissioner Patti
Adair did not respond to a re-
quest for comment.
Bend City Councilor Barb
Campbell said she thinks
not allowing firearms into
city buildings is a good idea,
though she has concerns about
how a ban like that would be
enforced. Campbell said there
have been a handful of mo-
ments as a councilor where she
has felt unsafe.
“I have thought through
what would I do, how would
I respond,” Campbell said, in
reference to someone with a
gun coming into city hall.
Bend City Councilor Megan
Perkins is in favor of banning
weapons from city buildings.
“It should be a priority to
protect our buildings that are
essential to the functioning of
government,” Perkins wrote in
a text.
“With the increase in ex-
tremist groups in Central Ore-
gon we need to do everything
we can for public safety.”
Weapons are already prohib-
ited in some public buildings,
including municipal court and
City Hall, said Joshua Romero,
a spokesperson for the city.
Reporter: jhogan@bendbulletin.com,
bvisser@bendbulletin.com
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