WEDNESDAY • April 7, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
Area police
agencies
ready body
cam rollout
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
The region’s two largest police
agencies have settled on vendors for
body-worn cameras, which could
be in use countywide by the start of
summer.
The Bend Police Department has
selected body cam manufacturer
Axon Enterprises, which has offered
the city a $1.03 million purchasing
agreement for body cameras, associ-
ated hardware and software, training
and five years of cloud storage space.
A Bend Police captain and the
department’s business manager
will present a budget request to ap-
prove the purchase at Wednesday
night’s Bend City Council meeting.
If approved, all Bend Police officers
could be wearing Body 3 cameras by
early summer, depending on Axon’s
availability, according to Lt. Juli Mc-
Conkey.
In February, the Deschutes
County Sheriff’s Office announced it
would use Safe Fleet-Coban camera
systems. The county is contracted to
spend $818,000 on its project, which
includes in-car cameras as well as
body cams, through 2023.
A sheriff ’s spokesman said the
office expects Focus X1 cameras to
be issued to all patrol deputies by
May 3. The office will outfit patrol
cars with Focus H1 camera systems
in phases.
The Bend Police Department
is not adding in-car cameras this
round, though McConkey said the
department hopes to in the future.
Both Bend Police and the sheriff’s
office fast-tracked plans to add them
after nationwide calls for police ac-
countability following the death of
George Floyd in Minneapolis last
May.
COVID-19 | Deschutes County
Higher risk level brings restrictions
Oregon will open vaccines to all, 16 and older, April 19
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Deschutes County’s COVID-19
risk level rating will go from mod-
erate to high starting Friday, forcing
renewed restrictions on restaurants
and businesses, according to an an-
nouncement from Gov. Kate Brown
on Tuesday.
Crook and Jefferson counties will
remain at the lower level, the least re-
strictive of the state ratings.
Facing a “fourth wave” of
COVID-19, Oregon will drop eligi-
bility restrictions for COVID-19 vac-
cinations April 19, up to two weeks
earlier than planned.
President Joe Biden directed Tues-
day morning that states should open
inoculation appointments to every-
one age 16 and older.
Oregon had previously planned to
drop all eligibility restrictions by May
1, with some counties possibly offer-
ing appointments as early as April 26.
Brown said Oregon would drop
limits on April 19, but until then, it
would continue to prioritize vacci-
nations for people with underlying
medical conditions, essential work-
ers and communities underserved
during the pandemic.
“We are locked in a race between
vaccine distribution and the rapid
spread of COVID-19 variants,”
Brown said.
The move comes as infections and
hospitalizations have started to rise
after a long decline since January.
The state has reported over 400
cases per day in the past week and
has seen rising numbers of hospital-
izations, despite having fully vacci-
nated over 777,000 of the state’s esti-
mated 2.8 million adult residents.
See Risk / A4
‘Parklet’ success invites continuation
Program has allowed more outdoor dining in downtown Bend through pandemic
See Police / A4
State seeks
feedback for
Pilot Butte
20-year plan
Becky Seim, left, and Kelly Johnson, both of Bend, sit in an outdoor dining area called a parklet at Sidelines Sports Bar and Grill on NW Wall Street in Bend.
BY KYLE SPURR
The Bulletin
State parks officials are offering the
public one last chance to comment
on a new master plan for Bend’s Pilot
Butte State Scenic Viewpoint before it
is approved in June.
Pilot Butte’s master plan hasn’t
been updated in more than 25 years,
when Bend’s population was about
30,000. Since then, Bend has grown
to more than 100,000 residents. The
park has transformed from a recre-
ation area on the edge of the city to a
popular location in the middle of sev-
eral neighborhoods.
The Oregon Parks and Recreation
Department has received a lot of pub-
lic comment about park use and de-
sired improvements at the butte. Now
the department wants to hear from
the public one more time.
Chris Havel, a spokesman for the
state parks department, said the de-
partment used the previous public
feedback to create a draft plan that
was approved last year.
Before final approval in June, the
public can still offer input on the pro-
cess, Havel said.
BY BRENNA VISSER • The Bulletin
B
Dean Guernsey/Bulletin photos
Bos Taurus and 900 Wall restaurants have tented seating areas on NW Minnesota Avenue.
eing able to set up out-
door seating in parking
spaces in downtown
Bend began a positive ripple
effect at Deschutes Brewery.
When the city of Bend
developed its “parklet” pro-
gram last summer to help
businesses with COVID-19
capacity restrictions stay
afloat, Deschutes Brewery
was able to add seven tables,
which seat six people each, in
front of the restaurant where
cars normally park on Bond
Street, said Tim Casinelli,
general manager of the brew-
ery’s downtown restaurant.
Those seven tables al-
lowed him to expand the
restaurant’s capacity by 50%,
which in turn meant the
business was able to employ
two more people that other-
wise wouldn’t have had jobs.
“It’s been very impactful,”
Casinelli said. “It’s been able
to help keep us doing what
we like to do.”
Now, nearly a year after
the program began, the city
is considering extending the
pilot parklet program —
which was initially designed
not to be permanent, but to
help businesses through the
pandemic — for the next
year. Parklets are like side-
walk extensions that are
built out into parking lanes
or spaces to provide people
with more space and ameni-
ties, like outdoor dining.
See Parklet / A12
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Mostly sunny
High 63, Low 34
Page A12
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
A11
A13-14
A9-10
Dear Abby
Editorial
Horoscope
A7
A8
A7
Local/State
A2-3
Lottery
A6
Nation/World A4, 12
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A4
A10
A5-7
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
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Vol. 119, No. 83, 14 pages, 1 section
DAILY
See Pilot Butte / A4
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