A2 THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
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LOCAL, STATE & REGION
DESCHUTES COUNTY
Crook County cases: 829 (4 new cases)
Crook County deaths: 19 (zero new deaths)
108 new cases
Oregon cases: 168,795 (678 new cases)
Oregon deaths: 2,439 (5 new deaths)
120
(Jan. 1)
7-day
average
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.
Jefferson County cases: 2,030 (5 new cases)
Jefferson County deaths: 32 (zero new deaths)
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.
Deschutes County cases: 6,581 (47 new cases)
Deschutes County deaths: 72 (zero new deaths)
(Nov. 27)
110
*No data
available on
Jan. 31
due to state
computer
maintenence
90
50
new
cases
70
60
(Feb. 17)
50
(Nov. 14)
40
31 new cases
28 new cases
(Oct. 31)
30
16 new cases
(July 16)
(Sept. 19)
9 new cases
20
(May 20)
1st case
100
80
47 new cases
COVID-19 patients hospitalized at
St. Charles Bend on Thursday: 6 (2 in ICU)
ONLINE
BULLETIN
GRAPHIC
129 new cases
COVID-19 data for Thursday, April 8:
8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
www.bendbulletin.com
SOURCES: OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY,
DESCHUTES COUNTY HEALTH SERVICES
New COVID-19 cases per day
10
(March 11)
EMAIL
bulletin@bendbulletin.com
March 2020
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
January 2021
February
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LOCAL BRIEFING
Valentina: New swan at
Sunriver Nature Center
The new female trumpeter
swan at the Sunriver Nature
Center has been named Valen-
tina, or Val for short, since she
was brought to the center just
before Valentine’s Day.
The nature center received
several name suggestions af-
ter the swan was introduced
Feb. 10 to Gus, the resident
trumpeter swan who was alone
since last fall when his mate,
Gracie, was found dead from a
likely coyote attack.
Gracie was a beloved resi-
dent of the nature center and
helped repopulate the threat-
ened species in Oregon.
The nature center bought
Val from a waterfowl breeder
in Indiana.
Since being introduced, Val
and Gus have spent the past
two months exploring the na-
ture center’s Lake Aspen.
Nature center staff hope the
pair nest this spring and pro-
duce young that will help boost
the state’s trumpeter swan
breeding program.
More neighborhood
safety projects funded
Four more neighborhood
safety projects are scheduled to
begin construction this sum-
mer in Bend.
On Wednesday, the Bend
City Council approved about
$312,000 for the four projects.
• Curb ramps, a median
safety island, street lighting
and a signed crosswalk will be
added at Brookswood Boule-
vard and Hollygrape Street.
• A median safety island,
a marked and signed cross-
walk and street lighting will
be added at Parrell Road and
Reed Lane.
• At NW Sisemore Street be-
tween NW Colorado and NW
Florida Avenues, sidewalks and
driveways will be improved.
• Street lighting will be in-
stalled at NE Wells Acres
Road at Mountain View High
School’s north entrance at a
crossing that was built last year.
These projects are some of
the first to be funded by the
$190 million transportation
bond passed by voters in No-
vember.
In 2019, the Bend City
Council created the Neighbor-
hood Street Safety Program,
which is aimed at addressing
safety concerns. Neighbor-
hoods can propose projects
and apply for money to fund
them. Four of these projects
were already built in 2020.
Man arrested in stabbing
following argument
A man was arrested early
Thursday for allegedly stabbing
one man and attempting to stab
another man following an ar-
gument in northeast Bend.
Around 4:40 a.m., Vincent
Jay Jermain, 63, was found by
police at a house on NE Al-
penview Lane, where he used
to live, being restrained by the
occupants, Bend Police Lt.
Brian Beekman said in a press
release.
The 53-year-old male stab-
bing victim suffered injuries
not considered to be life threat-
ening and was transported to
St. Charles Bend.
Beekman said Jermain had
earlier tried to stab a 55-year-
old man in a parking lot in
the 62800 block of Boyd Acres
Road. The man was known to
him and the two had been in
an argument, Beekman said.
Jermain then allegedly went
to the residence on Alpenview
Lane and stabbed the 53-year-
old man.
Police say Jermain is in cus-
tody but he was not listed as a
jail inmate.
“There is no threat to the
community, and Bend Police
Detectives are continuing the
investigation,” Beekman said.
— Bulletin staff reports
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Portland leaders hope to bring
back anti-gun violence unit
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — The mayor
of Portland and city commis-
sioners have reached a deal on
proposals intended to stem a
spike in gun violence over the
past year.
The compromise, approved
Wednesday, would re-establish
a proactive team of uniformed
police officers tasked with pre-
venting shootings. The team
would operate with greater
civilian oversight than its dis-
banded predecessor.
The move represents an
about-face after city leaders in
June voted to cut nearly $16
million from the police budget,
reductions that included the
elimination of the gun violence
unit.
The cuts came amid racial
justice protests following the
police killing of George Floyd
in Minneapolis.
Under the $6 million deal,
the council would also provide
millions of dollars to commu-
nity organizations for anti-vi-
olence work and authorize the
hiring of two dozen unarmed
park rangers, as a trio of com-
missioners proposed last week,
according to the proposals.
“We agree that the imme-
diate spike in gun violence is
a public health threat that re-
quires a public health response
that invests in communi-
ty-based organizations working
to change the conditions and
environments that foster vio-
lence,” Mayor Ted Wheeler and
all four commissioners said in a
statement Tuesday evening.
Police Chief Chuck Lovell
said Wednesday it was a “com-
plex issue” and he welcomed
any plans that would success-
fully reduce gun violence in
Portland — but he added that
staffing issues have hit a crisis
point in the police force.
There have been at least
284 shootings this year that
have left 91 people injured, Lt.
Greg Pashley, a Portland police
spokesperson, said Tuesday.
Firearms have caused 18 of the
city’s 25 homicides since Jan. 1.
Statistically, the city is on
track to experience 100 homi-
cides if the pace does not slow
in the remainder of the year.
Portland recorded 55 homi-
cides in 2020, the highest num-
ber in 26 years. Forty-one were
fatal shootings, with people of
color representing more than
half of victims, police statistics
show.
Western Oregon University
to cut programs, faculty
The Associated Press
MONMOUTH — West-
ern Oregon University, in the
small Willamette Valley city of
Monmouth, will cut multiple
programs and the equivalent
of over a dozen full-time fac-
ulty, hoping to get ahead of
falling enrollment that became
worse during the pandemic.
Administrators say the
cuts are necessary to pro-
tect the university’s financial
health, and are a way to keep
the 165-year-old institution
affordable, Oregon Public
Broadcasting reported.
But employees, current stu-
dents and alumni say they’re
worried about a change in
campus culture and commu-
nity — especially with elimi-
nations of programs like phi-
losophy, which teach broadly
beneficial skills, such as critical
thinking, analysis and writing.
“To cut philosophy is to cut
out the soul of the university,”
Philosophy Department Chair
Mark Perlman said. Perlman
has been teaching at the uni-
versity for 23 years, and is
Courtesy of WOU
People walk near the Werner University Center on the grounds at
Western Oregon University in Monmouth.
among four tenured profes-
sors being laid off.
The equivalent of 11 non-
tenured faculty are also af-
fected, either through layoff,
or a significant reduction in
the classes they’re teaching.
Late last year, a task force
including University Pres-
ident Rex Fuller, released a
plan laying out cuts including
philosophy, anthropology and
geography, master’s programs
in information systems and in
music, as well as other certifi-
cates and minors.
That task force deemed the
cuts necessary because of low
or declining enrollment in
those programs. From 2011
to 2020, Western’s enrollment
has decreased more than 25%,
according to the university.
The university also an-
nounced last year that more
than 50 staff members were
either to be laid off or not have
their contracts renewed.
Idaho governor bans state agencies
participation in ‘vaccine passports’
BY HAYAT NORIMINE
The Idaho Statesman
Idaho Gov. Brad Little on
Wednesday signed an execu-
tive order banning “vaccine
passports,” barring any state
agency from requiring proof
of vaccination to receive pub-
lic services or access facilities.
In a virtual broadcast
Wednesday, Little said the
proof of vaccines would “cre-
ate a different class of citi-
zens” and threaten personal
freedom at a time “life and
the economy are returning to
normal.”
The executive order bars
any department, agency,
board, commission or other
executive branch entity
from requiring proof of a
COVID-19 vaccine to ac-
cess state services or facil-
ities. They are also not al-
lowed to “produce and issue a
COVID-19 vaccine passport”
or provide information about
someone’s vaccine status to
anyone else.
Idaho joins a growing list of
states that have banned pub-
lic agencies from requiring
proof of a COVID-19 vaccine
— at least 18 other states have
passed similar laws. Texas
banned state agencies and
state-run organizations from
such a mandate Tuesday.
Republicans across the U.S.
have been increasingly con-
cerned about a requirement to
present proof of a COVID-19
vaccine to receive services.
Businesses and schools have
suggested them as a way to re-
open economies or return to
in-person classes.
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