THURSDAY • April 15, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $3 Central Oregon ’s source for eve nts, It’s high time for a pot edition » talent p.6 Bend Burlesque’s Mehama Kaupp From films to food, GO! has you covered for all things reefer-related as 4/20 nears arts & entertain ment news eat p.12 Laurie’s Grill has your pancake APRIL 15-21 20 21 bendbulletin. com/go watch p.18 GO!’s Whittle review s ‘Thunder Force’ PLUS: Where to find LIVE MUSIC FOOD TRUCKS BREWERIES & more 4/20 a stim lus fo r cr eativity (or mayb u e just the m unchies) SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8 Bend prepares to establish a new homeless services center. But how? mined for now, said Lynne Mc- Connell, the city’s affordable housing manager. “We intend to get moving as quickly as possible,” she said. Bend is one of seven cities to receive money for navigation centers as a part of a larger bill that gives millions of dollars to- ward educational programs and wildfire recovery. A similar bill was floated last year in the Leg- islature, but it died in the wake of the Republican walkout. BY BRENNA VISSER The Bulletin Bend is set to receive $2.5 million from the Legislature to create something called a nav- igation center, which is a cen- tralized location for homeless people to receive services. Several questions now follow: Where will it be? Who will run it? What kind of services will be provided, and when? The answer to those ques- tions remain mostly undeter- $2.5 million Amount given by the Oregon Legislature to Bend for a homeless navigation center, one of seven cities to receieve funds INSIDE Updates on two homelessness bills in the current session, A14 “We are so excited,” Mayor Sally Russell said in a text mes- sage. “We have this need in CROOK COUNTY SCHOOLS Permanent changes: Later start time, trimester schedule Bend (to) connect people ex- periencing homelessness with the right services.” The idea is that Bend would have one central location that could be part shelter, part re- source center, McConnell said. It would be a place where someone could go to find housing options, work re- sources, to get assistance with federal and state benefits and other services, she said. BY JACKSON HOGAN The Bulletin When Crook County High School returned to in-person learning in September, stu- dents saw two major changes to their schedules. First, classes started later in the day, so students could sleep in. And, instead of hav- ing seven short periods, stu- dents only took four, longer classes each day. Because a majority of stu- See Homeless / A4 dents, staff and families in Crook County liked these changes, the Crook County School Board decided to make them permanent. Starting next school year, all students in the district will operate on a trimester, rather than a semester schedule. And Crook County High School’s first bell will ring at 9 a.m., rather than the pre-pandemic 8 a.m. start time. See Schools / A4 THEY’RE BACK THE STUDENTS ... AND THE ROCKCHUCKS The critters return to infest Redmond school grounds BY KYLE SPURR • The Bulletin ockchucks have contin- ued to infest some school grounds in Redmond. Last year, the Redmond School R District was alarmed by a horde of rockchucks, also known as yel- low-bellied marmots, at Hugh Hartman Elementary School. The district declared a pest emergency after staff found fe- ces and holes near the elementary school’s playground. But by the time the school district decided it needed to exterminate the rock- chucks, it was too late in the spring season, said Sheila Miller, spokes- person for the school district. “Last year we had the same is- sues at Hugh Hartman, but our extermination attempts came too late in the season, so they weren’t very effective,” Miller said. As students return to in-per- son learning this spring during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are encountering rockchucks that are waking up from hibernation. See Rockchucks / A13 BACKGROUND: A rockchuck, also known as a yellow-bellied marmot, sits near its burrow at Hugh Hartman Elementary School in Redmond on Wednesday. Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin POLL FEATURE PHOTO | ICY MORNING NEAR CULVER Many pandemic changes to linger, Oregonians say BY ZANE SPARLING • Oregon Capital Bureau The novel coronavirus has upended nearly every facet of mod- ern life over the past year — but will those changes stick? Many Oregonians predict that online shopping and working from home are here to stay; virtual schooling and high unemploy- ment, on the other hand, are expected to linger temporarily. And the permanence of other virus-spurred alterations in society, such as the rise of telemedicine, leave Oregon divided. That’s all according to a new polling by the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center. The center, in partnership with DHM Re- search, conducted the survey of 900 Oregon residents — selected to be demographically New daily representative of the state — in late February coronavirus and early March. The margin of error ranges cases reported in from 2% to 3.3% per question. Deschutes County, Here’s how the pollsters drilled down into the most since the details: mid-January 84 Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin Ice forms on an irrigation wheel line and young alfalfa plants while Daniel Garcia walks across a field as the sun rises near Culver on Wednesday. See new feature photos each week on our website and in our e-editions at bendbulletin.com. Full chart on A2 Online shopping Some 60% of Oregonians believe elevated levels of online shopping will become permanent. Suburbanites (67%) and liberals (68%) are more likely to foresee an enduring shift to purchasing goods by click, compared with conservatives (52%) and city dwellers (53%). TODAY’S WEATHER Sunny, colder High 60, Low 34 Page A12 INDEX Business Classifieds Comics A11-12 A14 A9-10 Dear Abby Editorial Events A7 A8 GO! Horoscope Local/State Lottery A7 A2-4 A6 Obituaries Puzzles Sports A4 A10 A5-7 The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper We use recycled newsprint Vol. 117, No. 329, 38 pages, 2 sections SUN/THU See Poll / A4 U|xaIICGHy02330rzu