A2 THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2021 The Bulletin How to reach us CIRCULATION Didn’t receive your paper? Start or stop subscription? 541-385-5800 PHONE HOURS 6 a.m.-noon Tuesday-Friday 7 a.m.-noon Saturday-Sunday and holidays GENERAL INFORMATION LOCAL, STATE & REGION DESCHUTES COUNTY 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 (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. 120 7-day average 110 100 (Nov. 27) 84 new cases (April 14) 90 80 50 new cases 70 60 (Feb. 17) 47 new cases 50 (Nov. 14) 28 new cases 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. (July 16) 40 *State data unavailable for Jan. 31 31 new cases (Oct. 31) 16 new cases 30 (Sept. 19) 9 new cases ONLINE BULLETIN GRAPHIC 129 new cases COVID-19 data for Thursday, April 15: Deschutes County cases: 6,929 (53 new cases) Deschutes County deaths: 72 (zero new deaths) Crook County cases: 853 (5 new cases) Crook County deaths: 19 (zero new deaths) Jefferson County cases: 2,056 (5 new cases) Jefferson County deaths: 32 (zero new deaths) Oregon cases: 172,931 (733 new cases) Oregon deaths: 2,455 (v6 new deaths) COVID-19 patients hospitalized at St. Charles Bend on Thursday: 13 (3 in ICU) 541-382-1811 www.bendbulletin.com SOURCES: OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY, DESCHUTES COUNTY HEALTH SERVICES New COVID-19 cases per day 20 (May 20) 1st case 10 (March 11) EMAIL bulletin@bendbulletin.com April March 2020 May June July August September October November December January 2021 February March April AFTER HOURS Newsroom ................................541-383-0348 Circulation ................................541-385-5800 NEWSROOM EMAIL Business ........business@bendbulletin.com City Desk .............news@bendbulletin.com Features.................................................................. communitylife@bendbulletin.com Sports ................. sports@bendbulletin.com NEWSROOM FAX 541-385-5804 OUR ADDRESS Street .............. 320 SW Upper Terrace Drive Suite 200 Bend, OR 97702 Mailing ........... 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Last month, the animals and quar- Bulletin file the disease was de- antine new rabbits for A rabbit in tected nearly 200 30 days. Culver in 2015. miles away in Mil- In addition, officials waukie, a suburb of say hunters should Portland, in eight dead domes- avoid areas where outbreaks tic and feral rabbits. of the disease have been re- Following last months dis- ported. After handling wild covery, Dr. Ryan Scholz, Ore- rabbits, people should wash gon’s state veterinarian, said the their hands, change clothes and virus has taken hold in the feral report sick or dead rabbits to rabbit population. the Oregon Department of Fish The disease, also referred and Wildlife. to as RHD, causes sudden To prevent the virus from death and is highly contagious spreading further into the do- among the animals, spreading mestic rabbit population, the through contact with infected state is collecting and testing rabbits, meat, fur or other ma- feral rabbits where disease has terials. Birds, rodents, flies, been detected. Associated Press STATE BRIEFING Nearly half of students are back in the classroom Nearly half of Oregon’s pub- lic school students have re- turned to the classroom, fig- ures released Tuesday show. As of last week, more than 270,000 students, or 47% of those enrolled in public K-12 schools, were regularly getting in-person instruction, accord- ing to the new Oregon Depart- ment of Education data. That’s 40,000 more than the previous week and about 124,000 more than the week be- fore spring break. And it comes as Portland-area middle and high schools prepare to open their doors for hybrid learning. — The Oregonian REDMOND BUREAU Mailing address ..................P.O. Box 6020 Bend, OR 97708 Phone ......................................... 541-617-7829 CORRECTIONS The Bulletin’s primary concern is that all stories are accurate. If you know of an error in a story, call us at 541-383-0367. 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They may not be reproduced without explicit prior approval. Lottery results can now be found on the second page of Sports. We hear you. We’re dedicated to helping you! Contact your local DISH Authorized Retailer today! Juniper Satellite 410 3474 410 3474 (541) 410-3474 410 3474 410 3474 635 SW Highland Ave., Redmond, OR junipersatellite.com Associated Press SALEM — Democrats have agreed to give up an advantage in redrawing the state’s polit- ical districts for the next 10 years in exchange for a com- mitment from Republicans to stop blocking bills in the Oregon Legislature with delay tactics. Oregon Public Broadcast- ing reports the surprise deal was reached Wednesday eve- ning after a weeks-long stand- off. With the agreement, Dem- ocrats, stymied so far despite holding supermajorities in both legislative chambers, ap- pear to have gained an easier path to passing much of the their agenda. But they’ve essentially granted veto power to Repub- licans, who can now block any map of legislative or congres- sional districts from passing. “It’s a gamble,” said state Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Port- land, shortly after the deal was reached. House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, an- nounced a change to the House Redistricting Commit- tee, one of two bodies with a primary responsibility for redrawing political maps this year. Kotek announced she would be bumping up the committee’s vice chair, Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Al- bany, to co-chair, and adding another Republican to the body, House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, of Canby. That change means that Re- publicans and Democrats will be evenly split on the commit- tee with three members apiece, and so a party-line vote will be insufficient to pass new maps. The deal gives Republicans more say over what boundar- ies for the state’s 90 legislative districts will look like for the next 10 years, a decision that can hold enormous sway over the distribution of power in the state. Republicans also have in- creased their influence in how to divide the state into six congressional districts, rather than the current five, if Ore- gon is awarded an additional seat in the U.S. House of Rep- resentatives as expected. But Democrats have re- tained a backstop, too — par- ticularly when it comes to leg- islative districts. If lawmakers fail to successfully pass new legislative boundaries by late September, the task will fall to Secretary of State Shemia Fa- gan, a progressive Democrat who few Republicans would want to see in charge of that process. Should lawmakers fail to come to an agreement on new U.S. House districts, the mat- ter would be settled in the courts. Groups sue to halt post-fire logging in forest Associated Press SALEM — Seven environ- mental groups have filed a law- suit to halt post-fire logging in the Santiam State Forest. The suit filed Wednesday seeks to stop the Oregon De- partment of Forestry from current logging and bar it from moving forward with timber sales and hazard tree removal across 3,000 acres of state forest burned by Sep- tember fires around the San- tiam Canyon, The Statesman Journal reported. The groups cited concerns over recreation, drinking wa- ter and forest health in asking a Multnomah Circuit Court judge to issue an injunction at an April 30 hearing. If successful, all logging would stop until the case was decided. That delay is im- portant because burned and killed trees only remain via- ble for wood products for a short time, meaning any de- lay could impact the timber’s market value. It’s the latest action in an in- creasingly contentious battle over how to manage the more than 1 million acres of forest burned in the Labor Day fires. Environmental groups say of- ficials are being too aggressive in clearing burned forest that should regenerate naturally. Timber interests highlight turning burned forest into wood products that create jobs and helps communities rebuild.