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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2021)
The BulleTin • Thursday, april 29, 2021 A13 Feds raid Giuliani’s home, office Associated Press NEW YORK — Federal agents raided Rudy Giuliani’s Manhattan home and office Wednes- day, seizing computers and cellphones in a ma- jor escalation of the Justice Department’s in- vestigation into the business dealings of former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. Giuliani, the 76-year-old former New York City mayor once celebrated for his leadership after 9/11, has been under federal scrutiny for several years over his ties to Ukraine. The dual searches sent the strongest signal yet that he could eventually face federal charges. Agents searched Giuliani’s Madison Avenue Quarantine Continued from A1 At Tuesday’s meeting, Nor- dquist said in-person school closures would be a school- by-school decision. And on Wednesday, Julianne Repman — the district’s director of safety — confirmed that. “I don’t think distance learn- ing for everyone is on the table at all,” Repman said. In an email to The Bulle- tin on Wednesday, Paul Dean — Bend-La Pine’s safe and healthy schools administrator — wrote that the district isn’t considering online school for all schools, but temporarily re- turning to distancing learning could be an option for an indi- vidual school, if its case counts get too high. However, school officials still believe these increased student case counts aren’t being spread within schools. Repman told The Bulletin that so far, only one elementary school case, from six weeks ago, has been confirmed as an in-school spread. “This is a really big deal... and a testament that our safety policies and procedures are working as best as they can be,” board member Carrie McPher- son Douglass said at Tuesday’s meeting. The general consensus among Bend-La Pine leaders is that skyrocketing COVID-19 cases throughout Central Ore- gon are causing students to test positive. Last week, Deschutes County Health Services identi- fied 507 new cases locally — a Clinic Continued from A1 Abraham said the center has lost about half its staff in recent years. The center has three vet- erinarians, but ideally could use three more, she said. The staffing shortage is caused by a combination of factors, Abraham said. Nation- wide, there has been a spike in veterinarians retiring or leav- ing the profession, while fewer people are entering the work- force, Abraham said. Data from the American Veterinary Medical Associ- ation showed the number of U.S. veterinarians 65 years and older was 102,000 in 2018, a 30% increase from 2007. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused addi- tional stress for veterinarians both in their personal and professional lives that led to more leaving animal medicine, Abraham said. The high cost apartment and Park Avenue office, people fa- miliar with the investigation told The Associated Press. The warrants, which required approval from the top levels of the Justice Department, signify that prosecutors believe they have prob- able cause that Giuliani committed a federal crime — though they do not guarantee that charges will materialize. The full scope of the investigation is unclear, but it at least partly involves Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine, law enforcement officials have told the AP. In a statement issued through his lawyer, Giuliani accused federal authorities of a “corrupt double standard.” sharp jump from the count of 60 new cases in late March. During the meeting, board member Amy Tatom expressed frustration with the Bend com- munity’s inability to follow COVID-19 protocol and stop the virus’ spread. “I don’t think it’s necessarily because our schools are open — I think it’s the attitude our pub- lic has that because schools are open, they can resume normal life,” she said Tuesday. “That attitude is jeopardizing, for ex- ample, our seniors being able to have an in-person graduation, and that makes me sad.” Board member Julie Craig agreed, and noted that if teens are catching the virus, it’s likely happening outside of schools, where staff can’t enforce pan- demic rules. “Personally, I’m not worried about 3 feet (of distancing) in the schools, because somebody can monitor that,” she said at the meeting. “It’s everything else we don’t have control over. It’s this change in attitude and just being tired of everything.” Repman told The Bulle- tin on Wednesday that a local school had an incorrect case count due to a technical error on Microsoft Excel, but that has been fixed. One of Repman and Dean’s major concerns about the number of students in quaran- tine was their ability to learn. She noted that students in quarantine can’t easily get one- on-one help from teachers, so the district may have to come up with a novel way to assist those students from home. District leadership is consid- ering ways to increase access to tutors or have live instruc- tion for students stuck at home quarantining, Dean wrote. Nordquist did have some positive COVID-19 news Tuesday night — starting Thursday, local health groups, such as Mosaic Medical, will be running vaccine clinics within all four major Bend-La Pine high schools, starting with Bend High School. George Conway, director of Deschutes County Health Services, told the Deschutes County Commission on Wednesday morning that the recent substantial increase in COVID-19 cases is mostly be- ing driven by young adults, in- cluding teenagers. He also noted that vaccina- tion rates were much lower for teens — only about 4% of res- idents ages 19 or younger had received at least one vaccine dose, compared to over 90% of residents ages 75-84. Now that people ages 16 and up can be vaccinated, Conway heavily encouraged local teens and young adults to do so. “It’s understandable, young people want to gather and so- cialize and not be so concerned about (COVID-19 precau- tions),” he said at the County Commission meeting. “The pathway forward for really substantial freedom is to get vaccinated.” Nordquist could not be reached for additional com- ment Wednesday of housing in Central Oregon also makes it difficult to recruit new employees, she said. “I do think there are a lot of people who are leaving the profession and choosing to not get back into it,” Abraham said. The emergency center has no timetable for returning to 24-hour service because it de- pends on finding enough staff, Abraham said. Abraham encourages pet owners to coordinate with their regular veterinarians about possible emergency ser- vices. “We are trying to get back as soon as possible, but in the meantime they are going to have to rely on their regular veterinarians,” Abraham said. Dr. Deb LaPaugh, veteri- narian and owner of La Paw Animal Hospital in Bend, said she will meet with her staff this week to discuss the possible need for on-call work without a 24-hour clinic open in the area. But she doesn’t antici- pate having to increase services since most urgent cases still go to the emergency center or the Veterinary Referral Cen- ter of Central Oregon, which has an office in Bend and stays open until midnight every day . LaPaugh said the Veter- inaryReferral Center of Cen- tral Oregon, which provides emergency and specialty ani- mal care, has enough staffing to stay open past midnight if necessary. “We still have some places to send people,” LaPaugh said. LaPaugh has dealt with the shortage of veterinarians at her own clinic. People haven’t had the same interest or dedica- tion to the profession in recent years, she said. “When I was looking for a vet to work here with me, it took me three years,” LaPaugh said. e e e e Reporter: 541-617-7854, jhogan@bendbulletin.com Reporter: 541-617-7820, kspurr@bendbulletin.com Attention Parents of 2021 Grads! Help make some memories! The Bulletin is publishing a special Class of 2021 Graduation section on May 30 to celebrate graduating Central Oregon high school students. Enter a congratulatory message or a short biography along with a photo for just $25. Your messages will be grouped together by school and published in full color. Call The Bulletin Advertising Dept. for more information. 541-385-5809 Advertising deadline: Monday, May 17 School board Continued from A1 At the moment, only one school board member, Shimiko Montgomery, is a person of color. Zone 1 (northwest Bend) Carrie McPherson Douglass, 40, is the only incumbent candidate, and she believes her four years of experience make her a good choice. “I was able to lead our district through a pandemic, not perfectly, but with integrity and transparency and stability,” McPherson Douglass said in a phone conversation. Two other achievements she highlighted from her four-year tenure on the school board were making the budget process more McPherson transparent for taxpayers, Douglass and pushing for a renewed focus on equity for students of all backgrounds, she said. McPherson Douglass’ old- est child will start kindergar- ten at Bear Creek Elementary in the fall. When asked about pro- posed, expected-to-pass Lopez- legislation that would allow Dauenhauer Oregon public agencies, like school districts, to ban con- cealed firearms in public buildings such as schools, McPherson Douglass said the pro- posed bill wouldn’t have a major impact locally. Bend-La Pine Schools already forbids staff and students from bringing guns into schools, so it would only impact visitors, she said. After talking with local gun safety ex- perts, including in law enforcement officials, McPherson Douglass — a gun owner herself — said she leans toward ending visitors’ con- cealed carry in schools if the state bill passes. “I have deep concerns about the safety of students and staff if guns are present in schools,” she said. “The data tells us there’s a much higher likelihood of an accident happen- ing … than the likelihood than a gun would actually make students safer.” Maria Lopez-Dauenhauer is a stay-at-home mother of two Summit High School students who has never held elected office. She declined to share her age. Lopez-Dauenhauer believes local schools are behind on teaching students the basics. “Oregon is years behind where kids should be,” Lopez-Dauenhauer wrote in an email. “We need to ensure our children are well prepared with the critical thinking skills necessary to be- come productive adults.” Although she supports nondiscrimination and fairness, Lopez-Dauenhauer had some is- sues with Bend-La Pine’s recent equity push. “I am concerned about the rise of re- verse-racism and identity politics that are now dominating public policies and affecting the curriculum,” she wrote. When asked to clarify what she meant, Lo- pez-Dauenhauer said it could also be called “reverse discrimination.” “I don’t think there should be any further clarification required,” she wrote. Lopez-Dauenhauer also expressed no inter- est in banning visitors from carrying concealed firearms in schools. “Keep the policy as is and make sure the school resource officer position is well- funded,” she wrote. At this time, Bend-La Pine Schools has no plans to remove school resource officers, or police in schools. Zone 4 (south Deschutes County) Shirley Olson, 73, is retired from a de- cades-long career in education, including 38 years as a school adminis- trator or educational con- sultant. The Sunriver resi- dent has two grandchildren in Bend-La Pine: a senior at Summit High School and a seventh grader at Pilot Butte Middle School. Olson has not served on Olson a school board, but she has been appointed or elected to many other bod- ies, including as the president of the Oregon Association of School Supervisors in the 1980s. She currently serves on Bend-La Pine’s budget committee. Olson said if elected, her top priority would be helping students catch up academically after a year of online schooling. Not only is getting children back in schools important, “but it’s ensuring that kids can make up any lost academic learning that has occurred over the last year,” Olson said in a phone conversation. “It’s going to be a very, very challenging set of a few years to bring ev- erything back to some kind of normalcy.” Olson is also a member of the Sunriver Wom- en’s Club, which directs much of its philan- thropic efforts toward south Deschutes County, where poverty levels are higher. She said, if elected, she’d be a voice for that community. “I am very willing to stand up for those needs — not that the board hasn’t been, but maybe a little more visibly and with a little more passion,” she said. More than 60% of students in all four La Pine-area schools are eligible for free or re- duced lunch — a much higher percentage than the vast majority of Bend-area schools. Olson said if given the chance, she would vote in favor of banning concealed carry in schools. “Guns have no business in schools,” she said. Olson’s opponent is fellow Sunriver resident Gregg Henton, a retired employee of General Motors with no elected experience. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment. e e Reporter: 541-617-7854, jhogan@bendbulletin.com