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BEND
COVID-19: Vaccines
Mail processing center
to close in consolidation
Biden and
Brown shift
doses based
on demand
“Moving,
removing, and
repurposing
mail processing
equipment and
operations is an
ongoing Postal
Service strategy
dating back
decades that
allows for more
efficient, timely
delivery of mail
and packages.”
—Kim Frum, a Postal
Service spokesperson
Vehicles Thursday
fill the lot behind the
Bend post office.
Ryan Brennecke/
The Bulletin photos
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Hoping to pick up the pace of vaccinations,
state and federal health officials are ditching their
population-based distribution game plans to get
more doses where they are wanted and needed.
President Joe Biden wants 70% of American
adults fully vaccinated by July 4. The goal trans-
lates to about 160 million people. Currently, 105
million American adults are fully vaccinated.
To get there, Biden announced Tuesday that
he was ending the system that sent weekly ship-
ments of vaccine to states in amounts based on
their population.
The move will send more vaccine to places
where demand is high, with additional supply
drawn from areas where vaccine sits unused in
medical refrigerators.
Allotments to states that do not want or can-
not use more vaccine will go into a federal “vac-
cine bank.” States where shots are in demand
will be able to order up to 50% more than their
current allotments.
Oregon, California and Michigan are among
states saying they still need more vaccine to
meet demand. On the flip side, West Virginia
has reported a surplus of vaccine and Arkansas
officials said the state no longer wants weekly
shipments.
See Doses / A4
BY KYLE SPURR • The Bulletin
nationwide consolidation of facilities. The Bend facility off NE Fourth Street will be one of 18 across the
country to close by November, according to a notice from the Postal Service.
But the location may become a new package pro-
cessing facility due to the large increase in packages
being sent in the U.S. rather than letters and other
standard mail, said Kim Frum, a Postal Service
spokesperson.
The changes are not expected to cause any delays
in mail delivery, Frum said.
“Moving, removing, and repurposing mail pro-
cessing equipment and operations is an ongoing
Postal Service strategy dating back decades that al-
lows for more efficient, timely delivery of mail and
packages,” Frum said.
The Postal
Service is
not plan-
ning to lay
off any staff,
and more
staff may be
needed in
Bend if the fa-
cility becomes
a package pro-
cessing center.
Jackson Hogan/The Bulletin
Bend resident Kathi Denfeld holds a homemade
sign to support students receiving their COVID-19
vaccine Thursday at a voluntary school clinic at
Summit High School.
See Postal / A6
Summit, La Pine
high schools
Ex-Redmond woman indicted on child sex charges
Selina Duflo accused of drugging, abusing child, 6
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
A former Redmond resident is
facing federal charges for allegedly
drugging and sexually abusing a
6-year-old child in her care.
On Tuesday, a grand jury in
U.S. District Court in Eugene
charged Selina Wynne Duflo with
two counts of transportation of
child pornography and two counts
of using a minor to produce a vi-
sual depiction of sexually explicit
conduct.
Evidence of those alleged
crimes was found by federal
agents on two cellphones and a
TODAY’S
WEATHER
laptop computer, according to her
indictment.
Duflo, 33, originally faced
22 felony counts in Deschutes
County Circuit Court for roughly
the same alleged behavior as the
federal case.
Her local attorney had recently
filed a motion declaring that the
search of Duflo’s phones and lap-
top violated the Oregon Consti-
tution’s provisions on unlawful
search and seizure.
Prosecutors also moved this
week to dismiss the local charges.
Deschutes County District Attor-
ney John Hummel said that after
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INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
discussions with
federal prosecu-
tors, he deter-
mined the case
was more ap-
propriate in that
venue due to the
Duflo, 33, orig- cross-state na-
ture of Duflo’s al-
inally faced 22
leged offenses.
felony counts
On Thurs-
in Deschutes
day, a judge dis-
County Cir-
missed the state
cuit Court for
court charges.
roughly the
Duflo’s case
same alleged
began in July
behavior as
2019, when
the federal
Facebook sent
case.
information to
the National Center for Missing
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Dear Abby
Editorial
Explore
A6
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Horoscope
Local/State
Obituaries
and Exploited Children about
Daniel Seibert of Lake Forest, Cal-
ifornia.
Agents with the Department of
Homeland Security learned that
Seibert, 29, had been in contact
with a child in Utah and had re-
ceived child pornography from
that child. Authorities searched
Seibert’s digital devices and found
photos of him with Duflo, some
of which depicted child pornog-
raphy.
In 2019, Duflo was living in
Michigan. Federal prosecutors
said that year, Seibert traveled
from California to Michigan to
have sex with a 6-year-old child in
her care.
Vaccine clinics
held without
interruption
BY JACKSON HOGAN
The Bulletin
Two voluntary student COVID-19 vaccine
clinics hosted by local high schools in Bend re-
ceived intense pushback from anti-vaccine pro-
testers, worrying school staff and students who
organized a third clinic on Thursday.
Last week, protesters stood across from
Bend High School, blaring an airhorn as loud
as a truck’s, and forcing school administrators
to escort arriving students, said Julianne Rep-
man, director of communications and safety for
Bend-La Pine.
See Clinics / A4
See Duflo / A6
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The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
newsprint
Vol. 117, No. 329, 18 pages, 2 sections
DAILY
T
he U.S. Postal Service is closing its mail processing center in Bend and moving it to Portland as part of a
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