The BulleTin • Wednesday, May 12, 2021 A13
Dean Guernsey/Bulletin file
In December 2020, students at Sisters Elementary School walk apart,
guided by pictures of horseshoes on the floor.
Sisters
Continued from A1
Current enrollment this
year is 323 students.
If voters don’t pass the
bond, class sizes at Sisters El-
Vaccination
Continued from A1
Deschutes County reported
542.6 cases per 100,000 people
this week, the second highest
of Oregon’s larger counties be-
hind only Klamath County.
Allen said that high vacci-
nation rates were more im-
portant than high infection
rates in determining progress
against COVID-19. Even if
infection rates are high, vacci-
nation rates above 65% mean
that cases were unlikely to re-
sult in severe illness or death.
On the flip side, if the state
reaches a 70% overall vac-
cination rate, even counties
such as Umatilla and Malheur,
where vaccination rates are
at the low end of the state-
wide scale, would move out of
the restrictions along with all
other counties.
Asked if meeting the 70%
vaccination goal would likely
mean that the Pendleton
Round-Up could be held in
September, Brown was upbeat.
“Let ’er buck,” Brown forecast.
While the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention
may suggest some mask re-
ementary School will simply
have to balloon, said Scholl.
And small class sizes increase
student achievement, particu-
larly in grades K-2, he said.
“If we don’t have the class-
room space, the only way you
quirements, most likely the
event would go off much
closer to normal than forecast
earlier. The Round-Up was
canceled last year because of
COVID-19 concerns.
Brown said the moves were
possible because data showing
the most recent spike in cases
over the past month has be-
gun to fade.
“It looks like we’ve crossed
the tipping point of the fourth
surge,” Brown said. “Our hos-
pitalization rates have stabi-
lized. Our infection rates are
on a downward trajectory.
And in the race between vac-
cines and variants, our efforts
to vaccinate Oregonians are
taking the lead.”
Brown said she was confi-
dent the statewide vaccination
goal to reopen the entire state
by mid-June was in reach if
residents stepped up to get
vaccinated and help others get
their shots, too.
Oregon is increasing
walk-in and local clinic efforts
in an attempt to get what na-
tional infectious disease of-
ficials call “impulse vaccina-
tions” by people who did not
want to deal with the burden
can serve the kids is adding
more kids to each classroom,”
Scholl said.
School officials say a new
building is simply needed for
a city where new families keep
arriving. Sisters’ population
grew by nearly 35% between
2010 and 2018, from 2,038
people to 2,747, according to
U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
It’s a growth rate comparable
to Bend.
The new elementary would
also be built next door to Sis-
ters high and middle schools,
Scholl said. This makes it eas-
ier for the district to consoli-
date resources, and helps ed-
ucation specialists who work
with students of all grades, he
said.
If voters approve the bond,
Scholl hopes the new elemen-
tary school will welcome its first
students by September 2023.
e e
Reporter: 541-617-7854,
jhogan@bendbulletin.com
Attack
WORLD BRIEFING
Israel, Hamas escalate fighting; no end in sight
Israel stepped up its attacks on the Gaza Strip, flattening
a high-rise building used by the Hamas militant group and
killing at least three militants in their hideouts on Tuesday as
Palestinian rockets rained down almost nonstop on parts of
Israel.
It was the heaviest fighting between the bitter enemies
since 2014, and it showed no signs of slowing.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to ex-
pand the offensive, while Gaza militants unleashed a fierce
late-night barrage of rockets that set off air-raid sirens and
explosions throughout the densely populated Tel Aviv metro-
politan area.
Five Israelis, including three women and a child, were
killed by rocket fire Tuesday and early Wednesday, and doz-
ens of people wounded. The death toll in Gaza rose to 35
Palestinians, including 10 children, according to the Health
Ministry. Over 200 people were wounded.
In the West Bank, meanwhile, a 26-year-old Palestinian
was killed during clashes with Israeli troops that entered al-
Fawar refugee camp in southern Hebron, the ministry said.
The fighting between Israel and Hamas was the most in-
tense since a 50-day war in the summer of 2014.
— The Associated Press
Updated COVID-19 risk levels of Oregon counties
Gov. Kate Brown re-
leased the now-weekly
list of COVID-19 risk lev-
els for Oregon’s 36 coun-
ties Tuesday.
Though the number
of COVID-19 hospital-
izations has remained
above 300 this week, the
most restrictive “extreme
risk” limits were waived
again because cases did
not increase by 15%.
Any changes to sta-
tus announced Tuesday
would go into effect on
Friday, May 14.
For more informa-
tion, go to covidvaccine.
oregon.gov or call 211.
Current county risk
levels as of Friday, May
14:
LOWER RISK (8)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Gilliam
Harney
Lake
Morrow
Sherman
Union
Wallowa
Wheeler
MODERATE RISK (7)
• Coos
of prior online registration.
After achieving 70% state-
wide vaccination of those aged
16 and older, Oregon may
continue requiring some use
of masks and physical distanc-
ing, Brown said, as the CDC
and Oregon Health Authority
monitor conditions.
All other health and safety
requirements for counties un-
der the state’s risk level frame-
• Curry
• Grant (Moved from
High)
• Hood River
• Lincoln (Moved from
High)
• Tillamook
• Wasco (Moved from
High)
HIGH RISK (21)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Baker
Benton
Clackamas
Clatsop
Columbia
Crook
work would be lifted, and
counties would no longer be
assigned risk levels.
Oregon public schools
would still follow the state’s
“Ready Schools, Safe Learn-
ers” protocols, which will be
updated before the upcom-
ing return to school in the fall
with an eye on removing those
restrictions where possible
with CDC guidance.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Deschutes
Douglas
Jackson
Jefferson
Josephine
Klamath
Lane
Linn
Malheur
Marion
Multnomah
Polk
Umatilla
Washington
Yamhill
Brown’s comments came as
the University of Oregon and
Western Oregon University
announced this week that stu-
dents would have to be vac-
cinated against COVID-19
in order to attend classes in
person this fall. Oregon State
University and Portland State
University had announced the
same policy earlier.
e e
gwarner@eomediagroup.com
Continued from A1
Around 3:45 a.m. Aug. 5,
Arce and Matthew Dean Ortiz
broke into the home of Zach-
ary Tucker on SW Roosevelt
Street.
Arce was shirtless and
armed with a .357 revolver, ac-
cording to the probable cause
affidavit from his arrest. Arce
woke Tucker and repeatedly
asked, “Where is she?”
Tucker denied knowing what
Arce was talking about, going as
far as laughing and telling him
the situation was “ridiculous,”
according to court records.
At this, Arce went into
the kitchen, took a knife and
“sliced” Tucker’s face and
stabbed him in the leg.
Before fleeing the home,
Arce pointed his pistol at Tuck-
er’s head and pulled the trigger
three times quickly, with noth-
ing happening.
After police arrived, they
found a woman in a locked
back bedroom at the residence.
She told them she’d been “try-
ing to stay out of trouble,” and
had slept through the violent
encounter in Tucker’s home.
“I knew (the woman) was
not being honest,” Madras
Police officer Ryan Kathrein
wrote in his report, court re-
cords show.
Arce and Ortiz were later
arrested and charged with con-
spiracy to commit assault and
other counts.
Ortiz was sentenced in Feb-
ruary to 30 days in jail for his
role in the attack.
The maximum sentence
Arce could have received was
nearly 21 years in custody.
Judge Daina Vitolins addi-
tionally assigned him three
years post-prison supervision.
First-degree assault is a Mea-
sure 11 offense in Oregon, and
as such, Arce is not eligible for
some prison programs nor
early release for good behavior.
Also on Tuesday, Arce
pleaded guilty in a related
case and was sentenced to six
months in custody for tam-
pering with physical evidence.
That sentence will run concur-
rent with Arce’s prison term.
e e
Reporter: 541-383-0325,
gandrews@bendbulletin.com
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