A2 THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2021
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GENERAL
INFORMATION
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
DESCHUTES COUNTY
COVID-19 data for Tuesday, May 11:
Deschutes County cases: 8,821 (64 new cases)
Deschutes County deaths: 74 (zero new deaths)
Crook County cases: 1,086 (10 new cases)
Crook County deaths: 21 (1 new death)
Jefferson County cases: 2,176 (5 new cases)
Jefferson County deaths: 34 (zero new deaths)
Oregon cases: 192,416 (660 new cases)
Oregon deaths: 2,549 (16 new deaths)
COVID-19 patients hospitalized at St. Charles
Bend on Tuesday: 39 (8 in ICU)
129 new cases
90
new
cases
120
7-day
average
103 new cases
(April 23)
100
(Nov. 27)
90
74 new cases
80
(April 10)
50
new
cases
70
60
50
(Nov. 14)
(July 16)
40
*State data
unavailable
for Jan. 31
31 new cases
(Oct. 31)
16 new cases
30
(Sept. 19)
20
(May 20)
1st case
10
(March 11)
March 2020
110
(Feb. 17)
9 new cases
EMAIL
(Jan. 1)
47 new cases
8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
bulletin@bendbulletin.com
130
(April 29)
108 new cases
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
6 feet from others and wear a face covering or mask.
5. Cover a sneeze with a tissue or cough into your elbow.
6. Clean frequently touched objects and surfaces.
28 new cases
ONLINE
BULLETIN
GRAPHIC
125 new cases
(Dec. 4)
What is COVID-19? A disease caused by a coronavirus.
Symptoms (including fever and shortness of breath) can
be severe, even fatal, though some cases are mild.
541-382-1811
www.bendbulletin.com
SOURCES: OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY,
DESCHUTES COUNTY HEALTH SERVICES
New COVID-19 cases per day
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
January 2021
February
March
April
May
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Remote testimony could be here
to stay at the Oregon Capitol
BY CHRIS LEHMAN
The Oregonian
At the south entrance to the
Oregon Capitol sits a kiosk.
With the building closed to the
public, the kiosk has one job:
to allow people who walk up to
the Legislature to testify virtu-
ally before a committee.
The public hasn’t exactly
jumped at the chance to talk
to lawmakers by standing out-
side of the Capitol and speak-
ing into a camera. According
to the Legislative Policy and
Research Office, the kiosk has
been used just four times since
it was installed last year.
But what Oregonians have
taken to is the chance to tes-
tify from their living rooms. So
far this session, with commit-
tee hearings held entirely on
virtual platforms, people have
signed up to address legislative
committees more than 14,000
times. That’s already well over
the number who sought to
testify in person in 2019, with
more than six weeks remaining
in this year’s session.
“Most of the changes to our
lives that we’ve seen during
COVID are ones that we would
prefer to leave behind, but this
is not one of them,” said Mary
Kyle McCurdy, the Deputy Di-
rector of 1000 Friends of Or-
egon. “It really has opened up
meetings and hearings and
public decision- making to so
many Oregonians.”
More than 1,200 committee
hearings have been conducted
using video-conference tech-
nology since the beginning of
this year’s session. According
to the Legislature’s Information
Services Department, roughly
98% have been free of technical
problems that have resulted in
an interruption of the meeting.
Lawmakers are considering
a bill that would require both
the Legislature and local gov-
ernments to offer remote testi-
mony as an option, even when
the pandemic is in the rear-
view mirror. House Bill 2560
has already been approved in
the House and awaits a vote on
the Senate floor. The measure
would allow testifying via tele-
phone to count as remote tes-
timony.
No one is publicly suggesting
that once COVID-19 protocols
are relaxed, lawmakers con-
tinue to use remote hearings
exclusively. There are more
than a dozen hearing rooms
sitting unused at the Capitol,
and lawmakers are just as eager
as everyone else to see people
in-person again. Floor sessions
are held in-person, but without
any members of the public in
attendance.
But the horse is out of the
barn when it comes to allowing
people to have their say from
the comfort of their homes.
“There have been fewer trips
over the Cascades in danger-
ous weather conditions,” said
Misty Mason Freeman, the di-
rector of the Legislative Policy
and Research Office. “It’s given
folks the opportunity to testify
from a space that’s comfortable
to them, including being able
to testify with kiddos at home.”
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Lottery results can now be found on
the second page of Sports.
Salem ice storm recovery continues
BY WHITNEY WOODWORTH
Salem Statesman Journal
The city of Salem has spent
months recovering from the
February ice storm that left
thousands without power and
blocked roadways, but it’s ex-
pected to take several more
months at a total cost of more
than $4.5 million to repair in-
frastructure and clear downed
trees.
As of April 21, a total of $1.3
million had been spent on the
city’s response and recovery
efforts.
According to a report sub-
mitted to Salem City Council,
the total estimated cost of the
city’s recovery efforts is ex-
pected to be $4.6 million.
While more funds are
needed, a significant portion
of the storm recovery costs
is expected to be reimbursed
through insurance or federal
funds, according to city officials.
The agency’s decision is
pending, but if the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency determines the ice
storm was a disaster, the city’s
spending on recovery will be
eligible for reimbursement.
Marion County officials said
they expect to spend about $4
million in storm recovery ef-
forts. The county landfill col-
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Recovery by the
numbers
Abigail Dollins/Statesman Journal
A long line of vehicles forms at the debris drop-off site at Salem’s
Woodmansee Park in February.
lected more than 70,000 yards
of material free of charge in the
month following the storm.
Although the city’s public
works deactivated its emer-
gency operating center April
2, recovery remains under-
way. Damaged trees, downed
limbs and debris are still being
removed at city parks and on
right-of-ways.
Storm maintenance person-
nel are also continuing to clear
streams and creeks of debris to
reduce the chance of flooding
during spring rains, and street
maintenance staff are work-
ing to repair sidewalks, fences,
handrails and streetlights dam-
aged by downed trees.
• 86: Traffic signals impacted
by outages
• 400: Tons of sanding rock
applied to roads during the
storm
• 4,115: Tree assessments
completed by the city’s ur-
ban forestry staff
• 1,192: Calls for service to
public works dispatch in the
week after the storm
• 6,050: Tons of wood chips
created from downed trees
and limbs made available for
free to the public at Bush’s
Pasture Park and the Oregon
State Fairgrounds.
• 214: Tons of logs and tim-
ber cut from the downed
trees.
• 20,600: Vehicle/trailer
loads of debris brought to
collection sites following the
storm.
• 31,000: Cubic yards of de-
bris collected at the sites.
Lawmaker
said to have
let protesters
into Capitol
skips hearing
BY CHRIS LEHMAN
The Oregonian
An Oregon state rep-
resentative accused of al-
lowing armed protesters
into the locked Capitol in
December did not appear
in court Tuesday morn-
ing during a scheduled ar-
raignment
on two
charges,
including
first-de-
gree offi-
cial mis-
conduct.
Nearman
An at-
torney for
Rep. Mike Nearman, R-In-
dependence, spoke briefly
with a judge at the Marion
County Circuit Court Annex
in Salem, but did not enter
a plea on Nearman’s behalf.
The attorney, Jason Short of
Salem, had notified the court
on Monday that Nearman
would not be appearing.
Nearman told a Portland
radio station last week that
he’d been diagnosed with
COVID-19.
A group of about two
dozen supporters gathered
outside the courthouse
prior to Tuesday’s hearing,
many holding signs in sup-
port of Nearman.
“I think Mike did the
right thing that day,” said
Tom Madison of Salem. “It
was a brave thing to do.”
But Peter Starzynski, the
executive director of Ac-
countable Northwest, said
Nearman should serve time
behind bars. Technically, a
person convicted of first-de-
gree official misconduct can
be sentenced to a year in jail,
but jail time for misdemean-
ors is not the norm.
“He literally opened the
door for violent rioters to
attack the Capitol,” said
Starzynski.