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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2021)
SUNDAY • May 16, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $3 LA PINE BASEBALL KEEPS IT CONSISTENT SPORTS » B1 OREGON YOUTH CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES BEND Couple experiencing second population boom 2 deaths reported in 100 days at centers BY ZANE SPARLING Oregon Capital Bureau Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin photos Linda and Joe Orcelletto sit out front of their Bend home Thursday with their dog Enzo. Population growth gives the city new label: Zoom town BY KYLE SPURR • The Bulletin M oving to Bend seemed like a strange decision 25 years ago. Friends and family were perplexed when Joe and Linda Orcelletto left their stable lives in Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1996 and headed west to Bend. The couple left well-paying jobs and loaded a U-Haul to reach the recovering mill town in the middle of Oregon. The Orcellettos came across Bend on their honeymoon to the Northwest two years prior and dreamed about one day moving to the city that offered so much skiing, camping and mountain biking. It’s a dream held by many even now. “I think people are moving here for the same reasons we did,” Linda Orcelletto said recently. “The outdoors. The weather. And you know who your neighbors are.” The Orcellettos moved to Bend in the midst of a historic population boom, when the city grew from about 20,000 residents in 1990 to more than 52,000 in 2000, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Bend was transitioning from a log- ging town to a tourist destination that drew visitors like the Orcellettos. Now 25 years later, Bend is experi- encing another population spike that has caused the city to surpass 100,000 residents. The recent growth led to Bend earning the label “Zoom town,” a phenomenon where many new resi- dents are moving away from other cities to work remotely in Bend. An old newspaper clipping from The Bul- letin saved by Linda and Joe Orcelletto, who were in the newspaper article, when the couple first moved to Bend in 1996. See Population / A4 Two teens died in the span of 100 days while under supervision by the Oregon Youth Authority juvenile detention sys- tem, according to a new investigation by the Portland Tribune. The death of Brett J.J. Bruns by self- harm in December 2019 — as well as the unintentional overdose that took the life of Juan Lopez-Robles in March 2020 — casts a spotlight on the contrac- tor facilities that are paid millions of dollars per year by the state to reha- bilitate youth behavior. Oregon Youth Au- thority now faces a com- bined $16 million in potential civil penalties as two separate wrong- ful-death lawsuits wend their way through circuit courts. “The system is built to be sick,” said Judah The deaths of Largent, a Corvallis ju- Brett Bruns, venile delinquency at- top, and Juan torney not involved in Lopez-Robles the litigation. “With the have spurred tragic deaths of these wrongful- children, we are seeing death lawsuits the absolute worst of the against the sick system.” Oregon Youth While the deaths of Authority. Bruns and Lopez-Ro- bles happened within the Photos courtesy of the families span of roughly 100 days, the fatal incidents also represent half of all in-custody deaths re- ported by the Oregon Youth Authority since 2010, according to data provided in response to a public records request. Every death but Lopez-Robles’ was ruled a suicide, and all four occurred at residential programs, which the agency describes as facilities run by “trained staff who provide safe, effective, evi- dence-based services.” “No deaths were found in OYA’s secure facilities,” said spokeswoman Sarah Ev- ans. She declined to answer further ques- tions, citing the pending lawsuits. ‘Full of potential’ In a $10 million suit, a Eugene-based nonprofit is accused of failing to prevent the self-inflicted death of Bruns, who reportedly was placed on suicide watch hours before he ran away from the un- locked facility, never to return. A music lover who often could be found strumming a guitar, Bruns’ life went off track in 2015 when he was com- mitted to the Oregon Youth Authority at age 14. See Deaths / A6 Face of the force: Police CSOs fill varied role Charlie Redline carried a gun for nine months as a law enforcement officer for the Na- tional Park Service. He thinks the firearms train- ing he received left him insuffi- ciently prepared, and the stress on patrol got to him. “There’s a big responsibility carrying a gun,” said Redline, 29. “And I realized that respon- sibility is not for me.” Redline likes talking, work- TODAY’S WEATHER “It’s pretty comical, usually. You should see people try to catch a dog. There’s neighbors coming over with hot dogs, everything.” — Charlie Redline, a Bend community service officer ing outside and helping others. About a year ago, he found a job that matched those inter- ests, but without the burden of carrying a deadly weapon. Redline is one of the Bend Police Department’s nine com- Mostly sunny High 82, Low 46 Page B6 INDEX munity service officers, or CSOs. Their formal objective is to respond to lower-level emer- gencies to free up sworn offi- cers for higher-priority calls. But “lower-level” doesn’t neces- Business/Life Classifieds Dear Abby C1-8 B5 C3 Editorial Horoscope Local/State A8 C3 A2-5 sarily mean unimportant, and with heightened focus on po- lice misconduct lately, leaders in Deschutes County say they’d like to see programs like this expanded. Bend Police made Redline available for an interview, out- reach being one of his many duties as a CSO, he said. “I carry stickers, not hand- cuffs,” Redline said, producing a “Jr. Police” badge from his wallet. Lottery Market Recap Mon. Comics See Police / A7 B2 B4 C5-6 Obituaries Puzzles Sports A9 C4 B1-4 Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin Charlie Redline, a community service officer with the Bend Police De- partment, shows a catch-pole and other equipment he uses while out on calls Thursday. The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper We use recycled newsprint Vol. 117, No. 329, 28 pages, 4 sections SUN/THU BY GARRETT ANDREWS The Bulletin U|xaIICGHy02330rzu
