The Bulletin., May 19, 2021, Page 3, Image 3

The BulleTin • Wednesday, May 19, 2021 A3
TODAY
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
considered high risk, which is two
steps above lower risk. In fact,
based on recent case counts, the
Oregon Health Authority says the
county would actually qualify for
“extreme risk” were it not for a sep-
arate statewide metric on hospital-
ization rates of COVID-19 patients.
Republicans have been calling
for the building to be reopened
and blame Democrats for stick-
ing to the reopening metrics con-
tained in the safety plan. Keeping
the Capitol closed indefinitely “is
further evidence that our state is
not following the science,” said
House Republican Leader Chris-
tine Drazan of Canby.
Today is Wednesday, May 19, the 139th day of 2021. There
are 226 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 19, 1967, the Soviet Union ratified a treaty with
the United States and Britain, banning nuclear and other
weapons from outer space as well as celestial bodies such
as the moon.
In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England’s
King Henry VIII, was beheaded after being convicted of
adultery.
In 1920, 10 people were killed in a gunbattle between
coal miners, who were led by a local police chief, and a
group of private security guards hired to evict them for
joining a union in Matewan, West Virginia.
In 1921, Congress passed, and President Warren G. Hard-
ing signed, the Emergency Quota Act, which established
national quotas for immigrants.
In 1935, T.E. Lawrence, also known as “Lawrence of Ara-
bia,” died in Dorset, England.
In 1943, in his second wartime address to the U.S. Con-
gress, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill pledged
his country’s full support in the fight against Japan;
that evening, Churchill met with President Franklin D.
Roosevelt at the White House, where the two leaders
agreed on May 1, 1944 as the date for the D-Day invasion
of France (the operation ended up being launched more
than a month later).
In 1993, the Clinton White House set off a political storm
by abruptly firing the entire staff of its travel office; five of
the seven staffers were later reinstated and assigned to
other duties.
In 1994, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
died in New York at age 64.
In 2003, WorldCom Inc. agreed to pay investors $500
million to settle civil fraud charges.
In 2019, “Game of Thrones” aired its 73rd and final epi-
sode, with a record-setting number of viewers.
Ten years ago: President Barack Obama for the first time
endorsed the Palestinians’ demand that their eventual
state be based on borders that existed before the 1967
Middle East war. Katie Couric, the first regular solo an-
chorwoman of a network evening newscast, signed off
the “CBS Evening News” for the last time after five years.
Five years ago: Veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent
Morley Safer died in New York at age 84. Actor-comedian
Alan Young, who played straight man to a talking horse
in the 1960s sitcom “Mister Ed,” died in Woodland Hills,
California, at age 96.
One year ago: A Trump administration policy of quickly
expelling most migrants stopped along the border
because of the COVID-19 pandemic was indefinitely
extended.
Today’s Birthdays: TV personality David Hartman is 86.
Actor James Fox is 82. Actor Nancy Kwan is 82. Rock sing-
er-composer Pete Townshend (The Who) is 76. Concert
pianist David Helfgott is 74. Rock singer-musician Dusty
Hill (ZZ Top) is 72. College Football Hall of Famer and for-
mer NFL player Archie Manning is 72. Singer-actor Grace
Jones is 70. Actor Steven Ford is 65. Actor Toni Lewis is 61.
Actor Polly Walker is 55. Rock singer Jenny Berggren (Ace
of Base) is 49. Former race car driver Dario Franchitti is 48.
Country/rock singer Shooter Jennings is 42. Actor Drew
Fuller is 41. Actor-comedian Michael Che (TV: “Saturday
Night Live”) is 38. Actor Eric Lloyd is 35. Pop singer Sam
Smith is 29. Actor Nolan Lyons is 20.
— Bulletin staff and wire reports
— Associated Press
State hires arborist after outcry
about excessive tree cutting
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Oregon is hiring a Pacific
Northwest-based arborist to review the state’s
removal of trees in wildfire burn areas after re-
cent concerns that the operation has been hasty
and excessive.
The Oregon Office of Emergency Manage-
ment announced Monday that Galen Wright
has been hired as an independent contractor
to review the hazard tree effort, Oregon Public
Broadcasting reported.
Wright is president of Washington Forest
Consultants Inc. He will provide a full assess-
ment of Oregon’s program and his recommen-
dations are due in June.
“As this adaptive and evolving emergency
response operation continues to make signif-
icant progress, Oregonians deserve to have
confidence in the good work underway,” said
Mac Lynde the Oregon Department of Trans-
portation’s head of the three-agency Debris
Management Task Force. It has been coordi-
nating the tree-removal program in the after-
math of the 2020 wildfires that burned over 1
million acres.
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin file
A car drives past several piles of felled trees along state Highway 22 in October.
The state is in the midst of the giant effort to
cut down an estimated 140,000 burned trees
that could be dangerous to people on state
roads or burned properties.
Transportation officials told a legislative
panel two weeks ago that it would bring on
an independent arborist after several workers
publicly voiced concerns about the hazard tree
program. They have said the operation, led by a
contracting firm out of Florida, has irresponsi-
bly marked trees for removal that weren’t dead
or dying.
LOCAL & STATE BRIEFING
Sen. Merkley to hold virtual
town hall Tuesday
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley has
scheduled a virtual town hall for
Deschutes County residents on
Tuesday.
Merkley will give an update
about work in Washington, D.C.,
and answer questions about the
issues facing the state and the na-
tion.
Merkley has held a town hall in
each of Oregon’s 36 counties every
year since joining the Senate in
2009, according to an announce-
ment from Merkley’s office. This
town hall will be his 18th this year.
The town hall begins at 4 p.m.
For more information and access
to the meeting link, email sara_
hottman@merkley.senate.gov.
Still no timeline to reopen
Oregon Capitol to the public
Despite eased mask recommen-
dations and increasing vaccina-
tion rates, don’t expect the Oregon
Capitol to reopen to the public
anytime soon.
The building was closed in
spring 2020 amid rising cases of
COVID-19 and has remained
closed through multiple special ses-
sions as well as the entire 2021 leg-
islative session to date. The public
can still observe the legislative pro-
cess, as all legislative meetings are
live-streamed, and lawmakers take
testimony using virtual platforms.
Legislative leaders are awaiting
updated guidance from the Ore-
gon Health Authority and Oregon
Occupational Safety and Health,
which regulate workplaces.
According to the “Capitol Oper-
ations Safety Plan” released in Jan-
uary by House Speaker Tina Kotek,
D-Portland, and Senate President
Peter Courtney, D-Salem, the Cap-
itol will not open its doors to the
public until Marion County, where
the building is located, enters the
lower-risk category in the state’s
risk level framework.
Currently, Marion County is