Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2021)
FRIDAY • May 21, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50 TICKET TO RIDE TRAIL A quick and easy mountain biking loop EXPLORE » B1 SPORTS PULLOUT, B3-6 Bend moves toward hotel homeless shelter State funding remains up in the air Bend Value Inn, with plans to convert the building into a homeless shelter. But whether the city receives state money to fund the pur- chase is now up in the air. The city has been a part of a grant program called Project Turnkey, which has been giv- BY BRENNA VISSER The Bulletin The city of Bend is no lon- ger trying to buy the Rainbow Motel, but is still pursuing the ing out $35 million worth of grants to cities and other entities to buy hotels and con- vert them into homeless shel- ters. But after the city found sig- nificant structural issues in the first hotel that was eyed for use as a shelter , the Old Mill & Suites motel, the council with- drew from the agreement, and that put the city behind other cities going through the grant process, said Carolyn Eagan, the city’s economic develop- ment director. “We weren’t going to take a property just so homeless peo- ple could live there,” Eagan said Thursday. “We wanted some- thing … we could run as a top notch site.” Megan Loeb, the program officer for the Oregon Com- munity Foundation, said that there are limited Project Turn- key funds up for grabs after ARNOLD IRRIGATION DISTRICT one applicant turned down the grant money due to lack of community support for a homeless shelter. But at this point, there are more qualified applicants than funding and it will be a com- petitive process. See Hotel / A6 PRINEVILLE Sinkhole filled, canal set to reopen Friday Resolution against lockdown survives review Opinion passed by City Council is upheld by judge BY GARRETT ANDREWS The Bulletin Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin Jarrod Cowan, with Flatline Concrete Pumping, sprays a concrete lining on a section of the Arnold Irrigation canal where a sinkhole had formed last week. BY MICHAEL KOHN The Bulletin Repair work on a sinkhole that forced the shutdown of an Arnold Irrigation District canal last week is expected to be complete by 6 p.m. Friday. Backfilling of the sinkhole oc- curred earlier this week and was followed by shotcrete work, said Colin Wills, general manager for the irrigation district. Shotcreting is a construction technique that involves spraying concrete from a hose. The sinkhole, which occurred in the Deschutes River Woods area, was first reported on May 13. Witnesses said the hole was large enough to engulf a full-size pickup truck. Sinkholes are not uncommon in Central Oregon, a region with a volcanic past that has left the Bend area with lava tubes, caverns and unstable bedrock. Last week’s sink- hole was unique because of its size. Most are only 2- to 3- feet wide. Wills said the shotcrete work was done in a way to expedite the process, including using hot water and fiber additive. But the district still needs to wait around 24 hours before the work is cured. Robinson & Owen Heavy Con- struction company did the work to backfill the sinkhole. Flatline Concrete Pumping was hired to do the shotcrete work. Bend teen earns scholarship to study Mandarin in Taiwan BY JACKSON HOGAN • The Bulletin In the fall of 2018, Rachel Wallace — then a sophomore at Summit High School — decided on a whim to learn Mandarin Chinese. At the time, she only knew one phrase, “ni hao,” which TODAY’S WEATHER Rachel Wallace visits the For- bidden City in Beijing in June 2019. roughly means “hello.” “I said, ‘Yeah, that sounds fun, like a challenge,’” Wallace said. Two and a half years later, her whim has become a college opportunity. Clouds, sun mix High 57, Low 44 Page B5 Reporter: 541-617-7818, mkohn@bendbulletin.com Submitted photo See Taiwan / A6 INDEX Business Classifieds Comics A8-9 B5-6 B7-8 Dear Abby A9 Editorial A5 Explore B1-2, 9-10 Horoscope Local/State Obituaries A9 A2, 7 A7 Puzzles Sports B8 B3- 4 See Prineville / A7 Revenue forecast: State coffers and ‘kicker’ surge BY PETER WONG Oregon Capital Bureau For Oregon’s state budget, and for Oregon taxpayers, it appears everything’s coming up roses these days. The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper We use recycled newsprint Vol. 117, No. 329, 20 pages, 2 sections An economic surge as the pandemic wanes will produce $1 billion more for state cof- fers than state economists pro- jected just three months ago. See Revenue / A7 DAILY Work included spraying hole with concrete As opposition to Gov. Kate Brown’s COVID-19-related mandates grew throughout 2020, city leaders in Or- egon — especially rural Oregon — drafted resolutions declaring them unconstitutional. While those resolutions were largely symbolic, leaders in Prineville hope their version, passed in January, can have a le- gal impact for their constituents. The anti-lockdown resolution ap- proved by the Prineville City Council was written to help business owners who chose to argue fines for ignor- ing Brown’s mandates. The resolution recently survived a judicial review, a step needed in order for the resolu- tion to be effective. Prineville Mayor Jason Beebe thinks the effort to draft the opinion was worth it. “It can potentially help the busi- nesses who have been unfairly fined by OSHA,” Beebe said, referring to Oregon Occupational Safety and Health. “I told all of our business community that I would continue to fight for them and this was one way we were actually validated.” In early January, members of the Prineville council tried a move made by numerous other local governments and business associations who op- posed Brown’s orders, by writing her a strongly worded open letter. But conservative councilors in Prineville wanted to go a step further than a symbolic letter. U|xaIICGHy02329lz[
