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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.
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