A4 The BulleTin • Tuesday, May 25, 2021
TODAY
Today is Tuesday, May 25, the
145th day of 2021. There are 220
days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd,
a Black man, died when a white
Minneapolis police officer
pressed his knee on Floyd’s
neck for about 9½ minutes
while Floyd was handcuffed
and pleading that he couldn’t
breathe; Floyd’s death, captured
on video by a bystander, would
lead to worldwide protests,
some of which turned violent,
and a reexamination of racism
and policing in the U.S.
In 1787, the Constitutional
Convention began at the Penn-
sylvania State House (Indepen-
dence Hall) in Philadelphia after
enough delegates had shown
up for a quorum.
In 1935, Babe Ruth hit his last
three career home runs — Nos.
712, 713 and 714 — for the Bos-
ton Braves in a game against the
Pittsburgh Pirates. (The Pirates
won, 11-7.)
In 1946, Transjordan (now
Jordan) became a kingdom as
it proclaimed its new monarch,
Abdullah I.
In 1959, the U.S. Supreme Court,
in State Athletic Commission v.
Dorsey, struck down a Louisiana
law prohibiting interracial box-
ing matches. (The case had been
brought by Joseph Dorsey Jr., a
Black professional boxer.)
In 1961, President John F. Kenne-
dy told Congress: “I believe that
this nation should commit itself
to achieving the goal, before this
decade is out, of landing a man
on the moon and returning him
safely to the earth.”
In 1964, the U.S. Supreme
Court, in Griffin v. County School
Board of Prince Edward County,
ordered the Virginia county
to reopen its public schools,
which officials had closed in
an attempt to circumvent the
Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka
desegregation ruling.
In 1965, Muhammad Ali
knocked out Sonny Liston in the
first round of their world heavy-
weight title rematch in Lewiston,
Maine.
In 1977, the first “Star Wars”
film (later retitled “Star Wars:
Episode IV — A New Hope”) was
released by 20th Century Fox.
In 1979, 273 people died when
an American Airlines DC-10
crashed just after takeoff from
Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Six
In 1992, Jay Leno made his
debut as host of NBC’s “Tonight
Show,” succeeding Johnny
Carson.
In 2008, NASA’s Phoenix Mars
Lander arrived on the Red Planet
to begin searching for evidence
of water; the spacecraft con-
firmed the presence of water ice
at its landing site.
In 2018, Harvey Weinstein was
charged in New York with rape
and another sex felony in the
first prosecution to result from
the wave of allegations against
him; the once-powerful movie
producer turned himself in
to face the charges and was
released on $1 million bail after
a court appearance. (Weinstein
was convicted of rape and sexu-
al assault; he is serving a 23-year
prison sentence.)
Ten years ago: A judge in Salt
Lake City sentenced street
preacher Brian David Mitchell to
life in prison for kidnapping and
raping Elizabeth Smart, who was
14 at the time of her abduction
in 2002.
Five years ago: Actor Johnny
Depp’s wife, Amber Heard, filed
for divorce in Los Angeles, citing
irreconcilable differences after
15 months of marriage.
One year ago: Americans ob-
served Memorial Day with small
processions and online tributes
that also remembered those lost
to the coronavirus.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Ann
Robinson is 92. Country sing-
er-songwriter Tom T. Hall is 85.
Actor Sir Ian McKellen is 82. Mov-
ie director and Muppeteer Frank
Oz is 77. Actor Karen Valentine is
74. Actor Jacki Weaver is 74. Rock
singer Klaus Meine (The Scorpi-
ons) is 73. Actor Patti D’Arban-
ville is 70. Playwright Eve Ensler
is 68. Musician Cindy Cashdollar
is 66. Rock singer-musician Paul
Weller is 63. Sen. Amy Klobuchar,
D-Minn., is 61. Actor-comedian
Mike Myers is 58. Actor Anne
Heche is 52. Actors Lindsay and
Sidney Greenbush (TV: “Little
House on the Prairie”) are 51.
Actor-comedian Jamie Kennedy
is 51. Actor Octavia Spencer
is 51. Actor Justin Henry is 50.
Rapper Daz Dillinger is 48. Actor
Molly Sims is 48. Actor Erinn
Hayes is 45. Actor Cillian Murphy
is 45. Actor Corbin Allred is 42.
Actor-singer Lauren Frost is 36.
Olympic gold medal gymnast
Aly Raisman is 27.
— Associated Press
Impeachment witness sues for $1.8M in legal fees
BY ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
Andrew Harnik/AP file
Gordon Sondland, then the U.S. ambassa-
dor to the European Union, center, appears
before the House Intelligence Committee
in Washington in 2019. Sondland, from Or-
egon, was a pivotal witness in the 2019 im-
peachment of Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON — Gordon Sond-
land, the Trump administration’s am-
bassador to the European Union and a
pivotal witness in 2019 impeachment
proceedings, sued former Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo on Monday in an
effort to recoup $1.8 million he racked
up in legal expenses.
Sondland, a Portland hotel magnate
who previously donated $1 million to
Donald Trump’s inaugural commit-
tee, alleges in the lawsuit filed in fed-
eral court in Washington that Pompeo
had committed to reimburse his le-
gal expenses after he was subpoenaed
by House Democrats to testify in an
impeachment case that accused the
then-president of withholding military
aid from Ukraine while demanding
an investigation into political rival Joe
Biden and his son Hunter.
Instead, Sondland says, Pompeo “re-
neged on his promise” after learning the
details of Sondland’s testimony.
“With the contractual commitment
of Pompeo having been abandoned ap-
parently for political convenience, Am-
bassador Sondland turns to this Court
to reimburse his attorneys’ fees and
costs and make him whole,” Sondland’s
lawyer, Mark Barondess, wrote in his
lawsuit.
A spokesperson for Pompeo called
the lawsuit “ludicrous” and said
Pompeo was “confident the court will
see it the same way.”
In testimony that Sondland’s law-
suit describes as “highly fraught, highly
charged and highly risky with tremen-
dous consequences,” he described for
investigators how Trump and his law-
yer, Rudy Giuliani, explicitly sought a
“quid pro quo” with Ukraine, leveraging
an Oval Office visit for political investi-
gations of Democrats.
Trump was impeached by the House
but acquitted in February 2020 by the
Senate.
Sondland was fired days after
Trump’s acquittal “simply for telling the
truth,” according to the lawsuit. He says
the unwillingness to cover his legal fees
not only represented a breach of com-
mitment and “normal convention” but
was also “especially problematic in this
instance because the amount of prepa-
ration needed to comply with the sub-
poenas was staggering.”
Testing’s value shrinks as vaccines beat back virus
BY MATTHEW PERRONE
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Federal health
officials’ new, more relaxed recommen-
dations on masks have all but eclipsed
another major change in guidance
from the government: Fully vaccinated
Americans can largely skip getting
tested for the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention said last week most peo-
ple who have received the full course of
shots and have no COVID-19 symptoms
don’t need to be screened for the virus,
even if exposed to someone infected.
The change represents a new phase
in the epidemic after nearly a year in
which testing was the primary weapon
against the virus. Vaccines are now cen-
tral to the response and have driven
down hospitalizations and deaths dra-
matically.
Experts say the CDC guidance re-
flects a new reality in which nearly half
of Americans have received at least one
shot and close to 40% are fully vacci-
nated.
“At this point we really should be
asking ourselves whether the benefits
of testing outweigh the costs — which
are lots of disruptions, lots of confu-
sion and very little clinical or public
health benefit,” said Dr. A. David Paltiel
of Yale’s School of Public Health, who
championed widespread testing at col-
leges last year.
While vaccinated people can still
catch the virus, they face little risk of
serious illness from it. And positive test
results can lead to what many experts
now say are unnecessary worry and in-
terruptions at work, home and school,
Vaccinated
Continued from A1
The county’s status allows
venues to offer the new vacci-
nation sections. Users of the
vaccinated sections must have
received both of the two-shot
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines,
or the one-shot Johnson &
Johnson vaccine. Two weeks
must have passed since the last
shot, the minimum time health
officials believe is needed for
full protection from the vac-
cine.
Unlike other parts of the
country, Oregon requires proof
of vaccination.
People in vaccinated sec-
tions will be required to show a
CDC-issued vaccination card,
or a digital or printed copy.
Nonvaccinated children up
to age 15 can sit in vaccinated
sections with their parent or
guardian.
Oregon officials hope tele-
vised shots of fans in what
recalls the old pre-pandemic
playoff pandemonium will
boost flagging inoculation
rates.
Though the new policy will
make a high-profile public de-
but in the NBA playoffs, the
same rules can be followed to
experience movies, theater,
restaurants and other indoor
activities in any county that
meets the vaccination mark.
While those sitting in vacci-
nation sections must be fully
vaccinated, the plan is available
in any county that has reached
the state’s target of having 65%
of residents receiving at least
one vaccine shot.
Deschutes, Washington,
Lincoln, Hood River and Ben-
ton counties have reached the
threshold, which allowed them
to move into the lower risk
level for COVID-19 infection
despite having case rates that
were higher than the maxi-
mum requirements for the
least restrictive measures.
Multnomah joins the group
1 million tests
Matt Rourke/AP file
On a national level, the supply of
COVID-19 tests now vastly surpasses
demand. U.S. officials receive reports
of about 1 million tests per day, down
from a peak of over 2 million in mid-
January, though many rapid tests done
at home and workplaces go uncounted.
Consumers can buy 15-minute, over-
the-counter tests at pharmacies and
other stores. That’s on top of increased
capacity from U.S. laboratories and
hospitals, which ramped up testing
after last year’s crushing demand.
The U.S. will be capable of conducting
500 million monthly tests in June,
according to researchers at Arizona
State University.
A sign advertises coronavirus testing in Philadelphia in January.
such as quarantines and shutdowns.
Other health specialists say the
CDC’s abrupt changes on the need for
masks and testing have sent the mes-
sage that COVID-19 is no longer a ma-
jor threat, even as the U.S. reports daily
case counts of nearly 30,000.
“The average Joe Public is interpret-
ing what the CDC is saying as ‘This is
done. It’s over,’” said Dr. Michael Mina
of Harvard University, a leading advo-
cate of widespread, rapid testing.
With more than 60% of Americans
not fully vaccinated, he thinks screening
of those without symptoms still has a
role, particularly among front-line work-
ers who have to deal with the public.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky
said the updated guidelines are based
on studies showing the robust effective-
after it submits the mandatory
vaccine equity plan to reach
underserved residents required
of each county. Brown said the
plan was imminent and the
NBA said the Thursday game
would offer the vaccination
sections.
{div}Boyle said OHA guid-
ance on the new vaccinated
sections spells out the defini-
tions and requirements for in-
dividuals, groups and organi-
zations. It covers those engaged
in “commercial, industrial, or
professional activities.” Sectors
include eating and drinking
establishments, recreation and
fitness centers, indoor enter-
tainment, retail stores, shop-
ping centers and malls and
personal services providers.
Those in vaccinated sections
do not have to be counted in
overall capacity limits.
“A theater would need to
create a section for vaccinated
individuals,” Boyle said. “Indi-
viduals seated in the vaccinated
area would not count toward
the overall capacity limit. In-
dividuals seated in an unvac-
cinated section would need
to follow mask and physical
distancing requirements and
would count toward the overall
capacity limit.”{/div}
{div}Other larger counties
could soon join the lower risk
group. Clackamas, Tillamook,
Polk and Lane counties have
passed the 60% mark on vac-
cination.
Curry, Gilliam, Harney,
Lake, Morrow, Sherman,
Union, Wallowa and Wasco
counties are all rated as lower
risk based on their actual infec-
tion rates.{/div}
State officials said Monday
that Jackson, Marion, Doug-
las and Umatilla counties all
needed to vaccinate more than
20,000 residents each to meet
the 65% vaccination mark.
Besides the county-by-
county method, Brown has
said that the entire state — all
36 counties — will move into
ness of the vaccine in preventing disease
in various age groups and settings. Even
when vaccinated people do contract
COVID-19, their infections tend to be
milder, shorter and less likely to spread
to others.
As a result, the CDC says vacci-
nated people can generally be excluded
from routine workplace screening for
COVID-19.
But widespread attempts to waive
testing for vaccinated people could face
the same dilemma seen with the CDC’s
new guidelines on masks: There’s no
easy way to determine who has been
vaccinated and who hasn’t.
Employers can legally require vacci-
nations for most workers, though few
have tested that power, since the vac-
cines don’t yet have full regulatory ap-
the lower risk category if 70%
of residents age 16 and older
have received one shot. As of
Monday, 64% of those eligible
under the guidelines had re-
ceived at least one shot.
Large crowds sitting to-
gether without masks have at-
tended sports events in other
states that don’t follow the
COVID-19 restrictions re-
quired in Oregon. Political
leaders have debated health
agency warnings that such
situations could turn into
COVID-19 “superspreader”
events.
Oregon is not alone in cre-
ating special seating for vacci-
nated people at sporting, cul-
tural and other events. Gov.
Jay Inslee of Washington has
announced that similar oppor-
tunities for those vaccinated
against COVID-19 will be of-
fered in the state.
But Inslee and other political
leaders across the nation have
relied on an “honor system” in
which those who say they are
vaccinated do not have to pro-
duce proof. Oregon requires
businesses to ask for proof of
vaccination in order for cus-
tomers to go maskless.
Some political leaders,
mostly Republicans, have gone
the other direction and sought
to bar government or busi-
nesses from inquiring about
vaccination status or requir-
ing proof, which conservative
groups have branded as “vacci-
nation passports.” It’s the latest
political fight over COVID-19
policy pitting public health
against privacy and personal
choice that has included op-
position to wearing masks and
social distancing. Decisions to
open public schools to in-per-
son instruction and to require
civic buildings be open to the
public without any vaccina-
tion requirements have also
split communities around the
nation.
Oregon Republicans who
have criticized Brown’s emer-
proval. Even asking employees to dis-
close their vaccination status is viewed
as intrusive by many employment-law
specialists.
For now, testing appears to be con-
tinuing unchanged in places that ad-
opted the practice, from offices to meat-
packing plants to sports teams.
As recently as this winter, many health
experts were calling for a huge testing ef-
fort to safely reopen schools, offices and
other businesses. But that was before it
was known how effective the vaccine
would be in the real world, how quickly
it could be distributed and whether it
would protect against variants.
“The vaccines overperformed, which
is the best news possible,” said Dr. Jef-
frey Engel of the Council of State and
Territorial Epidemiologists.
gency orders that have given
her wide latitude over public
life in the name of preserving
public health. The new policy
has some in the GOP advocat-
ing for the honor system put in
place by Inslee, a Democrat.
“Does Governor Brown be-
lieve that Washingtonians are
more trustworthy than Orego-
nians?” Rep. Daniel Bonham,
R-The Dalles, said in a state-
ment Monday. “If not, why
such a dramatically different
standard and approach?”
Brown has pointed to Ore-
gon’s place near the bottom of
the list of state infection rates
and deaths as proof that the
states’ risk-and-rules based sys-
tem has served residents well.
Oregon has reported 198,972
positive COVID-19 cases and
2,624 deaths since the first re-
ported cases of the pandemic
reached Oregon in February
2020. Nationwide, there have
been more than 33.14 million
cases and 590,262 deaths, ac-
cording to the Johns Hopkins
Coronavirus Resource Center.
e e
gwarner@eomediagroup.com