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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (June 4, 2021)
A4 The BulleTin • Friday, June 4, 2021 Grad Sheriff Meet the grad Continued from A1 Miles grew up in poverty with two older sisters, and watched as her single mother suffered from abuse from the men in her life. There were even a couple times when her mother would come home after being drugged and as- saulted, she said. “We would just have to take care of her, and sober her up while she was screaming, cry- ing and just terrified,” Miles said. “It was very, very hard watching that.” At age 8, Miles’ parents were going through custody pro- ceedings, she said. Her father knew he was likely to lose cus- tody, so one day he picked up Miles from elementary school without her mother’s permis- sion. Her father then took Miles to an isolated house in rural Lake County and hid her there for a month, she said. Eventu- ally, Miles’ mother and local police found her and took her home, she said. “He thought he was saving me, but he didn’t realize how much he was hurting me at the time,” Miles said. Miles began using drugs in middle school, she said. In seventh grade, she received her first marijuana posses- sion charge at age 12, and later picked up two more possession charges by ninth grade, Miles said. She also became addicted to cocaine, meth and ecstasy. “That made me feel in con- trol over my emotions,” Miles said of her drug use. After these drug charges, and flunking out of school during her freshman year, Miles decided to check herself into rehab for a month in 2019. She chose Madrona Recovery, a youth addiction and mental health facility in Tigard. After that, she spent three months Name: Jaidira Miles Age: 17 School: Pioneer High School Hometown: Prineville (but moved around frequently as a child) Post-high school plans: Earn a associate’s degree from COCC and then attend a four-year school in Miami Favorite food: Sushi Favorite TV show or movie: The Nightmare Before Christmas If you could hang out with a famous person for a day, living or dead, who would it be?: Lil Peep (rapper) Once COVID-19 restrictions are fully lifted, where do you want to go?: Miami If Hollywood makes a movie about your life, which actor would play you?: Angelina Jolie Submitted Pioneer High School graduate Jaidira Miles at court-mandated rehab at Rimrock Trails in Prineville, she said. While at both facilities, Miles was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, along with ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, insomnia and anxiety, she said. She also re- ceived counseling for her men- tal health struggles. Although rehab had its ups and downs, Miles said the experience com- pletely changed her life. In par- ticular, it taught her the impor- tance of self-motivation and self-care, she said. “When you’re thinking you’re going to fail, that you’re not worth something, you be- lieve it,” Miles said. “When you start looking at the world as cup-half-full … it can really change everything.” After restarting high school at Pioneer, Miles graduated in February at age 16. Her teach- ers at the alternative school told her that her GED scores were the highest they’d seen in years, she said. McKenzie Kudlac, a gradua- tion coach at both Pioneer and Crook County high schools who has known Miles since her freshman year, said she was impressed by the teenager’s determination and will to im- prove herself. She wasn’t sur- prised that Miles turned her life around. “She has this quiet presence, that she’ll handle (adversity) — whether that’s education or all the things she’s been through in her life,” Kudlac said. “Some- day I will probably work for her, and I’ll be happy with that. She will run this world.” Miles currently works full- time at Taco Time and is tak- ing classes at Central Oregon Community College, she said. Eventually, she plans to move to Miami with a friend and earn her bachelor’s degree. However, she isn’t quite sure what she’ll study. “I’m too young to know what I want to do 10 years from now,” Miles said. Regardless of what her fu- ture career will be, Miles has an optimistic and assertive outlook on life after becoming sober. “I’ve learned a lot about tak- ing accountability for myself and (my) actions,” she said. “You are not a victim; you cre- ate your own reality.” e e Reporter: 541-617-7854, jhogan@bendbulletin.com Fire season Continued from A1 An effort is being made to include more nondigital warn- ings for those who don’t have cellphones or internet. One of the positive aspects of the fires last year is that they are fresh in the minds of offi- cials and residents. Evacuation plans can be used again, and the devastation likely makes residents more likely to heed warnings. Early signs show 2021 has the makings of another bad fire year. With a prolonged drought in the western North America and hotter tempera- tures earlier in the year, the idea of a “fire season” has be- come outdated. “It’s a fire year,” said Mari- ana Ruiz-Temple, the state fire marshal. The cumulative effect is a much higher likelihood of me- ga-fires in numbers and sizes once thought unimaginable. “These types of fires are not the types of fires we saw maybe 20 or 30 years ago,” Ruiz-Tem- ple said. Oregon has already been hit with 300 fires this year, twice the average over the past de- cade. More than 2,000 acres have burned, four times more than normal at this time of year. Pinpointing when and where things could get bad is impossible. But peak condi- tions for fires this summer will migrate westward. In June, the greatest danger will be in the eastern slopes of the Cascades. July will move the fire danger focus into the Klamath Basin. Last but far from least will be the thickly forested lands southwest Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office A fire burns in Clackamas County the week of Sept. 9. around Medford. “Really the bull’s-eyes rela- tive to drought conditions and that drives fire potential,” Grafe said. Grafe said the Labor Day 2020 fires were the result of an unprecedented collision of weather events: a cold front, severe winds from the east and drought conditions. A repeat of the conditions of 2020 is a long shot, Grafe said. But there are earlier disastrous fire seasons that 2021 is mim- icking. Grafe said the conditions in late spring this year remind him of 2013, which until 2020 was the worst fire year in Or- egon since 1951. Just under 200,000 square acres were burned, four homes were de- stroyed and four firefighters were killed. The shocking level of dam- age at the time is a quarter of the 2020 acreage, with much higher casualty and property damage than in 2013. But much has changed in the eight years since those fires. Or- egon’s population then was 3.92 million. The new U.S. Census data shows 500,000 more peo- ple live in Oregon today. The fastest growing area is Deschutes County, which saw a nearly 25% population in- crease between the 2010 and 2020 census. The growth has pushed more housing into for- ested areas, in what the U.S. Fire Administration calls the “wildland-urban interface.” If the forests burn again this summer, there are more high-tech tools and strate- gic planning than in 2013, but stretched to cover a more densely populated landscape. Both federal and state agen- cies have taken steps to remove fuel from forest floors and con- duct prescribed burns to pre- empt possible fire paths. But forests and property will be a lesser priority given the popu- lation realities. “Life safety is the No. 1 pri- ority; it is our paramount pri- ority,” said Jason Miner, the governor’s natural resources policy director. Grafe, the state forestry fire chief, said that in the end it will be up to residents to pre- pare their homes with sup- plies of water, food and bat- teries. Masks used during the COVID-19 pandemic can help slow inhalation of particulates from smoke. If the fires grow, residents need to look for alerts and evacuate as soon as told. “I am asking every Orego- nian to plan on being a disaster survivor,” Grafe said. e e gwarner@eomediagroup.com patio world Continued from A1 At Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners questioned Heckathorn and Pollack about leadership style, police reform and how they plan to tackle the upcoming jail levy. In 1998, Adkins ran for sheriff, losing to Jack Jones. Twelve years later, commis- sioners promoted Adkins from undersheriff to interim sheriff following the sudden resignation of Jones, who was revealed to be the subject of an Oregon Department of Justice investigation. In his retirement announce- ment, Adkins said the county would benefit from fresh lead- ership in the upcoming push for a new jail operating levy, and recommended Heck- athorn as his replacement. For the past 20 years, the Jefferson County jail has been funded in large part by a local option levy. Under state law, local governments can ask voters for up to a five-year tax increase to fund operations. For years, Jefferson County enjoyed more than $800,000 per year in extra revenue by housing inmates from Crook County, where the cramped jail was the subject of hu- Oil Continued from A1 The resolution states that the City Council will support an areawide environmental impact statement “to identify the cumulative effects that would result from existing and proposed oil-by-rail ter- minals, mitigation of safety and environmental risks, and the development and review of a comprehensive Health Impact Assessment prior to approval of any new oil trans- fer and storage permits by any state, regional or federal agency.” The resolution also calls on the city manager to write to federal representatives and senators, as well as Gov. Kate Brown, asking that they de- velop legislation that would require railroad companies to make information about both current and future oil trans- port by rail public, and pro- vide adequate notice to local man rights complaints. But with the completion of a new Crook County jail in 2019, that added revenue went away. In 2019, Jefferson County voters approved the most re- cent jail operating levy, se- curing funding through June 2022. That win was far from a landslide, and Adkins said at the time the campaign took a lot out of him. Under state law, no pub- lic resources may be used to campaign for the levy, which in previous elections led Ad- kins to devote much time off work calling voters advocating for the jail tax. Another potential chal- lenge for Heckathorn will be the next round of collective bargaining with his deputies union, which will begin in November. Now that he’s appointed, Heckathorn also must run in 2022 to keep his seat. If more than one person files to run against him, a May primary will be held. In that case, if one candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, that candi- date will win the race outright. If not, the two finalists will face off in the November gen- eral election. Reporter: 541-383-0325, gandrews@bendbulletin.com e e communities of any plans for new or expanded rail fa- cilities. The inspiration behind the resolution came from Councilors Gena Good- man-Campbell and Melanie Kebler, who in March asked the city’s environmental com- mittee to research the safety and environmental issues around oil trains and the de- railments that have happened around the Pacific North- west. Safety considerations of oil traveling through Bend has long been a conversation. The issue came to the fore- front in 2016 after a major derailment spilled roughly 42,000 gallons of crude oil in the community of Mosier in the Columbia River Gorge. 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