A2 THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2021
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GENERAL
INFORMATION
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
DESCHUTES COUNTY
COVID-19 data for Tuesday, June 15:
Deschutes County cases: 9,948 (6 new cases)
Deschutes County deaths: 81 (1 new death)
Crook County cases: 1,280 (4 new cases)
Crook County deaths: 23 (zero new deaths)
Jefferson County cases: 2,357 (2 new cases)
Jefferson County deaths: 38 (zero new deaths)
Oregon cases: 205,459 (314 new cases)
Oregon deaths: 2,737 (7 new deaths)
COVID-19 patients hospitalized at
St. Charles Bend on Tuesday: 28 (7 in ICU)
New COVID-19 cases per day
129 new cases
EMAIL
74
new
cases
100
90
80
50
new
cases
(Nov. 14)
*Jan. 31: No
data reported.
June 10:
Number
includes several
days of data
due to a
reporting delay.
70
60
50
40
31 new cases
(Oct. 31)
30
16 new cases
(July 16)
(Sept. 19)
9 new cases
bulletin@bendbulletin.com
110
(April 10)
(Feb. 17)
8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
120
(May 8)
7-day
average
(Nov. 27)
130
115 new
cases
(Jan. 1)
47 new cases
28 new cases
ONLINE
(April 29)
108 new cases
90
new
cases
BULLETIN
GRAPHIC
125 new cases
(Dec. 4)
Vaccines are available.
Find a list of vaccination
sites and other information
about the COVID-19
vaccines online:
centraloregoncovidvaccine.com
If you have questions, call
541-382-4321.
541-382-1811
www.bendbulletin.com
SOURCES: OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY,
DESCHUTES COUNTY HEALTH SERVICES
20
(May 20)
1st case
10
(March 11)
March 2020
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December January 2021 February
March
April
May
June
AFTER HOURS
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Street .............. 320 SW Upper Terrace Drive
Suite 200
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Bend, OR 97708
B
ADMINISTRATION
Publisher
Heidi Wright ..............................541-383-0341
Editor
Gerry O’Brien .............................541-633-2166
State may ease liability laws for prescribed fire
Landowners would be more likely to reduce
underbrush with lower standards for liability
BY SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
SALEM — Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown on Monday signed
into law House Bill 2571,
which could potentially lead to
a change in liability standards
for prescribed fire.
The new law may help ex-
pand the use of prescribed fire
in Oregon.
Prescribed fire, also known
as prescribed burn, is a fire set
intentionally to reduce under-
brush, dead trees and other
woody material that can fuel
small fires, turning them into
catastrophic blazes.
House Bill 2571 directs
agencies and forest industry
leaders to study liability op-
tions for prescribed fires. This
is important because land-
owners nationwide cite liabil-
ity concerns as one of the top
reasons they’re reluctant to use
prescribed fire.
“Stricter liability stan-
dards deter people from do-
ing prescribed burns because
they’re afraid of getting sued if
there’s an escape,” said Lenya
Quinn-Davidson, who directs
the Northern California Pre-
scribed Fire Council. “As a
burn boss, you take on a lot of
personal responsibility.”
The U.S. has three main lia-
bility standards for prescribed
burning: strict liability, which
holds a person responsible for
harm even if he wasn’t negli-
gent; simple negligence, which
holds a person responsible if he
didn’t take reasonable care; and
gross negligence, which holds
someone responsible only if he
showed reckless disregard for
safety.
Most states, including Or-
egon, have simple negligence
standards. Eight use a gross
negligence standard.
In states with lower liabil-
ity standards, people conduct
more prescribed burns. Or-
egon, for example, a simple
negligence state, burned only
200,629 acres in 2019, while
Florida, a gross negligence
state, burned more than 1 mil-
lion acres the same year.
To provide an incentive for
more prescribed burning on
private lands, Oregon is ex-
ploring shifting from simple to
gross negligence.
But the law passed Monday
won’t automatically change
Oregon’s liability standard.
Instead, it’ll open the conver-
sation and prompt a study —
first steps.
“It’s not 100% clear yet if
changing the standard will
enable more prescribed fire,
but we do want to have that
conversation,” said Jenna
Knobloch, administrative co-
ordinator at the Oregon Pre-
scribed Fire Council.
The new law directs the De-
partment of Consumer and
Business Services to consult
with the state Forestry De-
partment, Oregon Forest and
Industries Council, Oregon
Small Woodlands Association,
Oregon State University, the
Oregon Prescribed Fire Coun-
cil and a representative of the
insurance industry to study li-
ability and insurance coverage
options for prescribed fires.
The study’s results will be
used to craft future prescribed
fire policies and incentives.
is exceedingly rare in Bend,
Murphy said.
“I can’t think of another ex-
ample of that occurring since
I’ve been a police officer here,”
said Murphy, who was hired in
2008. “I think Bend is still gen-
erally a pretty safe place.”
In response to the incident,
the Bend Park & Recreation
District, which operates the
swim facility, will increase se-
curity at Juniper Park in the
evenings, district executive di-
rector Don Horton wrote in a
statement to The Bulletin.
“This is an unfortunate in-
cident that does not reflect the
typical experience in our parks
or recreation facilities,” Hor-
ton wrote. “All of my thoughts
are with the young person who
was assaulted last evening.”
Maguire has more than 25
prior criminal cases in Oregon,
though he’s never before been
charged with a sex crime.
would still need local voter
approval to increase the tax
from its current maximum of
3% up to the 10% allowed by
the bill.
According to the Oregon
Department of Revenue, 95
cities and 11 counties currently
tax recreational marijuana. The
local tax is in addition to the
17% tax charged by the state,
which would not change under
the measure before lawmakers.
One of the bill’s biggest sup-
porters is Riley Hill, the mayor
of Ontario, which sits on the
border with Idaho and which
charges a 3% tax on marijuana.
Hill said the city racks up more
than 1,500 out-of-state mari-
juana sales each day, leading to
congestion on city streets and
more demand for city services.
Other support for the tax
hike stems from Measure 110,
approved by Oregon voters last
year. While the initiative de-
criminalized the possession of
small amounts of some types
of drugs, including meth and
heroin, it also directed some
existing marijuana taxes to-
ward expansion of addiction
recovery programs.
According to the League of
Oregon Cities, the change in
the formula will collectively
cost cities and counties about
$25 million this year.
DEPARTMENT HEADS
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TALK TO A REPORTER
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Suzanne Roig ............................541-633-2117
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Michael Kohn ............................541-617-7818
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REDMOND BUREAU
Mailing address ..................P.O. Box 6020
Bend, OR 97708
Phone ......................................... 541-617-7829
CORRECTIONS
The Bulletin’s primary concern is that all
stories are accurate. If you know of an
error in a story, call us at 541-383-0367.
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prior approval.
Lottery results can now be found on
the second page of Sports.
LOCAL AND STATE BRIEFING
Deschutes County Clerk
Nancy Blankenship to retire
Nancy Blankenship, De-
schutes Countyclerk, will retire
at the end of July after nearly
20 years of service.
“I’m at a point in life where
I’m ready to spend time with
family and friends,” Blanken-
ship said in a written state-
ment. “It’s time to start work-
ing on the bucket list I’ve been
accumulating over the years.”
Blankenship, who over-
sees the county’s elections and
property recording records,
was appointed in 2003 and has
been reelected four times. She
previously served for 15 years
as the city of Redmond’s re-
corder, according to Deschutes
County.
In a written statement,
County Administrator Tom
Anderson thanked Blanken-
ship for her 18 years of service.
“She has been an incredibly
knowledgeable resource for
both staff and our community.
We thank her for her immense
contributions to our organiza-
tion,” Anderson wrote.
The Deschutes County
Commission will consider
Wednesday appointing Elec-
tion Supervisor Steve Denni-
son as the interim county clerk.
If he is appointed and wants to
continue in the job, Dennison
would have to run for office in
the fall of 2022.
Man charged with sexual
assault outside Bend pool
A Bend man faces felony
charges for allegedly sexually
assaulting a teenager outside
the Juniper Swim & Fitness
Center on Monday night.
John
Thomas
“Bud” Ma-
guire Jr. was
arrested after
the alleged
assault at the
facility on NE
Maguire
Sixth Street.
Maguire,
56, was arraigned Tuesday af-
ternoon in Deschutes County
Circuit Court on three crim-
inal charges: first-degree sex
abuse, third-degree sex abuse
and harassment.
According to the Bend Po-
Find it all online
bendbulletin.com
Bulletin file photo
In this November 2018 file photo, Deschutes County Clerk Nancy
Blankenship checks for voter signatures while collecting ballots at the
drop-off site in downtown Bend.
lice Department, a swim center
employee called 911 around
8:30 p.m. Monday to report a
sexual assault in the parking
lot.
The alleged victim, 16, told
officers a stranger had ap-
proached her from behind as
she walked to her car.
The girl said he started
talking to her and sharing per-
sonal information, and tried
to hug her, according to police.
The girl attempted to push
$6.00
PLANT SALE
1,375 LOCALLY GROWN PLANTS
MUST BE SOLD
TWO DAYS ONLY
We grow all of our own plants in our tiny
nursery right here in Central Oregon.
You will appreciate the fact that most
of our plants have survived at least one
winter here. If you are NEW TO THE
AREA you will learn just how important
that can be. Our customers keep coming
back because our plants tend to come
back! We only have a few sales a year
and this one will be our last sale for this
season. Come by and see what we have
to offer. You will be glad you did.
Every plant is
priced at just $6.oo
Some of what you will find is
Lewisia, Coral Bells, Coneflower,
Rudbeckia, Veronica, Salvia, Dianthus,
Gaillardia, Hosta and many more!
Come out and have a look!
61566 Twin Lakes Loop, Bend
Off Reed Market and SE 15th Street
Friday, June 18
9 am–2 pm
Saturday, June 19
9 am–2 pm
Look for the neon yellow signs.
him away and he allegedly
touched the victim inappro-
priately and kissed her, accord-
ing to police. In total, Maguire
is alleged to have touched the
girl four specific times, accord-
ing to Bend Police Sgt. Wes
Murphy.
Police arrested Maguire at
a nearby home. He remains
an inmate of the Deschutes
County jail.
An attack of a sexual nature
in daylight in a public place
Cities, and counties could
triple their marijuana tax
Cities and counties in Ore-
gon could more than triple the
sales tax they charge on recre-
ational marijuana sold within
their borders under a bill
scheduled for a vote Wednes-
day in a Senate committee.
If Senate Bill 864 is signed
into law, local governments
— Bulletin staff and wire reports