FRIDAY • June 18, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50 GO FISH (WITH DAD) Father-daughter duo venture to Lava Lake to mark Father’s Day, Explore, B1 SPORTS PULLOUT, B3 BEND City works to secure two homeless shelters Council finalizes purchase of Bend Value Inn pending grant money BY BRENNA VISSER The Bulletin The city of Bend is closer to getting two permanent homeless shelters off the ground. On Wednesday, the Bend City Council voted to finalize the purchase of the Bend Value Inn, which would be turned into temporary housing for homeless residents, on the condition that the city is awarded grant money from the state. Unlike a warming shelter, which only allows people to stay at night, this shelter at 2346 NE Division St. would have 28 rooms for homeless residents to live in like a home, albeit on a tem- porary basis. “I’m really excited that we are look- ing at a concrete option for this type of housing,” Councilor Gena Good- man-Campbell said Wednesday. The money is expected to come from Project Turnkey, a state program operated by the Oregon Community Foundation that gives local commu- nities and nonprofits funding to reno- vate hotels and turn them into home- less shelters. After a series of setbacks put Bend at the back of the line for this funding earlier this year, an expected infusion of an additional $9.7 million into the state program is putting the city back in play for paying for the majority of this project with grant dollars, said Carolyn Eagan, the city’s economic development director. Guests wait in line June 9 to check into the home- less shelter at 275 NE Second St. in Bend . Ryan Brennecke/ The Bulletin See Shelters / A4 Bend | Library plans LEGISLATURE Residents urge board to reconsider expansion plans Cooperation on tax, housing issues bring end of session closer BY GARY A. WARNER Oregon Capital Bureau An aerial view of the 12-acre plot of land, right, near the intersection of U.S. Highway 20 and Robal Lane is seen Thursday. Area residents are questioning the Deschutes Public Library board’s de- cision to build the new Central Library at the proposed location. Back in January, the Legislature thought it would be adjourning for good on Friday. Too optimistic. Midweek, lawmakers seemed doomed to working right through to the consti- tutional deadline of 11:59 p.m. June 27, with maybe a break for Father’s Day. Too pessimistic. House and Senate members headed for the exits Thursday afternoon with a few hours of sunlight left to spare and word not to be back in Salem for floor sessions until Monday. “They didn’t really want to work on Saturday, either,” Rep. Jack Zika, R-Red- mond, said of his colleagues in the other party and other chamber. Lips that are rarely zipped stayed shut as sheaves of bills and resolutions moved swiftly through the Legislature. The work was a late-session nod to the reality that bills cannot be amended on the floor of the House or Senate. Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin See Legislature / A6 A growing number of Bend residents are questioning the Deschutes Public Library Board’s plan to build a new Central Library on 12 acres off U.S. Highway 20 and Robal Lane. The plan is the result of a $195 million bond approved by voters in the fall to build the new library, double the size of the Redmond Li- brary and upgrade the other county libraries. But residents say the bond mea- sure never explained where the new library would be built. They worry the proposed location offers poor access off the highway and would be better suited in other parts of Bend. Anne Ness, a newly elected library board member who will be sworn in at the July 14 meeting, is listening to the concerned citizens. Ness, a retired teacher from Sunriver, plans to ask the board to stall its plans and consider the public input. “I would hope that we would be able to take a pause, even if it’s for a month or two, to really go look at our plans,” Ness said. “I’m hop- ing there would be an opportunity to seek more information from the community.” At the last library board meet- ing June 9, several residents spoke against the current Central Library location. Speakers included Bend City Councilor Anthony Broad- man, Bend Park & Recreation Dis- trict board member Ariel Mendez, Bill Gregoricus of the Central Ore- gon Coalition for Access and Louis Capozzi, board president of the Council on Aging of Central Ore- gon. See Library / A6 2 Japanese nationals assaulted, allegedly by Oregon inmate NOELLE CROMBIE The Oregonian The brutal assault of two Japanese women, allegedly by an escaped inmate, prompted a blistering letter from the Japanese government to Or- TODAY’S WEATHER egon Gov. Kate Brown, ques- tioning how the Department of Corrections allowed the 14-time felon to slip away and warning of economic conse- quences as a result. The letter from Consul Mostly sunny High 87, Low 54 Page B5 INDEX General Masaki Shiga of the Consular Office of Japan in Portland came about two weeks after Jedaiah Lunn, 36, walked away from an inmate work crew in Wash- ington County and, accord- Business Classifieds Comics A7-8 B6 B7-8 ing to Shiga, beat the two women with a large stick, leaving both with critical in- juries. The incident, apparently the result of a breakdown in security, may threaten Dear Abby A6 Editorial A5 Explore B1-2, 9-10 Horoscope Local/State Lottery A6 A2 B4 Obituaries Puzzles Sports Oregon’s relationship with Japan, a longtime economic and trade partner. The consulate’s letter was pointed and detailed poten- tial consequences. Tenants get reprieve; landlords get assistance BY PETER WONG Oregon Capital Bureau Oregon lawmakers reached an agree- ment that will give tenants 60-day pro- tection from eviction proceedings if they show their landlords they have applied for rental assistance in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. The agreement, which the House ap- proved Thursday, also guarantees that landlords will be paid all of their past- due rent from the state program. Under an earlier state program, landlords had to forgo 20% Doc ument 3. of qx past-due d 2/ 22/ rents 05 to 1: obtain 07 PM payment for the other 80%. See Assault / A4 A8 B8 B3-5 See Tenants / A4 The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper We use recycled newsprint Vol. 117, No. 329, 18 pages, 2 sections DAILY BY KYLE SPURR The Bulletin U|xaIICGHy02329lz[ Pa ge