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Happy Father’s Day
OREGON:
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Black dads form group to
share experiences in Bend
Politics,
pandemic
mark
closing
days
By GaRy a. WaRnER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Fodé Ismael Sylla, right, smiles Saturday while playing with a group of visitors to his tent
during a Juneteenth celebration at Ponderosa Park in Bend. Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin photos
By KyLE SPuRR • The Bulletin
W
hen Kelly Musgrove got together with other Black fathers in Bend three years ago, they were driven by a
singular purpose. They realized some of their children had been bullied in school for their race and struggled
with not often seeing people like them in the predominantly white city, where 1% of residents are Black.
“You don’t see anyone like yourself,”
Musgrove said. “Kids have eyes and
feelings and emotions, and they have to
connect with somebody.”
Musgrove, a 55-year-old retired po-
lice officer and father of three daugh-
ters, continued to meet with the other
fathers periodically at Bend’s Ponderosa
Park to talk freely about racial discrim-
ination and other issues. The fathers
reached out to Bend-La Pine Schools
and offered to be a resource for students
in need, from filling backpacks with
donated goods to sitting down with stu-
dents and sharing their frustrations.
The group wanted to grow its pres-
ence in Bend. A spark came last year
when George Floyd, a Black man from
Minneapolis, was murdered by a police
officer May 25. The incident set off a
national call for social justice and po-
lice reform that was heard in Bend.
“All of a sudden, we all came together
because of that,” Musgrove said. “We all
saw it and we said we have to do some-
thing.”
Floyd’s murder led the Bend fathers
to form The Father’s Group, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to enhancing
the lives of children through education,
leadership and networking.
Kelly Musgrove, a member of The Father’s Group, prepares
food at a Juneteenth celebration at Ponderosa Park in Bend.
See Fathers / A8
Juneteenth celebration in Bend honors Black culture
INSIDE
By KyLE SPuRR
The Bulletin
Bend residents gathered Satur-
day in Ponderosa Park to celebrate
Black culture and recognize June-
teenth, which honors the end of
slavery in the United States.
The inaugural Juneteenth Cele-
bration — hosted by The Father’s
Group, Cen-
• Holiday’s declaration tral Oregon
Peacekeepers
sparks scramble in
states, a9
and Embrace
Bend — fea-
tured speakers discussing the his-
tory of Juneteenth, music, danc-
ing and Caribbean food.
The event was planned months
in advance, but felt even more
timely after Juneteenth officially
became a federal holiday Thurs-
day. President Joe Biden signed a
bill making Juneteenth the elev-
enth American federal holiday.
“People have been celebrating
it long before it became a holi-
day,” said Joanne Bulley, a retired
Bend resident who brought her
two granddaughters to the event.
“I’m thrilled it became a holiday.”
Bulley, who worked as a phy-
sician for women, said she was
raised in a family that supported
diversity and was happy to see that
celebrated Saturday in the park.
See Juneteenth / A8
State lawmakers will return to
the Capitol in Salem on Monday
with an agenda fully reloaded by
legislative leaders.
Most House and Senate mem-
bers were pleasantly surprised to
be told Thursday they could go
home and not be back for work
until Monday. Both chambers
continued committee meetings,
but those could be done virtually,
as they have been since the Capi-
tol closed in March 2020 because
of the pandemic.
Lawmakers still have some
heavy legislative lifting left be-
fore they can go home. The end
of every session focuses on pieces
of the state budget, which move
through in multibillion-dollar
chunks at a time.
School building: One allocation
that has caused higher education
officials around the state to hold
their breath in the past is the cap-
ital construction bond authoriza-
tions for universities. This year’s
projected $442.8 million bond
package for seven state four-year
college campuses is in Senate Bill
5505. It includes $13.8 million to
build a new Student Success Cen-
ter at Oregon State University-
Cascades in Bend. Eastern Oregon
University is slated to receive just
over $27.8 million for the renova-
tion of Loso Hall and just under
$18.3 million for renovation and
seismic retrofitting of Inlow Hall.
In the past, tight budgets have
pitted schools against each other,
with Brown or the Legislature
switching projects and funding
around up until the last minute.
With state coffers extremely full
for the moment, the package is ex-
pected to pass as-is this week.
Redistricting only: The House
and Senate are expected back in
Salem on Sept. 20 for a special ses-
sion to approve the long-delayed
maps for new legislative and con-
gressional districts to be used in
the 2022 election. House Speaker
Tina Kotek, D-Portland, says she
plans on a short session focused
on redistricting, without lawmak-
ers wandering into other policy ar-
eas. The 2021 regular session was
hamstrung by pandemic protocols
and slowed by partisan parliamen-
tary moves. Some lawmakers have
suggested the special session could
include a catch-up on areas such as
campaign finance reform that got
short-shrift because of tight sched-
ules and big agendas. Kotek said
those efforts will have to wait for
another time, most likely the 35-
day short session of the Legislature
early next year.
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Plenty of sunshine
High 90, Low 58
Page B6
INDEX
Business/Life
Classifieds
Dear Abby
C1-8
B5
C3
Editorial
Horoscope
Local/State
A4
C3
A2-3, 7
Lottery
Market Recap
Mon. Comics
B2
B4
C5-6
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A9
C4
B1-3
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
newsprint
Vol. 117, No. 329, 28 pages, 4 sections
SUN/THU
See Legislature / A7
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