A2 THE BULLETIN • THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2021 The Bulletin How to reach us CIRCULATION Didn’t receive your paper? Start or stop subscription? 541-385-5800 PHONE HOURS 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and holidays GENERAL INFORMATION LOCAL, STATE & REGION DESCHUTES COUNTY 129 new cases COVID-19 data for Wednesday, June 23: Deschutes County cases: 10,041 (14 new cases) Deschutes County deaths: 82 (zero new deaths) Crook County cases: 1,294 (3 new cases) Crook County deaths: 23 (zero new deaths) Jefferson County cases: 2,375 (4 new cases) Jefferson County deaths: 39 (zero new deaths) Oregon cases: 207,333 (233 new cases) Oregon deaths: 2,759 (2 new deaths) COVID-19 patients hospitalized at St. Charles Bend on Wednesday: 19 (5 in ICU) EMAIL 100 June 10* 50 new cases *Jan. 31: No data reported. *June 10: Number includes several days of data due to a reporting delay. 60 50 40 (Oct. 31) 30 16 new cases (Sept. 19) 20 (May 20) 1st case 10 (March 11) March 2020 90 70 31 new cases 9 new cases bulletin@bendbulletin.com 110 80 (Nov. 14) (July 16) 74 new cases (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 New COVID-19 cases per day April May June July August September October November December January 2021 February March April May June AFTER HOURS Newsroom ................................541-383-0348 Circulation ................................541-385-5800 NEWSROOM EMAIL Business ........business@bendbulletin.com City Desk .............news@bendbulletin.com Features.................................................................. communitylife@bendbulletin.com Sports ................. sports@bendbulletin.com NEWSROOM FAX 541-385-5804 OUR ADDRESS Street .............. 320 SW Upper Terrace Drive Suite 200 Bend, OR 97702 Mailing ........... P.O. Box 6020 Bend, OR 97708 B ADMINISTRATION Publisher Heidi Wright ..............................541-383-0341 Editor Gerry O’Brien .............................541-633-2166 DEPARTMENT HEADS Advertising Brian Naplachowski .................541-383-0370 Circulation/Operations Jeremy Feldman ......................541-617-7830 Finance Anthony Georger ....................541-383-0324 Human Resources ................541-383-0340 TALK TO AN EDITOR City Julie Johnson ...................541-383-0367 Business, Features, GO! Magazine Jody Lawrence-Turner ............541-383-0308 Editorials Richard Coe ...........541-383-0353 News Tim Doran .......................541-383-0360 Photos .........................................541-383-0366 Sports ..........................................541-383-0359 Legislature on track to fund 4K preschool slots BY HILLARY BORRUD The Oregonian Oregon lawmakers plan to spend more than $67 mil- lion over the next two years to significantly expand publicly funded preschools, under a bill moving forward in the fi- nal days of the legislative ses- sion. The proposal would pay for more than 4,000 new pre- school slots in public and pri- vate programs. It comes as lawmakers speak of the im- portance of high-quality early childhood education to in- terrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and support mothers who disproportionately exited the workforce during the pan- demic. Although sizable, the poten- tial expansion under Senate Bill 5513 is roughly two-thirds as large as Gov. Kate Brown proposed for the two-year budget that begins in July. Brown called for more than $100 million to add approxi- mately 6,000 openings for pre- school students. On Tuesday, the governor’s deputy communications di- rector Charles Boyle described the Legislature’s plan as a step in the right direction. “It’s critical that we make investments now for our working families and children, particularly after a pandemic that has disproportionately impacted working families from historically underserved communities,” Boyle wrote in an email. “This is a great start that we will need to build on in future years.” Oregon only serves 30% of the children and families who are eligible for publicly funded early childhood programs, ac- cording to the education de- partment. Your chances of winning Oregon’s vaccination jackpot? 1 in 2.2M BY AIMEE GREEN The Oregonian What are the odds of win- ning Oregon’s $1 million vac- cination lottery drawing on Monday? With roughly 2.2 million adults vaccinated in Oregon so far, it’s currently one in 2.2 million. In other words, you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning — 1 in 500,000 in any given year, according to the Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention. The prizes — $1 million, three dozen $10,000 awards, five $100,000 college schol- arships and a smattering of cash prizes in a limited number of counties — are only available to Oregonians who’ve received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine by 11:59 p.m. June 27. Winners are expected to be announced in the first week of July. The odds get a lot more in- teresting when it comes to the state’s $10,000 prizes. Oregon will award $10,000 123RF Oregon counts itself among many other states offering cash prizes to residents who get vac- cinated for COVID-19. to one person for each of its 36 counties — regardless of the county’s population size. That means up until recently the odds of pocketing $10,000 were the best in Oregon’s smallest county — Wheeler, population 1,440 — where one lucky person out of about 600 vaccinated adults will take home the prize. In recent days, however, 11 other Oregon counties have added to the prizes offered to their residents, using millions of dollars of federal corona- virus money allocated by the vaccination rollout. Now the chances of pocketing some significant cash are best in Gilliam County, population 1,990, where 11 of approxi- mately 676 vaccinated adults will win $10,000 each. “I’d say your odds of win- ning $10,000 are excellent,” said Patrick Johnson, a spokesman for the Oregon Lottery, which is assisting the governor’s office and the Ore- gon Health Authority in ran- domly drawing winners. But the odds look consider- ably less impressive in Oregon’s largest county — Multnomah — where county officials ar- en’t supplementing the state’s prizes with more awards. More than 470,000 adults in the county have received at least one dose of vaccine. You guessed it: That puts residents’ chances of taking home the cash at about 1 in 470,000. The odds are approximate because state officials don’t publish the precise county-by- county numbers of residents 18 and older who’ve been in- oculated. TALK TO A REPORTER Bend/Deschutes Government Brenna Visser .............................541-633-2160 Business Suzanne Roig ............................541-633-2117 Calendar .....................................541-383-0304 Crook County ..........................541-617-7829 Deschutes County ................541-617-7818 Education ....................................541-617-7854 Fine Arts/Features David Jasper .................................541-383-0349 General Assignment Kyle Spurr ...................................541-617-7820 Health Suzanne Roig ............................541-633-2117 Jefferson County ..................541-617-7829 La Pine ........................................541-383-0367 Public Lands/Environment Michael Kohn ............................541-617-7818 Public Safety Garrett Andrews ......................541-383-0325 Redmond .....................................541-617-7854 Salem/State Government .. 541-617-7829 Sisters .........................................541-383-0367 Sunriver .....................................541-383-0367 REDMOND BUREAU Mailing address ..................P.O. 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They may not be reproduced without explicit prior approval. Lawmakers OK dental equivalent of physician’s assistant BY PETER WONG Oregon Capital Bureau A new class of dental thera- pists, working under the super- vision of dentists, would pro- vide basic services to patients under a bill that is headed to Gov. Kate Brown. Oregon lawmakers passed House Bill 2528 — the House by a 45-11 vote Wednesday and the Senate by a 20-9 vote the previous day — after they narrowed the scope of practice and expanded training oppor- tunities, according to its chief sponsor. Rep. Tawna Sanchez, a Dem- ocrat from Portland and the Legislature’s only tribal mem- ber, said dental therapists would provide services to low-income people and rural residents who often lack access to it. “This bill would create a mid-level dental care provider that would deliver appropriate dental care, with the scope of their training approved by the Commission on Dental Accreditation.” — Rep. Tawna Sanchez, D-Portland “This bill would create a mid-level dental care provider that would deliver appropri- ate dental care, with the scope of their training approved by the Commission on Dental Accreditation,” she said. “A li- censed dental therapist would be supervised by a dentist to provide care that will allow many health care crises to be avoided and to ensure rural Oregonians they have the ser- vices they need.” 47% of lawmakers say they was stark. Of the Legislature’s 55 Democrats, 41 — or 75% — said have a COVID vaccination Approximately 47% of Or- egon lawmakers indicated they’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a survey of all 89 members of the Legislature. None was willing to say they were unvaccinated. But 7% de- clined to answer the question, and 46% didn’t respond at all . The divide across party lines they’d been fully immunized. Meanwhile, just one of the 33 Republican lawmakers — or 3% of the party’s elected members in Salem — said he had. That lone Republican — Sen. Bill Kennemer of Canby — said: “It’s good for me and my family, … and I think as a senator, I have some responsi- bility to be a role model.” — The Oregonian CLOCK SERVICE & REPAIR TIMESMITHY Marvin Davidson || 541-241-0653 61419 S Hwy 97, Suite Q • Bend • Behind Richard’s Donuts Dental therapists are akin to physician assistants in med- icine. They will undergo the special training to perform the basics of dental care, such as exams, fillings and simple extractions of teeth. They will work under the supervision of a dentist. They will differ from dental hygienists, who clean teeth and perform exams. Licenses for dental thera- pists who complete accredited programs will be issued by the Oregon Board of Dentistry starting in 2025. They would have to spend at least half their time working with under- served populations, or in areas with shortages of health pro- fessionals. The Oregon Dental Associ- ation took no stand on the bill. But the Legislature’s two den- tist members opposed it. One of them, Rep. Cedric Hayden, R-Lowell, com- plained about recent cuts by the Oregon Health Authority in payments for dental care. Hayden, a dental surgeon and rancher, voted for the bill in committee, but against it both times in the full House. “I have concerns about that rare occasion that could take place when the dentist isn’t in the building and that patients being provided (service) in our low-income or rural ar- eas, as this bill specifically calls out, do not have the equity in health care that they would have had if the OHA hadn’t cut the budget.” As a nurse practitioner, Rep. Rachel Prusak, D-West Linn, said she has seen patients ad- ministered antibiotics and painkillers to combat infection and alleviate pain until they can obtain dental care. “We have to pass this bill that has been worked on for years,” Prusak, who leads the House Health Care Commit- tee, said. “It is going to increase access to dental therapy in this state.” Eight states now license den- tal therapists. pwong@pamplinmedia.com