FRIDAY • June 25, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
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EXPLORE, B1 »
SPORTS PULLOUT, B3-6
U.S. OLYMPIC TRACK & FIELD TRIALS | STEEPLECHASE FINAL
Bend’s Lawrence finishes 7th
She misses out on Tokyo
BY MARK MORICAL
The Bulletin
Christopher Pietsch/The Register-Guard file
Bend’s Mel Lawrence (center) competes in the first
round of women’s steeplechase on Sunday night at
the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in Eugene.
Bend runner Mel Lawrence
ran a personal best but finished
seventh Thursday night in the
women’s 3,000-meter steeple-
chase final at the U.S. Olympic
Track & Field Trials at Eugene’s
Hayward Field to miss out on
qualifying for the Tokyo Games.
Lawrence, 31, finished in a
time of 9 minutes, 26.15 seconds.
The top three finishers quali-
fied for Tokyo. Emma Coburn,
the 2016 Olympic bronze med-
alist, won the race in a trials-re-
cord time of 9:09.41, followed by
Courtney Frerichs (9:11.79) and
Val Constien (9:18.34).
Lawrence stayed in the middle
of the pack for the first half of
the race but started to lose pace
with the leaders when Coburn
and Frerichs began to pull away
from the 14-runner field.
Lawrence finished eighth
in the steeplechase in her first
Olympic trials in 2016.
Also Thursday night, three
of Lawrence’s teammates from
Bend on the Littlewing Athletics
team raced in the first round of
the women’s 800 meters.
Rebecca Mehra, Sadi Hender-
son and Angel Piccirillo were all
in the same heat as they vied to
reach the 800 semifinals, sched-
uled for Friday at 3 p.m.
Only Mehra advanced, finish-
ing second in the heat in 2:01.42,
a season best for her. Hender-
son finished third in the heat in
2:02.40, and Piccirillo was ninth
in 2:06.95.
Reporter: 541-383-0318,
mmorical@bendbulletin.com
OREGON LEGISLATURE
Central Oregon weather
Potentially record-breaking
heat wave to hit this weekend
Budget panel
approves 2
new judges
Deschutes County Circuit
Court system is growing
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
The Legislature’s key budget-writing panel
early Thursday approved two new circuit
court judges for Deschutes County as part
of a flurry of spending at the end of the 2021
session.
The new judges were approved by the
Joint Ways & Means Subcommittee on Cap-
ital Construction.
The subcommittee is one of the most
powerful in the Legislature, made up of 10
top leaders from both parties in the Senate
and House.
Approval by the subcommittee almost
always signals a bill will have bipartisan
support for the final votes in the full Ways
& Means Committee and on the floor of
the House and Senate. Approval from the
House and Senate is expected as early as
Friday for the legislation to go to Gov. Kate
Brown.
The new judges address growing conges-
tion in the Deschutes County Circuit Court
system.
Deschutes County Commissioner Patti
Adair expressed support on Thursday.
See Judges / A6
Ryan Brennecke/ Bulletin photos
Aurik Griffin, 6, of Sisters, smiles Thursday as water showers down while cooling off with friends in the splash pad at Fir Street Park in Sisters .
BY DYLAN JEFFERIES
The Bulletin
A
scorching heat wave is expected to hit Central
Oregon this weekend, with triple-digit tem-
peratures forecast to reach 106 degrees in Red-
mond and 104 degrees in Bend by Monday, ac-
cording to the National Weather Service.
The weather service, which issued an excessive heat
warning for Friday through Thursday, forecast 100 de-
grees across much of Central Oregon on Saturday before
peaking Sunday and Monday. Temperatures are not ex-
pected to dip below 100 until Thursday, when the high is
predicted to be 98.
“Sunday is going to be brutal,” said Robert Brooks,
a meteorologist with the weather service in Pendleton.
“And it could potentially get hotter than anticipated.”
The long-term forecast from the weather service was
more blunt: “Sunday through Thursday ... It’s depressing,
unfortunately.”
Cooling shelters will open in Bend, Redmond and
Madras for the homeless.
See Heat / A6
Big building projects
at universities get
key OK to use bonds
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Ahriah Goss, 9, serves Matthew Platt and Ariana Swanson cups of lemonade
as her sister Adele Goss, 10, brings them ice cream cones while operating a
lemonade stand at their grandmother’s house in east Bend on Thursday. The
pair said they have had a steady stream of customers trying to cool off from
the hot temperatures the entire afternoon.
Oregon’s universities were given approval
by a key committee Thursday to use nearly
$446 million in state bonds to finance major
building and renovation projects.
A football stadium grandstand, two stu-
dent success centers, classrooms, a manufac-
turing laboratory and theater were on the fi-
nal list for $445,905,100 in bonds to be sold
to public markets.
While major new buildings will go up in
Bend, Klamath Falls and Scappoose, much
of the money will be spent extending the life
of existing buildings ranging from historic
to just old, but all with archaic spaces and
systems.
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Brilliant sunshine
High 92, Low 57
Page B5
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
A7-8
B6
B7-8
Dear Abby
A8
Editorial
A5
Explore
B1-2,9-10
History
Horoscope
Local/State
A3
A8
A2-3
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A8
B8
B3-5
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
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Vol. 117, No. 329, 18 pages, 2 sections
DAILY
See Bonds / A6
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