SAturdAy • June 26, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
MORATORIUM TO EXPIRE
OREGON IS ONE OF SEVERAL STATES THAT ENACTED A MORATORIUM HALTING EVICTION PROCEEDINGS.
WITH THAT ENDING SOON, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? • BUSINESS, A5
COVID-19 pandemic
Restrictions will be lifted statewide by Wednesday
By GAry A. WArNEr
Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon will lift pandemic limits in
place for over a year no later than next
week, Gov. Kate Brown said Friday.
“When Oregon reaches 70% or by
Wednesday, June 30, we will lift the
safety programs we have relied on and
open our economy,” Brown said.
When the deadline passes or the
goal is met, the county-by-county risk
level system will be dissolved.
“Effectively, Oregon is 100% open
for business,” she said.
Brown had announced last month
that mandates on masks, social dis-
tancing and capacity limits of restau-
rants and venues would be lifted as
soon as 70% of all eligible adult Ore-
gonians had received at least one shot
of COVID-19 vaccine.
As of Friday morning, Oregon was
less than 1% short of the target, with
31,264 more first-time shots required
to meet the goal.
But with vaccinations slowing to
fewer than 3,000 per day and record
temperatures across the state expected
to slow inoculations even more,
Brown decided to add a cut-off date
to go with the percentage goal.
To back the plan, Brown revoked
five executive orders dealing with
COVID-19 restrictions.
See Pandemic / A4
Central Oregon weather
CHLORINE SHORTAGE
MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS
BRACE FOR HEAT WAVE
Bend asks
residents
to reduce
water use
By BrENNA VISSEr
The Bulletin
In response to a chlorine
supply shortage, the city of
Bend is asking residents to vol-
untarily reduce their water use
immediately.
A critical chlorine supply is-
sue throughout the West Coast
may affect Bend, according to a
city press release. The shortage
was caused by an equipment
failure at a Longview, Wash-
ington-based chlorine manu-
facturing facility. The Westlake
Chemical company plant re-
started production Wednesday
after it received a spare part
from a local business, accord-
ing to an Associated Press re-
port.
Drinking water coming out
of the tap in Bend remains safe
to use, according to Michael
Buettner, Bend’s Utility De-
partment director.
Dan Dennings, the city’s
water conservation manager,
said the call to reduce water is a
preemptive measure, given that
the unusually early heat wave
hitting Central Oregon this
week is expected to drive the
demand for water up around
the city.
Similar conservation mes-
sages go out every summer,
Dennings said, but usually later
in July or August.
“We’re seeing those peak
season triggers happening ear-
lier than normal,” he said.
The city has enough chlo-
rine to last through August if
current restricted use remains
in place, Dennings said. But
the longer the city can keep the
demand for water lower, the
longer the city’s chlorine sup-
ply can last.
“We’re not going to run out
of chlorine tomorrow. But it
could get out of hand if we
don’t put the messaging out
and things continue like nor-
mal and we see a ramp up in
demand.”
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Morgan Schmidt, a pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Bend, makes a welcoming sign while preparing an area in the church for the public to take shelter
from temperatures over 100 degrees that are expected to continue into the middle of next week. See the forecast, Page A8.
By SuZANNE rOIG • The Bulletin
C
entral Oregon doctors say heat exhaustion is a real condition for anyone spending any amount of time outdoors
without enough water, sunscreen and shade as temperatures climb into the triple digits this weekend. Staying cool isn’t
only about comfort.
Heat exhaustion and heat
stroke are real conditions that
anyone with prolonged exposure
to these scorching temperatures
can expect, say Central Oregon
medical professionals.
The National Weather Service
predicted on Friday that tempera-
tures could be “dangerously hot”
ranging from 105 to 111 through
July 1. Saturday will be the start
of many hot days, but peaking
Monday or Tuesday, according to
the weather service forecast.
St. Charles Bend is already at ca-
pacity, said Dr. Nathan Ansbaugh,
an emergency room physician.
“People are pent up and are
traveling and out doing stuff,”
Ansbaugh said. “We hope not to
see a lot of people coming in with
heat-related illnesses, but we’re
prepared.”
See Heat / A4
See Water / A7
Researchers trace ancient obsidian
in Lake Huron to Central Oregon
A research team studying an un-
derwater archaeological site at the
bottom of Lake Huron in Mich-
igan recently discovered flakes of
obsidian, black volcanic glass, that
originated from Central Oregon.
TODAY’S
WEATHER
The two small flakes, each
nearly a centimeter long, are the
oldest and farthest east obsidian
has ever been found in the United
States. The discovery reshaped
how researchers understand civili-
zation 9,000 years ago, when cari-
bou hunters used obsidian as stone
Record-breaking heat
High 98, Low 61
Page A8
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
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tools during the last Ice Age.
The research team from the Uni-
versity of Texas at Arlington was
left with several questions: How
did the obsidian make it 2,000
miles east? And how much more
exists outside the West Coast?
See Obsidian / A7
A5-6
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Dear Abby
Editorial
Horoscope
A6
B5
A6
Local/State
Lottery
Nation/World
A2-4
B2
A7
Submitted
A scuba diver with a research team from the university of
texas at Arlington looks for artifacts in 2015 at the bottom of
Lake Huron in Michigan.
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A6
B4
B1-2
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
newsprint
Vol. 117, No. 329, 14 pages, 2 sections
In a story with the headline
“Big building projects at uni-
versities get key OK to use
bonds,” which appeared Fri-
day, June 25, on Page A1, the
amount of money raised by
student fees for the Student
Success Center at Oregon
State University-Cascades
was misstated. Student fees
will raise $5 million.
The Bulletin regrets the
error.
DAILY
By KyLE SPurr
The Bulletin
Correction
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