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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2021)
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50 TUESDAY • June 29, 2021 CULVER, LA PINE BRING HOME STATE TITLES PREP WRESTLING • SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8 EXTREME HEAT Bend bans fireworks; Pilot Butte show stays BY BRENNA VISSER The Bulletin Lauren Tolo carries ice as she volunteers with others at a cooling station Monday on Hunnell Road in Bend. Community volunteers delivered ice, water and other cooling essentials to the homeless camp on Hunnell Road after two residents died during the extreme heat wave. Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin Two homeless Bend residents die, raising concerns about resources BY DYLAN JEFFERIES The Bulletin 26 82 See Fireworks / A4 Pendleton 84 T wo people died over the weekend at a Portland homeless camp on Hunnell Road on 101 197 La Grande Bend’s north end, and some home- 97 395 5 less outreach workers and social justice ac- Salem 26 tivists are attributing the deaths to heat-re- lated causes. 84 Madras Temperatures reached 104 degrees in 26 Bend on Sunday amid an ongoing heat 20 Prineville Sisters Bend temperature comparison wave sweeping the Northwest. Redmond The deaths have raised concerns Monday, 395 June 28, high and low Bend Eugene among residents who work with home- temperatures compared to the June 20 less people that more outreach and ser- 20 average, in degrees Fahrenheit. La Pine vices are necessary to keep homeless Source: NOAA 5 108 individuals safe from the heat. Temperatures rose Monday to 108 78 73 66 degrees and were forecast Tuesday to hit 111, according to the National 101 42 95 97 Weather Service. High temperatures will not dip below triple digits until at least Thursday, with a high of 98 Average June 28 Average June 28 Medford degrees expected, according to the June high high June low 199 395 95 low National Weather service. 5 Lt. Juli McConkey with the Bend Police Department confirmed the deaths, both reported on Sunday, High/low temperatures near Bend and statewide (As of 4:30 p.m., Monday, June 28) stating there was no indication of Sun., June 27 Mon., June 28 Sun., June 27 Mon., June 28 suspicious circumstances or crimi- City High Low High Low City High Low High Low nal activity. Bend 104 64 108 66 Portland 112 73 115 76 According to Eric Garrity, who Redmond 107 64 109 62 Salem 112 70 116 76 works with Street Kitchen Collec- tive, a homeless outreach organi- Madras 105 65 109 66 Eugene 111 68 93 69 zation, the eviction of the camp on Prineville 104 61 106 61 Medford 112 71 114 75 Emerson Avenue in Bend a few La Pine 99 60 101 65 Pendleton 110 69 112 73 days before the anticipated heat Sisters 100 59 106 59 La Grande 101 60 103 61 wave put homeless individuals in unnecessary danger. See Homeless / A4 The city of Bend is immediately banning the use of all fireworks, legal and illegal, in response to ex- tremely high temperatures and drought conditions. “The decision was pretty clear RELATED that this was an extreme safety concern from multiple angles,” • States of U.S. Mayor Pro-tem Gena Good- West weigh man-Campbell said Monday. bans on fire- works, A3 Not overwhelming first re- sponders, who already are busy the week of the Fourth of July in more normal years, was also a consideration. “For people calling in with an emergency, we want to make sure we can respond to those in a timely manner,” Goodman-Campbell said. The local state of emergency declaration issued Monday by the city manager also allows the city to use resources to provide services such as cool- ing shelters to people experiencing homelessness during the heatwave. The emergency declaration remains in effect through July 9. The ban does not make it illegal to sell fireworks, or to own them, Goodman-Campbell said. Professional shows at the Vince Genna Stadium on July 3 and at Pilot Butte on July 4 will go on as scheduled. Source: National Weather Service, NOAA Wyden: Expect feds to mobilize firefighters this wildfire season BY PETER WONG Oregon Capital Bureau The Bulletin graphic U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden says he is awaiting an an- nouncement by President Joe Biden’s administra- tion about a mobilization plan for firefighters and equipment for widespread forest fires in the West. The Oregon Democrat told reporters Saturday that such a mobilization plan is likely to require more money as well. He based his observation on a June 17 hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which heard a presentation by U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen about Biden’s 2022 budget request for the Forest Service. That budget year starts Oct. 1. “I do think it will take additional resources,” said Wyden, who sits on that committee . “I think in a matter of days, the Biden administration will be outlining the steps that I have touched on that constitutes its strategy against this grave threat. See Wyden / A14 OREGON HOSPITALS Emergency rooms are jammed after exodus of nurses After 18 years as a nurse, much of it in the emergency department, Jeremy Lail con- sidered himself a battle-tested veteran. But recently, he asked his bosses at Providence Portland Medical Center if he could go on leave. Lail said he’s over- whelmed by the horde of pa- tients seeking treatment at his TODAY’S WEATHER ER and unnerved at the erratic, angry nature of many of those patients. “I dreaded going to work,” he said. “I found myself think- ing, is this the day someone is going to pull a gun and shoot me? We’re seeing how soci- ety can devolve right now. I’ve been dealing with a lot of anxi- ety and depression.” For months, hospital work- ers have wanted nothing more Dangerous heat High 111, Low 66 Page A13 INDEX than for the pandemic to end and life to return to some sem- blance of normalcy. But the much-deserved respite has yet to begin. Instead, a combi- nation of understaffing and a tidal wave of seriously ill pa- tients who have deferred health care for months has made life in the ER as bad or worse than the height of the pandemic. It’s a recipe for disaster that is unfolding at hospitals across Business Classifieds Comics A11, 13 A14 A9-10 Dear Abby Editorial Horoscope A7 A8 A7 the country: Blend emotion- ally exhausted caregivers with emotionally disturbed patients, throw in a wave of street vi- olence and the departure of some of the most experienced workers on the wards due to fatigue and burnout, and voila, America has its latest health care crisis. Many employees argue there is another key ingredi- ent added by the hospitals that Kid Scoop Local/State Lottery A12 A2-3 A6 Obituaries Puzzles Sports A4 A10 A5-7 makes the end result particu- larly toxic: A penny-pinching mentality that allows the un- derstaffing to develop in the first place. Meanwhile, the dangers health care workers confront have changed. A year ago, hos- pital front-line staffers faced the deadly threat of infection. Now, emergency department staffers worry about assault as more patients come in im- The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper We use recycled newsprint Vol. 117, No. 329, 14 pages, 1 section paired, angry and, sometimes, armed. Oregon Health & Science University Hospital is installing a metal detector in the emer- gency room next month that all patients and visitors will have to go through before en- try. Twice in recent months, staffers have found patients or visitors in the ER carrying weapons. See Nurses / A14 DAILY BY JEFF MANNING The Oregonian U|xaIICGHy02329lz[