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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 2021)
A2 The BulleTin • Friday, augusT 6, 2021 The Bulletin LOCAL, STATE & REGION How to reach us CIRCULATION Didn’t receive your paper? Start or stop subscription? 541-385-5800 PHONE HOURS Jefferson County cases: 2,540 (12 new cases) Jefferson County deaths: 42 (zero new deaths) Oregon cases: 225,919 (1,382 new cases) Oregon deaths: 2,885 (8 new deaths) COVID-19 patients hospitalized at St. Charles Bend on Thursday: 33 (4 in ICU) COVID-19 data for Thursday, Aug. 5 Deschutes County cases: 10,827 (86 new cases) Deschutes County deaths: 87 (zero new deaths) Crook County cases: 1,469 (22 new cases) Crook County deaths: 24 (zero new deaths) The Bulletin had been tracking the seven-day average case count based on state data since local coronavirus cases were first reported in March of last year. Starting with the July Fourth weekend, the state stopped providing county-level data for weekends or holidays. When data is available, The Bulletin will continue to publish information about the pandemic. 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and holidays COVID-19 in Oregon LOCAL BRIEFING GENERAL INFORMATION 541-382-1811 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. ONLINE www.bendbulletin.com EMAIL bulletin@bendbulletin.com 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! 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Box 6020 Bend, OR 97708 Phone ......................................... 541-617-7829 CORRECTIONS The Bulletin’s primary concern is that all stories are accurate. If you know of an error in a story, call us at 541-383-0367. TO SUBSCRIBE Call us ......................541-385-5800 • Home delivery and E-Edition ..........................$7 per week • By mail .................................$9.50 per week • E-Edition only ...................$4.50 per week To sign up for our e-Editions, visit www.bendbulletin.com to register. TO PLACE AN AD Classified ......................................541-385-5809 Advertising fax ..........................541-385-5802 Other information ....................541-382-1811 COCC announces incentive for vaccinated students Central Oregon Commu- nity College on Wednesday announced that students and employees fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will have the chance to win $500. The community college is using the incentive to encour- age students and staff to get vaccinated before the fall. Those who are fully vacci- nated by Sept. 20 will be eligi- ble to win one of over 100 gift cards valued at $500, $250 and $100. “We know the COVID-19 vaccines are our most effec- tive tool in the fight against the coronavirus, its deadly variants and the pandemic’s impact on our personal free- doms and public health,” Dr. Alicia Moore, the college’s vice president of student affairs said in a statement. “Thanks to federal fund- ing, COCC is able to offer fi- nancial incentives as a way to say ‘thanks’ to students and employees for getting vacci- nated.” For more information, visit the college’s website, www. cocc.edu A vaccination clinic is scheduled at the COCC Ma- dras campus on Aug. 20 and Sept. 10, from 3 to 7 p.m. Anyone over the age of 12 is eligible and no photo ID or health insurance is necessary. The Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccina- tions will be available, and Spanish-speaking volunteers will be present. —Bulletin staff report STATE BRIEFING Fired Albany school leader says different values behind her ouster four recently filled positions went to white men on a fast timeline. An ex-Oregon schools leader said the people who ousted her last month never spoke to her, and the district’s work on equity — which she championed — is now lan- guishing. Board members at the Greater Albany Public Schools District fired Superintendent Melissa Goff soon after new members took over, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. Goff was terminated with- out cause, a point Goff said confirmed she hadn’t done anything wrong. She said she was removed for having dif- ferent values, such as ensur- ing equity was integrated into teaching. Board Chair Eric Aguinaga, however, said in an emailed statement that Goff was fired because she had become a po- larizing figure in the Albany community. The conflict is not the only example of recent friction be- tween elected school board members and administrators. The Newberg School Board has announced plans to repeal state policies aimed at equity including a policy that among other things, bans hate sym- bols such as nooses and swas- tikas. Those plans have drawn opposition from the state Leg- islature’s Black, Indigenous and people of color caucus and House Majority Leader Bar- bara Smith-Warner, D-Port- land. Aguinaga also disagrees with Goff’s allegation that Al- bany has been shirking com- mitments to help historically marginalized students. The chair noted that Goff’s interim replacement, longtime school leader Rob Saxton, is deeply committed to equity work. Goff argues that the process to bring in new administra- tors — including Saxton — is evidence that the district is less committed to helping students of color and other student groups the district hasn’t his- torically served well. Goff said Astoria port panel backs letter urging caution with sea otter reintroduction The Port of Astoria Com- mission voted unanimously Tuesday to urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to con- sider potential issues for port infrastructure in reintroducing sea otters on the Pacific coast. A letter was drafted by the West Coast Seafood Proces- sors Association, a trade group. Lori Steele, the association’s executive director, appeared remotely at the port meeting to advocate for the letter. The Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice was instructed by Con- gress to conduct a one-year study that analyzes the cost and feasibility of reestablish- ing sea otters. The association plans to send the letter to the federal agency prior to a final report to Congress in January. “We tried to focus the let- ter on providing constructive input and identifying the real critical issues that the Fish and Wildlife Service needs to ad- dress in their study,” Steele said over Zoom. The association reached out to the Port of Astoria asking for support because the group considered the agency a stake- holder. “There are a lot of consider- ations and issues for ports and potential impact on port infra- structure,” Steele said. The letter has already re- ceived signatures from several ports along the coast, includ- ing Coos Bay, Newport and Il- waco in Washington state. Steele said it is possible the Fish and Wildlife Service will seek greater protection for sea otters under federal law. “If that happens we will run into all kinds of trouble with trying to get permits and things like that for infrastruc- ture, maintenance and repair,” Steele said. “Those are largely, I think, the concerns from the port perspective.” Pendleton hospital reports record-high total patients BY BRYCE DOLE East Oregonian PENDLETON — The COVID-19 surge sweeping Umatilla County continues to drive up hospitalizations at CHI St. Anthony in Pendleton. Roughly two-thirds of the hospital’s inpatients over the past week tested positive for COVID-19, and more than a quarter of patients admitted to the emergency department had the virus, according to Harold Geller, the president of CHI St. Anthony. “We urge everyone to be- come vaccinated,” said Geller. On July 31, the hospital had 13 COVID-positive pa- tients in its care, the highest daily total since the pandemic began, according to Geller. If that total exceeded 18, Geller said the hospital “may need to suspend elective surgeries, but not emergency surgeries.” On Monday, the number of hos- pitalized patients had dropped to 9. As infection ramped up in the county in July, the hospi- tal admitted 24 patients with COVID-19, with 22 of those patients coming in the last 10 days of the month. Those patients were spread across the hospital’s critical care and medical units. And as hospitals through- out Oregon and Washington fill with COVID-19 patients, transferring patients to other Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian Brandon Ragsdale directs a patient on proper self-administration of a COVID-19 test Wednesday during a free testing event at CHI St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton. Ragsdale said the event gathered at least 11 cars before it opened, with many cars having more than one occupant. hospitals for a higher level of care continues to be a chal- lenge for St. Anthony, accord- ing to Emily Smith, a hospital spokesperson. Of the 25 staffed intensive care unit beds available in Eastern Oregon, only five were available as of Tuesday, ac- cording to the Oregon Health Authority. “The governor is incredibly concerned about the increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations we are seeing due to the spread of the delta variant in areas with low vaccination rates,” Charles Boyle, a spokesperson for Gov. Kate Brown, told the Oregon Capitol Bureau. “Se- vere illness from COVID-19 is now a preventable disease, thanks to vaccines.” Boyle said the governor’s office and OHA have “been in communication with Umatilla County about what assistance or additional resources they may need” and added that the state “will continue to reach out and stand ready to assist.” Reported COVID-19 hos- pitalizations have spiked state- wide as the highly contagious delta variant rips through communities, infecting huge swaths of unvaccinated peo- ple. As of Tuesday, nearly 380 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, the highest total since January, The Oregonian reported. Lawsuit: Over a decade, Oregon has failed to create cleanup plan for polluted waters BY KALE WILLIAMS The Oregonian An environmental advo- cacy group is suing Oregon and the federal government for failing to make plans to clean up the state’s most pol- luted waterways, a require- ment of federal law. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Northwest Environmental Advocates, alleges the state and federal governments have failed to comply with the Clean Water Act, which mandates states submit to the Environmental Protection Agency a list of water bodies that need cleanup every two years. That list, ranked by prior- patio world ity, should form the basis for cleanup plans, along with a timeline for implementation within two years. The EPA is supposed to determine whether the plans comply with federal law. While the state did submit a list of polluted waterways as recently as 2017, which showed more than 3,000 bod- ies of water requiring cleanup, the state has not issued any new cleanup plans since 2010 after a previous lawsuit brought by the same advo- cacy group in the mid-1990s, the suit alleges. “The last time Oregon pro- duced any new water pollu- tion clean-up plans was over a decade ago, and those were the direct result of our having sued EPA in 1996,” Nina Bell, executive director, said in a statement. “It’s clear that Ore- gon only protects water qual- ity in response to lawsuits, so here we are again, heading to federal court.” Jennifer Flynt, a spokes- woman for the Department of Environmental Quality, disputed the claims in the law- suit, saying the state has issued plans to bring down nutrient levels and water temperature in the Klamath basin, to miti- gate mercury pollution in the Willamette Basin and another for the Columbia River, all within the last two years. where quality matters —Bulletin wire reports OBITUARIES No death notices or obituaries are published Mondays. 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The Bulletin retains ownership and copyright protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising copy and news or ad illustrations. They may not be reproduced without explicit prior approval. Located in Downtown Bend is Central Oregon’s foremost wine bar/shop. It features: Wine by the glass, Premium selection of wine, Champagne, Ports and sake, Bottles to go, On-line ordering & shipping, Public wine tastings, Three wine clubs, & more! Tues-Thurs 11-6:30 Fri/Sat 12-8 Sun/Mon Closed 141 NW Minnesota Ave 541.410.1470 Live Life Outdoors patio world 222 SE Reed Market Road - Bend 541-388-0022 patioworldbend.com Mon-Sat 9:30-5:30
