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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2021)
A2 The BulleTin • SaTurday, auguST 7, 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 COVID-19 data for Aug. 6 Deschutes County cases: 10,880 (54 new cases) Deschutes County deaths: 87 (zero new deaths) Crook County cases: 1,479 (10 new cases) Crook County deaths: 24 (zero new deaths) Jefferson County cases: 2,547 (7 new cases) Jefferson County deaths: 42 (zero new deaths) Oregon cases: 226,899 (970 new cases) Oregon deaths: 2,889 (4 new deaths) COVID-19 patients hospitalized at St. Charles Bend on Friday: 32 (3 in ICU) 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 GENERAL INFORMATION 541-382-1811 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. ONLINE www.bendbulletin.com Transparency issues surround bill ending proficiency requirements 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 BY HILLARY BORRUD The Oregonian For the next five years, an Oregon high school diploma will be no guarantee that the student who earned it can read, write or do math at a high school level. Gov. Kate Brown had de- murred earlier this summer re- garding whether she supported the plan passed by the Legisla- ture to drop the requirement that students demonstrate they have achieved those essential skills. But on July 14, the gov- ernor signed Senate Bill 744 into law. Through a spokesperson, the governor declined again Friday to comment on the law and why she supported sus- pending the proficiency re- quirements. Brown’s decision was not public until recently, because her office did not hold a sign- ing ceremony or issue a press release and the fact that the Charles Boyle, the governor’s deputy communications director, wrote in an emailed statement that suspending the reading, writing and math proficiency requirements while the state develops new graduation standards will benefit “Oregon’s Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.” governor signed the bill was not entered into the legislative database until July 29, a depar- ture from the normal practice of updating the public database the same day a bill is signed. The Oregonian asked the governor’s office when Brown’s staff notified the Legislature that she had signed the bill. Charles Boyle, the governor’s deputy communications direc- tor, declined to answer. Boyle wrote in an emailed statement that suspending the reading, writing and math pro- ficiency requirements while the state develops new grad- uation standards will benefit “Oregon’s Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pa- cific Islander, Tribal, and stu- dents of color.” “Leaders from those com- munities have advocated time and again for equitable gradu- ation standards, along with ex- panded learning opportunities and supports,” Boyle wrote. The requirement that stu- dents demonstrate fresh- man- to sophomore-level skills in reading, writing and, particularly, math led many high schools to create work- shop-style courses to help stu- dents strengthen their skills and create evidence of mastery. Most of those courses have been discontinued since the skills requirement was paused during the pandemic before lawmakers killed it entirely. Democrats in the legislature overwhelmingly supported ending the longtime profi- ciency requirement, while Re- publicans criticized it as a low- ering of academic standards. A couple lawmakers crossed party lines on the votes. Proponents said the state needed to pause Oregon’s high school graduation require- ments, in place since 2009 but already suspended during the pandemic, until at least the class of 2024 graduates in or- der for leaders to reexamine its graduation requirements. Much of the criticism of the graduation requirements was targeted at standardized tests. Yet Oregon, unlike many other states, did not require students to pass a particular standard- ized test or any test at all. Stu- dents could demonstrate their ability to use English and do math via about five differ- ent tests or by completing an in-depth classroom project judged by their own teachers. A variety of factors appear to have led to the lack of trans- parency around the governor’s bill signing decisions this sum- mer. Secretary of the Senate Lori Brocker said a key staffer who deals with the governor’s office was experiencing medical issues during the 15-day period between when Brown signed Senate Bill 744 and the public database was updated to reflect that. By the time legislative staff belatedly entered the informa- tion into the bill database on July 29, the software vendor had shut off bill updates to members of the media and the public who had requested them. They cut it off because of a July 21 system malfunction, said legislative in- formation services Systems Ar- chitect Bill Sweeney. 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 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 Nicole Bales ...................................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 Nicole Bales ...................................541-617-7854 Salem/State Government .. 541-617-7829 Sisters .........................................541-383-0367 Sunriver .....................................541-383-0367 REDMOND BUREAU Mailing address ..................P.O. 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 OBITUARIES No death notices or obituaries are published Mondays. When submitting, please include your name, address and contact number. Call to ask about deadlines, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Phone ..........................................541-385-5809 Fax .................................................541-598-3150 Email .......................obits@bendbulletin.com OTHER SERVICES Back issues ................................541-385-5800 Photo reprints .........................541-383-0366 Apply for a job ........................541-383-0340 All Bulletin payments are accepted at the drop box at City Hall or at The Bulletin, P.O. Box 6020, Bend, OR 97708. Check payments may be converted to an electronic funds transfer. The Bulletin, USPS #552-520, is published daily by Central Oregon Media Group, 320 SW Upper Terrace Drive, Bend, OR 97702. Periodicals postage paid at Bend, OR. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Bulletin circulation department, P.O. Box 6020, Bend, OR 97708. 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. Police: Medford school custodian who planned attack is in custody Man alleged to take ‘significant steps’ toward planning a ‘mass casualty event’ The Associated Press MEDFORD — A custodian at a high school in Medford faces felony charges after police say he took “significant steps” toward planning a “mass casu- alty event” — including one at South Medford High School, where he worked. The Mail Tribune reports Kristopher Wayne Clay, 24, is in the Jackson County Jail on charges surrounding a cache of guns, ammunition and handwritten manifestos found at three locations in Jackson County. Authorities say Clay ob- tained multiple rifles two years after courts prohibited him from owning firearms. Clay began working as a custodian for the school start- ing in February until an in- vestigation that began July 20, when authorities say he came into the Medford police lobby, asked to talk to an officer and confessed to having homicidal thoughts and plans to carry out an attack. The officer placed him un- der a mental health hold, and transported Clay to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Cen- ter’s behavioral health unit. Police place a person under a mental health hold when the individual poses a danger to themselves or others, accord- ing to Medford police Lt. Mike Budreau. From there they typi- cally admit a person to the hos- pital’s behavioral health ward and leave the case to mental health experts. “In this particular case, we believe that he’d taken some pretty significant steps to carry out his plan,” Budreau said. Budreau called it “unfortu- nate” that Clay had to be fully prosecuted, because Clay pre- vented himself from carrying out his plans by contacting police. “Had he not come for- ward, who knows what could have happened?” Budreau said. Clay made his initial appearance Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court on felony charges of attempted second-de- gree murder, attempted second-degree assault, un- lawful use of a weapon, and misdemeanor counts of unlawfully possessing a firearm and tampering with physical evidence accusing him of damaging or de- stroying a journal he kept at the hospital. Judge Laura Cromwell ordered no early release un- less Clay posts a 10% bond on bail set at $2 million. Ef- forts to reach an attorney for Clay weren’t immedi- ately successful. Medford School District terminated Clay’s employ- ment, according to Hurd, and the school district is working closely with Med- ford police School Resource Officers. BOARDMAN-HEMINGWAY Judge rejects challenge to transmission-line project BY MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press A federal judge has rejected arguments by opponents of a 300-mile transmission line in Eastern Oregon who sought to stop the project for al- legedly violating environmen- tal laws. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon has determined the U.S. Bureau of Land Man- agement approved a right-of- way across public land for the project in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and Federal Lands Policy Management Act. The Stop B2H Coalition and other plaintiffs filed a complaint in 2019 stating the transmission line between Boardman and the Hem- ingway substation in Idaho should have been more closely scrutinized for impacts to the greater sage grouse and other factors. The proposal has also stirred controversy for taking farmland out of production and disrupting agricultural practices, such as aerial pesti- cide spraying. The lawsuit argued that BLM should have updated its environmental analysis of the project — known as a final en- vironmental impact statement or FEIS — with new informa- tion about sage grouse pop- ulations, which have plum- meted from historic levels. While studies completed af- ter the project’s approval pro- vided new information about population counts and the effects of transmission lines, the judge said they’re “not sig- nificant or seriously different” enough to warrant a supple- mentary analysis. TODAY’S NUMBER BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Introducing Atiyeh Bros. rug cleaning and sales services to the Bend area. We’ll be in the Bend area on 8/12 & 8/13 to pick up your rugs, clean them in our state-of-the-art facility, and deliver them back to your home. If you’re ready for a new rug, our experts will work with you to select options to try at home before you commit! I18 8/7/2021 PLAY FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN $1,000 M. JACOBS GIFT CERTIFICATE! Find it all online bendbulletin.com EO Media Group File A crew works on a transmission line tower outside Boardman. A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the government’s right-of-way for the Boardman-to-Hemingway transmission line across public land. CCB#3590 BINGO cards available at M. Jacobs and The Bulletin. No purchase necessary. See complete details at bendbulletin.com
