THURSDAY • October 21, 2021
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $3
IN GO! » Couch surf the world with virtual travels
VIRTUAL YOSEMITE
SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
Sign of the season
West side of McKenzie Pass Highway to close Thursday
Accused
in assault,
man sues
alleged
victim
Bend runner Mark
Richard Mastalir was
arrested for alleged
assault on Uber driver
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
A vehicle drives through a large lava field at the summit of McKenzie Pass near the Dee Wright Observatory on Wednesday.
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
BY KYLE SPURR • The Bulletin
T
he west section of McKenzie Pass High-
way, near the state Highway 126 junc-
tion to the Dee Wright Observatory,
will close at 10 a.m. Thursday due to
expected snowfall, according to the Oregon De-
partment of Transportation.
The closure will be in place from milepost 62,
about 7 miles east of the Highway 126 junction,
to milepost 72, near the observatory.
Travel on the east side of the highway will re-
main open from Sisters to the observatory. The
entire highway is expected to close Monday, Nov.
1. It may close sooner depending on snowfall, ac-
cording to the state transportation department.
“It really has to do with snowfall and snow
plow resources,” said ODOT spokesperson
Kacey Davey.
The highway, also called state Highway 242,
will reopen in late spring or summer 2022, de-
pending on road conditions following the winter
season.
The 37-mile scenic route, with a summit
at 5,325-feet elevation, traditionally closes in
mid-November when snow starts to accumulate
and it becomes difficult for crews to remove the
snow.
The earliest closure of the highway was Oct.
18, 1996. The latest closure was Jan. 10, 1939,
ODOT records show.
The highway usually opens in June and aver-
ages about 350 vehicles per day. The road’s short-
est season was in 1999, when it was only open 90
days, beating the previous record of 120 days set
in 1979, according to the records.
McKenzie Pass was the main route between
Eugene and Bend, but became a seasonal high-
way in 1962, when construction finished on state
Highway 126.
Reporter: 541-617-7820, kspurr@bendbulletin.com
An intense legal battle has
played out this year in Bend as
a man accused of assaulting an
Uber driver has sued that woman
for $1 million for allegedly defam-
ing and assaulting him.
Attorneys for the driver say
Mark Richard Mastalir is attempt-
ing to reduce his criminal liability
through an “asinine” move in civil
court, which they say will backfire.
“What you got here is a rich
bully trying to use his connections
and his wealth and his position
in the community to beat down
this woman that he attacked,”
said Greg Kafoury, attorney for
the Uber driver, Bend woman
Rhonda Bowlin. “I’ve been prac-
ticing for 47 years, and I’ve never
seen anything like it.”
Mastalir, 53, was arrested March
21, 2020, after Bowlin reported
to police that while driving the
intoxicated Mastalir home, he’d
grabbed her, pulled her hair and
assaulted her. Police found him
bloody by the side of Skyline
Ranch Road, Bowlin having suc-
cessfully fought him off using pep-
per spray, a stun gun and a baton,
police said.
Paramedics transported Mas-
talir to St. Charles Bend, where he
received staples to close wounds
on his scalp. He was indicted by a
grand jury in June 2020 and has
pleaded not guilty to eight counts
including allegations he physi-
cally assaulted Bowlin, caused
her to swerve into oncoming traf-
fic, grabbed her breasts and spat
blood on a responding sheriff’s
deputy.
See Assault / A4
Deschutes Brewery closes Over half of most serious juvenile
make commutation list
Roanoke, Virginia, taproom offenders
List includes four
Pandemic restrictions that
have upended the economy
and forced the closure of nu-
merous Bend businesses have
caused another casualty. This
time it’s the Deschutes Brew-
ery Tasting Room in Roanoke,
Virginia.
Michael LaLonde, president
and CEO of Deschutes Brew-
ery, announced Wednesday
that after four years of opera-
tion, Deschutes will not renew
its lease for the taproom and
will cease its operations at the
end of the year.
The pandemic has laid
waste to hundreds of pubs and
restaurants across the country
amid on-and-off lockdowns,
TODAY’S
WEATHER
BY NOELLE CROMBIE
The Oregonian
Deschutes Brewery/Submitted photo
Patrons crowd into the Deschutes Brewery taproom in downtown Roa-
noke, Virginia, which opened for business in 2017.
supply chain disruptions and
challenges in finding workers.
Foot traffic to breweries and
pubs has fallen off during the
Cloudy
High 69, Low 44
Page A12
INDEX
pandemic in many cities, hurt-
ing bottom lines and leading to
closures.
See Deschutes / A14
Business
Classifieds
Comics
A11 , 1 3
A14
A9-10
Dear Abby
Editorial
Events
A7
A8
GO!
More than half of the peo-
ple serving time in Oregon
prisons for crimes they com-
mitted as juveniles will be
eligible to seek parole or in
some cases released outright
under a commutation plan
by Gov. Kate Brown.
About three-quarters of
the estimated 250 prisoners
who meet Brown’s criteria
were sentenced under Mea-
sure 11, the state’s mandatory
minimum sentencing law,
which applies to the most se-
rious crimes, including sex-
Horoscope
Local/State
Lottery
A7
A2-3
A6
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A4
A10
A5-7
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
newsprint
Vol. 117, No. 329, 38 pages, 2 sections
The governor’s criteria
does not apply to people
convicted of crimes as juve-
niles whose projected release
dates are in 2050 or later or
those who were convicted as
juveniles but are also serving
time for offenses they com-
mitted as adults.
So Kip Kinkel — who fa-
tally shot his parents before
killing two students and
wounding 24 others at Thur-
ston High School — in 1998
isn’t among the group.
Brown’s office released to
The Oregonian the names
of all offenders who met
her criteria. The list is com-
prised of people who com-
mitted crimes as young as 14
through 17 and are now in
the adult prison system.
See Commutation / A4
SUN/THU
convicted in 2001
Redmond killing
BY MICHAEL KOHN
The Bulletin
ual abuse, rape and murder.
The governor’s plan rep-
resents the latest significant
effort to reexamine crimi-
nal justice policy in Oregon.
In recent years, the state has
undertaken multiple major
reforms, including rethink-
ing how it prosecutes juve-
niles.
The move will apply to
some notorious young kill-
ers, further fanning the sim-
mering philosophical debate
about where victims and
their families fit in the re-
form picture.
Brown wants to emphasize
crime prevention and reha-
bilitation over “harsh pun-
ishments and lengthy and
costly prison sentences,” said
her spokesperson Elizabeth
Merah.
U|xaIICGHy02330rzu