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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2021)
A4 The BulleTin • SaTurday, novemBer 13, 2021 Inclusion Continued from A1 In this Feb. 8, 2019, file photo, Shantel Witt is taken into custody shortly after Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge A. Michael Adler announced his guilty verdict on all counts in the death of Bend cyclist Marika Stone. ryan Brennecke/ Bulletin file photo Lawsuit Continued from A1 At her criminal trial in late 2018, the depth of Witt’s pre- scription pill addiction came into clearer view. It was re- vealed in the weeks leading to the crash that several of Witt’s doctors and pharmacists spoke to her about tapering her off her current pill regime. Days after one doctor began a taper, Witt visited a veterinar- ian to secure Xanax for one of her German shepherds. Toxicology tests revealed canine Xanax as one of the substances found in Witt’s blood. In the end, Deschutes County Circuit Judge A. Mi- chael Adler found Witt guilty of first-degree manslaughter and sentenced her to 12 years in prison. Upon conclusion of the criminal trial, the paper be- gan flying in the Witt lawsuit, as Steele aggressively added deep-pocketed defendants to the suit, according to court documents. Steele produced medical records showing Witt was prescribed 60 pills of clonaz- epam, a central nervous sys- tem depressant, per month beginning in the mid-2000s, when Witt experienced acute anxiety related to travel. And when Witt had a toe ampu- tated in 2012, she started a prescription for hydrocodone that was being filled up until the crash. “It was reasonably foresee- able that a patient who has developed a substance use disorder associated with over- prescribed addictive drugs ... will drive while impaired,” Steele wrote in 2018. “It was reasonably foreseeable that a patient who is impaired or who overdoses on their pre- Bannon indicted after refusal to comply with Jan. 6 subpoena BY DEVLIN BARRETT, JACQUELINE ALEMANY AND SPENCER S. HSU The Washington Post Former White House adviser Stephen Bannon was charged Friday with two counts of con- tempt of Congress after refus- ing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee in- vestigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was indicted by a grand jury in Washington — a rare move by the Justice Depart- ment to escalate the conse- quences of a dispute involving Congress. Court records indi- cate only three such cases have been filed in D.C. since 1990. The charges against Bannon each carry a maximum sen- tence of one year in jail and may serve as a warning to oth- ers seeking to avoid or defy the Jan. 6 committee. Attorney General Merrick Garland in a news release said the charges reflect the Justice Department’s commitment to “show the American people by word and deed that the depart- ment adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice un- der the law.” Neither a lawyer for Bannon nor a spokesperson immedi- ately responded to requests for comment. He is expected eduardo munoz alvarez/aP file President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon speaks with reporters Aug. 20, 2020, in New York. to turn himself in next week ahead of his first court appear- ance in the case. Bannon, 67, was subpoe- naed Sept. 23, one of a number of former advisers to Presi- dent Donald Trump who have balked at answering the select committee’s questions about the events before and during the riot that sought to prevent Congress from formally certi- fying the election of Joe Biden. Bannon worked in the White House in 2017, but the committee is focused on his conversations and activities as an outside adviser and activist in the run-up to Jan. 6 when hundreds of Trump supporters protesting the election’s out- come turned violent, attacked police and stormed into the Capitol building, forcing law- makers to flee for their safety. T RINITY E PISCOPAL C HURCH Love God, Love Your Neighbor, Love Yourself Worship online @ trinitybend.org Meal schedule @ familykitchen.org scription drugs while driving will cause injury to other driv- ers or bicyclists.” Earlier this year, Steele sought sanctions against Wal- greens for allegedly not turn- ing over records in a timely manner in response to one of his subpoenas. The motion was dismissed. The defendant health care providers argued that in Or- egon, for a party to recover damages for medical mal- practice, there must be a doctor-patient relationship between the plaintiff and de- fendant. Deschutes County Circuit Judge Jack Landau ultimately agreed and following a hear- ing in June, granted motions of dismissal from Walgreens, Albertsons, Central Ore- gon-based St. Charles Health System and the operators of the local health clinics Mosaic Medical, Optima Foot and Ankle, High Desert Personal Medicine and High Lakes Health Care. Former Bend family medicine Dr. Kevin Rueter was also dropped as a defendant. Stone was a mother of two with her own successful dental practice in Bend: Mill Point Dental. Her identical twin sister, Tansy Brown, a Bend physical therapist, told Witt at sentenc- ing that she would grieve her sister’s loss, “more than you can ever understand.” Witt is currently an inmate of the Coffee Creek Correc- tional Facility in Wilsonville. Her earliest release date is Oct. 29, 2030. In September, her husband of 27 years, Kelly, filed for di- vorce in Deschutes County Circuit Court citing irrecon- cilable differences. e Reporter: 541-383-0325, gandrews@bendbulletin.com For example, at her previous position, the office of sustain- ability wanted to phase out gas-powered leaf blowers in fa- vor of electric ones. Allen’s assessment tool forced the government to pause on moving forward un- til assessing how the change in leaf blowers would im- pact landscaping contractors, who Allen noted were largely owned by Latinos. The next step sought to de- vise a plan on how to mitigate the impacts, like finding ways to cover costs of the change, or a plan to translate materials into Spanish to communicate the change. Allen has similar goals for the city of Bend. In her new job, Allen will be charged with coordinating with the Human Rights and Equity Commis- sion to ensure the city is mak- ing progress toward equity-fo- cused goals. In general, that spans be- tween internal work, like im- proving the city’s hiring and retention practices to work that bridges the gap between the city and diverse communities in Bend that often haven’t been represented in civic processes. That means removing bar- riers that currently exist, Allen said. For example, Allen and members of the Human Rights and Equity Commission are currently looking at ways the city’s website can be more ac- cessible to more people, like changing font types and size for people who are visually impaired, or making the web- site more intuitive for people wanting to engage on a certain topic. “If we are saying we are wanting to put community at the forefront, then it takes these steps to authentically en- gage with them,” Allen said. “I’m a success not only because of my natural grit ... but also access to programming and services specific to Native Americans. Those programs and services gave me the tools to survive at the time and now thrive.” — Anna Allen, Bend’s first equity and inclusion director Allen said she is motivated to do this work because she knows firsthand the difference it can make. As a member of the Shoshone Bannock Tribe in Idaho, Allen said she is no stranger to facing structural racism. In her younger years, Allen said her family was nomadic, largely not by choice, and faced being homeless. Allen said she was in and out of correctional facilities, and saw how insti- tutions failed members of her family, who struggled with mental illness and battled ad- dictions. She also got to experience firsthand what it meant to be able access certain services to improve her life. She hopes to make accessing everyday ser- vices easier for people like her. “I’m a success not only be- cause of my natural grit ... but also access to programming and services specific to Native Americans. Those programs and services gave me the tools to survive at the time and now thrive,” she said. “But I still look back and think about so many moments if something would have been slightly dif- ferent in a service I was receiv- ing how it would have just cat- apulted me even further.” e Reporter: 541-633-2160, bvisser@bendbulletin.com
