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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2021)
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50 TUESDAY • December 21, 2021 Did COVID stifle Oregon entrepreneurship? Data suggests the opposite » Business, A11 SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8 U.S. judge sanctions St. Charles’ attorney in hospital labor dispute Law firm ordered to pay court more than $40,000 Oregon Public Broadcasting A law firm representing St. Charles Health System has been ordered to pay more than $40,000 for attempting to mis- lead a federal judge about well-established labor law, according to a recent court order. The penalty stems from a historic 11- day worker strike at the Bend hospital in March, when about 140 technicians and technologists in the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals picketed over stalled contract negotiations. Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane signed a rebuke of St. Charles’ legal strategy leading up to the walkout. The judge found an attorney rep- resenting the health system sought a tem- porary restraining order against the union “in bad faith.” “Taking note of the tense negotiations going on behind the scenes, the Court finds that the goal of this action was not to ad- vance a valid legal argument or claim, but rather to gain a valuable negotiating chip,” McShane wrote in a Dec. 16 order. See St. Charles / A14 Redmond police officer enters DUII diversion BY GARRETT ANDREWS The Bulletin The Redmond police offi- cer arrested in the summer for alleged drunken driving has resolved her case by entering a diversion program. Hannah Copeland entered the alternative sentencing program in October and in exchange, the state dropped a count of reckless driving and one of reckless endangering. Copeland was arrested by Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies in August after crash- ing her Jeep on Cline Falls Road north of Bend. Diversion is available in Or- egon to people who have not been arrested for impaired driving within the past 15 years. See Officer / A14 Surviving the virus meant restoring the fun at Sun Mountain Fun Center 2 21 Stories of recovery in Central Oregon With the pandemic still a part of daily life, nothing about 2021 was easy for Central Oregon residents. But there were triumphs, large and small, and bright moments worth noting. This is the first in a series. S cott Ramsay, president of Sun Mountain Fun Center in Bend, struggled mightily in 2020 amid the succession of COVID-19 lockdowns. The doors to his busi- ness were locked, but the bills kept com- ing, along with repayments on a loan he had taken out in 2019. “When they put us in a second lock- down we were really wondering how long this would continue,” Ramsay said re- cently. “There were times of uncertainty. We were trying to keep our employees and make them understand that we were do- ing the best we could do.” After the winter COVID-19 surge a year ago and the reopening of businesses in early 2021, Sun Mountain was able to accept customers again, and this year the Fun Center is back on track and profitable again. The business hours have been lim- ited due to a lack of employees, but when they are open the place is packed. “On the weekends we are just slammed. It seems like people are just dying to get out,” said Ramsay. Customers have been able to enjoy new activities as Ramsay put the loan to good use by carrying out a full-scale renovation. New attractions include laser tag and vir- tual reality. “The look of the place is completely dif- ferent. It’s like a whole new place,” he said. But all those returning customers caught Ramsay off guard. The business Scott Ramsay in the arcade area at Sun Mountain Fun Center in Bend on Dec. 8. Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin went from a locked-up shell to a place filled again with giddy children and their proud parents. “It was a little overwhelming, to be hon- est,” said Ramsay. “Our employees were used to having time off and suddenly were we inundated with people who were dying to get out and have fun.” Down nine staff members, Ramsay has been enlisting family members to help fill in the gaps. His 81-year-old father buses tables and his mom, 80, runs the minia- ture golf course. YOUTHBUILD Program to train future child care workforce BY ZACK DEMARS The Bulletin A Central Oregon nonprofit’s youth education program known for building homes is aiming to build new child care workers, too. Heart of Oregon Corps an- nounced this month plans to launch a child and youth develop- ment track for its YouthBuild pro- gram, offering 16- to 24-year-olds an entry into the industry badly in need of additional resources. While the program won’t have an immediate impact on the num- ber of open child care slots in the region, Executive Director Laura Handy said the main goal of the program is to empower youth who have cycled out of the school system, particularly those from low-income backgrounds and who need to boost their résumés. “We want to open those doors back up,” Handy told The Bulletin. Crook, Jefferson and Deschutes counties are all considered “child care deserts,” meaning there aren’t nearly enough open child care spots for the number of kids in the county who need one. Just 22% of Deschutes County’s children age 0-5 had access to child care before the pandemic, according to the most recent research from Oregon State University. Heart of Oregon Corps since 2009 has offered a version of the program offering students construc- tion training and hands-on volun- teer experience building affordable housing in the region, but the new track is the program’s first foray into another field. See YouthBuild / A4 See Recovery / A14 Cloudy High 49, Low 39 Page A13 TODAY’S WEATHER INDEX Business Classifieds Comics Dear Abby A11,13 A14 A9-10 A7 The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper Vol. 117, No. 329, 14 pages, 1 section Editorial Horoscope Kid Scoop Local/State A8 A7 A12 A2 Lottery Puzzles Sports Weather A6 A10 A5-7 A13 We use recycled newsprint DAILY BY MICHAEL KOHN • The Bulletin U|xaIICGHy02329lz[
