FRIDAY • January 21, 2022 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
Great Nordeen and Tour of Meissner races bring the
Central Oregon nordic ski community together • Explore, B1
SPORTS PULLOUT, B3
CENTRAL OREGON | EDUCATION IN 2021
Graduation rates hold steady in many schools
Crook County High School reported the highest
with a 7% leap to roughly 98.2%, a school record
BY BRYCE DOLE
The Bulletin
In any other year, graduation rates
among the Oregon high school class
of 2021 would have been hailed as the
highest ever reported.
But record-high rates in 2020
meant that many noncharter, nonal-
ternative public high schools state-
wide saw a lower percentage of stu-
dents receiving their diplomas on
time, in four years.
That held true among many
schools in Central Oregon. But new
data released by the Oregon Depart-
ment of Education on Thursday has
many educators and district officials
satisfied, and others outright thrilled.
In a year marked by instability,
when students and staff adjusted
to pandemic mandates and transi-
tioned repeatedly between remote
and in-person learning, many Central
Oregon schools were able to maintain
high overall graduation rates. Some
schools posted their highest or sec-
ond-highest rates ever.
“I think it’s incredible work by our
students, their families who often-
times served as secondary teachers
this last school year, and the educators
that transitioned into a completely
different mode of delivering instruc-
tion,” Colt Gill, head of the Oregon
Department of Education, told The
Bulletin.
Statewide, the graduation rate for
the class of 2021 was 81%, a gain of
3% from four years ago as well as a
gain of about half a percentage point
from 2019.
See Graduation / A4
BEND | ADDRESSING
HOMELESSNESS
Bend development
315-unit development
proposed next to Box Factory
Council
buys
Rainbow
Motel for
$4.5 million
City envisions future
transitional shelter,
possibly City Hall site
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
Project includes
housing, retail, new
kind of road design
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
A multistory, 315-unit residen-
tial and retail development is being
proposed next to the Box Factory
in Bend.
The project would be five to six
stories tall and include a mix of
townhomes and apartments, as
well as grass courtyards and a ma-
jor change to NW Lava Road to
prioritize the safety of bicyclists
and pedestrians, according to
documents submitted to the city
of Bend by the developer. There
would also be about 12,000 square
feet worth of retail included in the
development.
The 4.7-acre site would be bor-
dered by Industrial Way and NW
Lava Road, which is currently
home to a large parking lot, a food
cart pod and the coffee shop Spo-
ken Moto.
The development is proposed by
Killian Pacific — the same devel-
opers who built and own the Box
Factory. The company also plans to
add eco-friendly design elements,
like wood siding that sequesters
carbon and pollinator-friendly
landscaping, according to a presen-
tation from the developers.
See Box Factory / A4
Manslaughter charged in fatal collision near Madras
Sergio Suarez-Sanchez
charged in death of
AnnaMarie Wallace, 56
BY GARRETT ANDREWS
The Bulletin
A Madras man is facing man-
slaughter charges following a collision
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Monday morning that claimed the life
of a Jefferson County nurse.
Police allege Sergio Suarez-Sanchez
was intoxicated when he was involved
in a two-vehicle collision around
10:34 a.m. on state Highway 361, the
Southwest Culver Highway, between
Madras and Metolius .
According to Oregon State Police,
Suarez-Sanchez, driving a Chevrolet
Partly sunny
High 50, Low 30
Page B5
INDEX
Business
Classifieds
Comics
A7
B6
B7-8
Tahoe, crossed into the northbound
lanes and collided head-on with a
Ram 3500 driven by John Wallace, 60,
of Metolius.
Wallace’s passenger, his wife An-
naMarie, was pronounced dead at St.
Charles Madras.
Suarez-Sanchez was transferred by
helicopter from Madras to St. Charles
Bend, where he was treated for inju-
Dear Abby
A6
Editorial
A5
Explore B1-2, 9-10
Horoscope
Local/State
Obituaries
A6
A2-3, 6
A4
Puzzles
Sports
Weather
ries. Police received a search warrant
to test Saurez-Sanchez’s blood for al-
cohol and other intoxicants.
A probable cause statement from
Suarez-Sanchez’s arrest shows that
though police were unable to inter-
view him due to his injuries, officers
suspected Suarez-Sanchez was im-
paired shortly after arriving on scene.
See Manslaughter / A6
B8
B3-5
B5
See Motel / A4
Clarification
A guest column headlined, “We
need more housing all over Bend,
even on Awbrey Butte” which ap-
peared Wednesday, Jan. 19, on
Page A8 included many remarks
in quotes.
To clarify, the remarks in quotes
were to show the similar arcs of
arguments that are made about
new development coming into
existing neighborhoods, as the au-
thor wrote.
They were not, with the excep-
tion of “neighborhood character,”
direct quotes from the previous
guest column it was responding
to, “West View Development is
too big.”
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
newsprint
Vol. 117, No. 329, 18 pages, 2 sections
DAILY
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
A new development is being proposed for the existing parking lot east of Lava Road and the Box Factory that includes Spoken Moto.
With the purchase of the Rain-
bow Motel off Franklin Avenue,
the city of Bend sees nothing but
potential beyond its use as a tran-
sitional homeless shelter.
“This is as big of a move as it
appears,” Councilor Anthony
Broadman told The Bulletin on
Thursday.
At its meeting Wednesday, the
Bend City Council approved
buying the 1 acre property at 154
NE Franklin Ave. for $4.55 mil-
lion.
The money for the purchase
comes from the city’s general
fund, which is primarily made up
of property tax revenue.
The city has a vision for the fu-
ture of the site to be any number
of public-focused projects, includ-
ing as a new site for City Hall, af-
fordable housing or a civic plaza.
“In terms of where the future
of our city is, this is an important
geographic spot,” he said.
U|xaIICGHy02329lz[