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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2022)
A2 The BulleTin • Wednesday, april 6, 2022 The Bulletin LOCAL, STATE & REGION how to reach us CIRCULATION LOCAL BRIEFING OREGON didn’t receive your paper? start or stop subscription? 541-385-5800 COVID-19 community levels for Central Oregon The Bulletin is no longer publishing COVID-19 daily case counts by county. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mon- itors community levels of COVID-19 to help commu- nities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data. Levels can be low, medium or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hos- pital admissions and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area. The CDC lists the following levels for Central Oregon: Deschutes County: Low Crook County: Low Jefferson County: Low Precautions the CDC recommends for communities with low levels: Stay up to date on vaccines and get tested if you have symptoms. PHONE HOURS 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 EMAIL bulletin@bendbulletin.com AFTER HOURS City Club sets candidate forums for May ballot 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 DEPARTMENT HEADS Advertising Brian naplachowski .................541-383-0370 Circulation/Operations Maria Johnson ..........................541-617-7830 Finance Wendy dougherty ...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 Mark Morical ...............541-383-0318 ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin file Inmates walk in an exercise yard at the Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Madras on Jan. 21, 2021. Judge grants class-action status to lawsuit filed by COVID-sickened inmates associated press PORTLAND — A federal judge has certified a class-ac- tion lawsuit in Oregon over state leaders’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic inside its prisons. A group of adults in custody who contracted COVID-19 first sued the state in April 2020, alleging culpability by Gov. Kate Brown, Corrections Department Director Colette Peters and Health Authority Director Patrick Allen, among other state officials. The lawsuit acknowledges the corrections department has taken some measures but argues they have not been enough. “This really is quite a ground- breaking order, and decision, and it could potentially be a model for advocates in other parts of the country where they’re having similar prob- lems,” Corene Kendrick, deputy director of the American Civil Liberty Union’s National Prison Project, told Oregon Public Broadcasting this week. In Oregon, 45 people in the Department of Corrections custody have so far died after testing positive for COVID-19, and more than 5,000 people have tested positive for the virus while in custody. Magistrate Judge Stacie Beck- erman signed off on a wrongful death class that will include the estates of 45 adults who died in the state’s custody and “for whom COVID-19 caused or contributed to their death.” The other is a damages class that would include anyone incarcer- ated after Feb. 1, 2020, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 at least 14 days after they were in- carcerated. The state could appeal Beck- erman’s ruling, settle, or take the cases to trial. Spokesper- sons for the governor’s office, the Oregon Department of Corrections and the state’s De- partment of Justice declined to comment on the pending liti- gation. Attorneys bringing the law- suit have already used it to se- cure vaccines for adults in cus- tody in February 2021 before vaccines were widely available. In her ruling, Beckerman said she found the theory of the case was sufficient to certify classes. Other questions, she wrote, could only be answered by a jury, should the cases go to trial. For example, Becker- man did not answer whether the state acted with deliberate indifference, or whether that indifference was the reason thousands were sickened with COVID-19. TALK TO A REPORTER Bend/Deschutes Government Brenna Visser .............................541-633-2160 Business suzanne roig ............................541-633-2117 Calendar .....................................541-383-0304 Education Bryce dole .....................................541-617-7854 Fine Arts/Features david Jasper .................................541-383-0349 Health suzanne roig ............................541-633-2117 La Pine ........................................541-383-0367 Public Lands/Environment Michael Kohn ............................541-617-7818 Public Safety Garrett andrews ......................541-383-0325 Redmond Joe siess..........................................541-617-7820 Salem/State Government .. 541-383-0367 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 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 email .......................obits@bendbulletin.com LEGAL NOTICES email .....................legals@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. Water levels in Klamath Basin look bleak again BY GEORGE PLAVEN Capital press KLAMATH FALLS — One year after the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation shut off water to the Klamath Project amid a devastating regionwide drought, conditions appear to be worse heading into the 2022 irrigation season. Upper Klamath Lake is again getting record low in- flows following another dry winter. As of Tuesday, the Klamath Basin had received just 67% of its median precip- itation for the water year dat- ing back to Oct. 1 and 26% of median snowpack. Brian Person, a senior ad- viser for the Bureau of Recla- mation in Klamath Falls, said the agency will announce its annual water allocation for the Klamath Project on April 12. He declined to speculate whether there would be a sec- ond consecutive shutoff, but said it has been “a very diffi- cult year.” “We had a promising start to the water year,” Person said, adding the basin had above-average snowpack in November and December. “It just stopped. It almost flatlined through this calendar year.” During that time, Upper Klamath Lake inflows totaled 425,000 acre-feet of water. That is a record low, Person said, even lower than the pre- vious record of 427,000 acre- feet set last year. Person said each of the last three years — 2020, 2021 and 2022 — rank in the top five driest years on record for Up- per Klamath Lake. “That’s not a record we were hoping to set,” he said. Oregon gas prices drop 4 cents over last week BY JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN The Oregonian Oregonians will see a lit- tle relief at the gas pump this week, as prices started to trend down amid a national effort to rein in fuel prices. The state’s average price per gallon fell 4 cents to $4.68, a trend reflected around the country. The national aver- age slipped 7 cents to $4.18, according to AAA. Average prices per gallon in Portland and Bend fell 3 cents from last week to $4.76 and $4.71, re- spectively. Oregon saw its highest gas prices ever last month, reach- ing $4.74 on March 11. The U.S. hit its record the same day, peaking at $4.33 per gallon. Prior to that, gas prices had peaked in the summer of 2008. The state price at that time was $4.29, which would be about $5.65 now, accounting for inflation. The national price in 2008, $4.27, would equal $5.63 today. Gas prices are falling after an unprecedented rise over the past couple of months, largely due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, ac- cording to AAA. The U.S. and several other countries imposed strict sanctions on Russia, one of the world’s largest oil producers, driving fuel costs up as high as $130 a barrel at their peak. In response to the in- crease, President Joe Biden has authorized the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day for six months, or a total of about 180 million barrels, from the Strategic Petro- leum Reserve. The under- ground reserve where mil- lions of gallons of crude oil are stored is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy. The release of the emergency supply is driving costs back down. Even as prices drop, Oregon’s remain some of the highest in the nation, sitting at sixth be- hind California, Nevada, Ha- waii, Alaska and Washington. And within the state, South- ern Oregon continues to see the most expensive average gas price per gallon. Curry County remains most expen- sive, at $4.90 per gallon, with Josephine County close be- hind. Multnomah County has the third-most expensive gas in Oregon, averaging about $4.83 per gallon. In Central Oregon, AAA listed the average prices per gallon as $4.67 in Crook County, $4.71 in Jefferson County and $4.46 in Jefferson County. patio world City Club of Central Oregon, the League of Women Voters of Deschutes County and Connect Central Ore- gon have partnered to bring Deschutes County voters a series of five candidate forums for positions on the May ballot. The forums will be pre-recorded and published on the City Club’s YouTube channel. People may submit questions for the candidates a week prior to the event at bendbulletin.us/questions. The forums, all starting at 7 p.m., are: • April 19: Congressional District 5 Democratic primary forum with Kurt Schrader and Jamie Mc- Leod-Skinner. • April 21: Congressional District 5 Republican pri- mary forum with Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Jimmy Crump- acker, John Di Paola, Madison Oatman and Laurel Roses. • April 26: Deschutes County Commission Position 1 Republican forum with Tony DeBone and Scott Stuart. • April 28: Congressional District 2 Republican pri- mary forum with Mark Cavener, Katherine Gallant and Cliff Bentz. • May 3: Congressional District 2 Democratic pri- mary forum with Adam Prine and Joe Yetter. “The City Club of Central Oregon believes the abil- ity to engage with and hear from candidates running for office is essential to a healthy democracy. The candidate forums help educate the community about whom they are voting for in the May 2022 primary,” said Kim Gam- mond, executive director of City Club of Central Oregon. Sign up for email reminders on the upcoming Candi- date Forums email info@cityclubco.org. Oregon State University-Cascades begins registration for high school summer academy Oregon State University-Cascades has opened regis- tration for its summer academy program for high school students. The program includes classes, regional outdoor activ- ities and introductions to life on the Bend campus, ac- cording to a Tuesday press release from the college. Students can select from four different program tracks, including those that involve digital arts, business, creativ- ity and tourism and recreational activities. Those who complete the program will also receive a $500 scholarship to be used in the college immediately after graduation. The in-person academy, which is for current and in- coming high school students, occurs for five days from July 31 to Aug. 5, and Aug. 14-19. It is led by college fac- ulty and other experts. The academy costs $945 for those who sleep in the dorms, and $675 for the day option. Students will also learn from college admissions repre- sentatives about searching and applying for college. Ad- ditional lessons in the college’s career services, financial aid and scholarships, health and wellness programs and student life offerings are also provided. Road to top of Pilot Butte opening later this year, postponed until Memorial Day weekend People hoping to drive up to the top of Pilot Butte will have to wait longer than usual this year. The access gate to the Summit Road Trail will be closed starting Monday to repave the road, said Joe Wa- namaker, the park manager for Pilot Butte State Park, in a press release. The summit and the road leading up to it will be closed until just before Memorial Day weekend, accord- ing to Wanamaker. The Nature Trail and Base Trail will remain open through this time. 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