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A2 THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2022 The Bulletin LOCAL, STATE & REGION How to reach us CIRCULATION OREGON MEASURE 114 Didn’t receive your paper? Start or stop subscription? 541-385-5800 Harney County judge extends ban on parts of new gun law PHONE HOURS 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday LIVE CHAT 8 a.m. -12 p.m. Monday-Friday GENERAL INFORMATION 541-382-1811 BY GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday ONLINE www.bendbulletin.com CONTACT THE NEWSROOM Main number ..........................541-382-1811 After hours ...............................541-383-0348 Fax ................................................541-385-5804 Main email .........news@bendbulletin.com EMAIL THE NEWSROOM Business ........business@bendbulletin.com City Desk .............news@bendbulletin.com Features.................................................................. communitylife@bendbulletin.com Sports ................. sports@bendbulletin.com 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! 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Box 6020 Bend, OR 97708 Phone ......................................... 541-617-7829 Bulletin file Students study in Edward J. Ray Hall at Oregon State University-Cascades in November 2021. Legislative task force recommends changes for higher education BY SAMI EDGE The Oregonian After a year of visiting cam- puses and speaking with stu- dents around the state, a leg- islative task force focused on improving higher education outcomes for Oregon’s under- represented students approved a final report on Tuesday, so- lidifying 22 recommendations ahead of the upcoming legisla- tive session. The sweeping set of recom- mendations covers everything from increasing need-based aid for students to hiring chief diversity officers at each of the state’s universities and com- munity colleges. Lawmakers will need to prioritize recom- mendations and decide which to push forward first as legisla- tion in the coming session, Sen. Michael Dembrow said at the meeting. “What we’re getting in this report is not work that will be completed in one session,” said Dembrow, a Democrat repre- senting parts of northeast and southeast Portland and the city of Maywood Park. “There is a lot of ongoing work that needs to be done.” The task force, chaired by state Rep. Teresa Alonso León, is focused on students of color, low-income students, students with disabilities, rural students and others who are historically underrepresented in higher education. At a November meeting, Higher Education Coordinating Commission Director Ben Cannon said the task force’s efforts echo decades of work by Oregon leaders to improve higher edu- cation outcomes for these pri- ority populations. But Oregon and the country have made “too little progress,” Cannon said. “The engine of economic mobility that is higher educa- tion, that is a degree, that is a certificate, is primarily today conferred upon those who start with the greatest advantages,” Cannon said. Cannon told task force members that the gap in college completion between low-in- come and high-income stu- dents has only grown in the past 50 years. Today just 15% of students from the lowest income bracket finish a bach- elor’s degree by their mid-20s compared to 59% of students in the highest income bracket, he said. Task force members visited at least 10 university and com- munity college campuses and spoke with incarcerated stu- dents to inform their policy- making. Several students also participated on the task force work groups that drafted report recommendations. Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, and Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, task force members who were absent from Tues- day’s meeting, urged their col- leagues in a letter to prioritize several student-driven policy proposals: • Increasing funding for Open Oregon Educational Re- sources by $4.5 million. Open Oregon publishes free text- books and other class materials to help cut down student costs. • Creating a statewide com- mittee on supporting students with disabilities. • Requiring public univer- sities to establish excused-ab- sence policies for sickness, mental health and other emer- gencies. • Making student orienta- tions more comprehensive to train students on how to access mental health counseling, fi- nancial aid help and other ser- vices. • Prohibiting schools from withholding student transcripts as a debt collection measure. Dembrow said he intends personally to push forward a bill on the transcript withhold- ing. He also reminded task force members that the Oregon Student Association’s top pri- ority is to improve financial aid access for students — the very first recommendation in the task force report. “I will say in all candor, that is going to be one of the most difficult things we have to do,” Dembrow said. “We have dug ourselves into a deep hole as far as support.” A Harney County judge on Tuesday extended an earlier order blocking a key part of a new, voter-ap- proved gun law, but did not immediately rule on its most controversial part — a ban on high-capacity magazines. Circuit Judge Robert Ra- schio let stand his tempo- rary restraining order that blocks a permit-to-pur- chase provision of Mea- sure 114, a law narrowly approved by voters in No- vember. He also temporar- ily blocked another pro- vision of the new law that prevents the sale of a gun until the results of a back- ground check come back. Under federal law, a gun sale can proceed by default if the background check takes longer than three business days — the so- called Charleston loophole, because it allowed the as- sailant to purchase the gun used in a 2015 South Caro- lina mass shooting. But after a full day of oral arguments, the judge did not rule on a motion to freeze a ban on gun maga- zines containing more than 10 rounds while the courts debate the law’s constitu- tionality. Raschio has until Friday to issue a ruling. The lawsuit in Har- ney County, filed by Gun Owners of America Inc., the Gun Owners Founda- tion and several individual gun owners, seeks to have the entire law placed on hold while it works its way through a spate of legal challenges. Unlike other lawsuits filed against Measure 114, this one specifically makes the claims under the Ore- gon Constitution, not the U.S. Constitution. Prior to Tuesday’s hear- ing, the state had agreed to delay the permit-to-pur- chase portion of the law until Feb. 8 because of a lack of certified law en- forcement to oversee the in-person gun handling training class that would be required. “I’m going to continue the temporary restraining order with regards to the permit-to-purchase be- cause I’m convinced that there’s irreparable harm to the right to bear arms,” Ra- schio said. The order will remain in effect “until I receive no- tice from defendants that they’re prepared to deploy a permit-to-purchase” sys- tem, he added. Measure 114 requires a permit, criminal back- ground check, fingerprint- ing and hands-on training course for new firearms buyers that includes firing the gun with dry or live rounds. It also bans the sale, transfer or import of gun magazines over 10 rounds unless they are owned by law enforcement or a military member or were owned before the measure’s passage. Those who already own high-capacity magazines can only possess them in their homes or use them at a firing range, in shooting competitions or for hunt- ing as allowed by state law after the measure takes ef- fect. Last week, a federal judge in Portland hearing a dif- ferent challenge to the law under the U.S. Constitution delivered an initial victory to proponents of the sweep- ing gun-control measure that passed in the Nov. 8 midterms. In her Dec. 6 ruling, U.S. District Judge Karin Im- mergut allowed the ban on the sale and transfer of new high-capacity magazines to take effect. But Raschio’s subsequent order later that same day placing all of Measure 114 on hold pending further court argument threw its implementation into limbo. On Tuesday, Senior As- sistant Attorney General Brian Marshall objected to Raschio’s block on the background check pro- vision, saying that part of the law had never been challenged in the Harney County lawsuit filed by the plaintiffs. Raschio set a Dec. 23 hearing on that question. A hearing on the per- mit-to-purchase provision will also be scheduled. 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 LOCAL BRIEFING Bend police seek help in finding missing woman Bend Police are looking for a 34-year-old woman who was reported missing Monday night and are asking for the public’s help to find her. Nadeyda Vergara Aguilar left her home on NE Mill- town Lane at around 3 p.m. Monday and headed to the Quickway Market at Boyd Acres and Butler Market roads, leaving her children with a family member, police reported. She reportedly told her family that she’d be back soon. An employee reported seeing Vergara Aguilar at the market but did not see which direction she went when she left the store, po- lice say. The employee re- portedly told police that no one was with her when she left. She was reported miss- ing at 10:38 p.m. Vergara Aguilar reportedly does not have a phone and has lived in the area for two months, police say. Police say she’s a Hispanic female, 5 feet, 1 inch tall, 140 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a white jacket, black pants and black shoes. Police are asking anyone who sees Vergara Aguilar to call 911 or the nonemergency dispatch line at 541-693- 6911. — Bulletin staff report Give the Gift of Bird Feeding 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. 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