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STATE
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Third special session begins with protests, ends with COVID aid
Demonstrators force
their way into the Capitol
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
The Legislature held its third spe-
cial session of 2020 on Monday, amid
a pandemic and violent protests at the
Capitol organized by a right-wing
group.
A protest organized by the Patriot
Prayer group attracted over 100 peo-
ple, who at one point forced their way
into a side door of the Capitol. Some
smashed glass doors and attacked
journalists.
Oregon State Police, Marion
County sheriffs deputies and Salem
Police, many dressed in full riot gear,
responded to the attempt by some
demonstrators to force their way into
the Capitol.
The demonstration was declared an
unlawful assembly, and law enforce-
ment moved the demonstrators off the
Capitol grounds, closing Court Street
using a Salem Police armored car.
At about 5 p.m., the lights went out
in the Capitol and had to be restarted
while lawmakers sat in the relative
dark.
Despite the action outside, the
demonstrations did not disrupt the
session, which Gov. Kate Brown had
called to push through $800 million in
aid linked to the COVID-19 pandemic
and the wildfires that burned over 1
million acres in late summer.
Brown called the session as sev-
eral federal programs were set to
expire at the end of the year. Ore-
gon had received $1.4 billion of the
$2.2 trillion nationwide CARES Act
approved in the spring and signed by
File photo
Oregon lawmakers met in a special session Monday to tackle issues related to
COVID-19 and wildfires.
President Donald Trump.
Congress continued to work on a
compromise $900 million aid pack-
age, but with the deadline looming,
Brown decided to bring lawmakers
back to Salem.
The Legislature voted to:
• Allocate $600 million to the state
emergency fund for upcoming needs
for COVID-19 and wildfire recovery.
• Extend an eviction moratorium
until July 1, 2021. The current mor-
atorium ends Dec. 31. As part of the
package, $150 million was allocated
for reimbursing landlords for up to
80% of the back rent they are owed
and $50 million in renter assistance.
• Limit liability claims against
schools due to actions during the state
of emergency declared by Brown in
March and extended several times. A
similar bill to limit medical provider
liability stalled in committee.
• Allow to-go sales of alcoholic
beverages when the order includes a
meal.
The session was held in Salem
despite the COVID-19 pandemic that
has infected 103,755 Oregonians, kill-
ing 1,347. Nationwide, COVID-19
has infected over 18 million Amer-
icans and killed 319,190, according
to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus
Resource Center.
The two prior special sessions
during the pandemic were held
when infection rates were signifi-
cantly lower. The current infection
rate in Oregon is 30.7 per 100,000
people.
The Capitol is in Marion County,
where the rate is 47.4 per 100,000 —
the eighth highest among Oregon’s 36
counties, according to an analysis of
state and local health data by the New
York Times.
Oregon has avoided an outbreak
among legislators so far. Nationwide,
more than 113 state lawmakers have
tested positive for COVID-19, and
five have died, according to a running
total published daily by the Ballotpe-
dia website.
The session got off to a rocky start
in the Senate when Sen. Dallas Heard,
R-Roseburg, dramatically ripped off
his face mask while addressing the
Senate, daring President Peter Court-
ney, D-Salem, or law enforcement to
take action against him.
Saying he was protecting the rights
of “the children of God,” Heard railed
against the pandemic restrictions in
the Capitol and across the state.
“If you had not done such great
evil to my people and had simply
asked me to wear my mask, I would
have,” Heard said. “But you com-
manded it, and therefore I declare
my right to protest against your false
authority and remove my mask.”
Senate President Peter Courtney,
D-Salem, cut Heard off.
“Your time is up,” Courtney said,
rapping his gavel. When Heard pro-
tested, Courtney ordered Heard’s
microphone shut off. Heard then
walked off the Senate floor.
The order to wear masks in the
Senate was put in place by Courtney
following incidents during the second
special session in which he strongly
requested the masks, but saw Republi-
can Sens. Dennis Linthicum of Klam-
ath Falls and Brian Boquist of Dallas
come into the chamber without any
face covering. House Speaker Tina
Kotek had required masks in the ear-
lier session.
Heard went outside the Capitol
to address protestors, where he was
alternately applauded for his stand by
some and heckled by others who said
he was a “collaborator” because of
his position as a lawmaker.
The crowd chanted “Arrest Kate
Brown” and “let us in.” They carried
American flags, including one upside
down — a symbol of distress. Some
carried the Gadsden flag depicting
a coiled rattlesnake ready to strike,
with the words “Don’t Tread on Me.”
The flag from the American Revolu-
tion has become a favorite of conser-
vative activists in recent years.
Other demonstrators carried
“Trump 2020” flags, and some wore
the red “Make America Great Again”
hats popularized by President Don-
ald Trump.
Most demonstrators did not
wear masks to prevent spread of the
COVID-19 virus. A few wore gas
masks, and others were dressed in
military-style tactical outfits. A few
carried semi-automatic assault-style
rifles.
At least two live streams of the
protest were running on YouTube.
Other videos showed demonstra-
tors smashing the glass doors of
a side entrance to the Capitol and
attacking journalists covering the
demonstrations.
A fire alarm went off inside the
Capitol rotunda, but it was a false
alarm, officials said. At least two
protestors were arrested. Oregon
State Police put out pictures of some
of the violent demonstrators, asking
the public to contact authorities with
their identities.
In the House, the unhappiness
over the session being held while the
Capitol has been closed to the public
due to the COVID-19 crisis was crit-
icized in a more sedate manner.
“We need to find a way to inno-
vate and get the public involved in the
process again,” said Rep. Cheri Helt,
R-Bend. “There is a lack of imagina-
tion on how to get the conversation
going again with the public.”
At the end of the day, Sen. Shemia
Fagan, D-Portland, who will be leav-
ing the Senate to become Secretary of
State next year, said the problems of
holding the session were worthwhile.
“We voted to prevent tens of thou-
sands of Oregonians from losing their
homes in the middle of winter and a
surge in the pandemic,” she said.
Grant County moves to ‘lower risk’ level, but most Oregon counties under tightest COVID-19 restrictions
Ratings will last
through Dec. 31
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
Most of Oregon will greet
the holiday season and New
Year’s Eve as “extreme risk”
locations requiring tight
COVID-19 limits on gather-
ings, dining and activities.
Last week, Gov. Kate Brown
announced new risk levels for
counties after the initial two-
week period of the four-tiered
ratings: extreme, high, moder-
ate and low. The new ratings
are effective Friday and will last
through Dec. 31.
In a sign that the COVID-
19 pandemic is still growing
in Oregon, more counties were
added to the extreme risk level:
Benton, Clatsop, Coos, Curry,
Lincoln and Tillamook coun-
ties. As of Friday, 29 of 36
Oregon counties will be in the
most restrictive level.
The announcement puts the
entire Oregon Coast from Asto-
ria to the California state line in
the extreme risk category.
“We continue to see com-
munity spread across Oregon
to the point that the majority
of the state needs to continue
with strict health and safety
measures,” Brown said in a
statement.
A few counties saw their
risk levels lowered.
The biggest movement of
any county was Grant County,
which dropped from the high-
est rating to the lowest.
Harney County moved
Merry Christmas
from moderate risk to low
risk.
Lake County moved from
extreme risk to moderate risk.
Counties under the extreme
risk limits must limit gath-
erings to six people from no
more than two households.
Employers are required
to tell all workers who can
do their jobs remotely to stay
away from their offices.
All indoor dining is closed
and outdoor dining is limited
to 50% capacity with take-
away meals strongly encour-
aged. Use of entertainment,
exercise, gyms and pools,
sports games and activities
located indoors is prohibited.
Outdoor activities are limited
to 50 people.
Visitations to residents of
long-term care and other con-
gregate care facilities must be
held outdoors.
Retail stores can remain
open, but at 50% capac-
ity. Personal services busi-
ness, such as hair salons, can
remain open.
Faith institutions should
limit indoor gatherings to
a maximum 25% capac-
ity or 100 total (whichever is
smaller), and a limit of 150
outdoors.
Risk levels will be revised
next with an announcement
on Dec. 29 and will cover the
period from Jan. 1 to Jan. 14.
State health officials said
that despite the arrival last
week of the first doses of a
COVID-19 vaccine, it will
be several months until most
of the state will be eligible
to receive the two-shot inoc-
ulation. Until then, pandemic
safeguards will still need to be
followed: wear a mask, keep
physical distance from others,
avoid gatherings, wash hands
often and stay home when
sick.
Risk level data can be
found at coronavirus.oregon.
gov.
Deschutes
Lower risk
Hood River
Gilliam
Jackson
Grant (moved from ex-
treme)
Jefferson
Harney (moved from mod-
erate)
Klamath
Douglas
Josephine
Sherman
Lane
Lincoln (moved from high)
Wallowa
Linn
Wheeler
Malheur
Moderate risk
Marion
Lake (moved from extreme)
Extreme risk
Morrow
Multnomah
Baker
Polk
Benton (moved from high)
Clackamas
Tillamook (moved from
moderate)
Clatsop (moved from high)
Umatilla
Columbia
Union
Coos (moved from high)
Wasco
Crook
Washington
Curry (moved from high)
Yamhill
John 1:14 “The Word became a
human being and, full of grace
and truth, lived among us.
We saw his glory, the glory which
he received as the
Father’s only Son.”
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