STATE
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
A7
Public weighs in on Brown: Curtailing school activities
redistricting —
could speed drop in COVID-19 cases
will it matter?
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
A video diaspora of law-
makers, an alphabet soup of
proposals, echoing audio,
dead air and a buzzer that cut
off testimony at three minutes
marked the fi rst day of legis-
lative hearings on 2022 redis-
tricting plans Sept. 8.
The House and Senate
redistricting committees held
back-to-back-to-back hear-
ings to take online testimony
on eight proposals for map-
ping out political districts to
be used beginning next year.
The review was the fi rst
of 12 public hearings that
could determine the elec-
toral future of Oregon for the
next decade. Or it could be
a frustrating and futile exer-
cise whose results will be in
a trash bin two weeks from
now.
The hearings are required
as part of the state’s redistrict-
ing laws under which the leg-
islature adjusts the lines for 30
Senate and 60 House districts
every 10 years based on popu-
lation changes in the state.
It also draws congressio-
nal districts, which this year
include a new, sixth seat,
awarded to Oregon because
of its overall population
growth.
The committees submit
a plan to the full legislature,
which then passes it on to the
governor for approval.
“Eight out of the last 10
times that redistricting has
been done, that hasn’t hap-
pened — we’re trying to
buck the trend,” said Sen.
Tim Knopp, R-Bend, a mem-
ber of the Senate Redistricting
Committee.
Over the past century, the
Schools should cancel or curtail some
extracurricular activities to help Oregon
maintain what appears to be the beginning
of a decline from record high numbers of
COVID-19 infections, Gov. Kate Brown
said Tuesday.
Multiple forecasts over the past week
showed a peak in the two-month surge of
infections driven by the highly contagious
delta variant.
Hospitals remain nearly full, and case
reports are still 12 times what they were in
early July.
The fragile ebb in the worst of the crisis
will be challenged by the fl ood of school-
children returning to class.
“It is with mixed emotions that we are
welcoming our kids back to school at this
time,” said Brown during a Tuesday morn-
ing press call.
Brown was joined by health and educa-
tion offi cials to announce additional, volun-
tary eff orts to go along with the mandatory
vaccination of school employees and mask
mandates for students and staff .
The state will issue School Health Advi-
sories on a regular basis. The fi rst one,
announced Tuesday, asks schools to cancel
or curtail extracurricular activities through at
least Oct. 1.
Back-to-school events should be done
online, if possible.
Schools should hold as much activity
outdoors as possible, including school meals
and physical education classes.
“The safety protocols put in place by
your school not only make it safer for every-
one, but they also help ensure that our kids
actually get to stay in school,” said Colt Gill,
Oregon Education Department director.
While children can get ill from COVID-
19, they rarely get severely sick, Gill said.
But they can bring the infections home with
them and spread it to at-risk people such as
the elderly and immunocompromised.
Brown confi rmed her order for manda-
tory vaccinations, saying that staff who are
not fully vaccinated cannot have contact
with students or other school employees.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state’s epide-
miologist, said the Oregon Health Author-
ity was looking into an 8.8% increase in
the number of new COVID-19 infections in
process has usually run into
stalemate in the legislature,
opposition by the governor
or court challenges that have
led to new maps being drawn
by the secretary of state or the
courts.
The odds seem particu-
larly long this year because
the COVID-19 pandemic
delayed 2020 U.S. Census
data due in April by over four
months.
An Oregon Supreme
Court ruling gave lawmak-
ers until Sept. 27 to get a plan
drawn, voted on, approved by
Gov. Kate Brown and to the
court for review.
Adding to the headwinds
to get a plan done: a deal
giving House Leader Chris-
tine Drazan, R-Canby, a seat
on the House Redistricting
Committee.
With political parity on the
House committee, it eff ec-
tively gave the minority-party
GOP a veto over any plan get-
ting to the fl oor of the legis-
lature. But any compromise
would have to get pre-ap-
proved by Gov. Kate Brown
or face a veto that would slam
the door on the process.
No vote in the legislature
or a Brown veto would end
the legislature’s role in defi n-
ing its own fate.
No fi nalized plan at the
Oregon Supreme Court by
Sept. 27 would mean the law-
makers are out of the map-
making job. All the drafts,
deals, debate and public tes-
timony would be off the table
and into the trash.
Secretary of State Shemia
Fagan would take over the
legislative map making, while
a special fi ve-judge judicial
panel would draw the con-
gressional districts.
Marion County.
The uptick comes as the Oregon State
Fair in Salem has just concluded. Brown
had ordered that crowded outdoor events
have mandatory masking rules, but televi-
sion reports from the fair showed the major-
ity of those inside were not wearing masks.
The rules are also in place for the Pend-
leton Round-Up, which begins Sept. 11 in
Umatilla County. Brown said she hoped
fair organizers would follow state rules and
noted venues that violated the rule could
face state sanctions.
She said she hoped attendees will wear
masks and be aware of social distancing and
other ways to prevent getting or spreading
the virus.
“Let ‘er buck,” Brown said, using the
Round-Up’s signature saying.
Brown has attended the Round-Up in
prior years and even rode a horse in the
parade. She did not go to the state fair and
will not be in Pendleton next week out of
concern for “public spread” of the virus.
Major public health forecasts indicated
for the fi rst time last week that the top of the
spike may have been reached.
The growth in infections may have
peaked as early as Aug. 25 in Oregon,
according to the widely followed COVID-
19 monitoring and forecasting of The Insti-
tute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the
University of Washington.
The Oregon Health & Science Univer-
sity forecast last week that hospitalizations
for COVID-19 were expected to peak at an
estimated 1,208 patients on Monday.
“We’re in a dire state, but I am seeing
some signs that this is going to level out in
the next week,” said Dr. Peter Graven, the
lead forecaster, in a statement accompany-
ing the Sept. 2 report.
The OHSU model showed that, with cur-
rent mask usage and other safeguards, cases
would drop back to pre-surge levels of under
200 hospitalizations by the last two weeks in
October. The latest OHA report, from Tues-
day, showed 1,140 COVID-19 patients in
hospitals, down from 1,172 reported on Fri-
day. If the trendline continues, the number
of hospitalizations statewide could be under
a dozen by mid-December.
The next OHSU forecast is due Thursday.
The World Health Organization said last
week that the delta variant wave worldwide
had started to fall, with the United States
somewhat behind Europe and other regions.
The trends won’t be known for sure until
additional reports over the next week show
the drop continuing.
Sidelinger said an increase in volun-
tary mask wearing and other eff orts to slow
transmission of COVID-19 could shorten
the timeline for getting to a lower level.
On the fl ip side, if people drop safe-
guards too early, it could push the recovery
into November and closer to impacting the
winter holidays.
The COVID-19 pandemic is far from
over, with the possibility of new variants as
long as large numbers of people worldwide
remain unvaccinated.
Once it infects someone, the virus can
mutate within its host, and release a variant
of the original infection.
“This is a crisis that is largely being
driven by people who have not yet been vac-
cinated,” said Sidelinger.
As of Tuesday, there have been 221.5
million cases and over 4.58 million deaths
worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins
Coronavirus Resource Center.
Just over 5.37 million people worldwide
are expected to die of COVID-19 by Dec. 1,
according to a the Institute for Health Met-
rics and Evaluation. The United States last
week passed 40 million reported cases, and
deaths are at 649,271, according to Johns
Hopkins. IHMA projects 751,417 deaths by
Dec. 1.
As of Tuesday, the Oregon Health
Authority reported {span}3,326{/span}
deaths from COVID-19 during the pan-
demic. IHME projects 4,619 deaths in Ore-
gon by Dec. 1.
Johns Hopkins said its survey of state
and local health agencies showed that
44,558 vaccine doses were administered
nationwide Monday. Over 176 million peo-
ple are fully vaccinated, about 51 % of the
U.S. population.
The New York Times reported Tues-
day that the current spike has peaked in the
United States. The average daily new cases
of 131,135 is down 12% from two weeks
ago. The analysis showed that Oregon had
dropped 33% over the same period.
The Oregon Department of Education
suggests families should check their school’s
website or the state’s “Ready Schools, Safe
Learners” website at https://www.oregon.
gov/ode/readyschools/Pages/default.aspx.
Labor Day kicks off the 2022 electioneering season
www.MurraysDrug.com
Rebound or relapse
for Republicans
Republicans are fi ghting to
remain viable as a statewide
political force.
A Republican hasn’t been
elected governor since Vic Ati-
yeh won a second term in 1982.
Wyden and Oregon’s other
senator, Jeff Merkley, are both
Democrats, as are four of the
fi ve U.S. House members.
The GOP holds no state
executive offi ces. Democrats
have a 37-23 supermajority in
the House and an 18-12 super-
majority in the Senate.
Republican candidates mak-
ing bids for offi ce often face
better-known, better-fi nanced
incumbent Democrats.
The small number of top
Republican offi ceholders and
former lawmakers hasn’t shown
a desire to make a run for
governor.
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for her job.
Rep.
Janelle
Bynum,
D-Clackamas, mounted an
unsuccessful coup in the caucus
at the beginning of the last ses-
sion in a bid to replace Kotek.
Bynum would likely try
again — unless she decides to
run for congress.
House Majority Leader Bar-
bara Smith Warner, D-Portland,
and Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eu-
gene, a top Kotek lieutenant,
could could look to step up.
Bureau of Labor & Industries
Commissioner Val Hoyle has
denied rumors she is mulling a
run for governor, saying she will
run for re-election in 2022.
He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR,
have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an
ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his
ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an
ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person
hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his
non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE.
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on the ballot. That’s a trouble
spot for Kotek and an advan-
tage for possible primary oppo-
nents like Treasurer Tobias
Read and Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum.
If either of them run and lose,
they go back to their old job.
No votes will have been
cast by March 8, 2022, the
fi nal day to declare candidacy
for offi ce. Kotek will have to
make a judgment call on how
she is doing in the run up to the
primary more than two months
later on May 20, 2022.
The deadline for her deci-
sion would come the latest day
the Legislature can adjourn its
35-day session that begins in
February.
Kotek’s departure from the
House would set off a scramble
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Brown’s departure and
redistricting have unleashed
pent up ambition among pol-
iticians whose rise has been
blocked by incumbents holding
on to the top offi ces.
House Speaker Tina Kotek,
D-Portland, announced recently
that she is ready to drop her
gavel and run for governor next
year. Kotek has brought on vet-
eran campaign advisor Thomas
Wheatley, who performed the
same role for Brown in her
2018 campaign.
Kotek is the state’s lon-
gest-serving House Speaker,
having been chosen by col-
leagues in votes every two
years since 2013.
Candidates cannot run
simultaneously for two offi ces
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Ready or not, Oregon, the
2022 election season is here.
Labor Day weekend of
odd-numbered years is the tra-
ditional kick-off of serious cam-
paign activity aimed at the ballot
voters will mark in 14 months.
If anything, 2021 has a run-
ning start. The busy summer
needs a primer to catch up on
what’s happened and what’s
coming up that will have an
impact on the ballot voters will
see for the general election on
Nov. 8, 2022.
A wide-open governor’s race
that for the fi rst time in 20 years
won’t feature an incumbent or
former governor on the ballot.
Gov. Kate Brown is barred from
seeking a third consecutive term.
A new open congressio-
nal seat — Oregon’s fi rst in 40
years. With all fi ve current U.S.
House members from Oregon
seeking re-election, the new dis-
trict is a chance to join a club that
rarely has vacancies.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Or-
egon, is marking 40 years since
he fi rst came to Washington as
a 31-year-old U.S. House mem-
ber from Portland. He’s running
for another term and already has
$6.3 million in the bank for the
race.
New political topography
in Oregon created by a legally
required redrawing of lines
for 96 House, Senate and con-
gressional seats might not be
fi nalized until as late as Janu-
ary 2022.
S260847-1
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
Richie, John Day Taxi, 541-620-4255.