STATE
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Unopened boxes of unused surgical
gloves and masks seen in Bend landfi ll
Threats
lead to
arrest of
Powell
Butte boy
By SUZANNE ROIG
The Bulletin
By JOE SIESS The Bulletin
Submitted Photo
Ryan Reid, a Bend resident, was at the Knott Landfi ll Recycling Center on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, and saw unopened
boxes of hospital gowns, N95 masks and gloves that had been thrown away.
country were faced with a criti-
cal shortage of personal protective
equipment,” Goodman said. “We
ordered whatever (personal pro-
tective equipment) was available,
including certain substandard types
of (it) we would not have previously
considered using.”
But as the supply chain improved,
this equipment got moved to the back
of the supply warehouse and put
in storage by a third-party vendor,
Goodman said.
The idea was it would be put to
use only in an emergency.
Even as the highly contagious
omicron variant circulates in Cen-
tral Oregon communities, increasing
illness and hospitalization, that day
never came.
A year later, the hospital realized
it wouldn’t need this equipment, so
it off ered it to organizations, schools,
counties, construction fi rms and reli-
gious groups, Goodman said.
“The third party responsible for
liquidating this (personal protec-
tive equipment) by donation or sales
made the decision to discard (it) after
many eff orts to place it, including
shipping it to developing countries,”
Goodman said. “While we regret
this (personal protective equipment)
couldn’t be re-homed, we feel a
strong responsibility to provide our
caregivers with the safest and highest
quality both for their protection and
our patients.”
Reid, outraged by the waste and
not knowing the background, con-
tacted several media outlets.
“It was pretty shocking and
a gross amount of waste,” Reid
said. “I have friends in the med-
ical fi eld who still have to reuse
masks. There is still a pandemic
and high value material was thrown
away.”
University reports surge in COVID cases
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The (La Grande) Observer
its COVID-19 data this school year.
The previous single-day high was
seven cases on Sept. 13.
Eastern’s testing has continually
increased throughout the 2021-22
school year, reaching 2,425 total tests
through Feb. 1. The 251 total positive
tests result in a 10.4% positivity rate.
The measurement had stayed steady
around 5% through most of the fall,
peaking toward the end of January
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LA GRANDE — Like every
other entity in Oregon, Eastern Ore-
gon University has not been immune
to the sharp increase in COVID-19
cases caused by the omicron variant.
The university saw a signifi cant
rise in off -campus cases in January,
while its numbers among on-campus
individuals stayed rather steady.
Eastern Oregon University has
totaled 251 total positive COVID-
19 cases this academic year, since
the school began tracking data at the
start of July. Of that total, 152 posi-
tive tests came from off -campus stu-
dents, 45 positive tests accounted for
employees and 40 positive tests were
from on-campus students.
From Dec. 6 to Jan. 1, there were
16 cases among on-campus students.
By the end of January, that total rose
to 40. The rate among employees
at Eastern Oregon University saw a
similarly mild increase, rising from
22 to 45.
Cases among off -campus students
saw a signifi cant rise in the same time
frame, jumping from 44 cases to 152.
The university had several high
points in January, mirroring national
and statewide trends as the emer-
gence of the omicron variant led to
an increase in cases. Eastern recorded
a record-high case count for a single
day on Jan. 4, tallying 23 positive
cases. The school recorded 21 cases
on Jan. 10 and 14 on Jan. 25. Those
are the three highest single-day case
counts since Eastern started tracking
POWELL BUTTE — Police
arrested a seventh-grade boy at
Powell Butte Community Char-
ter School after linking him to a
number of threats made against
staff and students at the school
earlier this week.
Crook County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce deputies were dispatched
to the charter school Wednes-
day, Feb. 2, after multiple
threats of violence were left on
the school’s phone system.
The messages prompted a
lockdown at both the school
and the Powell Butte Christian
Church next door, but an inves-
tigation by local deputies and
the FBI did not initially turn
up anything suspicious. After
more messages were left on the
school’s phone system Thurs-
day, authorities were able to
link the messages to the seventh
grader as classes resumed.
The student was searched, but
no weapons were found. After
deputies searched the student’s
home, they turned up enough
evidence to arrest him for calling
in the threats, the sheriff ’s offi ce
said in a statement released
Thursday. The boy was taken to
the Juvenile Detention Center in
Deschutes County.
School offi cials said Fri-
day that the seventh-grader had
masked his threatening calls
to the school to avoid getting
caught. However, the second call
the student made led to his arrest.
“The sheriff ’s department
told us, the second (call) made it
easier for them to fi nd out who
it was, connect all the dots…
and make the arrest,” said Jason
Carr, communications director
for the Crook County School
District.
The fi rst call was not made
from a number that authorities
could trace, Carr said.
Carr said the seventh-grader
could have used a number of
methods to make a call that
would be diffi cult to trace,
including the use of a burner
phone, or by using a number
of applications available on the
web.
Carr said the school district
is cooperating with the sheriff ’s
offi ce on the matter, but has not
been in contact with any other
law enforcement agencies.
“We are confi dent, and so
is the Sheriff ’s Offi ce, that the
situation has been resolved,”
Carr added. “There is no linger-
ing threat to the Powell Butte
Community Charter or any of
the other schools in the school
district.”
Crook County Undersher-
iff James Savage said the FBI is
still assisting with the investiga-
tion, but in a support capacity.
Savage declined to release
information about the suspect
or the nature of the evidence
recovered in the investigation at
this time.
S279218-1
BEND — As Bend resident
Ryan Reid tossed his construction
trash in the Knott Landfi ll Recy-
cling Center on Thursday, Feb. 3, he
couldn’t believe what he saw: boxes
of unopened medical masks, gloves
and gowns, some still in their origi-
nal packaging being dumped.
Reid thought to himself about all
the people who have died and gotten
sick from the COVID-19 pandemic
and how some of this personal pro-
tective equipment could have been
used.
St. Charles Health System con-
fi rmed late Thursday that it had its
vendor dump the unopened boxes of
personal protective equipment. Reid
also confi rmed with a landfi ll opera-
tions supervisor that St. Charles sent
the supplies.
Chad Centola, the Deschutes
County solid waste director, said a
vehicle came in Thursday afternoon
and dumped an undisclosed amount
of boxes, some still attached to
wooden pallets, of personal protec-
tive equipment in the landfi ll.
Early in the pandemic, when
personal protective equipment like
masks, gowns and gloves were in
short supply, the hospital scoured its
sources for any and all personal pro-
tective equipment it could acquire,
Lisa Goodman, St. Charles Health
System spokeswoman, said in an
email.
“In early 2020, St. Charles and
other hospital systems around the
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