So why is it being proposed as an Emergency?

The Oregon Health Authority finally released, long anticipated data on Oregon's non medical exemption rates for children entering Kindergarten. According to Attorney Robert Snee of Oregonians For Medical Freedom "This data is of vital importance as it gives the State an accurate understanding of what to expect in terms of medical vs non medical exemption rates. When a child is going into Kindergarten fully vaccinated, according to the CDC recommended schedule, that's usually a good indication those children will stay on the schedule."

In the Oregon Health Authority's April 30th report, just released publicly, the data clearly shows Oregon Kindergartners are entering schools at 93.1% fully vaccinated. It's also important to note that the 6.9% entering school with a non medical exemption, aren't necessarily missing all vaccines on the CDC schedule. OHA lumps together all students, missing one or more, vaccines, to calculate the percentage rate. It's also likely, non medical exemption rates have more to do with Covid-19 restrictions, than it does vaccine hesitancy. According to a joint prediction made by the World Health Organization, GAVI and UNICEF millions of children in 68 Countries are at risk of missing their vaccines on time "due to disruptions in the delivery and uptake of immunization services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic". In fact a new set of codes were recently issued, updating the ICD-10 procedure coding system, for vaccine injury due to "underdosing". Underdosing is a relatively new concept in medicine to describe why a patient failed to comply. As of October 1rst 2020, ICD coding was updated to include vaccine underdosing due to manufacturer supply shortages.

Regarding disruptions to uptake, rural Oregon clinics have had to close their doors, while larger urban area CCO's have limited in person client services, and appointments. Oregonians have endured massive barriers to routine health services after Oregon Governor Kate Brown halted care, in order to preserve personal protective equipment for a surge in hospitalizations, which never actually materialized.

"Chances are, we will continue to see a decline in non medical vaccine exemptions as schools open, and healthcare providers wade through backlogged procedures" says Alsea School District Superintendent Marc Theilman. "The Alsea School District has had our brick and mortar school open throughout this entire pandemic, due to increased safety protocols, and our vaccine exemption rates have remained well within normal range. The new school vaccine bill seems opportunistic, and overreaching, at a time when our communities are already struggling. We might do well to build back trust within our communities, first, before introducing new laws requiring vaccines." Suggests Theilman.

SB254 starts out with "Removes ability of Parent to decline required immunizations against restrictable diseases on behalf of child for reasons other than child's indicated medical diagnosis."

The legal concept is slated for the 2021 regular session, where it's questionable if the public will be granted access to the Capitol under ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. Like most bills these days, it's also been declared an "emergency", where, upon its passage, it will take immediate effect, bypassing voter opposition in the form of a referendum.

It's unclear if this new legal concept will allow Doctors to write medical exemptions for vaccine injury, medical history, sibling injury history, PANS/PANDAS, MTHFR genetic mutations, or children who are immunocompromised. These contraindications and precautions are not covered under ACIP/CDC guidelines for medical exemptions, leaving frustrated parents to homeschool, or, for states that allow it, to use the non medical exemption option. These decisions must be weighed carefully, by parents, ultimately tasked with the lifelong care needs of vaccine injured children. Especially when considering there is no manufacturer liability for injuries caused by vaccines.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Is this really an emergency requiring State involvement, or a moot point, in terms of data? The question seems omnipresent as the new Covid-19 vaccines have been added to the childhood schedule for ages 16 and up.


--Breeauna Sagdal

Post Date: 2020-12-18 06:40:21

Last Update: 2021-01-12 17:55:12

Governor Kate Brown today extended her declaration of a state of emergency regarding COVID-19 for an additional 60 days, until March 3, 2021. The previous executive order was set to expire on January 2, 2021. The declaration is the legal underpinning for the Governor’s COVID-19 executive orders and the Oregon Health Authority’s health and safety guidance.

“As we near 100,000 cases of COVID-19 in Oregon, and with hospitals and health care workers stretched to their limits, there is no doubt that COVID-19 continues to pose a public health threat,” said Governor Brown. “We continue to lose too many Oregonians to this deadly disease, including over 100 reported deaths in the last two days.”

“These are the darkest days of this pandemic. And yet, hope has arrived. Beginning this week, each time another Oregonian is vaccinated against COVID-19, we are one step closer to the day when we can return to normal life. In the meantime, we must keep up our guard. Protect your friends and loved ones by continuing to follow health and safety protocols. Wear a face covering, avoid gatherings, stay home when you are sick––and, together, we can drive down COVID-19 infections and save lives.”

The state of emergency declaration is the legal underpinning for the executive orders the Governor has issued to keep Oregonians healthy and safe throughout this crisis, including her orders concerning the risk level framework that establishes essential health and safety protections for Oregon, as well as orders around childcare, schools, and higher education operations. Extending the state of emergency declaration allows those orders to stay in effect.

The Governor reviews and reevaluates each of her emergency orders every 60 days, to determine whether those orders should be continued, modified, or rescinded. The findings of this review process are listed in the executive order.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2020-12-17 13:52:30

Last Update: 2020-12-17 14:49:11

In the wake of the 'catch-and-release' policies of Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, it appears that progressives who wish to see the same elsewhere may be spreading their lawlessness into neighboring Clackamas County.

District Attorney-elect Wentworth will now be assuming the office of District Attorney of Clackamas County early in order to fill the vacancy that has been created by the retirement of the current Clackamas County District Attorney, John Foote.

The Governor thanked District Attorney Foote for his many years of dedicated service to the people of Clackamas County.

Governor Kate Brown will appoint John Wentworth to be District Attorney of Clackamas County, effective January 1, 2021. Wentworth recently won election as District Attorney for a term that starts January 4, 2021. Longtime Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote recently announced his retirement, effective December 31, 2020. With this appointment, Wentworth will be able to assume the office a few days early, to ensure a smooth transition in the District Attorney’s office.

The bad leadership of Multnomah county has brought national disgrace recently to the area surrounding Portland for many violent acts that commonly occur there. The refusal to prosecute those criminals seems to be an obvious potential reason. Observers in Clackamas County Oregon are hoping that the lawlessness does not spread their way.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2020-12-17 13:12:10

Last Update: 2020-12-17 14:52:22

This year, Oregon and Oregon State played the latest installment in the longest lasting college football rivalry in college football history. In the months leading up to the contest, under some fanfare, and with no input from fans, the universities’ made a joint announcement that the contests between the two would no longer be referenced as “the Civil War”.

The President’s of the University of Oregon and Oregon State University stated that because the American Civil War to which the name referenced was a “war fought to perpetuate slavery”, they could not in good conscience keep the name.

It remained to be seen if this would really sit well with the public, and in light of everything else going on in 2020, it almost seems like a trivial thing one way or the other. Without people gathering together, its difficult to gauge how much fans will embrace a rivalry game with no name.

Perhaps a more thoughtful approach could not have been taken. It's astonishing where the history and philosophy departments at these schools find themselves. How did a president of a higher institution of learning not take a moment to consider what was being said? How do these people have no historical understanding of the American Civil War? How is nothing being said about how the basic tenet of dialectic discourse, one which says nothing can be fought for unless someone is also fighting against it?

How can the Civil War not be seen as a war fought to end slavery just as much as a war to perpetuate it? To be totally fair, it wasn't as if the Confederacy trying to force their way of life on the Union. In fact, it was the Union fighting a war to end slavery, and force their values on the Confederacy. So if anything, the war for change, fought by the Union, was fought to end slavery.

History has certain precepts. One of the most important is that history is written by the winners. So how did we get here? To a place where history is apparently written by the losers. How did the Union win the war, end slavery on a national level, and allow the rhetoric to be that the war was fought to perpetuate slavery? For the record, upwards of 1.1 million casualties were a result of the Civil War. About 600,000 of those were on the Union side.

What would it have been like to tell those men -- some of them African-American -- that the war they were fighting was to perpetuate slavery. Historical truth should be about focusing on a frame of reference that includes the narratives of both the winners and losers, and the perceptions thereof. This is not that. If anything, this smacks of an attitude of "easier to leave it alone."

Part of what has happened is that the massive majority of people who are fascinated with the Civil War are Confederate apologists, and that those people present that side of the narrative aggressively. The perception has become that the Civil War was therefore fought to perpetuate slavery, instead of to end it. This is of course allowing the Civil War to be established as a single issue conflict, which it was not. If it was though, two universities managed to state publicly, something which is philosophically and historically inept.

We could use the game every year to actually raise awareness for Civil War history. We could use it to glorify Union soldiers that lost their lives to end slavery. It could be used as a platform to raise awareness for racial issues, and to teach real history about the actual Civil War. We might even talk about Oregon's incredibly awkward racial history. We could have a trophy called the Union Cup, or we could name it in honor of African American soldiers. We could talk about why the games started to be called the Civil War in the first place. Instead we are getting a bad historical erasure foisted on us by people that are claiming a narrative in that is largely opposite of historical accuracy.

The world’s history is not dying of shock. It’s being willfully erased by people who entertain poor history and cultural/ historical snap judgements which don’t just paint with broad strokes, but in monochrome as well. The truly sad result of this will be that history becomes far more likely to repeat. Or as a favorite historian says "history does not repeat, but it rhymes a lot."

It’s a small thing, isn’t it? What we call a game? The truth is it does not have to be small. We could make it big. The intentions of this move were for the “right reasons,” and that the intention is pure. Those good intentions are misguided and paired with gross misinformation.

Many will never call it the Platypus Bowl. Oregon and Oregon State have a hard enough hill to climb to get national respect in the sports world. We don't need to make ourselves a laughing stock with such an oddball name or likeness. Plus the name is just weird and does not roll off the tongue.

This has been a bizarre year to say the least. COVID-19 has made life tough on many, as have public and government responses to it. Oregon is now in the Pac 12 title game, and Oregon State will hopefully get a bowl game or another chance to play. No matter what we call it, it would be nice to we enjoy our rivalry games in person. If we get to, it would be nice to talk about what to call the game, and how that might be used. That said its always easier to not have hard conversations. And using these rivalry games which have been called Civil War for a long time, as teaching moments and a way to honor history is not easy. That would take something more than whiteout or an eraser.

Lungs locked, lips locked, join the renaissance

Italicized lyrics from Amanda Palmer and the Dresden Dolls

--Jeremy Kropf

Post Date: 2020-12-17 06:57:55

Last Update: 2020-12-17 07:25:16

Prior to Monday’s special session to address urgent issues critical to the COVID-19 pandemic and wildfire relief, the Joint Interim Committee on the Third Special Session of 2020 will hear public testimony on the legislative concepts to be considered during the session. The committee will meet virtually at the following times:

• Thursday, December 17, 6:00-9:00 pm
• Saturday, December 19, 10:00 am-1:00 pm

The Saturday public hearing is scheduled in order to hear any remaining testimony from the Thursday meeting. The committee will receive public testimony on the following legislative concepts that will be considered during the special session.

• LC 10 – Restaurant Relief Package
• LC 18 – Eviction Moratorium Extension and Landlord Compensation Fund
• LC 21 – School Liability Protections
• LC 28 – Emergency Fund Allocation

Members of the public can provide written or verbal testimony at this meeting. Written testimony, which is encouraged, should be submitted by email to J3SS.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov. Testimony is posted online to the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) as part of the legislative record and made publicly available at this link. The public record will be extended 24 hours after the committee meeting is set to begin.

Registration is required to testify by phone or video. To sign up, members of the public can either use the online form at this link or by calling 833-588-4500 for assistance. Registration closes at 1 pm on Thursday, December 17, 2020. The following members will serve on the committee:

• Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem), Co-Chair
• House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland), Co-Chair
• Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod (R-Stayton), Co-Vice Chair
• House Republican Leader Christine Drazan (R-Canby), Co-Vice Chair
• Senator Ginny Burdick (D-Portland)
• Senator James Manning (D-Eugene)
• Senator Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer)
• Representative Teresa Alonso Leon (D-Woodburn)
• Representative Julie Fahey (D-Eugene)
• Representative Duane Stark (R-Grants Pass)

The Capitol Building is currently closed to the public and meetings are taking place remotely. The public can go to OLIS to access a live stream of these meetings. Locate the meeting date and click on the camera icon at the designated time.
--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-12-16 21:38:53

Last Update: 2020-12-16 21:49:55

Seven months after an investigation by the Olympia-based Freedom Foundation showed it was inflating the number of COVID-19 fatalities in Washington state and promising to fix its flawed reporting procedures, further research indicates the state’s Department of Health is still over-reporting the totals by potentially hundreds of deaths. Worse, the agency seems to be scrambling to revise its data before its numbers could again be publicly called into question.

In May, a report released by the Freedom Foundation revealed the DOH was attributing to COVID-19 every death in which the deceased previously tested positive for the virus. However, it’s clear that catching the disease and dying of it are two very different matters. Washington’s data was riddled with cases — as much as 13 percent of the total — in which the death certificate made no reference to COVID-19 as a cause of death. In several cases, even gunshot deaths were chalked up to the virus. After being questioned about the misreporting during a press conference, Gov. Jay Inslee responded by ridiculing the Freedom Foundation, calling its findings “malarkey.”

However, internal emails showed DOH officials acknowledged to each other that the Freedom Foundation’s report was “correct.” Within days, DOH — without publicly admitting its mistakes or acknowledging the Freedom Foundation — announced it would remove some deaths from its tally and start providing more detailed information about deaths attributed to COVID-19. Though some deaths were removed, DOH has yet to begin providing additional information about the deaths it attributes to COVID-19 in its data dashboard.

“Make no mistake. This isn’t an innocent accounting error we’re talking about”, said Aaron Withe, Freedom Foundation National Director. “This is a state agency under the authority of Gov. Jay Inslee that continues to misrepresent the number of people who have died of COVID even after it was already caught doing the same thing.” Withe continued, “It’s a nakedly political act intended to scare the public into letting him continue to abuse the almost unlimited “emergency powers” that have needlessly bankrupted thousands of Washington businesses and thrown tens of thousands of its residents out of work.”

This week, the Freedom Foundation completed a groundbreaking follow-up investigation in which it analyzed the death certificate information of each of the nearly 2,000 deaths in Washington blamed on COVID-19 as of early September. The probe found that 170 death certificates contained no reference whatsoever to COVID-19. Another 171 only referenced COVID-19 as a “contributing factor” and not part of the causal chain of events leading to death. Dozens of other death certificates for fatalities attributed by DOH to COVID-19 indicate the death had only a questionable or minimal connection to the virus.

Even as the Freedom Foundation was preparing to make its latest findings public, DOH on Dec. 10 announced once again that it was making changes to its reporting procedures and expected to reduce its death count by approximately 200. “Assuming DOH actually keeps its promise this time, the changes it has announced are certainly a step in the right direction,” said Freedom Foundation Labor Policy Director Maxford Nelsen, who conducted the investigation.

“But even so, our research strongly suggests DOH will still be attributing an unreasonably high number of deaths to COVID-19.” In any case, he noted, “The agency’s history of misleading the public about its data, combined with its inability or unwillingness to release detailed data in a timely fashion, seriously undermine the notion that the state is basing its COVID-19 response on the best available science and data.”


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-12-16 16:13:40

Last Update: 2020-12-16 16:14:05

This morning, Kate Brown held a press conference to convince Oregonians to get vaccinated with the COVID-19. The vaccine distribution was discussed as well as how wonderful the vaccine is. Oregon is set to receive 200,000 doses by months end. Again, Kate used her new marketing slogan, “Vaccines don’t save lives, vaccinations do.” Only slightly less divisive than, “you could accidentally kill someone.”

During the presser, she had healthcare workers from OHSU and Legacy for example, on hand to get vaccinated live, to report they feel fine and how easy it was.

Pat Allen said, “The vaccine is safe and there are no serious safety concerns.” Why are OHA and Kate Brown are making claims that Pfizer and Moderna do not? In fact, there are more unknowns than certainties at this point.

The unknowns from #Moderna's experimental data going into FDA EUA review are:

• Duration of protection
• Effectiveness in certain populations at high-risk of severe COVID-19
• Effectiveness in previously infected with SARS-CoV-2
• Vaccine effectiveness against asymptomatic infection
• Vaccine effectiveness against long-term effects of COVID-19 disease
• Vaccine effectiveness against mortality
• Vaccine effectiveness against transmission of SARS-CoV-2
• Vaccine-enhanced disease
• Safety in pregnant, lactating & immunocompromised individuals
• Long-term safety

In addition, there are warnings to individuals who have allergies or history of Bells’ Palsy to forgo the vaccine. The FDA has produced a report on the Moderna vaccine ahead of their approval.

There has not been a single mention of exemptions since 4 out of 10 polled say they won’t get the fast tracked vaccine. Reporters have asked Kate how she plans on vaccinating three million Oregonians and she skirts the issue with, “we will leverage our current systems in place.” The vaccine plan can be viewed on their website. Pat Allen also said that people can get the flu vaccine to see the ease of how the COVID-19 vaccine will be.

Seeing how Brown has leveraged Executive Orders to lock down businesses, schools and places of worship for ten months, should give Oregonians an idea of what is to come. She leveraged OSHA to force mask compliance to buy food. Will she do the same with COVID-19 vaccine?

Vaccine mandates do not belong in a free society and yet many feel we are on the precipice of a shift in society where authorities who have been calling the shots for ten months are beginning to do the same with the COVID-19 vaccine. A lawmaker in NY just proposed a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine bill.

Why do you think healthcare workers were chosen as first in line to receive the unproven vaccine? It’s simple. People obey those wearing lab coats. The Milgrim shock experiment proved that people would obey those who were perceived as legitimate authority. He conducted an experiment focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience.

Milgram found that participants obeyed the experimenter at an unexpectedly high rate: 65% of the participants gave the learner the 450-volt shock. Participants obeyed in higher percentages when the experimenter was wearing a lab coat. All Kate had to do was put out a hotline for people to call into OSHA and encourage them to call police on large gatherings. Her demands or prods have been much like the ones in the experiment:

Prod 1: Please continue.
Prod 2: The experiment requires you to continue.
Prod 3: It is absolutely essential that you continue.
Prod 4: You have no other choice but to continue.

Last month, Kate Brown again shocked the state, and the world, when she said yes, she was telling people to call the police on their neighbors if they have a larger than six person family Thanksgiving gathering. A reporter with KGW asked her so we can take that as a yes?, Kate said, “Yes, Yes.” How far will she go? A better question in light of the more than 15,000 OSHA complaints filed on decent businesses doing their best, ask, “How far will you go?”

A public records request yielded a list of complainants and the businesses they reported. 99% were for face covering complaints. This complaint from an employee that will remain anonymous, about her own employer in Eugene, “No one is monitoring the customers to make sure they are wearing face coverings and wearing them properly. Many are wearing them below their nose.” Make enough of these complaints and a business could be bankrupted. OSHA received 150 complaints in two weeks in Eugene.

The COVID-19 vaccine IS experimental and the post marketing data or Phase 4 will be completed on those who submit.

COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers are not liable from harm thanks to the Prep Act. You cannot sue them but may file a claim with government paid by taxpayer funds, for a limited amount of $250,000. The claim program is called CICP, or Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program and you have just one year to file a claim. I haven’t seen any direction from Oregon officials on filing a vaccine injury report with VAERS nor how to apply for injury compensation. If you received the vaccine yesterday, the clock is ticking.

Politicians and people in lab coats (public health experts) are telling you to take an unproven vaccine, they want to mandate all vaccines on children, knowing people will be psychologically induced to obey. This could especially be the case when coercion for a job, food and school is held over their collective heads.


--Nicole DeGraff

Post Date: 2020-12-16 13:21:32

Last Update: 2020-12-16 15:13:40

The City of Molalla, Oregon has posted this on their official facebook page.

COVID-19 Temporary Restaurant Relief

Dear Local Restaurant Owners,

As you are aware Governor Kate Brown has used her executive authority to shut down indoor dining for the foreseeable future due to perceived threats from COVID-19. While curbside pickup and delivery have been successful tools to combat some of the hardship faced by local restaurants, it is simply not enough to make ends meet for most of you. Additionally, as purported reopen dates have repeatedly proven to be nothing more than shut-down reissuance dates, City Staff has been brainstorming ways to support you.

While there is nothing that can be done at the local level to allow you to fully reopen, there are local rules that can be relaxed to allow you to increase your operations and remain compliant with all relevant laws and executive orders. In that vein, City Manager, Dan Huff, under his emergency authority, has authorized me to invite all restaurants in the City of Molalla to partake in outdoor dining operations (subject to City approval).

The process is simple, just contact me using the contact information above. I will meet with you, discuss your plan, and arrange for you to provide the relevant documents based on your plan and the nature of your property. There will be no fee for this process and barring situations outside our purview we can have you ready for outdoor operations within a day or two.

I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am that we have not rolled this out sooner. Like so many across our state and country, we heard “two weeks to flatten the curve” and believed that (even with some minor extensions) there was a light at the end of the tunnel. And, while we are still positive that this too shall pass, we now understand that the length of the tunnel is based on the whims of individuals, and that it has already been too long for many.

Thank you for being a valued member of the Molalla Community, please don’t hesitate to reach out as soon as possible to get the ball rolling.

Contact Mac Corthell at 503-759-0219 or mcorthell@cityofmolalla.com.

Please disseminate this information to other local restaurant owners if you are willing.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-12-16 12:45:25

Undaunted by Yamhill County counsel Todd Sadlo’s zero for five record at the Land Use Board of Appeals, friends of the Yamhelas Westsider Trail and their allies in both elected and unelected government press on, including Commissioner Casey Kulla. With grant money from the Oregon Department of Transportaton and DLCD Alta Planning has been hired to create a a master plan for an unapproved trail.

Virtual townhalls were part of the rollout in which unscientific polls were taken to establish consensus. Alta’s Mary Stewart stated that all property owners adjacent to the trail would have input to the process. As the Master Plan moves to a Board of Commissioner’s meeting on December 17th no effort had been made by Alta to contact those owning land adjacent to the trail. Finally, an adjacent property owner, Jim VanDyke, contacted Alta and arraigned for Stewart to meet property owners on Dec. 16th at his farm.

Yamhill County grant money coordinator, Carrie Martin, stated in a McMinnville News Register article on Dec. 8th that she had reached out to adjacent property owners. That simply wasn’t true. Following up on that newspaper article Commissioner elect, Lindsay Berschauer asked Ms. Martin if adjacent property owners had been contacted. Ms. Martin tried to give Berschauer the run-around by claiming that they were contacted if they logged into the virtual townhall. It’s unfortunate when public officials deliberately mislead for partisan reasons.

Materials in the possession of Alta which were not presented at the virtual townhalls are part of the presentation to the Board of Commissioners for the Dec 17th meeting. Metro added the Yamhelas Westsider Trail to it’s regional trails map in 2018. Who is orchestrating these moves that lack transparency? What level of oversight does grant money receive? Why is ODOT so heavily involved in a facility of the Parks Department?


--Tom Hammer

Post Date: 2020-12-16 08:56:26

In 1990, the North Gateway Urban Renewal Area was established on roughly 900-acre section of north Salem that includes the Portland Road Corridor. As an innovative public-private partnership between Salem-Keizer Public Schools and Mountain West Investment Corporation, the Career and Technology Education Center opened in 2015. The vision for CTEC is to prepare high school students for high-skill, high-wage and high-demand careers while developing the professional skills, technical knowledge, academic foundation and real-world experience to assure their success upon graduation. The first full school year (2016-17), Salem-Keizer graduation rates increased nearly two percent, and decreased the dropout rate.

The Urban Renewal Agency just announced an investment of $2 million toward the Salem-Keizer School District’s Career and Technology Education Center. CTEC opened in North Salem to address the need for a trained workforce in the Mid-Willamette region and provides workforce development and educational opportunities for Salem residents including auto mechanics, construction, agricultural science, culinary, and design programs.

Mountain West purchased the 150,000 square-foot former Neilsen Manufacturing facility in 2014 with a commitment to renovate the space and equip 10 different Career Technical Education programs by 2019. The total capital project budget is $17 million, with Mountain West contributing $9 million, and $8 million leveraged from the public sector, foundations, individuals and businesses.

As the other half of the public-private partnership, Salem-Keizer Public Schools develops the curriculum, recruits and registers students, hires faculty and staff, provides transportation and covers ongoing operating costs. CTEC programs align with high school graduation requirements as well as industry certifications and standards.

The CTEC programs are right inline with Ivanka Trump’s campaign as co-chair of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board that took root at the beginning of 2019. The goal is to make apprenticeships and other training programs just as attractive that is far less expensive than higher education.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2020-12-16 08:49:05

Oregon State Police has partnered with the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNT-CHI) for over 10 years to process and upload missing person and unidentified person DNA profiles into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). The Center has also provided invaluable service to all 36 Oregon counties by sponsoring and managing the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). Unfortunately, due to a loss of federal funds, the UNT-CHI can no longer process any missing person or unidentified remains samples outside the state of Texas. UNT-CHI will also be limited in their management of the NamUs website as of January 1, 2021.

The Oregon State Police Forensic Science and Pathology Bureau will now be expected and sought out by Oregon law enforcement agencies to provide the services that UNT cannot. OSP cannot provide the suite of DNA examinations and services that UNT has provided in the past; however, the Bureau is committed to assisting Oregonians and Oregon law enforcement providing DNA analyses. If you have missing person/family reference standards to submit for DNA analysis, they ask that you retain them securely until further notice. You may direct questions regarding DNA analysis for Family Reference Standards of missing persons to Stephenie Winter Sermeno, OSP DNA Unit Supervisor: swinter@osp.oregon.gov.

Death investigators and law enforcement agencies routinely begin with the NamUs website to determine if DNA, dental records, and fingerprints from both missing persons and unidentified remains are available for searching and comparison purposes. In addition, families of missing persons have access to NamUs to provide and search for important information about their loved ones for “matching” or associating cases. Negotiations appear to be ongoing regarding the maintenance and management of the NamUs website; the National Institute of Justice is acknowledging the burden that suspending this national information repository would bring. NamUs is a crucial tool to the forensic science, pathology, anthropology, missing persons, and law enforcement communities. Continued use as a state-wide and nation-wide resource and service is important as an uninterrupted tool. In the meantime, you may direct questions regarding the analysis of unidentified remains and/or the OSP Human Identification Program to Dr. Nici Vance, State Forensic Anthropologist: nvance@osp.oregon.gov

In the coming days OSP will communicate analytical capabilities and limitations regarding the submission and processing of biological samples in missing person cases and unidentified remains cases. How this plays out may depend on the 2021-23 OSP budget. The agency requested a 41.59% increase of which 28% comes from the General Fund. However, The Governor’s budget did not include additional funding for the Forensic Science and Pathology Bureau. But, in response to the riots, the Governor will invest $5.8 million to support and improve the Oregon State Police’s policy, training, and wellness accountability plans, which includes funding for implicit bias training, firearms accountability, trooper wellness, and the purchase of additional body cameras.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2020-12-16 08:40:49

Last Update: 2020-12-17 06:23:48

Senator Dennis Linthicum (R-Klamath Falls) has issued a statement about the unconstitutional lockdowns and the resulting double standards.

“If Governor Kate Brown truly ‘followed the science’, the insidious and unconstitutional COVID-19 lockdowns would have ended months ago because they do not make any sense. The cost far exceeds the benefits and the negative results from lockdowns far outweigh the false imagery about ‘saving lives.’ We now know there are increased rates of child abuse from the lockdowns; patients are unable to get cancer treatments; and, the U.N. estimates nearly 130 million people will starve as a direct result of lockdowns worldwide.

“Here in Oregon, the cruel and perfidious COVID-19 mandates only seem to apply to hard-working Oregonians but not to the many hypocrites in office. When the political elite fail to live by their own arbitrary rules, it creates a double standard that signals to Oregonians that have been irreparably damaged by the lockdowns that their suffering and sacrifices do not matter. This is socialism at its worst: ‘Everyone is equal, but some are more equal.’

“America’s founding concepts still remain: all men and women are inherently valuable. They are free-will moral agents who are, and by right, ought to be free. Self-governance is the goal; not control by the state. After watching a disturbing video of a corporate airline discriminating against a young family, it is abundantly clear that when citizens and businesses blindly follow the government’s arbitrary COVID-19 rules out of fear, they unwittingly become the arm of state power. It’s time for Oregonians to take back their freedom and get back to living their lives without fear of state interference.”

Senator Linthicum can be contacted at Sen.DennisLinthicum@oregonlegislature.gov


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-12-16 08:26:01

Last Update: 2020-12-16 08:49:05