Were you expecting a peaceful demonstration?
On May 1, 2021, a gathering happened in the City of Portland that devolved into a riot.
While Demonstration Liaison Officers were in the area of Southwest 4th Avenue and Southwest Columbia Street, they intervened in an altercation where one of the subjects was arrested. There is some video of part of this incident circulating online but it does not capture the entire event or the portion when the crimes were committed.
Several items were seized including a baseball bat, body armor, a knife and a flare. 26-year-old Michael Isaacs of Portland was charged with Menacing and Disorderly Conduct II.
A vehicle caravan of about 30 cars drove near the Justice Center, then to the ICE facility. A group of about 50 people blocked traffic on South Moody Avenue and South Bancroft Street.
Between 9 and 10 p.m., one group of about 30 individuals gathered near the ICE facility. Another group of about 80-100 people gathered in Shemanski Park. Both of these events had been promoted as "autonomous demonstrations" similar to prior events where participants engaged in criminal behavior including arson, assault, vandalism and theft.
There were a number of shields brought to Shemanski Park which was another indicator those within the group intended to engage in criminal acts. The group marched to City Hall and began engaging in vandalism by breaking windows and spray painting the building. Due to the criminal activity, the gathering was declared an unlawful assembly and the crowd was ordered by loudspeaker to disperse.
Multiple windows were broken and a riot was declared due to the criminal activity that was occurring. The crowd was given direction to disperse to the west. Rather than disperse, the group marched in the streets. More individuals continued to break windows of businesses.
Several members of the crowd used umbrellas in an attempt to block police from viewing criminal acts.
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The group rampaging downtown began to disperse. PPB continued to display a presence in the area and make focused arrests of those engaged in criminal acts.
The group near ICE began to grow in numbers to between 50 and 60 around 11:30 p.m. As officers were making a focused arrest, a male subject in the crowd was trying to push through the officer's line. He reached into his pocket and pulled a butterfly-type knife on officers. The male ran away, then officers on bicycles located the suspect and arrested him.
Portland Police Bureau made focused arrests of individuals engaged in criminal acts including:
- Phoebe Loomis, 36 years-old, of Portland, was charged with Criminal Mischief II. A helmet, gloves, metal tool, bear spray, and gas mask were seized.
- Quang Ngyen, 20 years-old, of Kent, Washington was charged with Criminal Mischief I and Disorderly Conduct II. A hammer and sling shot, along with instructions on how to make a sling shot, were seized.
- Krystopher Donnelly, 27 years-old, of Portland, was arrested on a warrant for Riot, Criminal Mischief I, and Resist Arrest.
- Jeremiah Day, 22, of Portland, was arrested for Menacing officers with a butterfly knife.
- Darren Stephens, 36 years-old, of Portland, was arrested for a warrant for Criminal Mischief II.
"Once again, under the cover of darkness, several dozen people decided to damage and destroy multiple businesses in our downtown area resulting in a riot," Chief Chuck Lovell said. "The situation became extremely dangerous when a man brandished a knife at officers when officers were simply doing their job. The officers appear to have exercised restraint and professionalism and safely apprehended this suspect. I am proud of all of our employees who worked to minimize further damage and arrest some of the criminals involved."
--Bruce Armstrong| Post Date: 2021-05-02 14:49:26 | Last Update: 2021-05-02 15:44:29 |
Opinion from an Oregon family
Note: This is a Northwest Observer Guest Editorial
For the last year, we like so many others have “danced with COVIDâ€. We wore our mask, most of the time, stayed 6’ apart from people, except in Costco, Walmart, Safeway, etc., and washed our hands so much they dried and cracked.
During the past year we sat outside the outfield fence with binoculars so that we could watch our daughter play softball, we traveled to Idaho so that she could play in a basketball tournament, we hosted an “underground Prom†so that the class of 2020 could have some sense of normalcy as the world stopped in its tracks. During the summer we hosted a backyard wedding so that two young people could celebrate their love surrounded by their family and start their lives together. Our family paid to have our noses swabbed so that we could escape to one of our favorite Hawaiian Islands for a needed get away from the craziness of Oregon. We danced with COVID.
Our children had their public education turned upside down. One lost the end of their Freshmen year of High School and the other their Freshmen year of College. They spent most of their Sophomore year learning from their bedrooms. For our college kid it should have been a time of meeting new people, living on his own, and growing into an adult. Instead, he was back in his old bedroom stuck at home with his parents. For our daughter, it should have been a year filled with cheering at football games, pep assemblies, homecoming, winter formal, sports, and fun with friends. Instead, it was a crammed together sports seasons, no homecoming, and no winter formal. Luckily, she has great friends and we never said no to an opportunity for her to go hang out, attend a backyard bonfire or anything else that felt like a normal teenage weekend night. We danced with COVID.
Being “essential workers†me and my husband’s lives could not stop. Crops do not stop growing and employees need their jobs. We spent hours and days searching stores for PPE for our employee’s, purchased additional sanitation equipment and moved the lunch area to a large open shed. Requirements changed daily, but there was still work to be done. Our employees continued to show up to work; remote work is not possible in agriculture and tried their best to follow the rules. We danced with COVID.
We were told that if we just continued to follow the rules and non-stop changing metrics, life would return to normal. A year later it feels like that day will never come. We have watched businesses close for good and have helped friends pack to move out of state. We know we can’t pick up and go like they do because agriculture work is unlike any other business; we are tied to the land. So, we dance with COVID.
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We have lost family members to natural causes without being able to say goodbye and we have lost family members over politics brought out by COVID disagreement. Our personal health choices have become coffee shop talk, and everyone has an opinion as to what we should or should not be putting into our body. We danced with COVID.
Like every dance, eventually the song comes to an end and so does the dance. Our dance came to an end almost 2 weeks ago. Living on a farm, seasonal allergies are a norm. We sneeze and we cough and we go to work. However, when we received a notice that we were potentially exposed to COVID we decided that our dance was over. We took the test and sure enough, we were positive. Testing did nothing but add to the statistics used by our governor to shutdown small businesses (we did not get COVID at a bar, restaurant or gym). The doctor told us to rest, drink fluids and take Tylenol if we had a fever (which we did not). Nothing different from what he would have told us if we had the flu! It has been 10+ years since we had flu shots and longer since we had the flu, and we will not lie, this flu is a doozy. However, we are surviving, and we will recover. We danced with COVID.
So, what is next? Can we toss the masks? Can we get together with friends? Can we travel? Are we now immune to getting it again? These are legitimate questions. We are told to keep the masks on, stay away from people, stay home and if we want to travel freely we still need to get a vaccine for an illness that we had and survived.
We danced with COVID, but it appears we may have to keep wearing the dancing shoes for a much longer time.
--Terese Humboldt| Post Date: 2021-05-01 13:59:37 | Last Update: 2021-05-01 17:21:43 |
Seniority no longer would be a determining factor
The House Rules Committee is one of the few committees where bills can remain active until they are “called up†by the committee chair or the Speaker of the House.
The bills can also cover just about any topic. House Rules is currently looking at bills that have to do with public meeting law, land use changes and employment law just to name a few.
One of the bills in their committee is
HB 2001. The bill came to the Rules Committee after passing out of the House Committee on Education.
The bill would require school districts facing budgetary constraints to prioritize teachers for retention based on seniority, unless a teacher being retained has more merit and the retention of the teacher maintains the school district's diversity ratio.
In other words, more experienced teachers will continue to be retained unless the district has a lower seniority teacher that meets a diversity ration and then that teacher would be retained over the other teacher, based on their skin color.
Currently when a public school district in Oregon needs to or chooses to do a reduction in staffing, they do the reduction based on seniority as required by
ORS 342.934. It is also typically called out in the staff collective bargaining agreement. In a session where almost, every bill has been driven by diversity, equity and recognizing historically under-served populations, this bill seems to fit the theme and should have received little resistance. It was also sponsored by The Speaker of the House, Representative Kotek (D–Portland).
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However, during initial hearings in the House Education Committee, it was openly opposed by the Oregon Education Association (OEA) as well as some teachers that could be considered part of the group protected by the proposed change.
Jared Mason-Gere, OEA Government Relations representative stated in testimony that, “Since the late 1990s, collective bargaining agreements across Oregon have systematically and purposefully omitted “meritâ€-based language in contracts due to causing difficult and chaotic layoff processes," said Jared Mason-Gere, OEA Government Relations representative. "We fear the language in HB 2001 will create a messy process of trying to reopen and renegotiate contracts. We also fear that this bill could create legal challenges that could set back affirmative hiring and retention practices even further. Legal precedent is very clear that hiring can be used to advance equity goals, but layoff cannot. It is also clear that hiring ratios can be used relative to qualified applicants but cannot be used for other populations such as population served.â€
Alisha Chavez a 6th year teacher of K-2 Intensive Skills for Portland Public Schools agreed with OEA. She has stated:
“While, I fully agree with the intention of retaining Black, Indigenous, and Educators of Color, this bill has language that will harm our communities directly. It will change the language to get rid of seniority and replace with “merit†instead. Under the current bill language, an educator who might be fluent in French which is not a language used in my position would be able to bump me as they have more ‘merit’ than meâ€.
She is correct, in the bill, “Merit†is defines among other ways as the measurement of the ability and effectiveness of one teacher, as measured against the ability and effectiveness of another teacher, based on consideration of any of the following factors: Any languages spoken by the teacher that are not English. It says nothing about the additional language being applicable to the position, the school or needs of the students.
Oregon Partners for Education Justice, a coalition of Oregon associations including Oregon Business Council, Latino Network, Native American Youth and Family (NAYA), and the Coalition of Communities of Color, just to name a few, support the bill. They shared that “According to the 2020 Oregon Educator Equity Report, 38.5% of Oregon’s students identify as racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse, whereas only 10.7% of educators identify as suchâ€.
Max Williams, President and CEO of Oregon Community Foundation agreed that Oregon has made progress in diversifying its K-12 workforce, but teacher diversity still lags significantly behind trends in our K-12 student population. With 62 percent of Oregon teachers of color hired in just the last 5 years, workforce diversity suffers when reductions in force are made based only on merit and seniority.
“HB 2001 offers a reasonable solution to this challenge in requiring school districts, when implementing reductions in force, to retain an educator with less seniority if the educator has more merit and their retention is necessary to maintain the district’s diversity ratioâ€. said Max Williams
The bill is scheduled for additional public hearing, more opinions may be presented.
--Terese Humboldt| Post Date: 2021-05-01 10:29:36 | Last Update: 2021-05-01 13:37:14 |
“Sanctuary State†for animals
Many of us remember the popular Wendys’ commercial with the sweet elderly grandmas.
David Michelson of Portland has filed an attack on all animal farming in Oregon when he filed
Oregon Initiative Petition 13(IP 13) for the 2022 election to end animal cruelty.
This is essentially a full out attack on one of Oregon’s top economic income producers.
Oregon’s 12,000 beef ranchers raise about 1.3 million head of cattle for your organic meat pleasure. But it doesn’t stop there.
It also applies to poultry, fishing, hunting, agricultural research or teaching that involves the use of animals, and control of vermin or pests.
The bill specifies that animals can only be eaten after dying of natural causes (at which point, aged/diseased meat is not good). IP 13 is proposed as the "Abuse, Neglect, and Assault Exemption Modification and Improvement Act", which removes all references to “good animal husbandry†from state statute and makes it illegal to kill or hurt an animal for any reason other than self-defense.
If Michelson has his way, all animal food sources would give way to lab-grown meat. This is a global trend pushing the U.N. Agenda 2030, and instep with extremist proposals to eliminate 90% of red meat by 2030. Oregon seems to once again be following Colorado down a rabbit hole --
Colorado’s ballot initiative would criminalize husbandry practices.
IP13 not only criminalizes raising food animals in the state, it reclassifies animal husbandry practices as “sexual assault.â€, detailed in Section 6 of
the initiative. The IP makes intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing animal physical injury as abuse in the second degree a Class B misdemeanor. First degree is when it intentionally causes serious injury or cruel death as a Class A misdemeanor.
Traditional farming and ranching would be shut down, making protein scarce. Allowing cattle to live to old age takes a lot of grain, which is already in short supply. Lack of natural proteins and grains will soon weaken the population and looking to government labs for food may likely further the agenda of total government reliance.
Recalling when Agenda 21 first became known, there was a push for animal rights giving them legal protections from humans. IP 13 is a rewrite of the same concept. If Oregon passes IP 13, Oregon would essentially be a sanctuary state for animals.
Any animal in the state would have their rights codified in law, giving them equal status with humans.
Michelson needs 112,000 people to sign his petition before summer 2022.
--Donna Bleiler| Post Date: 2021-04-30 19:37:11 | Last Update: 2021-04-30 20:09:35 |
From the Portland City Auditor’s Office
After a three-month, nationwide search, Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan announced today the hiring of Deborah Scroggin as the new Oregon Elections Director.
Scroggin joins the Secretary of State’s office after nearly a decade with the Portland City Auditor’s Office where she oversaw city elections, the lobbying and political consultant program, and business operations.
“Deborah is the right person at the right time. Her leadership will steer the Oregon Elections Division in their ongoing work to ensure Oregonians have faith in our elections system,†Secretary Fagan said. “Deborah’s dedication to fairness and access for all Oregon voters is without question, and I am proud to have her on our team.â€
A
recent survey has shown an ongoing need to build confidence and trust in Oregon’s election system.
Scroggin was selected after a national search, and a rigorous interview process which included representatives from the Oregon Association of County Clerks.
“It is an honor to join the Secretary of State’s office and lead the dedicated professionals within the Elections Division,†Scroggin said. “After a period of turnover and transition, I am eager to build stability and guide the team through modernization efforts to improve elections for every Oregonian. It is a pivotal time for elections in this country. Together with the 36 county clerks across Oregon, we will continue the hard work to ensure Oregon’s elections are a model for the nation.â€
Scroggin, who has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree in public administration from the Portland State University, first joined the Portland City Auditor’s Office in 2012 as the Elections Officer for the City of Portland. She has most recently served as the Programs and Operations Supervisor.
Scroggin takes over the position from Interim Elections Director Brenda Bayes. Bayes, who previously served more than 20 years in the Elections Division, including as the Deputy Elections Director, temporarily rejoined the agency from retirement beginning in January to lead through the transition.
“I want to thank Brenda for her willingness to come back into public service and for her steady leadership and commitment to the agency and division,†Secretary Fagan said. “She has been a critical component to a smooth transition over the last several months.â€
--Staff Reports
| Post Date: 2021-04-30 12:25:40 | Last Update: 2021-04-30 12:42:57 |
Eastern Oregon town declares crisis
The laid-back town of Baker City is now hoping to wake up the state of Oregon so as to not be so passive
any longer. Oregon seems to be all about providing sanctuary for various things. We have sanctuary
for undocumented humans and we may be voting on giving even animals
sanctuary in 2022. The business leaders in Baker City approached the
new mayor, Kerry McQuisten, and the city council with a “Common
Sense Sanctuary City†resolution.
It wasn’t a slam-dunk, after all they intended to buck the Governor’s
Emergency Executive Order. So, after a town hall that formed a
work-group to set out a course of action, they wrote Governor Kate
Brown telling her their community and business leaders were left out of
the pandemic decision-making process. Receiving no response, the
work group got busy drafting an Emergency Declaration.
What resulted was an official declaration in RESOLUTION No. 3881
“RESOLUTION DECLARING AN ECONOMIC, MENTAL HEALTH, AND
CRIMINAL ACTIVITY CRISIS DUE TO THE CURRENT COVID-RELATED
STATE EMERGENCY DECLARATION AND RELATING OSHA MANDATES
AND GUIDANCE.†The resolution passed a city council by a vote of 5-2
on March 23, 2021.
WHEREAS, the Oregon Governor’s Executive Order 20-03:
Declaration of Emergency due to COVID-19, and all subsequent
and related OSHA guidance, and present and future executive
order extensions of such are arbitrary, ineffective, and draconian;
and
WHEREAS, we as a municipality have no legal ability to summarily
flout these mandates, guidelines and enforcement by OSHA, and
therefore cannot protect any local business from State-directed
targeting, repercussions and penalties if such local business
personally chooses to;
and
WHEREAS, we also recognize that neither city, county nor state
government has the legal right to flout the Oregon State
Constitution or the United States Constitution;
and
WHEREAS that relate to the right to make personal
decisions, the lack of science to support the lockdowns, misinformation
used, a number of consequences leading to criminal behavior, and
business failures as a result of the mandates. To which they resolved:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we declare an economic,
mental health, and crime crisis due to the current COVID-related
State Emergency Declaration and related OSHA mandates and
guidances, as a means of loudly and symbolically supporting our
citizenry;
and
BE IT RESOLVED, the City will communicate in writing with the
Governor’s Office to encourage the full opening of our city and
county, re-categorization to low-population status, or suggesting
other means necessary to give our citizens relief from these
mandates;
and
BE IT RESOLVED, the City will support upcoming legislation,
dependent upon its straightforward and unharmful wording,
which provides reparations to business owners who have had their
businesses and income taken without compensation;
and
BE IT RESOLVED, the City will support future statewide ballot
initiatives that limit the duration and extent of Governor’s
emergency powers, which may create similar lock-down scenarios
during future emergencies, natural disasters, and pandemics;
and
BE IT RESOLVED, the City will share this resolution with other
Oregon cities, counties, and media outlets in the hope those
entities will also speak more loudly;
and
BE IT RESOLVED the City recognizes the citizenry of Baker City are
free, sovereign individuals within a Constitutional, Representative
Republic, not subjects or slaves, and will be recognized as such as
we firmly stand to represent them.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Baker City, Oregon and
signed by the Mayor of Baker City, Oregon, this 23rd day of
March, 2021.
The Governor and her staff seemingly have refused to consider a Stanford study and dismissed suggestions from the CDC,
which states that “lock-downs should not be used as a primary method of
controlling this disease and stopping the spread.â€
Mayor McQuisten hopes that other cities will get in the fight against
arbitrary pandemic mitigation measures that have proven destructive.
--Donna Bleiler| Post Date: 2021-04-29 21:08:07 | Last Update: 2021-04-29 22:04:01 |
Bills have bi-partisan support
A new round of business shutdowns highlights unbalanced government authority and has prompted reaction from the Oregon Legislative branch.
In response to new shutdown orders from the Governor’s office, House Republicans today are considering pulling bills to the House floor to bring up proposals with sponsors from both parties that would roll back COVID-19 executive orders or require additional accountability.
The announcement follows the bipartisan actions of Legislatures in
New York,
Texas and
Michigan, where state lawmakers seek to restore balance to government decision-making.
- HJR 18 (sponsors Rep. Reschke, Nearman, Post) - Terminating state of emergency relating to COVID-19.
- HB 2243 (sponsors Rep. Wilde, Lewis, Evans, Owens) - Requires that declarations and extensions of states of emergency under certain statutes be accompanied by written explanations.
- HB 3177 (sponsor Rep. David Brock Smith) - Limits types of restrictions that Governor may impose on certain businesses during state of emergency related to COVID-19 pandemic.
- HB 3350 (sponsor Rep. Witt, Owens) - Prescribes requirements for providing education to students with disability during COVID-19 emergency.
- HB 3243 (sponsor Rep. Reschke) - Provides that civil penalty imposed as result of violation of COVID-19 emergency rule becomes due and payable 50 years after order imposing penalty becomes final.
New York’s legislature repealed several coronavirus-related executive orders, nearly two months after stripping Governor Andrew Cuomo of pandemic-era emergency powers. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, a Democrat, explained the decision by saying it is time to begin removing certain restrictions and regulations that are no longer necessary to rebuild the state’s economy.
In Oregon, Governor Kate Brown has exercised emergency powers which grant authority to enact widespread restrictions on commerce, education and public gatherings without any checks and balances.
The newest shutdown orders do not reflect the current situation Oregonians are experiencing.
Today the personal protective equipment supply situation is different, the vaccination situation is different, and the treatment of patients has evolved as well. Furthermore, the regional collaboration among hospitals has been developed over the course of the pandemic.
Severe cases of COVID-19 are also less common now because nearly 70 percent of Oregon’s at-risk population is fully vaccinated.
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Hospital rates for parts of the state like Southern Oregon are also not increasing, yet the new shutdowns impact businesses in those communities. Two weeks ago, Asante had as many as 26 cases in the system. By last night they had 13 in house. In both Providence and Asante in Southern Oregon, only 6 patients with COVID-19 are in ICU beds.
House Republicans point out that despite these changing circumstances, the response from the Governor’s office has not changed.
“The Legislature is in Session and we have a duty to engage. Oregonians need to have a balance of power between the separate branches of government again,†said House Republican Leader Christine Drazan (R-Canby.) “The decision to shut down businesses this week contradicts the newest CDC recommendations by not accounting for vaccinated individuals in Oregon. Furthermore, our businesses allow people to gather in places with standardized safety measures. There is no evidence that shutting them down will have an impact on transmission rates. If COVID guidelines in Oregon continue to ignore CDC guidelines to the detriment of families, kids and our main street businesses, we must restore the Legislature’s ability to hold the executive branch accountable.â€
“There’s zero evidence that we’re anywhere close to running out of hospital capacity in Marion County from COVID-19 cases,†added Marion County Commissioner Colm Willis. “We have plenty of PPE and because of vaccinations we aren’t seeing the same high level of severity in overall cases who need hospitalization. On top of that, there is zero data to suggest that restaurants have ever been a top contributor to COVID-19 transmissions. Shutting businesses down won’t change the numbers.â€
This week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance that lifted many restrictions for vaccinated individuals, including dining at the same table without masks and social distancing. The newest shutdowns from the Governor’s office does not account for the fact that nearly a third of Oregonians have received both vaccination doses.
--Bruce Armstrong| Post Date: 2021-04-29 13:19:24 | Last Update: 2021-04-29 16:11:16 |
Calls out Democrat legislators
Oregon Senate Minority Leader Fred Girod has issued a statement in response to the continued lockdown of Oregon's economy and livelihood.
“We are not obligated to let the Governor railroad Oregonians without accountability and transparency,†Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod (R-Lyons) said. “Legislative Democrats have locked people out of their Capitol building, and are actively participating in the Governor's efforts to lock working Oregonians out of their jobs. With vaccinations ramping up, we should focus on lifting Oregonians up, not putting them out of work.â€
“Democrat’s refusal to take seriously their role as a co-equal branch of government is actively harming Oregonians,†Girod continued. “The Democrats are aiding and abetting the abuse against working Oregonians because it gives them more power. No one-party, no one person should have this much power. Republicans are ready to reestablish principles of checks and balances and uphold values of transparency in the legislative process to protect lives and livelihoods.â€
“The Governor’s emergency powers kept kids locked out of the classroom for over a year,†Girod added. “They have led to countless Oregonians losing their livelihoods. Legislative Democrats have shown no courage to stand against the Governor’s overreach. They have failed to stand up for working families.â€
“Democrats will tell you they are the party of the working class, but when given the opportunity, they have refused to stand up for their livelihoods. Republicans are standing shoulder to shoulder with working Oregonians,†Girod said.
--Bruce Armstrong| Post Date: 2021-04-29 12:01:35 | Last Update: 2021-04-29 16:17:31 |
Teases re-opening in June
Governor Kate Brown has again extended her declaration of a state of emergency for COVID-19 for 60 days, until June 28, 2021, unless earlier rescinded or extended.
The declaration is the legal underpinning for the Governor’s COVID-19 executive orders and the Oregon Health Authority’s health and safety guidance.. Extending the state of emergency also helps ensure Oregon is able to fully utilize available federal COVID-19 relief and assistance.
The Governor issued the following statement:
“We are in the middle of the fourth surge of COVID-19 in Oregon, driven by more contagious variants of the disease. We must stop hospitalizations from spiking, so we can save lives, help our nurses and doctors weather this surge, and ensure no Oregonian is denied vital health care. Tomorrow, 15 counties are moving to the Extreme Risk Level, with nine more in High Risk. Hospitalizations nearly doubled in the last two weeks, to well over 300.
“At this time last year, there was so much we did not know about how to stop the spread of this deadly disease. Now, more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, we just have to hold on for a few weeks longer."
“I intend to fully reopen our economy by the end of June, and the day is approaching when my emergency orders can eventually be lifted. How quickly we get there is up to each and every one of us doing our part. Over 1.7 million Oregonians have received at least one dose of vaccine, and over 1.2 million are fully vaccinated against this deadly disease.
"Vaccinations are the best way to protect yourself, your friends, and your loved ones. They are also the quickest path toward lifting restrictions.
“Today, I am lifting Oregon’s executive order for price gouging related to the pandemic, because the days of hand sanitizer and, yes, toilet paper scarcity are far behind us. In the weeks to come, as the number of fully vaccinated Oregonians continues to grow, we will be able to lift the emergency orders and state regulations that have kept us safe for the past year.â€
--Bruce Armstrong| Post Date: 2021-04-29 10:18:42 | Last Update: 2021-04-29 10:39:19 |
State lockdowns are not working
Oregon State legislator Representative Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville) has issued a statement publicly advocating for ending the excessive and restrictive government mandated lock-downs that have plagued Oregon now for more than a year.
The statement reads as follows:
The data is becoming clearer regarding the effectiveness of lockdowns and other government-imposed responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns are not helping reduce case counts or hospitalizations. Governor Brown’s actions are contributing to the host of negative consequences that result from lockdowns of our society, including, poor and declining mental health; suicide ideation (up 25% in 18-24-year olds); economic ruin for families and small businesses; kids being significantly set back in their education; and many students missing a pivotal part of growing up by not being able to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities.
My office received an email this week from a constituent who explained her son would not be able to compete in his high school track meet, nor take his senior class picture, because he was supposedly ‘exposed’ to COVID though he repeatedly denied being in contact with the original case. In other situations, busloads of kids are being quarantined because they have merely been on the same bus as a positive case, regardless of contact. In more dire circumstances, children have been deprived of the social interaction they need, hot meals, and the teachers and other adults who act as mentors.
My constituents have been drained physically, financially, and morally as a result of the lockdowns. Some have sold everything to make it by because they lost their jobs. Others are just now receiving their Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits after more than a year of waiting. This is heartbreaking and unacceptable.
The Oregon Health Authority and Governor Brown say we need to reinstitute lockdowns to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. That might make sense - if there were evidence that lockdowns worked. The truth is, I am hard-pressed to find a correlation between state management and success in slowing or flattening case rates – and so are researchers. We can see evidence of this failure both here and in other states.
In January, Newsweek reported a peer-reviewed study published in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation which analyzed coronavirus case growth in 10 countries in early 2020. “The researchers used a mathematical model to compare countries that did and did not enact more restrictive lockdown orders, and determined that there was ‘no clear, significant beneficial effect of [more restrictive measures] on case growth in any country’.â€
Dr. Tom Woods, a senior fellow at the Mises Institute, added to this point when he compared Los Angeles to Sweden:
“The graph that follows may seem a trifle unfair – aren’t Sweden and Los Angeles quite different from each other? Well, sure. But if we were truly facing a catastrophic problem that could be mitigated only by lockdowns, social distancing, and masks, shouldn’t there still be a major difference between relatively laissez-faire Sweden and heavily locked-down Los Angeles? Shouldn’t the difference in results between two places with such different policies absolutely overwhelm whatever other differences exist between them, such that the superiority of the Los Angeles approach should come through clearly in the chart? And yet...â€
In Oregon, we are seeing a spike in cases, but not in deaths. Texas is mask-free and 100% open while steadily declining in both new cases and deaths. Other states - Mississippi, Georgia, and Arizona - are loosening their restrictions and declining, or static, in cases as vaccine rollout nears the halfway point.
These points lead us to three conclusions:
- Lockdowns are ineffective at managing case rates.
- People will take voluntary measures to ensure their health and the health of their loved ones.
- Vaccines are effective in reducing deaths among our vulnerable populations.
We are nearing the 50% vaccination mark across the state. Most of our vulnerable populations, if they chose to, have received their shots. It is time to open Oregon. People will make decisions for their safety and the safety of their loved ones. It is not our job to do it for them. The vulnerable are vaccinated. People are ready to get back to living after a year of distress and hardship. It is time to stop the arbitrary-number-guidelines, OSHA at-will fines and permanent rulemaking for a temporary issue. My constituents, and I, have had enough.
Sincerely,
Vikki Breese-Iverson
State Representative
House District 55
--Staff Reports| Post Date: 2021-04-28 20:36:14 | Last Update: 2021-04-28 21:37:14 |
Will lower prices for Oregonians
A bill from Representative Bill Post (R-Keizer) to allow the sale of
pseudoephedrine products without a prescription has now been approved by Oregon House legislators
today. That bill is
HB 2648.
This is the third time that Rep. Post has attempted to remove an unnecessary barrier for
Oregonians to lower their health care costs when purchasing pseudoephedrine products.
Products such as Sudafed will still be restricted to people who are at least 18 years of age
with a valid ID under the proposal.
Rep. Post was joined by a bipartisan group of lawmakers who sponsored the proposal.
The impact on health care consumers’ wallets could be significant. Currently,
purchasing a pseudoephedrine product requires a visit to your doctor to receive a
prescription, which comes with an expensive bill.
“With health care costs skyrocketing, this simple bill to reduce the cost of a common
cold medicine should be a no-brainer,†said Rep. Post. “We shouldn’t be asking people
to jump through very expensive hoops by visiting a doctor to obtain a prescription to
common cold medicine, especially when Oregon is the ONLY state requiring a
prescription.â€
--Bruce Armstrong| Post Date: 2021-04-28 13:00:30 | Last Update: 2021-04-28 13:21:50 |
AOC and ORLA pen letter to the governor
County Commissioners from 27 of the 36 counties across Oregon have jointly signed a letter along with the Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) and the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association (ORLA) demanding that Governor Brown remove restrictions that are killing Oregon restaurant and hospitality businesses.
The letter reads as follows:
This message is a unique one as it represents the first time county governments have formally written to your
office in partnership with Oregon's hospitality industry. We write to you to ask for reconsideration of our
approach to virus mitigation measures at this stage in the crisis.
The virus continues to take a grave toll on our local economies with restaurants representing one of the key
cornerstones fueling connectivity, hope, and mental health for our residents. These are the places we break
bread, share inspiration, and encourage one another and the COVID crisis has stripped us of these life
essentials.
The environment in each county throughout Oregon is uniquely its own. And the experts of these regions live
and breathe their successes and failures. The job of a Governor in a crisis like this is an unenviable one. We
fully accept and understand the importance of hospital capacity including an assessment of available personnel
in order to adequately meet the demands of any health emergency.
We have reached the point where the vast majority of Oregon's population most prone to serious illness has
been successfully protected from the virus. And we must all admit a documented case today does not carry with
it the same weight as a documented case in the Fall when so many of our fellow Oregonians lacked access to
vaccine. The variants are indeed troublesome, and we share your concern for their spread. But shutting down
our restaurants and further depriving Oregonians of their right to make calculated community engagement risks
when the virus continues to spread elsewhere will not result in success.
The time has come to allow our communities the opportunity to move forward while embracing continued health
and safety precautions. Our people understand the risks associated with COVID and our businesses have
proven their ability to adhere to the highest expectations in safety, sanitation, and air quality. It is no coincidence
Oregon has not seen one instance of a super spreader event tied to our hospitality industry.
We ask for your support in putting all effort and momentum into vaccinations. We have the safety guidelines and
expectations clearly outlined for all industry sectors and have reached a point where those safety measures,
alongside our work to achieve vaccination goals, can carry us through the other side of this pandemic without
breaking our statewide hospital capacity.
You must know restrictions on specific types of businesses compared to others within our local communities is
creating rifts and dividing people rather than bringing Oregonians together. We can flip the script by removing
state mandated business restrictions on our communities while empowering our county health departments to
uphold high expectations for ongoing health and safety measures as recommended by the CDC.
We have reached our turning point and we thank you in advance for your consideration.
--Staff Reports| Post Date: 2021-04-27 19:38:59 | Last Update: 2021-04-27 22:12:41 |
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