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FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021
Brookings, Oregon
State begins takeover of public health services After county loses lawsuit, mental health services to move to OHA KNOX KERANEN The Pilot
After voting to disband Curry County Public Health last week, the board of commissioners are trying to tie up loose ends as the state assumes public health responsibilities in the county. At an April 28 meeting, the board addressed some of those loose ends, which include the future of integral public health services, such as mental health care, women, infant and children (WIC) services and environmental services. The county’s mental health and addiction services are being offered through the nonprofit Curry Community Health, which has a contract with the county set to expire Dec. 30. However, in an April 13 press
release, CCH announced they had “been approved for legal dissolution.” The release also stated the group is in the process of returning all state-funded behavioral health programs to the county. Those programs include: substance use disorder counseling, crisis response, gambling treatment and others. After the announcement of the dissolution of their mental health provider, the county pursued litigation against CCH, demanding they provide services for the remainder of the year, as contracted. On April 30, a district court ruled in favor of CCH, meaning their contract with the county will expire on June 30, according to Commissioner Court Boice.
Photo by Knox Keranen/The Pilot
Curry Community Health will stop offering mental health services for Curry County at the end of June, before
More Health, Page A2 which a new provider must be chosen.
Musicians ready to perform again ‘I chose to
save lives’: Governor defends lockdown
After losing a year due to COVID, local musicians are excited to return to the stage KNOX KERANEN The Pilot
After a difficult year of lockdowns and bans on gatherings, local musicians are beginning to hear the music at the end of the tunnel. Tom Boylan is the one-man band known as Holus Bolus, which he describes as a “psychedelic acoustiloop.” Psychedelic because his music smacks of Pink Floyd and other psych-rock influences, and “acoustiloop” because Boylan uses a looper pedal to individually record instruments, including drums, guitars and shakers. Altogether, it’s as if Boylan has a full band behind him. Pre-pandemic, Boylan was performing up to 80 times each year and touring across the West often. In fact, he had a slew of shows booked across the Pacific Northwest when the virus struck last March. “All my shows got cancelled, like immediately,” said Boylan. “From the beginning of February to October, I didn’t play any gigs at all. That was the first time in my whole life that I didn’t have any gigs either with a band or my own solo stuff.” Boylan’s first gig in the post-lockdown era was on Halloween, which is also his birthday, at Zola’s On The Water in Brookings.
With live music beginning to make a comeback, Boylan said he can tell listeners now have a deeper appreciation for something they haven’t been able to experience in a while. “You just see this totally different look in their eye, people are just super stoked,” said Boylan. Another local musician, Zack Freiwald, did what many other musicians across the world did during the pandemic, he performed in his living room and live streamed it. “In the initial hype of covidness, that was the way to go and everyone was doing it, so I jumped all over it,” said Freiwald. If Boylan is psychedelic acoustiloop, Freiwald is more cozy campfire. During his COVID live streams, he did covers, as well as his own original stuff, usually in front of his fireplace and bookcase. Freiwald, a prescribed fire and fuel technician at Redwood National and State Parks, said his songwriting has come a long way since he started 25 years ago. “You may not always just be writing about the one event, or one person, but you might combine multiple things that happened to you over the course of time, but they are semi-related and end up making a tolerable song,” said Freiwald. Freiwald said he has used the last
The Pilot
Curry County will stay in the moderate-risk category of COVID-19 restrictions for another week, Oregon officials announced Tuesday. Virus cases remained steady last week, with 39 cases reported in the previous two weeks and a 3.8% test positivity rate, almost identical to the week before. The figures are a stark comparison to the rest of the state, where cases have been continuing to rise over the last several weeks. On Tuesday, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced 15 counties would move out of the extreme-risk category of virus restrictions as the statewide hospitalization steadied slightly to below the state’s
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last five audits had demonstrated a “history of material insufficiencies, material weaknesses and a lack of internal controls...Current operational practices create heavy workloads at an above average cost to taxpayers.” Later in the report Harvey wrote, “OpenGov is a cosy-effective solution that promotes accuracy, efficiency, unity and transparency.” In December 2019, the board of commissioners voted 2-1 to approve switching to OpenGov at the former finance director’s request. Commissioners Court Boice and Chris Paasch voted yes, while former Commissioner Sue Gold
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown defended her decision to impose more COVID-19 restrictions on some parts of the state the same day 15 Oregon counties were forced to close indoor dining and recreation. “Cases are widespread, driven by new, more contagious variants. Oregon leads the nation for our rate of increase in cases over the last two weeks,” Brown said Friday. “I was presented with data showing two paths Oregon could take.” Brown explained last week’s decision to cancel a warning period and force the counties into the extreme-risk category of virus restrictions as the choice between those two paths: One path without restrictions and with additional virus deaths, and another path with more restrictions and fewer deaths. “As your governor, I chose to save lives,” Brown said. Since she announced her plan to re-impose the restrictions on indoor dining and recreation, the governor has faced significant opposition from impacted businesses and local government leaders concerned about the damaging economic effects of the plan. Earlier this week, dozens of county officials from across the state signed onto a letter from the Association of Oregon Counties and the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, calling on the governor to pull back on her plan. “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 78 county commissioners wrote in the letter. The county leaders pointed to the toll the pandemic’s restrictions have taken on their communities and economies, saying the restrictions are dividing communities “rather than bringing Oregonians together” and asking for greater local control over pandemic restrictions. In response, Brown pointed to the state of the virus. “What I would respond to in
More OpenGov, Page A10
More Governor, Page A10
Contributed photo
Zack Freiwald performs during a concert last year. After being shut More Musicians, Page A3 down due to COVID, Freiwald is excited about performing again.
Curry remains in moderate risk amid state virus spike ZACK DEMARS
ZACK DEMARS
threshold for imposing the strictest category of restrictions. “Based on today’s numbers, I am keeping my commitment to Oregonians. Beginning Friday, all counties in Extreme Risk will return to High Risk. With Oregonians continuing to get vaccinated each week, my expectation is that we will not return to Extreme Risk again for the duration of this pandemic,” Brown wrote in a press release Tuesday. “I know this will bring relief to many across the state. However, the lifting of Extreme Risk health and safety measures comes with great personal responsibility for us all,” the governor wrote. As of Monday, 351 in the state were hospitalized with the virus.
More Moderate, Page A3
County abandons OpenGov software KNOX KERANEN The Pilot
Curry County government is abandoning its accounting software, OpenGov, after spending $140,000 on the rollout of the program. “The bottom line is we are out money,” said Commissioner Court Boice. Local governments use accounting software to record and report how funds are used and managed. In a June 2019 report by former finance director Sharlyn Harvey, she recommended switching the county’s accounting software from Caselle to OpenGov for a number of reasons. The report stated the county’s
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