A good portion of Oregon has reopened after an extended coronavirus lockdown that was originally scheduled to last until July 6th.
However, the state’s Democratic governor Kate Brown has decided that she’s not ready to give up the power she’s recently acquired and has forbad residents from closed counties the ability to travel to open counties.
Most of the state was allowed to begin Phase 1 last Friday which meant that gyms, hair salons, shopping malls, and restaurants with sit down service could start to operate with restrictions. However, people are limited to gatherings under 25 people.
It would seem that one of the most liberal governors in the country had seen the light, she even allowed furniture stores, art galleries, and boutiques to open.
Oregon’s three most populous counties – Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington, all surround the Portland area have experienced a higher rate of infection and have remained closed. In her recent announcement she said that Portland-area resident should not leave the area.
The Oregonian reports:
Brown asked Portland-area residents to hold tight and resist the urge to drive to another county to get a haircut, dine out at a restaurant or visit a tourist sites.
“I know this is really hard,” Brown said. “I know many of us are really wanting to get our hair done, get our haircut, whatever you need to do, but we are asking folks in the metro area to be thoughtful of their fellow Oregonians and to stay home and limit their travel to essential need. … We obviously don’t want to overwhelm the rest of Oregon by traveling outside the metro area.”
Brown did clarify that she will not set up police checkpoints to enforce her order, she is expecting metro residents to respect her direction to lessen the spread of the virus.
There’s just one problem, Brown has no authority to enforce her stay at home order.
Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff ruled this week that since Brown did not ask the legislature for an extension of her original order her restrictions are void. Brown demanded Shirtcliff stay his ruling but he refused.
The Oregonian | Western Journalism
