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THURSDAY August 6,2015
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Bend Eks
BUSINESS • C6
SPORTS • C1
bendbulletin.corn TODAY' S READERBOARD A hospital trend
A
growing number of women have access to nitrous oxide during childbirth.D1
By Scott Hammers
Councilors Doug Knight,
The Bulletin
Casey Roats and Victor
The Bend City Council voted
Wednesday to place a gas tax on the March 2016 ballot, and
will leave it to a yet-to-be-ap› pointed committee to deter›
Plus: Watermelon It’s more than just a tasty summer treat. Its benefits include hy› dration, and it mayevenhelp lower blood pressure.D1
mine the specifics. The council split 4-3, with
Chudowsky voted no. The council has in recent weeks been discussing a gas tax as an option to address an estimated $80 million in deferred street maintenance, a
figure that is expected to grow
Mayor Jim Clinton, and coun› cilors Sally Russell, Nathan
if roads are allowed to deterio› rate further.
Boddie and Barb Campbell voting to put the proposal be›
Prior to Wednesday, discus› sions had included the possi›
fore voters.
bility of a flat fee attached to
Judge orders Hayesto give up emais
Bend residents’ utility bills and
tax on the ballot before assem›
other alternative ways of gen› erating revenue, and the option improved sidewalks and bike
bling its advisory committee. According to City Manager Eric King, the council would have until December to meet the deadline for putting the
routes.
measure on the March ballot.
Wednesday night, coun› cilors spent almost no time discussing the merits of a gas tax or the case for a broader
Also on a split vote, the council opted to create the opponents of the vote to put the
By Steven Dubois
transportation fix, and instead
tax beforevoters described as
The Associated Press
spent roughly an hour debat› ing the decision to vote to put a
unnecessary.
PORTLAND The fiancee of former Gov. John Kitzhaber must re› lease her emails for
of a transportation package that would include funds for
13-member committee, a move
See Tax /A5
GOP debate —Oonald Trump is a wild card.A4
court review amid allegations she used their relationship to
FatherhOOd —Starting early may be badfor your health. As
land contractsforher green-energy consult› ing business, a judge ordered Wednesday. The ruling from Marion County Judge Tracy Prall comes after The Oregonian newspaper filed a public-records re› quest seeking more
And a Webexclusive
"No Irish NeedApply": A historian had people convinced that such discrimination was a myth until a14-year-old-girl decided to investigate. beedbulletie.cern/extras
than 100,000 of Cyl›
via Hayes’ emails.
er, INERES T
0 PAyMElttS
Hayes’ attorney, Whitney Boise, could
EDITOR'5CHOICE
not immediately be
U.S. Forest Servicesays budget up in smoke
reached for comment.
The case began after state Attorney General Ellen Rosen›
Andy Tullts/The Bulletin
A multicar accident on U.S. Highway 97 between Redmond and Bend temporarily closes the highway Tuesday afternoon.
By Ted Shoracke The Bulletin
Highway crashes E
McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON
Law›
makers are seeking budget solutions amid a superheat› ed political climate as the
wildland fires now raging across California, Wash› ington and other Western
states burn through federal dollars as well as forests. A new report warns
cx:
has long been considered perilous for its intersections and lack of
0
median barriers. But major safety upgrades to the highway between the two cities will likely not be seen until after 2019, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.
history, the agency is spending more than half its
A recent study by ODOT outlined safety improve› ments that will require sig›
nificant state funding. Adding concrete barriers and six locations for J-turns
will consume two-thirds of
a configuration requiring a two-step process to turn onto the opposing side of the highway is expected to cost $9 million. Other
the agency’s budget within
smaller-scale improvements
adecade.
include enhancing visibility for drivers passing through
budget on fire-related ac›
tivities. Unless something changes, the new 16-page report predicts, firefighting
"We havebeen pointing out this challenge for the past few years, but we have
not been able to address it through our current budget process," Forest Service
Chief Tom Tidwell said.
intersections.
Joel McCarroll, ODOT’s traffic manager for the re› gion, said some of the more minor suggested improve›
See Forest /A4
ments from the study may be accomplished with extra
TODAY’S WEATHER
money from the region’s budgeted expenses. Most of the major safety precautions, however, will
Lk.d
+< Sunny High79,Low44
have to be funded by the statewide transportation
improvement program be› cause of the high costs, he said.
lanes. A 6-year-old girl was critically injured in the crash and taken by air am›
On Tuesday morning, a 78-year-old Michigan man tried to cross the highway south of the Redmond Air›
bulance to St. Charles Bend.
port. The man tried to turn
between the two cities in
Business C5-6 Health D1-6 Calendar B2 Horoscope D5 Classified E1-6 Local/State B1-6 Comics E3-4 Obituaries B5 Crosswords E4 Sports C1-4 Dear Abby D5 TV/Movies D5 The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
vol. 113, No. 21e, 30 pages, 5sections
o
88 267 02329
Highway 97 shown between Bend and Redmond.
Crash type • Head-on or angled • Rear-end • Animal • Other
north from a private drive› December. A final report way on the southbound side, with recommendations for according to the Deschutes safety improvements was County Sheriff’s Office. released in June. He collided head-on with Although crashes occur
Hayes sued to overturn the de›
mand, saying she shouldn’t have to
comply because she was not part of a state
agency and because doing so might vio› late her right against self-incrimination. See Emails /A5
Halting recoveryin Ferguson By Monica Davey The New Yorh Times
FERGUSON, Mo. Brianna West stepped before the
judge as her daughter Morgan, 3, fidgeted
a Redmond man headed
there less often than some
southbound, the sheriff’s office said. There were no life-threatening injuries re› portedfrom thecrash. Another head-on crash
other highway sections in
beside her. West
Central Oregon, the 9-mile
had waited weeks to get this case behind
occurred’Ittesday afternoon
Crash data from 2014 are not yet available.
near SW Quarry Avenue south of Redmond. Oregon
section studied by ODOT had 108 reported crashes
her, facing citations
between 2009 and 2013. About 42 percent of the
orri
crashes during that period ple were injured in the crash occurred on roads affected when a Redmond woman by snow, ice or slick from State Police said eight peo›
traveling southbound
rain.
crossed into the northbound
See Crashes /A4 al~ crash
that included failure to comply with a police officer. She worried about steep fines, even jail time, on charges she felt were baseless. But the hearing brought relief. A newly appointed judge, Donald Mc›
What are the factors in crashes enU.S.Highway 97?
Cullin, who like West
Based on asafety study that analyzed the 108 crashes reported on U.S. Highway 97between Redmond and Bend for 2009-13, 40 percent of accidents occurred during December, January andFebruary. The crashes were split evenly betweendaylight and non-daylight hours. CRASHES BY YEAR CRASHES BYCONDITION CRASHES BYCAUSE 3~ crashes----- 16 CreSheS I crashes-› Rear-end
ordered her to spend
A 52percent decreasesince 2010 high of 33
3p
7Q. .............
62 crashes
50›
20
40›
15
10
20›
10› 2009 10 1 1
12
13
O+ ~++ o+
Source: Oregon Department of Transportation U.S. 97 Safety Report
is African-American, 10 hours performing community service. "He was trying to help me," West said, clearly surprised.
Fatal ~ crash
It was a starkly
Run-off road
Accounts for 67 Sldesweep, meeting percent of all Animal fatal and severe injurycrashes . Sidesweep, overtaking
30›
Q I/I/e use recyclenewspri d nt
: ’IIIII I
Fatal ~ crash
ODOT and a traffic engi› neering firm began analyz› ing the section of highway
Page B6
INDEX
A highway safety study found that there were 108 crashes reported from 2009 through 2013 along the 9-mile stretch of
u.s.
the funding problem will worsen. Whether Congress rallies is another matter. For the first time in the Forest Service’s 110-year
counts that discuss
public business.
The stretch of U.S. Highway 97 where two crashes occurred Tuesday
By Michael Doyle
blum ordered Hayes to disclose emails from personal ac›
Turning movement Includes Overturned two fatal Head-on crashes Pedestrian 0 5 10 15 20 25
different scene from what Ferguson res› idents faced in this
Fatai eras
municipal court a year ago before the city was tom by unrest after a white
police officer’s fatal shooting of a black, unarmed teenager named Michael Pete Smith I The Bulletin
Brown.
See Ferguson /A5