Bulletin Daily Paper 04/05/10 by Western Communications, Inc.

Teen riders saddle up High schoolers compete at local meet, eyes on state • SPORTS, D1

Also in Sports: A pitcher calls Bend home, but doesn’t call it quits

WEATHER TODAY

MONDAY

Mostly cloudy, chance of mixed showers High 48, Low 25 Page B6

• April 5, 2010 50¢

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A solution at last to longtime water woes in Prineville?

What can we learn

By Lauren Dake The Bulletin

PRINEVILLE — Since the 1900s, when the city of Prineville required families with a bathtub to pay 50 cents more on their monthly water bill, the town has struggled to find adequate water sources. When Crook County’s population jumped 10.3 percent between 2004 and 2005 — the top growth rate in the state — city officials needed to find water fast. They spent a million dollars to dig three wells — two were dry, and one produced only a small amount, which was contaminated with sulfur. Now, the city has identified an area near the airport that officials hope could be its saving grace. They want to eventually develop a well field and have started studying the resiliency of the aquifer. “Water is a big issue in town,” said Eric Klann, a city engineer. “This would keep us from going to a surface water treatment plant, which would be expensive.” In the Ochoco Valley, where the majority of the city’s wells are located, a well can produce about 200 to 300 gallons of water a minute. In Redmond, a well at a comparable depth can pump 2,000 to 2,500 gallons a minute. So the discovery of a thin vein of a basalt aquifer near the airport has city officials hoping they have found a solution to Prineville’s ongoing water problems. “We’ve gained a lot of information in the past four or five years,” said Prineville Public Works Director Jerry Brummer. “We’ve learned from our mistakes.” The city recently received a tentative thumbs-up from the Oregon Water Resources Department to increase the amount of water it pumps, from 1,000 to 2,000 gallons per minute near the airport area. See Prineville / A4

The Bulletin

from our stray mountain goat?

Courtesy Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

By Kate Ramsayer The Bulletin

e’s on his own and far from home. And when the shaggy white Rocky Mountain goat settled onto a rock outcropping in Dry

Canyon about 15 miles east of Bend over the winter, he was the first wild mountain goat known to be in Central Oregon in more than a century. Not surprisingly, he drew hundreds of curious onlookers. Wildlife biologists are now trying to decipher where he came from and track where he goes next. By watching where he and others wander, they hope to discover good, goat-friendly habitat where they could bring animals to start new populations in the future. “It’s really important for us to get an idea of what that dispersal is, and what kinds of habitat they’re

looking for,” said Steven George, wildlife biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Last month, crews from an aviation company working with Fish and Wildlife tagged the goat and took a small sample from its ear to test its DNA. To approach the goat, they shot a net out of a helicopter to restrain him, and then dropped to the ground. The goat’s legs were tied together, and he was blindfolded, which reduces the stress on the

animal, George said. They snapped pictures of his teeth and his horns, using that information to determine he was 2 years old. “That’s just the right age for a dispersing male,” George said. They checked his heavy coat for ticks or other parasites, and determined he was in good health. They fitted him with a radio tracking collar — an older version of tracking technology, he said, but one that will last the longest. And when they punched a little hole in his ear to fit him with a tag, they collected a tissue sample that they later sent away to be analyzed and compared with other Northwest goats. Different goat families have different genetic markers, George said. So by comparing snippets of the Dry Canyon goat’s DNA with samples taken from different goats in other locations, scientists can try to pinpoint where the Dry Canyon goat came from. See Goat / A5

SALEM — The sole gubernatorial candidate from Bend, Clark Colvin, is facing questions from state regulators over a Web site biography that lists advanced degrees he obtained from unaccredited institutions. Colvin, who moved to Bend last year, is running for the Republican nomination in the May 18 primary, having filed on the last day possible. Until Colvin set up his campaign Web site last week, the only biography available was on the Web site of his business, CSC Capital. On it he claims to have received six degrees in 10 years from around the world. Those include a Ph.D., a Doctorate of Public Administration, and a “D. Litt.,” or doctor of letters. However, two of the schools he listed as sources for two of the degrees are unaccredited, which could constitute a low-level criminal misdemeanor under Oregon law, said Alan Contreras, administrator for the state Office of Degree Authorization. “The fact is his business Web site is what’s in violation of the law,” Contreras said when asked about Colvin’s educational background. “It doesn’t have anything to do with him being a candidate.” The Office of Degree Authorization enforces laws that forbid anyone in Oregon, candidate or not, from claiming an educational degree that is unaccredited by the state or by other jurisdictions whose accreditation programs are recognized by the state. The law is intended to discourage diploma mills and deceptive self-promotion. In interviews with The Bulletin, Colvin said his degrees included a Ph.D. from Eurotechnical Research University in Hawaii. His Web site does not precisely list that institution, though it does say he graduated from “Eurotechnische Universitat” in 1992. See Colvin / A4

ELECTION

WHAT DOCTORS SAY

Applauding health bill’s ideals, fearing its effects By Pat Wechsler and Chad Terhune

AT TOP

Bloomberg News

Today in Green, Etc. Page C1

EASTER: Vatican Mass infused with defense of the pope, Page A3

Bend GOP candidate’s degrees questioned By Nick Budnick

A 2-year-old Rocky Mountain goat living in the Dry Canyon area was tagged and fitted with a radio collar last month, so wildlife biologists can track his movements and identify good habitat areas.