Lunchtime gets rolling
Inside the debate on who provides
health care services
Local mountain bikers endorse mid-day trek • SPORTS, D1
HEALTH, F1
WEATHER TODAY
THURSDAY
Partly cloudy, warmer High 61, Low 25 Page C6
• April 22, 2010 50¢
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com
Demand for housing aid skyrockets County commission race pits newcomer against veteran in region Happy 40th, Earth Day! • Earth Day was organized on April 22, 1970, by Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson in an effort to promote environmental awareness.
• Also in 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency was established by President Richard Nixon in response to the growing concern for the environment.
• In 1970, 20 million people participated in Earth Day activities in the U.S. Today, more than 1 billion people worldwide celebrate Earth Day.
Learn about local Earth-friendly activities in Friday’s GO! Magazine
By Hillary Borrud The Bulletin
Nearly two decades after Dennis Luke first ran for elected office, the former state legislator and three-term Deschutes County Commissioner says his work is not finished and he wants voters to keep him on the commission. Luke has said he wants to shepherd the county through tough budget years ahead and work to expand the county jail. But he’s also drawn criticism from
ELECTION some residents for not listening to their concerns. Tony DeBone, whom Luke faces in the May 18 Republican primary, has a background in information technology and says he would bring a fresh
perspective to the commission. He is outraising and outspending the incumbent in the campaign. Three Democrats have also filed for Luke’s seat, and one candidate from each party will face off in the November general election. The three Deschutes County commissioners serve four-year terms and earn $76,923 per year for the full-time position. See Commission / A6
Even if Congress opts to boost HUD programs, the help will fall short of meeting Central Oregonians’ needs By Keith Chu Tony DeBone
Dennis Luke
Inside • Learn more about the candidates, Page A6
CASCADE LAKES ARE OPENING TO ANGLERS
Ready... set ... fish!
The Bulletin
WASHINGTON — Since 2000, Deschutes County’s population has grown by 48 percent and Central Oregon has passed through a housing boom and economic downturn, but the number of rental assistance vouchers for low-income families has stayed nearly level. The result: the region’s housing agency can’t come close to meeting requests for help. That’s a consequence of years of nearly frozen federal funding for the Housing and Urban Development Department’s voucher program, according to housing policy analysts, which left little money to increase funding for groups like HousingWorks, the nonprofit agency that distributes federal housing aid in Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties. Now, a bill in Congress to make some of the HUD programs more efficient and a proposed increase in funding for voucher programs could help Central Oregon families. But it will still fall far short of meeting demand for aid, according to HousingWorks’s executive director and two housing policy experts. HousingWorks distributes about 1,080 vouchers every month, a number that has hardly changed over the past eight years, even as Central Oregon’s need for housing aid has increased. There are currently about 1,200 people on the housing authority’s waiting list, which greatly understates the demand, said Executive Director Cyndy Cook. HousingWorks updates its waiting list every six months, rather than keeping the list open all of the time. See Housing / A5
“If we were to keep our waiting list open all the time, there would be thousands of people on the list.” — Cyndy Cook, executive director of HousingWorks, on the need for housing assistance for low-income Central Oregonians
Ryan Brennecke / The Bulletin
Steven Bajza, 28, rows toward the dock while preparing rental boats at Twin Lakes Resort on Wednesday afternoon. Trout season opens Saturday on most Cascade lakes, and the mild winter Central Oregon just experienced is expected to make for some good fishing. Most lakes are expected to be ice-free, and according to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife fish biologist Ted Wise, “We should see fishing improving as the water warms and fish activity increases.” For the full story, see Sports, Page D1.
Welcome to Wauconda: The story Social Security cards behind the tiny town sold on eBay IMMIGRATION ISSUE
may go high-tech
By Erik Lacitis The Seattle Times
By Antonio Olivo Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Because she was born in Chicago, Karen Peisker never imagined her bosses at the United Parcel Service would suddenly question her right to work in the country legally. But last month, an electronic employee verification system flagged her for possible identity fraud because she had been using her married name, Rivera, on her driver’s license since 2007. Though Peisker, 50, had joined the company in 1985, it put her at risk of being fired. Such problems with the federal E-verify software system — intended to pluck illegal immigrants out of the work force — have led to proposals for a more wide-reaching solution that could be as culturally transformative as it is controversial. See Biometrics / A6
MON-SAT
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Steve Ringman / Seattle Times
Daphne Fletcher sold the town of Wauconda, Wash., ZIP code and all, on eBay for $360,000.
The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper
Vol. 107, No. 112, 42 pages, 7 sections
WAUCONDA, Wash. — This town has a gas pump, a restaurant, a small store, a four-bedroom house and its own ZIP code, 98859. And in a few weeks — after being listed for sale on eBay — it’ll have new owners. It’s a story of the travails of selling property on the site, the winning bidder backing out and finally a couple stepping up who had previously fallen in love with the town. It takes an unusual person to try to flip a town on an auction Web site. It takes unusual people, too, to buy this isolated place that’s surrounded by cattle ranches, vast stretches of evergreens, grazing land and the occasional sagebrush rolling along Highway 20. See Wauconda / A4
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By Meg Jones Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
LINDEN, Wis. — Billions of years before April 14, two asteroids collided somewhere in outer space, sending a rock on a path that ultimately led to Kevin Wasley’s farm field. It took much less time to nudge the orbits of meteorite hunters careening to southwestern Wisconsin where their zeal for tiny black rocks from outer space has created quite a sensation and boosted business in nearby communities. It started with a fireball seen and heard by residents across a wide swath of southern Wisconsin and captured on numerous video cameras. Wasley, a beef farmer, heard a rumble and bang and wondered what the heck the noise was. He found out after tuning in to the news the next day. See Meteorites / A3
Ruben Garcia uses a magnet to hold a meteorite found by a member of his group in Iowa County near Livingston, Wis. Meteorite hunters from across the nation have descended on the area after a meteor lit up the sky there on April 14.
TOP NEWS INSIDE
INDEX Abby
Meteorite hunters invade Wisconsin farm community
Health
F1-6
Sports
D1-6
Local
C1-6
Stocks
B4-5
Outing
E1-6
Weather
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OBIT: Juan Antonio Samaranch was longtime president of IOC, Page C5