Tomato tribulations
Full slate of games for local prep football
Growing them in Bend takes devotion • COMMUNITY, B1
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• September 11, 2010 50¢
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Money starts to flow in race for Bend House seat Sewer fixes cost Bend an extra $300,000 By Nick Budnick The Bulletin
ELECTION
SALEM — Campaign cash has started pouring into the race to represent Bend in the state House. And for the first time, State Rep. Judy Stiegler’s fundraising appears to finally be kicking in, outstripping nonaffiliated challenger Michael Kozak but still falling short of the contributions tallied by Republican nominee Jason Conger. Prior to a month ago, Stiegler had
raised more than $42,000, far less than Democrats in other hotly contested districts. But in the last 30 days she says she added $29,000, bringing her to a tally of more than $71,000 raised this year. Kozak, for his part, has raised more than $5,000 in the last month, bringing him to a total of more than $12,000. Conger has raised more than $53,000 in the last month, bringing him to a total of more than $135,000 raised this year. See District 54 / A6
Republican Jason Conger is at $135,000 for the year.
Democrat Judy Stiegler is at $71,000 for the year.
Unaffiliated Michael Kozak is at $12,000 for the year.
Changes to $8M project won’t affect customers’ bills
A wheelchair demo
By Nick Grube The Bulletin
A manhole mistake, a water main in a blast zone and some sewer lines that showed up in different places than records indicated will cost the city of Bend about $300,000 more than expected on a nearly $8 million construction project in southeast Bend. While city officials say these cost overruns won’t exceed their budget for the project or increase customers’ bills, the change orders are the first in a five-year, $30 million upgrade to the city’s sewer system that plans to route wastewater around Bend’s downtown area and into its treatment plant in the northeast. The change orders are also some of the first Bend city councilors have seen in a while, thanks to a recent change in policy that gives them the final say on many public contracts. Bend Assistant City Attorney Gary Firestone said that under the previous policy, councilors didn’t usually review contracts as long as the projects were in the city’s approved budget. “We had a very limited set of provisions in our codes related to public contracting,” Firestone said. “We totally overhauled those and gave final authority back to the council on a number of things.” Firestone wasn’t sure how long the previous procedure was in place, but he said city staff decided to change it to add some additional oversight for public contracts and change orders. See Sewer / A6
for Bend’s sport enthusiasts
SEPT. 11
Rob Kerr / The Bulletin
Rahmat Gul / The Associated Press
Melisa Sween, 45, of Bend, takes an adaptive handcycle for a trip around Riverbend Park on Friday as others watch and talk about adaptive sports technology and different kinds of wheelchairs and handcycles.
Park district aims to get a feel for what types of technology-aided activities interest residents By Scott Hammers The Bulletin
W
hen Walter Jones, of Redmond, was in high school, he had little difficulty finding a way to participate in sports despite being in a wheelchair. Jones was able to race in wheelchair events for the track team, was the placeholder when the football team was kicking an extra point,
and shot free throws for the basketball team whenever a technical foul was called. But now that he’s older, it’s a little more difficult. Jones, now 24, is training for the Portland Marathon, but does so mostly on his own. He plays on a wheelchair basketball team, but the rest of the team is based in Portland, and Jones doesn’t really see his teammates outside of games and tournaments. Jones said “no one’s really tried hard
Afghans shout anti-U.S. slogans as they protest an American church’s plan to burn copies of the Quran on Friday east of Kabul. See Page A4.
enough” to organize sports for Central Oregon residents with disabilities, but Friday, the Bend Park & Recreation District took a step toward changing that, hosting a demonstration of sport wheelchairs and handcycles at Riverbend Park. Cheryl Kelley, the therapeutic recreation coordinator for the district, said the district partners with Oregon Adaptive Sports to host ski lessons and ski trips for people with disabilities over the winter, but doesn’t currently have any other programs for them. Friday’s demonstration was a first step in identifying people who might be interested in wheelchair sports and learning more about their preferences. See Wheelchairs / A6
Controversies create unusually political 9/11 By Beth Fouhy The Associated Press
Vacancies impede economic goals of White House By Sewell Chan New York Times News Service
President Barack Obama signaled on Friday that he was close to choosing a director for a new consumer
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bureau, but an array of top jobs that will be crucial to shaping economic policy and financial regulation for the rest of his term remain unfilled. At a White House news conference,
Obama praised Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law professor who was the chief proponent of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and is a front-runner to lead it. Calling her a
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“tremendous advocate,” the president said he had talked with her but added, “I’m not going to make an official announcement until it’s ready.” See Vacancies / A6
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NEW YORK — They will read the names, of course, the names of every victim who died in the Sept. 11 attacks. The bells will ring. And then that moment of unity will give way to division Inside as activists hoist signs and • Quran burning march, some for and some still off for now, against a planned mosque two Page A3 blocks from ground zero. This 9/11 is more political • WTC’s Muslim and contentious than the eight prayer room, before it, with grieving family Page A4 members on opposite sides of the mosque battle. The debate became so heated that President Barack Obama felt the need to remind Americans: “We are not at war against Islam.” See Sept. 11 / A7
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EXPLOSION: Investigators, rescue crews comb California blast, Page A2