Coming to the Tower Check out what’s in store this season • COMMUNITY, B1
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• September 18, 2010 50¢
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Bend-La Pine suggests an alternate to racy bracelet USFS: By Sheila G. Miller The Bulletin
Fads change every year. In the 1980s it was Swatch watches and friendship bracelets. In the 1990s it was slap bracelets, and since then there have been Tamagotchi games, Beanie Babies and Silly Bandz. Now, schools around the country are seeing an influx of kids
wearing bracelets that say “I ™ boobies.” School officials say that, so far, these breast cancer awareness bracelets aren’t pervasive in the area, and students who are wearing them aren’t causing disruptions. But the new accessories raise questions about how schools monitor students’ dress and what exactly crosses the line
Headed to the Valley? Be ready for traffic
In Bend-La Pine Schools, students who show up with breast cancer awareness bracelets that say “I ™ boobies” are offered pink Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation bracelets to wear instead.
from tasteful to titillating. The bracelets, made by Keep A Breast Foundation, are designed to raise young people’s awareness of breast cancer prevention and early intervention. Profits from the bracelets and other items, like T-shirts, go to fund breast cancer awareness programs. See Bracelets / A6
Ryan Brennecke / The Bulletin
Wyden seeks answers on stimulus-funded forest-work contracts
BETWEEN A FAKE ROCK AND OPEN SPACE
By Keith Chu The Bulletin
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Forest Service said there’s almost nothing it can do to prevent federal stimulus contracts from being awarded to companies using foreign workers, in response to questions by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden about the practice. That didn’t sit well with Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who in late July told the Forest Service he was “extremely concerned” about companies with foreign workers underbidding other local contractors and asked the agency for “clarification.” Wyden’s query came a few days after an article in The Bulletin reported that about $13 million in federal stimulus contracts were awarded to Oregon companies that imported foreign workers, mostly on forest restoration projects. Oregon forest contractors who have lost out to companies using foreign labor have argued that they’re being underbid by companies that skirt U.S. labor laws and take advantage of foreign workers. With unemployment rates topping 14 percent in some Central and Eastern Oregon counties, they say it’s hard to believe local workers aren’t willing to take those jobs. See Forest / A7
The Oregon Department of Transportation is warning that multiple events in the Willamette Valley today could create significant congestion along Interstate 5 and other routes. Both the Oregon State Beavers and Oregon Ducks are hosting football games this afternoon, with the Beavers game set to kick off in Corvallis at 2:30 p.m. and the Ducks game in Eugene at 3:15 p.m. In Mount Angel, northeast of Salem, the annual Oktoberfest will be running from 11 a.m. until midnight. According to ODOT, a soldout Ducks game at Autzen Stadium alone puts an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 additional vehicles on I-5. As many as 25,000 additional vehicles may be on the road today. The Oregon State Police are advising drivers not to pick up hitchhikers along state Highway 58, the road over Willamette Pass linking Central Oregon with Eugene. As of Friday afternoon, police were in the area around Oakridge seeking a man suspected in an armed robbery, kidnapping and car theft at Cultus Lake. Drivers headed over the Cascades are advised to leave early and be patient, and to avoid trips through high traffic areas if possible. Traffic reports are available on ODOT’s travel information website at www. tripcheck.com or by calling 5-1-1 or 800-977-ODOT. — Scott Hammers, The Bulletin
In wake of acid hoax, people more puzzled than angry By Nigel Duara
TOP NEWS INSIDE
The Associated Press
GOP: Possible 2012 presidential hopefuls test their voices, Page A2
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Hands tied on foreign workers
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Bouldering competition test climber Alex Goldman, 26, makes his way up an artificial climbing wall Friday at Smith Rock State Park while setting up for the Smith Rock Detour. Running today and Sunday, the event is now in its sixth year. It includes climbing clinics and competitions, performers, raffles and auctions, and a screening of “Reel Rock 2010,” a film showcasing some of the most talented climbers and most difficult climbs in the world. Events kick off at 8:15 a.m. today and Sunday, the film will be shown today at 8 p.m., and festivities wrap up at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Is it time to accept ‘old age’ as a cause of death? By David Brown The Washington Post
You know the cartoon where Bugs Bunny is driving an old car that suddenly falls apart, every bolt sprung, with the last hubcap rattling in a circle
until it comes to rest? Some people die like that, too. The trouble is there’s not a good name for it. Is there a single problem that gets the final chain of events going? Or should “old age” in some circumstances be con-
sidered an actual cause of death — equal to lung cancer, leukemia and diabetes? Those questions are becoming increasingly important as more people die at advanced ages without obvious cause. See Death / A6
VANCOUVER, Wash. — The scars on her face were real, but her story about being splashed with acid was a horrific hoax. A day after Bethany Storro’s revelation turned the victim who drew worldwide sympathy into a curiosity and the object of much derision, few who banded together here to collect money for her medical bills were angry with her on Friday. They were just puzzled: What could bring the 28-year-old grocery store worker to disfigure herself in such a public way, and invent a tale about a black woman assaulting her with a cup of acid? See Acid / A6
“If we can’t find a way of dealing with this, then I think mortality statistics will lose much of their value.” — Lars Age Johansson, World Health Organization