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Dirty 2nd Half goes to local runners
... means keeping it in hand, a Bend company says • GREEN, ETC., C1
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• October 4, 2010 50¢
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Unfinished work awaits Oregon delegation in D.C. By Keith Chu The Bulletin
WASHINGTON — With about a month until Election Day, U.S. lawmakers cut short their fall work period last week and jetted home, leaving tax issues, spending measures and Medicare problems for another day. But even though they’ll get a break for the midterm elections, there’s plenty of work waiting for them when they get back to Washington, D.C., sometime next month.
That heavy workload will likely spell the end for several bills being advanced by Oregon’s lawmakers as the two-year Congress draws to a close. Late Wednesday, as they emerged from a long session of votes and wrapped up a longer session of Congress, Oregon’s lawmakers were looking a little frayed. Rep. Greg Walden, RHood River, was fighting a head cold. Sen. Ron Wyden, DOre., said he was feeling “fried.” See Bills / A4
IN CONGRESS
INVESTIGATING THE HOUSING CRISIS
Paperwork flaws magnify foreclosures By Gretchen Morgenson
Measure 74 A YES VOTE • Allows for the development of nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries. • Imposes a 10 percent tax on the revenues of licensed dispensaries and growers supplying dispensaries. • Permits dispensaries and growers to possess up to 24 mature marijuana plants and 96 ounces of usable marijuana.
ELECTION
Medical pot measure aims to ease access But illegal activities would be tougher to police, opponents say By Scott Hammers The Bulletin
A NO VOTE • Leaves in place existing medical marijuana law, which limits authorized growers to possessing up to six mature plants and 24 ounces of usable marijuana for each of up to four cardholders.
Voters will decide next month if Oregon should join seven states and the District of Columbia in allowing the creation of medical marijuana dispensaries, privately run shops where licensed medical marijuana patients will be allowed to purchase marijuana. Measure 74 would also impose a 10 percent tax on all sales of marijuana from growers to dispensaries and from dispensaries to card-
holding patients, boosting state revenues by as much as $20 million, according to a financial impact statement prepared by state officials. John Sajo, a longtime medical marijuana activist based in Dillard and a co-author of Measure 74, said it was written to address the difficulty some medical marijuana patients have in obtaining a supply of marijuana. See Measure 74 / A5
Safety in numbers These particular numbers tally the pedestrians and bicyclists on west Bend streets, with the data possibly guiding safety fixes
New York Times News Service
As some of the nation’s largest lenders have conceded that their foreclosure procedures might have been improperly handled, lawsuits have revealed myriad missteps in crucial documents. The flawed practices that GMAC Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. have recently begun investigating are so prevalent, lawyers and legal experts say, that additional lenders and loan servicers are likely to halt foreclosure proceedings and reconsider past evictions. Problems emerging in courts across the nation are varied, but all involve documents that must be submitted before foreclosures can proceed legally. Homeowners, lawyers and analysts have been citing such problems for the last few years, but it appears to have reached such intensity recently that banks are beginning to re-examine whether all of the foreclosure papers were prepared properly. In some cases, documents have been signed by employees who say they have not verified crucial information like amounts owed by borrowers. Other problems involve questionable legal notarization of documents, in which, for example, the notarizations predate the actual preparation of documents — suggesting that signatures were never actually reviewed by a notary. See Foreclosures / A5
Rob Kerr / The Bulletin New York Times News Service file photo
A foreclosed home in Salt Lake City. Flawed practices at some of the nation’s largest lenders may prompt other lenders to halt foreclosures and reconsider past evictions, legal experts say.
Alan Godsey volunteers for an hour last week at the intersection of Northwest 11th Street and Northwest Portland Avenue. Godsey and other volunteers have been counting bicyclists and pedestrians in parts of west Bend. The collected data will go to the city to possibly help guide pedestrian safety improvements in the area.
By Nick Grube The Bulletin
TOP NEWS INSIDE ELECTION: Interest-group spending up 5 times over 2006 levels, Page A3
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f it wasn’t for the shorts, flip-flops and sunglasses, Alan Godsey could have been mistaken for someone official as he stood at the corner of Portland Avenue and 11th Street in northwest Bend last week. He was, after all, wearing a bright orange safety vest and scribbling on a clipboard every time someone walked by him or rode their bike through the intersection. Every now and again he’d get quizzical looks
from passersby, the same ones he received on Galveston Avenue about a month before when he was performing practically the same duties. “I’ve had to hold my sign up so people knew what I was doing and I was a volunteer,” Godsey said with smile, showing off the clipboard with the words “Counting Bikers and Walkers” printed on it. Godsey joined the pedestrian and bike count as a volunteer for the River West Neighborhood Association, which started the project to collect data for the city of Bend and possibly get some
pedestrian safety improvements on the west side. According to River West Neighborhood Association Chair Annie Goldner, she’s had at least 20 people in the neighborhood, like Godsey, who have volunteered to perform counts on parts of Galveston and Portland avenues. She said she’d like to target Newport Avenue next. “It’s fun and all the volunteers really enjoy it,” Goldner said. “It was not hard to get volunteers out there to stand in the sunshine.” See Count / A4
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Vol. 107, No. 277, 30 pages, 5 sections
New food pyramid’s dilemma: how to tell U.S. to shape up By Jane Black The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Every five years the federal government updates its dietary guidelines for Americans. This year, with most
Americans overweight or obese and at risk of high blood pressure, policymakers are working to reinvent the familiar food pyramid and develop advice that is simple and blunt enough to help turn the tide.
Although most people do not read them, the guidelines have broad impact on Americans’ lives. They dictate what is served in school breakfast and lunch, in education materials used by SNAP — formerly called food
stamps — and in the development of information on nutrition labels. They also underpin educational materials that are available in community centers, doctors’ offices and hospitals. See Food / A4