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• October 12, 2010 50¢
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ST. CHARLES
Hospital changing procedure By Markian Hawryluk
Road clear for more Juniper business? Proposed between ODOT and Bend may open more doors By Nick Grube The Bulletin
The long-standing gridlock scenario between developing Juniper Ridge
and easing traffic congestion at U.S. Highway 97 and Cooley Road might soon be over thanks to a proposed agreement between the city of Bend and the Oregon Department of Transportation. For years, the city’s 1,500-acre development has been stymied because ODOT required major traffic improvements around Highway 97 and Cooley Road to offset increased vehicle flows
that would come from additional businesses moving to Bend’s north side. The problem was the city couldn’t afford to pay for these multi-million dollar improvements until it was able to sell land at Juniper Ridge. And the only way the city could do that was by proving there was enough traffic capacity to handle the increased volume of vehicles from whatever future development took place.
But now city and ODOT officials have developed a plan that they believe will eliminate the stalemate and allow both parties to get what they want — more development at Juniper Ridge and less congestion on Highway 97. “This agreement really helps to get us unstuck,” Bend City Manager Eric King said. “What this plan does is it allow us to get some development first.” See Juniper / A4
The Bulletin
The St. Charles Health System announced Monday it was moving from planning to implementation for a new system that could change the way health care is delivered in the region as early as next year. The St. Charles Board of Directors in August unanimously approved the new structure allowing hospital officials to begin hiring the individuals that will run the new system and to begin the pitch to physician practices to join the system. “We are taking very bold steps to fundamentally redesign how we deliver care in this region, so that we can deliver the quality outcomes at an affordable cost and ensure access,” said Jim Diegel, St. Charles president and CEO. See Hospital / A4
REED LANE CROSSWALK
For women in France, dim outlook on equality
“I play ‘Frogger’ here every day. It’s a really bad place. I usually stay back and then dart across when no cars are coming.” — Kenny Conklin, Bend cyclist
By Katrin Bennhold New York Times News Service
Conflicting stories surround American found in Afghanistan By Alissa J. Rubin New York Times News Service
KABUL, Afghanistan — As a U.S. military patrol walked through a rural, Taliban-dominated district of Kandahar province recently, a man wearing local clothes came toward them shouting, “Don’t shoot, I am an American!” He asked for their protection, saying that he had been abducted by the Taliban and held for months but had finally managed to escape, according to Western officials in Kabul. That is one version of his story. It is not the one told by local villagers, elders and Taliban in the Zheri district of Kandahar. They say that he sought out the Taliban and was treated less as a hostage than as a supporter and that he openly traveled with them on motorcycles around the district. A tall black, he cut an unmistakable figure, they said. Much remains mysterious about the man, identified as Takuma Owuo-Hagood, not least of all his motivations for going to Afghanistan. See Citizen / A5
Kenny Conklin, 28, of Bend rides his bike across the Reed Lane crosswalk of the parkway in Bend Monday afternoon. “I play ‘Frogger’ here every day,” Conklin said. “It’s a really bad place. I usually stay back, and then dart across when no cars are coming.”
Getting to the other side ODOT awaits investigation results for fatal collision before making decision on pedestrian crossing
Bend resident Kim Vetter, 48, jogs across the Bend Parkway at the Reed Lane crosswalk in Bend Monday afternoon. Vetter said a pedestrian overpass is needed at the location.
By Hillary Borrud The Bulletin
Photos by Andy Tullis The Bulletin
Correction In a story headlined “State raises questions, eyebrows with plan to buy land,’ which appeared Monday, Oct. 11, on Page A1, the financial status of the 291 SW Bluff Dr. property was incorrectly characterized. The property’s coowner, Dennis Staines, says the bank has not taken any action on the property. No payments on the property were missed. The Bulletin regrets the error.
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“Sometimes traffic stops, sometimes it doesn’t.” — Kim Vetter, Bend jogger
The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper
Vol. 107, No. 285, 42 pages, 7 sections
PARIS — Could there be anything more French than this workout? Weeks after giving birth, French women are offered a state-paid, extended course of vaginal gymnastics, complete with personal trainer, electric stimulation devices and computer games. The aim, said Agnes de Marsac, a physiotherapist who runs such sessions: “Making love again soon and making more babies.” Perineal therapy is as ubiquitous in France as free nursery schools, generous family allowances, tax deductions for each child, discounts for large families on high-speed trains, and the expectation that after a paid, four-month maternity leave mothers are back at work — and back in shape. Courtesy of the state, French women seem to have it all: multiple children, a job and, often, a figure to die for. What they do not have is equality. France ranks 46th in the World Economic Forum’s 2010 gender equality report, trailing the United States and most of Europe, but also Kazakhstan and Jamaica. Eighty-two percent of French women ages 25 to 49 work, many of them full time, according to the national statistics office INSEE, but 82 percent of seats in the National Assembly are occupied by men. See Equality / A4
Kim Vetter likes to run a couple times a week during her lunch hour, down at the Deschutes River Trail. But first, Vetter, 48, of Bend, has to get from her workplace at Rebound Physical Therapy on the east side of U.S. Highway 97, to the trail on the West side. Vetter uses the Reed Lane crosswalk, the same location where a 55-yearold father with a bicycle was killed when he was struck by a car Saturday afternoon. His 14-year-old daughter was also struck and sustained non-life threatening injuries. “I find it nerve wracking a bit,” Vetter said of crossing the highway at Reed Lane. “Sometimes traffic stops, sometimes it doesn’t. I really feel we could use a walk-over for pedestrians.” On Monday, a spokesman for Oregon’s transportation agency said there are currently no plans to build an overpass, although the agency will assess whether changes are necessary. “Many people have said that (the Oregon Department of Transportation) should build an over-crossing, so we don’t have this problem,” said department spokesman Peter Murphy. See Crosswalk / A5
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New York Times News Service ile photo
Fleur Cohen, a doctor, walks her children to school in Paris. France ranks 46th in the World Economic Forum’s 2010 gender equality report, trailing most of Europe and the United States.
TOP NEWS INSIDE AFGHANISTAN: British suggesting U.S. killed aid worked, Page A3