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Phil’s Trail Cycling Central complex receives Local districts disagree upgrade with new math mandate funding
Central Oregon’s quarterly health magazine
In Sports: A new weekly package about this popular Central Oregon activity
By Sheila G. Miller The Bulletin
By Hillary Borrud The Bulletin
The much-loved Phil’s Trail complex near Bend’s west side will get an upgrade in 2013, with more space for parking and new toilets to accommodate the many mountain bikers, trail runners and hikers who use it. The project was awarded $250,000 in federal forest highway funds in mid-October, and construction is planned for 2013, as part of the nearby Skyliners Road repaving and widening project. The numbers of people who use Phil’s Trailhead already exceed its capacity, and the U.S. Forest Service says the reconstruction and widening of Skyliners Road in three years will result in more people using the area. The access road from Skyliners Road to Phil’s Trailhead is currently bumpy and cracked, the single toilet is inadequate and a lack of signage means much of the trail information is limited to locals, who pick it up through experience, Peggy Fisher, forest engineer for the Deschutes and Ochoco national forests, wrote in an e-mail. See Phil’s Trail / A4
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The Oregon State Board of Education on Thursday increased the passing score for students taking the state math test beginning this school year. The Oregon Department of Education recommended the changes in an effort to more closely align the tests with the state standards of what students should be learning each year,
and to give school districts a better idea of how well students are being prepared for the coming grade levels.
Timing is flawed The move doesn’t sit well with some local superintendents, who say the timing for increasing cut scores is flawed.
On Tuesday, Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Ron Wilkinson sent a letter to the state board of education on behalf of the superintendents served by High Desert Education Service District. In the letter, he wrote the districts support the higher standards for students but disagree with changing math cut scores right now. See Math / A5
Math scores at Bend-La Pine How students fared on the state math test in 2009, and how they would have done under the new system approved Thursday. No score Does not meet Meets Exceeds
2009 SCORES CONVERTED TO THE NEW 2009 SCORES SYSTEM
100% 80% 60% 40%
Source: Bend-La Pine Schools
20% 0% Andy Zeigert / The Bulletin
Burst pipe damages homes, car
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Andy Zeigert / The Bulletin
TOP NEWS INSIDE GULF SPILL: Report indicates companies knew of problems, Page A3
Andy Tullis / The Bulletin
City of Bend employees work early Thursday to repair a water pipe that burst during the night, causing damage to a nearby car and buildings along an alley between Northwest Kansas Avenue and Northwest Riverside Boulevard. The nearly 100-year-old pipe split along a welded seam, launching asphalt chunks toward a nearby car, garage and home, while spewing water into the surrounding area. Read more on Page C1.
INDEX Abby
E2
Business
B1-6
Calendar
E3
Classified Comics
Local Movies
C1-6 GO! 30
Obituaries
C5
F1-6
Oregon
C3
E4-5
Science
A2
Crossword E5, F2
Sports
D1-6
Editorial
Stocks
B4-5
Family
C4 E1-6
Horoscope
E5
TV listings
E2
Weather
C6
We use recycled newsprint The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper
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New DNA tests are aimed at reducing colon cancer Procedures may replace routine colonoscopies by 2013 By Nicholas Wade New York Times News Service
Two new DNA-based tests, one of them described at a meeting in Philadelphia on Thursday, hold the promise of detecting early — and sharply reducing — colon cancer, a disease that afflicts 150,000 people a year in the United States and costs an estimated $14 billion to treat. The new tests could help most people avoid colonoscopies, which are routinely prescribed
for people over 50. Instead of screening the entire population, doctors could instead refer people for a colonoscopy only if they had tested positive in one of the DNA tests. Unlike a colonoscopy, in which a seeing tube is threaded up the colon, the DNA tests are noninvasive, so more people would take them. Both tests could be brought to market within two years. See Screening / A4
Report: Cost of college lower than in 2005 By Daniel de Vise The Washington Post
A new report from the College Board might prompt a different sort of sticker shock: The net price of college tuition and fees, after factoring in student aid and inflation, is actually lower now than five years ago. Tuition and fees rose 7.9 percent between 2009 and 2010 at public universities for in-state students and 4.5 percent for private four-year nonprofit col-
leges, according to the annual report Trends in College Pricing, released Thursday.
Increase in aid But the past year also saw a massive investment in public and private aid, enough to erase most of the increase in the sticker price of college — at least for students who receive aid. See College / A5
Correction In a story headlined, “Health care may become more accessible,” which appeared Thursday, Oct. 28, on Page A1, the Mosaic Medical clinic was incorrectly described in an accompanying chart. The clinic is open to patients without insurance. Appointments are available within one to two weeks at the Prineville clinic, and less than a week at the Madras clinic. The clinics also accept Medicare patients. Bend Memorial Clinic clarified that it does accept Oregon Health Plan patients in its urgent care department, pediatrics and its Redmond facility. The Bulletin regrets the errors.