Gifts for
or an avid adventurer
a good golfer The season’s hottest gear • D1
A guide for the hiker/runner/bicyclist on your list • E1
WEATHER TODAY
WEDNESDAY
Cloudy, warmer, mixed showers High 44, Low 31 Page C6
• December 8, 2010 50¢
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com
It’s Cyclocross Nationals time Parks grab riverfront property for future
Bend is hosting the 2010 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships today through Sunday at the Old Mill, and The Bulletin has you prepared: In today’s paper Official Nationals event guide
On the Web
Schedule, event info and where to watch
Kids take up cyclocross challenge • How the local junior team came together — a photo gallery: www.bendbulletin.com/juniors and click on “more photos.”
Development years off, but district sees vast expansion of trail system By Scott Hammers The Bulletin
tes Deschu
The Bend Park & Recreation District has reached an agreement to purchase 122 acres of riverfront property on Bend’s north edge, a move executive director Don Horton said will one Land day be viewed as equal to the acquisition of purchase Drake Park and Shev20 lin Park. The park district Glen Vista Rd. board on Tuesday night authorized spending Ri . ver $2.75 million to purRd gs g i chase a portion of GoBr hie pher Gulch Ranch, a BEND Arc property the district Andy Zeigert / The Bulletin has been pursuing in negotiations with owners Edward and Dee Elkins for more than a year. There is no public access to the property, but it can be seen from the Deschutes River Trail as it wraps around the north side of Awbrey Butte. See Property / A6
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THE NEXT CONGRESS
Walden’s ideas: more openness but less talking By Keith Chu The Bulletin Ryan Brennecke / The Bulletin
Richard Bangienski, a rider with Durango Wheel Club, runs up a flight of stairs Tuesday afternoon while familiarizing himself with the course for the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships this week.
TOP NEWS INSIDE
ANALYSIS: THE ECONOMIC IMPACT
Tax deal could be good for recovery, with a big ‘if’
OBITUARY: Elizabeth Edwards dies at 61, Page C5
By Kevin G. Hall McClatchy-Tribune News Service
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We use recycled newsprint The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper
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Vol. 107, No. 342, 38 pages, 6 sections
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If Congress does not act, the more than $3 trillion in tax cuts enacted under the Bush administration in 2001 and 2003 will expire Dec. 31, raising taxes on the average family by $3,000. On the other hand, this week’s tax-cut compromise would contribute almost $1 trillion to the nation’s federal budget deficit over the next two years and add
sharply to the mounting national debt, yet the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and mainstream economists cheered it. Why? It’s a question of timing. The deal, proposing roughly $900 billion in lost revenue, came days after a special bipartisan deficit-reduction panel warned the nation is on a path to fiscal ruin if it can’t get deficits and debt under control over the next decade. See Taxes / A4
What the agreement would mean for you President Barack Obama’s tax bargain with congressional Republicans would extend Bush-era income tax cuts for all income groups for two years, but that’s not all the two sides have proposed. It is, in effect, a second economic stimulus. There is, for instance, a payroll tax cut for almost all American workers — amounting to a paycheck savings of $1,000 for a family earning $50,000. The deal also touches on: • Unemployment insurance • The estate tax • Tax credits • Capital gains and the alternative minimum tax Find a primer from The New York Times at bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/07.
WASHINGTON — Few congressional habits are easier to mock than members’ proclivity for naming post offices and honoring birthdays, while major issues remain blocked. On Tuesday, for example, although members have yet to pass legislation that funds the federal government, the House passed a resolution honoring the birth of Italian architect Andrea Palladio, 500 years ago. That’s why it was high on the list of items in Rep. Greg Walden’s sights when he set out to draft new rules for the U.S. House next year. “You find these common goals Greg Walden emerge pretty quickly: give us certainty; give the committees a chance to meet without interruption; do we really have to do all these commemorative resolution votes?” Walden said in an interview last week. Those are the headliners, but the rules include an array of topics, from how the leadership is chosen to when the House can use fast-track procedures and what happens when a key member is indicted on felony charges. As chairman of the Republicans’ transition office, Walden is scheduled to present a draft of rules that will govern House Republicans to GOP leaders today, with a final vote expected before the end of the year. See Congress / A5
U.S. students firmly in the middle of a global pack By Nick Anderson The Washington Post
After a decade of intensive efforts to improve its schools, the United States posted these results in a new global survey of 15-yearold student achievement: average in reading, average in science and slightly below average in math. Those middling scores lagged
significantly behind results from several countries in Europe and Asia in the report this week from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. South Korea is an emerging academic powerhouse. Finland and Singapore continue to flex their muscles. And the Chinese city of Shanghai, participating
for the first time in the Program for International Student Assessment, topped the 2009 rankings of dozens of countries and a handful of subnational regions. U.S. officials said the results show that the nation is slipping further behind its competitors despite years spent seeking to raise performance in reading and math
through the No Child Left Behind law and a host of other reforms. “For me, it’s a massive wakeup call,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Monday. “Have we ever been satisfied as Americans being average in anything? Is that our aspiration? Our goal should be … to lead the world in education.” See Schools / A5
Just average How American 15-year-olds scored, compared with other countries, in a 2009 test:
17th in reading 31st in math 23rd in science Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report