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WEATHER TODAY
MONDAY
Mostly cloudy, mixed showers High 43, Low 32 Page B6
• December 27, 2010 50¢
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com
Good snow so far delights outdoor folk, businesses By Kate Ramsayer The Bulletin
A week into winter, Central Oregon’s mountains are seeing an above-average snowpack for this time of year, bringing welcome snow for skiers and good news to water managers working to fill the area’s reservoirs.
later snowstorms have built it back up to about 7 feet midmountain. “We’re in a great weather pattern for this time of year,” he said. “It’s been really great.” And even with the downturn in the economy, business is booming at the Powder House,
“Just awesome,” said Andy Goggins, director of marketing and communications for the Mt. Bachelor ski area, of the season’s snow so far. “We couldn’t ask for a better setup.” The warm spell earlier in December packed down the base of snow at the mountain, and
said owner Todd McGee. “It’s been a great year for us, probably one of our best,” he said. “It’s been very busy, and a lot is going on.” People are “ecstatic” when the sun comes out for a day of skiing, McGee said, and also happy even when it’s storming — espe-
cially since the snow is light, dry and fluffy, perfect powder for skiing. “It’s been outstanding,” he said. “It came early, it’s been really good quality snow, and it’s been continuous. Can’t ask for much better.” See Snowpack / A4
State kills Old Mill land deal, will redo its policy Purchase questioned due to family ties of official, co-owners
GRIPPY CARGO, BUT IT FLIPPED ANYWAY
By Nick Budnick The Bulletin
Andy Tullis / The Bulletin
While working on the truck, he said he witnessed several other vehicles slide off the roadway. “I’ve been seeing accidents all day,” Mahaney said. “It’s been crazy.” Oregon State Police and Deschutes County dispatchers said law enforcement officials responded to numerous crashes throughout Central Oregon on Sunday as a result of slick conditions. No major injuries were reported as of 9 p.m. For more on Central Oregon’s upcoming weather, see story, Page B1.
Consolidated Towing heavy equipment supervisor Russ Mahaney climbs out of a semi truck filled with cat box litter that flipped onto its side around 3 p.m. Sunday while negotiating icy roads near Lava Butte on U.S. Highway 97. The driver was uninjured in the accident, and Mahaney said Consolidated Towing would wait until this morning to tilt the truck upright and tow it out of the ditch.
SALEM — The state of Oregon has killed a land deal that raised eyebrows in Bend and is retooling the program that spawned it. In October, top state officials were poised to approve a deal negotiated by Department of State Lands to purchase nearly a halfacre of land in Bend. But they put the deal on hold after concerns were raised over two of the property owners’ relationship to a top department official. The land is located at 291 S.W. Bluff Drive, north of The Plaza Condominiums, in the Old Mill District. Some Bend property owners and real estate professionals questioned the purchase, in part because no appraisal had been done and because the land was co-owned by the parents of the department’s assistant director, James Paul IV. Those questions led Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who chairs the state Land Board, to call for a halt to the deal at the board’s Oct. 12 meeting, as well as for a review by the state Department of Justice to ensure ethics laws were followed. In interviews last week Department of State Lands officials defended the deal — noting that DOJ’s investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing. But they said they decided to kill the deal and retool a program under which the department buys urban properties to develop them or resell them for profit. See Land / A4
Iraq’s motorcycle In Afghanistan, a military hospital rebels are mainly faces an all-encompassing mission How well do airport X-rays looking to impress Rich Hillsden and his trauma staff move an injured Afghan man onto a CT scan table at the hospital at Kandahar air base. Afghans make up about half the patients at the U.S. Navy-run hospital.
By David Brown
The Washington Post
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Most of the time, this war-theater hospital crackles with danger and expertise, its staff members working to keep alive people who would be dead if they ended up almost anywhere else in the world. But some of the time, often in the morning, it’s quiet and almost empty, except for a few recuperating Afghans stoically watched over by family members and, today, a young girl in a pink robe exploring the corridor outside her room in a wheelchair. The hospital, which opened in May and is owned by NATO, is an odd mix of urgency and relaxation. It features patients whose stays inside its $40 million walls are both shorter and longer than any in contemporary U.S. hospitals. American soldiers critically injured on the battlefield spend only a
By John Leland New York Times News Service
BAGHDAD — Just before dusk they begin to arrive, first the motor scooters, then the bigger bikes rolling up in a cloud of leather and noise. For an hour or two each Friday, on a wide boulevard beside the Tigris River, the complexities of Baghdad life give way to a few universal questions: Can I pop a wheelie when people are watching? Can I sneak out of the house without my family noticing? And wouldn’t it be cool if there were girls here? On a recent Friday, Ali Hamra, 28, sat on his motorcycle, watching a crowd of about 75 cyclists doing tricks on the machines that are the loves of their lives. Some rode standing upright on their seats or handlebars; others pulled the front wheel in the air; still others spun their rear wheels to create clouds of black smoke. In the United States, these tricks would barely turn an eye, but in Iraq the bravado looks like the baby steps of a nascent youth culture, modeled largely — and imperfectly — on a vision from abroad. See Scooters / A5
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Linda Davidson The Washington Post
day or two here, many unconscious and on ventilators, before being sent to Bagram air base, then to a hospital in Germany and on to the United States. At the other end of the continuum are the Afghans who make up about half the patients.
They also come aboard medevac helicopters. They get the same immediate treatment as U.S. soldiers. Then they stay, often for weeks, until they are well enough to be transferred to a nearby Afghan hospital or discharged. See Hospital / A5
TOP NEWS INSIDE EAST COAST: Major storm turns holiday travel into troublesome tangle, Page A3 AP photo
work? Experts aren’t so sure By Derek Kravitz The Washington Post
The full-body scanners in use at 78 U.S. airports can detect small amounts of contraband and hidden weapons, all while producing controversial images of travelers. The “good catches,” federal officials say, have largely gone unnoticed amid the criticism that erupted over the ghostly X-rays and “enhanced” pat-downs. The Transportation Security Administration, which intensified airport screening last month, points to several successes: small amounts of marijuana wrapped in baggies, other drugs stitched inside underwear, ceramic knives concealed in shirt pockets. But the machines could miss something far more deadly: explosive material taped to someone’s abdomen or hidden inside a cavity. Security experts question the technology’s ability to detect chemical explosives that are odorless, far smaller than previous incarnations, and easily molded to fool machines and screeners. See Airports / A4