Bulletin Daily Paper 02/05/11

Page 1

Taking aim at worlds

COMING SUNDAY

Super Bowl preview — breaking down the big game

Bend’s Tommy Ford races this weekend • SPORTS, D1

WEATHER TODAY

SATURDAY

Mostly cloudy, very slight chance of showers High 58, Low 34 Page C8

• February 5, 2011 50¢

Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com

Coming Sunday

... and Monday

• Our weekly extended coverage of the session begins with analysis of the previous week and a look ahead to issues important to Central Oregon.

• Our Capitol reporters begin a blog, Politics and Policy, with Web-exclusive updates throughout the week.

2 bills seek tighter control, closer oversight of charter schools By Patrick Cliff and Sheila G. Miller The Bulletin

If the AllPrep charter schools, three of which failed in Sisters, leave any legacy at all, it may be that their failure helped inspire a tightening of state charter school law.

The Oregon Department of Education has introduced two bills to the Oregon Legislature that deal with problems that arose when several of the schools shuttered during or after the 2009-10 school year. The bills are part of a continuing effort by the

RACKETEERING INVESTIGATION

state to revise charter law. Oregon has allowed charter schools for more than a decade, and with the advent of online charter schools — like AllPrep — the state has been playing catch-up with the changes. Three AllPrep-run Sisters charter

schools — Sisters Charter Academy of Fine Arts, Sisters AllPrep Web Academy and Sisters Early College Academy — closed in March and April after they were evicted for failing to pay rent. See Charters / A6

Bill seeks to mitigate nitrates, but some say it’s not enough

CAN YOU SPOT BOTH KIDS?

Charter schools company under scrutiny

By Nick Budnick The Bulletin

SALEM — A development group wants permission to build 925 homes south of Sunriver and, in exchange for valuable exemptions from land-use law, could pay more than $3 million toward solving south county’s nitrate problem. The idea, contained in legislation being prepared by Rep. Gene Whisnant, R-Sunriver, could eventually provide Sunriver residents a break on their sewer rates while saving Sunriver Resort Limited Partnership — which owns the resort — several million dollars in costs on its proposed development. More importantly, proponents say, the bill would tackle a problem that federal scientists have said needs to be addressed quickly. It would create a sanitary authority to look at how to prevent long-term contamination from septic tanks that threaten area groundwater supplies. The legislation also would provide some money for the south county sanitary authority by assessing a per-lot fee as the new Sunriver-owned development is built over the coming decade or more. Some area residents are skeptical that nitrates are an imminent threat. Linda Swearingen, a former Deschutes County commissioner and lobbyist who is promoting the bill for the Sunriver partnership, is not one of them. See Septic / A7

By Sheila G. Miller and Patrick Cliff The Bulletin

A company that helped operate several failed charter schools in Sisters is being investigated by the Oregon Department of Justice in connection with possible violations of Oregon’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act. EdChoices, a company that handled administrative duties for 15 AllPrep charters in Oregon and Washington, including three in Sisters, was subpoenaed in March 2010 to provide financial documents. The DOJ is concerned about how state school funds and state and federal grants were spent. The Sisters schools closed in March and April after being evicted for failing to pay rent. Audits obtained by The Bulletin in August showed 10 loosely affiliated AllPrep schools gave one another cash advances and left shared services unpaid for. The money was transferred through EdChoices, which every AllPrep school contracted with to handle administrative functions; where that money went and how it was used is the subject of the investigation. In August, the DOJ filed a show cause request, asking a judge to order EdChoices to comply with a subpoena and to prevent the company doing business in Oregon until it complied. A memo to support the order states that EdChoices received the subpoena March 23, but in spite of an extension had failed to produce financial records. In the memo, the Oregon Department of Justice states it believes EdChoices was “engaged in ongoing violations of the Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act and Oregon Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act.” The Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act is designed to protect consumers from unfair business practices. The Oregon Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act makes it illegal for an organization to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity, which includes a wide range of crimes. See Inquiry / A6

MON-SAT

We use recycled newsprint

U|xaIICGHy02329lz[

Septic answer for south county?

Teenagers and tweens put e-readers in their backpacks

Ryan Brennecke / The Bulletin

Five-year-old Vanessa Powell climbs into the rear wheel of the California Kid monster truck, on display in the Cascade Village Shopping Center parking lot in Bend on Friday. The truck was promoting the Monster X Tour. Shows will be held today at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center in Redmond. Tickets cost $10-$30. Showtimes are 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.

By Julie Bosman New York Times News Service

TURMOIL IN EGYPT

Discontented face off vs. power of elites; as to the future ... ? By Anthony Shadid New York Times News Service

CAIRO — It was proclaimed as “the Friday of departure,” but neither the demonstrators who proved their staying power as a force for change nor their nemesis, President Hosni Mubarak, left. Now a prolonged collision is shaping up between a staggering but entrenched old guard and an outpouring of Egypt’s discontented over how fast and how deep the changes will be. In a contest of image, perception and power, the rebellion pits those disenfranchised by Mubarak’s government against a still formidable array built around the military and security apparatus and a fabulously wealthy clique enriched by connections with the governing party. Both revolt and reaction have offered

Scott Nelson / New York Times News Service

A wounded Egyptian protester rests on a rooftop Friday. Even with a graceful exit for President Hosni Mubarak being discussed, signs of a possibly prolonged struggle remain. their narrative — change and chaos — with the Information Ministry fanning popular discontent over an uprising

The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper

Vol. 108, No. 36, 64 pages, 6 sections

that has devastated Egypt’s economy. But a revolution is not a referendum, and in an 11-day battle that has seen momentum shift almost by the day, each faces the resilience of the other. Even as it sheds some of its support, the government remains determined not to surrender what it deems its prestige. Mubarak’s leadership is one symbol of that, but even if he leaves, the old guard may well dig in to obstruct open elections. The government retains a monopoly on armed violence, the state’s arsenal in its hands. But despite organizers’ own lurking fears, the uprising has proven its ability to turn out thousands into the streets, in a remarkable show of steadfastness that has left the government no option but to engage it. See Egypt / A6

B2

Comics

B4-5

Editorial Local

Business

C3-5

Community

B1-6

Classified

E1-4

Crossword

B5, E2

Movies

Joyce Dopkeen / New York Times News Service

Amy Mauer-Litos and her daughter, Eliana Litos, read Eliana’s Nook e-reader at their home in Harrison, N.Y. After receiving the Nook in December, Eliana said, “Some weeks I completely forgot about TV.”

TOP NEWS INSIDE

INDEX Abby

Something extraordinary happened after Eliana Litos received an e-reader for a Hanukkah gift in December. “Some weeks I completely forgot about TV,” said Eliana, 11. “I went two weeks with only watching one show, or no shows at all. I was just reading every day.” Ever since the holidays, publishers have noticed that some unusual titles have spiked in ebook sales. The “Chronicles of Narnia” series. “Hush, Hush.” The “Dork Diaries” series. At HarperCollins, for example, e-books made up 25 percent of all young-adult sales in January, up from about 6 percent a year before — a boom that quickly got the attention of publishers there. See E-readers / A7

C6 C1-8 B3

Obituaries

C7

Stocks

Sudoku

B5

TV listings

B2

Weather

C8

Sports

D1-6

C4-5

EGYPT: Top officials discuss an exit for President Mubarak, Page A2


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.