Bulletin Daily Paper 02/18/11

Page 1

Trash or treasure?

Lyrics Born performs Saturday

Parents debate: Save kids’ artwork, or toss it? • FAMILY, E1

WEATHER TODAY

FRIDAY

Cloudy, slight chance of snow High 41, Low 20 Page C6

• February 18, 2011 50¢

Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com

Bill would base teacher ratings on performance Records By Lauren Dake The Bulletin

SALEM — State lawmakers could follow local school districts’ lead and change the way teachers are evaluated, looking at classroom performance instead of the number of years spent in the classroom or degrees acquired. Currently, the nearly 200

school districts in the state go through different teacher evaluation processes. A Senate bill heard in committee Thursday would create a statewide standard of teacher efficiency. Each school district would be responsible for evaluating teachers based on that criteria. One longtime teacher who testified against the bill, SB 290,

BUDGET IMPASSE

said he’s worried it will encourage teachers to focus on test scores and not results. But proponents said teacher evaluations are too often a checklist and rewards are doled out based on longevity instead of proficiency. “If we want to help teachers grow and improve, we need to give specific, concrete feedback that identifies proficiency in

different domains of practice,” said Dan Jamison, vice president of Chalkboard Project, a nonprofit organization that focuses on K-12 education issues. For example, Jamison said, one domain would be “planning and preparation” and within that domain would be different criteria to help guide evaluators. See Teachers / A4

IN THE LEGISLATURE

Firing up WinterFest

Dozens of lawmakers pushing pay cuts

Redmond officers who bought from him not under investigation By Scott Hammers The Bulletin

Guns and equipment taken from the Redmond Police Department armory by former Lt. Larry Prince were on occasion sold or traded to members of the department, including current chief Dave Tarbet, according to documents filed in Deschutes County Circuit Court. Interviews with co-workers and associates included in the documents describe Prince as a gun enthusiast with a “phenomenal” collection of rare and expensive firearms who built a Former Redhouse with hidden rooms to store mond Police them. He was described as an of- Lt. Larry Prince ten disorganized manager of the department’s armory he oversaw for a decade. The court records also describe an affair he had with a woman he met while on duty. Prince, 48, was arrested earlier this month following a monthlong investigation into discrepancies in the record-keeping and inventory at the armory. See Armory / A5

By Rob Hotakainen McClatchy-Tribune News Service

WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state says it’s time to end the practice of giving automatic pay raises to members of Congress, who Inside currently earn • House a minimum of Republicans $174,000 a year. nix stopgap, Some memraising risk bers say it’s of shutdown, time for a pay cut: Rep. Adam Page A4 Smith, DWash., backs a 5 percent reduction, while Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., says it should be a 10 percent cut. Republican Rep. Scott Rigell of Virginia has taken matters into his own hands, declining the federal government’s health care coverage and returning 15 percent of his salary. With the economy still reeling in much of the nation, members of Congress are eager to show that they’re in touch with the economic pain of their constituents. See Congress / A4

More soldiers staying in touch with home, for better or worse By James Dao New York Times News Service

States ignore mental health gun database By Greg Bluestein The Associated Press

MON-SAT

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Street closed for Bend WinterFest Shevlin Hixon Drive will be closed through 5 a.m. Monday. Les Schwab Amphitheater

More coverage of WinterFest inside GO! Magazine: Your comprehensive event guide • Business: Stage set for terrific tourism turnout, Page B1 • Sports: Local skiers and snowboarders ready to rock this weekend’s Rail Jam, Page D1

The Bulletin

Shevlin Hixon Dr.

Columbia St.

Andy Zeigert / The Bulletin

INDEX

An Independent Newspaper

Vol. 108, No. 49, 62 pages, 7 sections

Area of event

Abby

E2

Comics

E4-5

Family

Business

B1-4

Crossword E5, F2

Horoscope

Classified

F1-4

Editorial

Local

C4

E1-6 E5 C1-6

ver Deschutes Ri

We use recycled newsprint

Rob Kerr / The Bulletin

Fyreflyte performer Allie Childers, 28, twirls a fiery hula hoop in front of a crowd on Northwest Oregon Street in downtown Bend on Thursday night during a musical performance by Larry and His Flask. The music and dancing were a prelude to Bend WinterFest, which kicks off tonight in the Old Mill District.

rado Ave. Colo

ATLANTA — More than half the states are not complying with a post-Virginia Tech law that requires them to share the names of mentally ill people with the national background-check system to prevent them from buying guns, an Associated Press review has found. The deadline for complying with the 3-year-old law was last month. But nine states haven’t supplied any names to the database. Seventeen others, including Oregon, have sent in fewer than 25, meaning gun dealers around the U.S. could be running names of would-be buyers against a woefully incomplete list. See Guns / A6

show cop sold guns to others on force

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — Forget the drones, laser-guided bombs and eye-popping satellite imagery. For the average soldier, the most significant change to modern warfare might just boil down to instant chatting. Consider these scenes from northern Afghanistan: — A gunner inside an armored vehicle types furiously Damon Winter / New York Times News Service on a Black- A soldier in the 87th Infantry Berry, so en- Division uses a laptop in Kungrossed in text- duz, Afghanistan, on Sept. 9. messaging his girlfriend in the United States that he has forgotten to watch for enemy movement. — A medic watches her computer screen with near rapture as her 2-year-old son in Florida scrambles in and out of view before planting wet kisses on the camera lens, 7,500 miles away. — A squad leader who has just finished directing gunfire against insurgents finds a quiet place inside his combat outpost, whips out his iPhone and dashes off an instant message to his wife back home. “All is well,” he tells her, adding, “It’s been busy.” The communication gap that once kept troops from staying looped into the joyful, depressing, prosaic or sordid details of home life has all but disappeared. See Soldiers / A6

Correction Movies Obituaries Sports

GO! 30 C5 D1-4

Stocks

B2-3

TV listings

E2

Weather

C6

In a story headlined “Sawyer wins her contempt appeal,” which appeared Thursday, Feb. 17, on Page

A1, the date of the Oregon Court of Appeals’ ruling was incorrect. The court issued its ruling on Wednesday. The Bulletin regrets the error.


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