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By Ben Botkin The Bulletin
Bend-La Pine Schools opted not to apply for a federalRace to the Top grant after officials decided that the tight time frame and magnitude of the application's requirements would make it difficult for the district to put its best effort forward. It was a long shot to begin with — $383 million total will go out to 15 to 25 grant recipients nationwide for innovative programs aimed at bolstering achievement. If Bend-La Pine Schools had applied and been selected, it would have received about $26 million over a four-year period. See Grant/A6
• Finding a solution is the top priority during lameducksession
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By Andrew Clevenger The Bulletin
WASHINGTON — When lawmakers return to the nation's capital next week for the first legislative session in more than a month, Oregon's congressionaldelegation remains focused on addressing the looming fiscal cliff. Nov. 13 marks the start of the lame duck session,so called because members who are stepping
down or were voted out of office are concluding their terms in office.
These sessions sometimes produce I N D.C. a flurry of activity as lawmakers scramble to enact legislation before January, when the new Congress is sworn in. But they can also be relatively quiet, with Congress delaying major decisions until the new members pickedby the voters are ready to go to work. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, both DOre., and Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, agree the top priority is dealing with the fiscal cliff, the combination of expiring tax cuts and mandatory spending cuts put into place after last summer's debt ceiling crisis that go into effect Jan. 1. See Fiscal cliff /A6
He called the election, and now statistician is a celebrity
SupremeCourt to take a look at Voting Rights Act
By jocelyn Noveck The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The other night, Nate Silver got a little taste of what things are going to be like for him, post-Election 2012. The 34-
By Adam Liptak New York Ttmes News Servtce
Rob Kerri The Bulletin
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statistician, unabashed numbers Silver geek, a uthor and creatorofthemuch-read FiveThirtyEight blog at The New York Times had gone out for a drink with friends on Manhattan's Lower East Side. But he couldn't stay incognito; immediately, he says, people sitting at the bar recognized him. He was surprised, but probably shouldn't have been.After all,for24 hours, ever since his election forecasts had proved uncannily successful — he correctly predicted the presidential winner in all 50 states, and almost all the Senate races — he'd been hailed as the election's "other winner," who'd silenced doubters and proved the value of a cool-headed, math-based
etal Mulisha freestyle motocross rider Keith Sayers spots his landing while practicing Friday afternoon for the E3 Spark Plugs Monster Truck Na-
tionals event at the Hooker Creek Event Center at the Deschutes County Fair 8 Expo Center in Redmond. The show continues tonight at 7:30. Tickets are $15 for children and adults. For more information, visit http://expo.deschutes.org/index .php/events tickets/details/e3 spark plugs monster truck nationalsl.
By Kevin Sieff The Washington Post
PECH VALLEY, Afghanistan — Before U.S. forces arrived here in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the instruments of warwere rudimentary things: mud-brick outposts and aging Kalashnikovs. The American invasion brought with it a shiny arsenal of 21st-century technology, including advanced helicopters to navigate the treacherous landscape. But as the U.S. military
That very night, he'd appeared on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" for the second time in three weeks. See Silver /A4
P P We userecycled newsprint AnIndependent
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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced Friday that it would take a fresh look at the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the signature legacies of the civil rights movement. Three years ago, the court questioned whether part of the law was still needed, and the law's challengers said the re-election of the nation's first African-American president is f urther proof that the nation has moved beyond the racial divisions that gave rise to efforts to protect the integrity of elections in the South. Civil rights leaders, on the other hand, pointed to the role the law played in the recent election, with courts relying on it to block voter identification requirements and cutbacks on early voting. See Voting rights/A6
Donkeys take over for U.S.helicopters at Afghan outposts
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drawdown continues, the sky is emptying of the foreign aircraft that have kept remote outposts stocked with food, water and weaponry. Afghan troops are being handed the outposts, but not the sleek helicopters that have soared overhead, delivering supplies. Afghans searching for a substitute have found an ancient solution: the plodding, dutiful animals that have navigated these high and frigid mountain passes for centuries.
"Donkeys are the Afghan helicopter," said Col. Abdul Nasseeri, an Afghan battalion commander here in Konar province. Already, hundreds of donkeys are sustaining the bases that Americans built, fought to defend and, eventually, left. The shift underscores the vast gulf separating U.S. and Afghan forces, and the inevitable technological regression that will occur once American troops leave. See Donkeys /A8
INDEX C lassified E1-4 Crosswords B5, E2 Movies B2 St o ck s C4- 5 Comics B 4 - 5 Editorials C 6 O b ituaries C 7 T V B 2 , 'TV' mag
Donkey handlers in Afghanistan's Kunar Province deliver waterto Afghan Army Outpost Rocky, which gets all its supplies on the backs of pack animals. Kevin Steff
The Washington Post
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TOP NEWS PETRAEUS: CIA
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