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bendbulletin.com TODAY'S READERBOARD
JUNIPER UTILITY
Proposed buyout moving forward
Ose mudslide —survivors recall their lost neighbers and once-idyllic community, now buried.A6
Lullar eClipSe —It's coming Tuesday; find out about the 'blood moon.'A3
India's election — wll voters believe being childless and unmarried is adefense against corruption?A7
By Scott Hammers The Bulletin
By Hillary Borrud
fairness, conservation and
The Bulletin
setting aside money for
Bend city councilors are
Earth Dayactivities-
once again discussing po-
From geocaching to crayon recycling, get kids to appreciate the environment.D1
tential changes to the way
Plus: Smartphonesfor SelllerS —Helping those over 65 bridge the technological gap.D1
And a Wed exclusiveIn many states — including Oregon — daycarecancost more than college. bentibulletin.com/extras
EDITOR'SCHOICE
Asylum seekers strain U.S. border By Julia Preston New York Times News Service
HIDALGO, Texas — Bor-
der Patrol agents in olive uniforms stood in broad
daylight onthe banks of the Rio Grande, while on the Mexican side smugglers pulledup invans andunloaded illegal migrants. The agents were clearly visible on that recent after-
noon, but the migrants were undeterred. Mainly women
and children,45 in all, they crossed the narrow river on the smugglers' rafts, scrambled up the bluff and turned themselves in, signaling a growing challenge for the immigration authorities. After sixyears of steep dedines across the South-
west, illegal crossings have soared in South Texas while remaining low elsewhere. The Border Patrol made more than 90,700 apprehensions in the Rio Grande Val-
ley in thepast six months, a
A pair of private water companies looking to peel off a piece of the Bend city water system intend to
future investments in the water system.
Senior Policy Analyst the city charges customers Gillian Ockner said on for water. Thursday that she hopes The issue has come up to identify guiding prinfor discussion repeatedly ciples and objectives for in recent years, and city new rates before July I. councilors have said they As for when the city might want a rate structure that implement new rates, that would more fairly distribis unclear at this point. ute the costs of the water Ockner said it is her job to system among customers, lay out a strategy to implebut officials never made ment new rates, and she a decision. The city hired expects to discuss water a new part-time policy rates with the City Counanalyst in January to lead cil on May 7 and again in
meet with residents of the
the process, and she has
June. In the meantime,
started to discuss what
residents can comment on
city councilors want a new water rate system to
water rates on the city's
filed with the state Public Utilities Commission. The condemnation
achieve. Goals the council might discuss include
affected neighborhoods later this month to discuss their proposaL Thursday, Jason Wick of Avion Water Co. and Casey Roats of Roats Water System met with Bend City
EngineerTom Hickman to discuss their bid to pur-
chasethe former Juniper Utility Co., a private utility the city condemned in
2002 following a string of complaints about service
feedback page, BendVoice.org. See Water /A4
sparked a yearslong legal battle between the city and Jan Ward, the developer of multiple Southeast Bend
neighborhoods who cre-
What citycouncilorssayadoutwater rates
ated the utility to provide
Mayor Jim Clinton: "I have asimple (objective) to propose, that everyone pays thesamefor a cubic foot of water, and that every cubic foot of water costs the same."
the neighborhoods with
City Councilor MarkCapell: "With regard to (Clinton's proposal), (Clinton) and I haveboth beenadvocates of that for as long as I've been oncouncil. The challenge with that is, what do you set as your fixed costs? We'vetaken acouple stabs at that in the past and haven't really gotten there very successfully. Youcan quickly make it so that depending onwhat costs you've allocated into the fixed category, the high user could besubsidizing the low user, or vice versa."
Andrews.
water. The city ultimately
paid Ward $9.6 million to settle the suit, according to city finance director Sonia See Utility/A4
College students
City Councilor Victor Cbutiowsky:"I'm a little bit hesitant about using water rates to pursue social goals. I think the primary thing should be toefficiently fund the operation of this set of infrastructure, in the fairest way possible."
hunger up
City CouncilorSally Russell: "We should also incentivize people to use our infrastructure at certain times of the day,when it's not overloaded. Becausethat allows us over time to not expand our system, to continue to accommodate growth, and to havea system that still supports us."
By Tara Bahrampour The Washington Post
WASHINGTONWhen Paul Vaughn, an
economics major, was in his third year at George Mason University, he decided to save money by moving off campus. He figured that skipping the basic campus meal plan, which
City CouncilorScott Rarnsa: " ... I think that we as acouncil need to figure out how to set somesort of policy moving forward, knowing there is always somesort of repair, maintenance, expansion as wegrow, and weshould be planning aheadfor that and avoid the sticker shock that it costs in the future whenyou actually are forced to deal with those problems."
costs $1,575 for 10 meals a
week each semester, and buying his own food, would
City CouncilorDougKnight: "In addition to rates beingaffordable so that they're accepted by the community ... the next most important thing would be toincreasethem, if you needto, in ameasured way.Hadwe increased our rates in a measuredwayprior to the onset of thesurface water project, we would not havehadthe same kind of community backlashagainst the project that wedid."
make life easier.
But he had trouble affording the $50 a week he had budgeted for food and ended up having to get two jobs to pay for it. "Almost as bad as the hunger itself is the stress that you're going to be hungry," said Vaughn, 22, now in his
Mayor ProTemJodie Barranu"Some of the goals that I'm interested in aremaking sure that the rates are equitable, that the first drop of water costs the sameas the hundredth drop of water. I think that's important for ratepayers, and something I hope we canachieve. Conservation is going to be important, but I don't know that rates aregoing to drive that.... And having it be the true cost of delivery, that's something that is important."
fifth year at GMU in Fairfax, Va.
SeeHunger/A4
RobKerr/The Bulletin file photo
69 percent increase over last
year. The migrants are no longer primarily Mexican laborers. Instead they are CentralAmericans, in-
duding families with small children and youngsters without their parents, who
Sebelius resigns after troubles with health site
risk a danger-filled journey
By Michael D. Shear
ture legislative achievement,
across Mexico.
New York Times News Service
the Affordable Care Act.
SeeAsylum/A5
WASHINGTON — Kath-
leen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, is
Correction In a story headlined "New divisions for city work," which appeared Thursday, April 10, on PageA1, the city of Bend Growth Management Department was incorrectly identified. The Bulletin regrets the error.
resigning, ending a stormy five-yeartenure marred by the disastrous rollout of Pres-
ident Barack Obama's signa-
Obama acceptedSebelius' resignation this week, and this morning he will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the
Office of Management and Budget, to replace her, offi-
TODAY'S WEATHER Mostly sunny High 67, Low38 Page B6
cials said. The departure comes as
the Obama administration tries to move beyond its early stumbles in carrying out the
law, convince a still-skeptical public of its lasting benefits and help Democratic incum-
bents, who face blistering
attack ads after supporting
clear, as administration aides
the legislation, survive the
worried that the crippling problems at HealthCare.gov,
midterm elections this fall. Officials said Sebelius, 65, made the decision to resign and was not forced out. But the frustration at the White
House over her performance had become increasingly
INDEX All Ages Business Calendar
01-6 Classified E -f 6 Dear Abby 05 Obituaries B5 C7-8 Comics/Pu zzles E3-4 Horoscope 05 Sports C1-6 In GO! Crosswords E 4 L o cal/State B1-6 TV/Movies 05, GO!
The Bulletin AnIndependent Newspaper
Vol. 112, No. 101,
ee pages, e sections
the website set up to enroll Americans in insurance ex-
changes, would result in lasting damage to the president's legacy. See Sebelius/A4
Q Ilf/e use recycled newsprint
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