Calendar, B3 Obituaries, B5
Weather, B6
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THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2013
BRIEFING
USCBpresident died Thursday Virginia Reddick, president of the United Senior Citizens of Bend, died Thursday at St. Charles Bend. She was 81.
"It was suddenand shocking," said her son March Reddick, of Bend.
He said his mother died at 2:30 a.m. as the
consequence of amajor stroke. Reddick became president of USCB
around 2000, hesaid. "She devoted her life to
the seniors." "She's probably put in more hours towards the betterment of the
senior community
I lO
BI' 8 S
• Bill would keep legislators out of public pension systemto avoid conflict of interest By Ben Botkin The Bulletin
Imagine elementary school classrooms packed with 50 students and Bend-La Pine Schools forced to shed 10 percent of its full-time teaching staff. That's the future for public schools absent any major reforms to the state Public Employees Retirement System, according to a presentation from officials about the pension system. Forty attendees heard the outlook — and part of why officials say reforms are needed to the pension sys-
tem — in a town hall meeting on Friday in Bend. The event, sponsored by the Bend Area Chamber of Commerce,had a panel of speakers: Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Ron Wilkinson, Deschutes County Commissioner Alan Unger, Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, and Bend-La Pine School Board Member Cheri Helt.
Knopp said he has personally opted out of PERS, though he's eligible for the program as a state legislator. He also said he is backing a bill this session that would
Bll8 I 5 keep future legislators from enrolling in the PERS system. The proposal doesn't force current lawmakers enrolled in PERS off the program, though it would create an alternative retirement plan if they opt out. Knopp said that's a good starting point for reform, noting the potential conflict of interest presented lawmakers who make decisions about PERS that directly impact them. "There's certainly a perceived conflict if not an actual conflict," Knopp said. Knopp said he's seen elementary classrooms with 35 students while touring schools in his district — and they will
end up growing to 50 students if PERS costs soar unchecked. "We have a choice as Oregonians — are we going to fix this problem, or are we going to sacrifice a generation'?" Knopp said. "I don't want to do that." M ark Molner, president of the Bend Education Association, which represents BendLa Pine teachers, attended the event. Afterward, Molner said PERS is an issue that needs a solution, but it's just one part of the economic pressures impactingschools and teachers. Others include freezes to cost-of-living increases and lost contract days through cuts, he said. SeePERS/B5
than any other person in Bend's history, and
her presence will be sorely missed," said attorney Bill Buchanan,
PHOTO STORY INSIDE
www.bendbulletin.com/local
BRIEFING
Wyden pledges schoolfunding Sens. RonWyden, D-Ore., andMax Baucus, D-Mont, pledged Friday
to secure anotheryear's funding for the Secure
Rural Schools Program. The program, first authorized in 2000, provides federal funds to
primarily rural western communities that have seen funding for their
schools dry up as timber harvests have declined. Historically, timber com-
panies paid royalties for the right to cut on federal land,much ofwhich was
directed to rural school districts to make up for the fact that federal lands
are exempt from state and local property taxes. In a newsreleaseissued Friday,Wyden and Baucus vowed torenew the Secure Rural Schools
who represented USCB.
Program foranother year
"Literally thousands
in order to find time to
and thousands and thousands of hours
develop a longer-term solution. The programcost the federal government $346 million in fiscal year
that were dedicated to
helping seniors, particularly the lower-income seniors who had the
2012, with $102 million directed to Oregon.
greatest need." According to her son,
Senators fight postal plan
Virginia Reddick was born March 26, 1931, in
Milwaukee andattended business college in
Oregon Sens.Jeff Merkley andRonWyden, Oregon Democrats, were among 24senators Friday to challengethe U.S.
Houston. She moved to
Hollywood, Calif., where her family relocated its
printing business. He said she later movedto
Postal Service postmaster general's authority
Huntington Park, Calif., and after working in the
to discontinueSaturday mail delivery without
steel industry becamea
congressional approval. The senators wrote
pioneer in the business side of cellular tele-
Patrick Donahoe urging him to work with
phones. She was married
Congress toaddressthe
briefly in the1950s and
financial challenges facing the post office. The
divorced; she movedto Bend in 1994, he said. Reddick was part of
senators also suggested that switching to a five-
the USCBcampaign
day service weekcould lead to further declines
in the 1990s to raise funds to help build
in revenue, and that the change would hurt rural
Bend's Senior Center,
1600 S.E. Reed Market Road. However, the
communities andmid-
rew Diehl, 28, of Redmond, a Galvanic Event staff employee, tests out the snow jump he helped build
dle-class families. In addition, their letter pointed out that the change isa violation of an existing law under the Continuing
with his co-workers by launching over it on his snowboard in final preparations for WinterFest. See
tion of 2012.
organization in 2012 fell out with the Bend Park & Recreation
District, charging the district shortchanged
the seniors in whose interest the center was built. USCB demanded
a refund of the money
Andy Tullis/The Bulletin
D
Page B2 for more photos from the first night of the event and a schedule for the rest of the weekend.
it helped raise, but the district declined.
Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements, said Holly Houston, a
manager with the firm. March Reddicksaid a
memorial celebration is being planned. — From staff reports
ROAD CLOSURE Shevlin Hixon Drive will be closed for WinterFest until early
Mondaymorning.
d Mill gI
7 > c.„.„
~
•
event
Greg Cross/The Bulletin
Well shot! reader photos • We want to see your best photos capturing local wildlife for another special version of Well shot! that will run in the Outdoors section. Submit your best work at www.bendbulletin. com/wellshot/wildlife, and we'll pick the best for publication.
Stopping mail service on Saturdayswould affect 70,000 jobs. The
change inservice is scheduled to takeplace later this year.
Protester sto ring bellsforclimatechange
St. Francis openhouses
By Dylan J. Darling
St. Francis School in Bend will hold a series
The Bulletin
Bells will ring Sunday in Bend to sound an alarm about climate change, saythe organizers of a march through downtown. The Green Ministry Team at the First Presbyterian Church in Bend, the Sierra Club Juniper Group and other Central Oregon organizations with an environmental focus are planning the rally to coincide with
an event also planned for the same day in Washington, D.C. Gretchen Valido, Juniper Group chair, said she is hopeful the Bend rally will draw 40-50 people. She said those who plan on being there should bring a bell. "It can be little jingle bells ... a cowbell, whatever makes a ding and a ring," she said. The sidewalk march will start at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Troy Field, the ballfield on
Bond Street next to the First United Methodist Church, in downtown Bend, said Thiel Larson,chair ofthe Gr een Ministry Team. From there it will head along Bond Street to Greenwood Avenue before going back through downtown along Wall Street. The march will end at the intersection of Wall Street and Minnesota Avenue, where some speakers will talk about climate change, Larson said.
Ifyou go
of openhouses for pro-
What:Climate change march When:12:30 p.m. Sunday
Where:Troy Field, on Bond Street in downtown Bend Like Valido, she said she is hopeful that about 50 people will be in the march. SeeClimate /B5
Les Schwab Amphitheater
IS
Appropriations Resolu-
New communit ygarden planned in Bend Bulletin staff report Bend residents will get a new community garden this
year. The Franklin's Corner Garden project includes a demonstration "rain garden" to capture stormwater, and a design that will make the entire project accessible to people with disabilities, according to a city news release. The garden will be at the intersection of Northeast Eighth Street and Franklin Avenue, on cityowned land. It could open as early as this spring, city Volunteer Coordinator Cheryl Howard wrote in an email. On Tuesday, the city announced it won a $3,500 grant from the Fiskars Corporation, plus a Fiskars tool
kit worth $1,500. The city partnered with the nonprofit Celebrate Bend to apply for the grant; local businesses are also donating materials for the garden. Volunteers will build and maintain the garden, according to the city press release. The garden will also conserve water and teach students from local schools about the benefits of gardening. The city might give preference for some of the garden plots to families in the neighborhood, Howard wrote. For more information about Central Oregon community gardens, visit centraloregonfoodpolicy. org/projects-2/communitygardens.
spective students and
parents. The firstopenhouse will be held from 9 a.m. to1 p.m. Thursday. Ad-
ditional openhousesare scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Feb. 25, and March 5. The event will be held at the school on Northeast 27th Street.
Parents andstudents are encouraged tovisit and learn moreabout the programsSt. Francis School offers for children pre-K through 8th grade.
For more information, call 541-382-4701. — From staffreports
CLOSURES
Edible-plant boxes
In observance ofPresidents Day,most city, county, state and federal offices will be closed.
Raised
beds
Banks will be closed. Post offices will be closed, and mail will not
Communitygarden
Larcih Dsr.
Gree ood Ave. Juni er Park Fra klinAve. ~ CLt
Source: City of Bend
Bear Creek Rd'.
be picked up ordelivered. All Central Oregon schools will be closed.
Libraries in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties will be
Sitting
area
closed. Central Oregon liquor stores will have normal Andy Zeigert/The Bulletin
hours.