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LA PINE
No deal in ethics case; 2nd inquiry is opened
PRIVATIZING
Bend DMV could return to old site
Oregon is next on agenda of liquor drive
By Hillary Borrud
By Lauren Dake
The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission reached a deadlock Tuesday over a proposed settlement with former La Pine Water District Commissioner BarbeAnn Nelson-Dodson, who allegedly broke state laws against using a public office for personal gain. Nelson-Dodson used district employees and a backhoe to bury her dog in 2009, and her two daughters have worked for the La Pine water and sewer districts. One daughter still works for the districts, and NelsonDodson has acknowledged participating in discussions about the daughter’s job. In a separate development on Tuesday, commissioners at the sewer and water districts voted to place Operations Manager Donna Zigler on paid administrative leave and hire an investigator to explore mismanagement and possible misuse of district funds outlined in recent financial audits. The audits found that, among other things, Zigler and administrative assistant Ashley Williams used a district gas card to buy fuel for their personal vehicles. See Ethics / A6
SALEM — Those involved with the successful effort to privatize liquor sales in Washington are now targeting Oregon, where the state government — like its neighbor to the north — maintains a tight grip on distilled spirits. Following a multimillion-dollar privatization campaign backed by Costco, Washington residents voted earlier this month to end the state’s monopoly on hard-liquor sales, paving the way for grocery stores to sell whiskey, vodka and similar products as well as wine and beer. “We want consumer convenience, and our customers would like distilled spirits in the grocery store,” said Joe Gilliam, the president of the Northwest Grocery Association, which represented Costco in the Washington ballot initiative. There are currently no plans to launch a similar initiative in Oregon, Gilliam said. Instead, the grocery association plans to use the momentum to start a conversation with Oregon lawmakers and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. See Liquor / A5
• There are five finalists, including the location the state left after failed lease talks. From the state’s perspective: ‘The economic situation has changed.’ From the property owner: ‘People in charge have realized the benefits that property provided.’ 1
Oliver Commercial Group, 63160 Britta St.
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*Former DMV site
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Compass Commercial, 1000 S.W. Emkay Drive
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Author steps up in city lacking bookstores
97
Ambitious Mars rover is ready to crawl
By Julie Bosman New York Times News Service
By Mike Anton
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — This city once known as the Athens of the South, rich in cultural tradition and home to Vanderbilt University, has become nearly barren of bookstores. A beloved local bookstore closed here last December. Then Borders went bankrupt, claiming another store and deepening a collective panic among Nashville’s reading faithful. “It was a civic tragedy,” said Adam Ross, a Nashville writer. “The Nashville literary community went into a sort of Code Red situation.” They have found a savior in Ann Patchett, the best-selling novelist who grew up in Nashville. See Books / A5
LOS ANGELES — One of the most sophisticated space vehicles ever made inches along the rocky landscape, aluminum wheels grinding like a spoon in a garbage disposal. Here in the Mars Yard at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, what passes for the Red Planet looks like a vacant lot in Hesperia. The vehicle being tested, a replica of the latest Mars rover that will soon be crawling around up there, looks like a giant mechanical insect — six wheeled legs, an articulating arm and a pair of blue camera lenses like eyes peering from a boxy head. See Rover / A6
Los Angeles Times
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Fratzke Commercial, 1001 S.W. Emkay Drive
Fratzke Commercial, 920 S.W. Emkay Drive
Source: Oregon Department of Administrative Services
By Nick Grube The Bulletin
What once was old could be new again for Bend’s vagabond DMV. The state this week released a short list of possible locations for the agency’s field office. Of the five locations still under consideration, one — at 1000 S.W. Emkay Drive — is the site state officials decided to abandon two years ago after failing to negotiate a lease renewal. “At the time we couldn’t negotiate a deal that we were satisfied with in terms of the
Photos by Pete Erickson; map by Andy Zeigert / The Bulletin
cost to taxpayers,” Oregon Department of Transportation Spokesman Dave Thompson said. “I think the economic situation has changed.” Fred Dayton, who owns the Emkay property, said that part of the reason for the failed negotiations in 2009 was a disagreement with a particular person at the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, the agency that handles the state’s leasing. Dayton now hopes the state will see that his property, which was built to suit
the DMV’s needs more than 20 years ago, is the best location for the agency, in particular because of the amount of parking it has available. “I think that some of the people in charge have realized the benefits that property provided,” Dayton said. Ever since moving from the Emkay location, the DMV field office has been in the old Bend Visitor Center office at 63085 N. Highway 97 near the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Region 4 headquarters. See DMV / A5
The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper Vol. 108, No. 320, 36 pages, 6 sections
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INDEX Business Calendar Classified Comics Crosswords Editorials
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TODAY’S WEATHER
Scattered showers High 52, Low 37 Page C6
Correction A story headlined “Challenges as timber payment bills gradually gain support,” which appeared Sunday, Nov. 13, on Page A1, mischaracterized the U.S. Senate’s authority to introduce spending initiatives. The Senate may introduce such measures. The Bulletin regrets the error.
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