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Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com
Meet the new airport manager
Kim Dickie, Redmond’s new airport director, is a colonel in the Air Force Reserves. She had been San Francisco International Airport’s director of security for the past seven years.
By Erik Hidle The Bulletin
REDMOND — Redmond airport’s new director has decades of experience in airport security, facility planning and terminal management. But Kim Dickie says her new job will bring new challenges. “There are so many components to a small airport,” Dickie said. “When you come to an airport of this size, you find yourself working with many more consultants, many
The Bulletin Pete Erickson
Gingrich’s win throws GOP race into chaos
more agencies, and wearing many more hats.” Dickie, 52, took over as the airport director Tuesday. She’s a colonel in the Air Force Reserves and comes to Redmond from San Francisco International Airport, where she worked for 17 years. For Dickie, who has moved from a major international gateway to a regional airport, smaller doesn’t necessarily mean easier. Redmond has fewer support staffers to handle the departments that
2012 LEGISLATURE: PARTY PRIORITIES
Many goals crammed into a short session
By Dan Balz The Washington Post
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Just a week ago, what was most striking about the Republican presidential race was the possibility that the party’s least-dominant front-runner in many years, Mitt Romney, could effectively wrap up the GOP nomination faster than South Carolina anyone in primary results his party ever had. That came Gingrich 40% crashing Romney 28% down here Santorum 17% Saturday night. Paul 13% Newt Source: Associated Press Gingrich’s Note: 99 percent of stunning precincts reporting victory in South Carolina, after he finished fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire, rewrites in dramatic fashion the latest story line of the Republican campaign. Now a competition that for all practical purposes might have ended here moves on to Florida for another major showdown on Jan. 31. In all probability, the fight will continue well beyond that. See GOP / A6
Jeff Siner / Charlotte Observer
Newt Gingrich surged to a big win in South Carolina.
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By Lauren Dake • The Bulletin SALEM — On Feb. 1, Oregon will join a growing number of states that hold annual legislative sessions. Lawmakers have introduced ambitious
The Bulletin
Gov. John Kitzhaber hopes to push through legislation to change the state’s education and health care systems. The budget needs to be rebalanced. And legislators have already started working their colleagues, trying to secure votes for their individual bills.
What Democrats want Overall, Democrats say their take on tackling Oregon’s challenges is based more on a “value” approach rather than pointing to specific legislation. House and Senate Democrats released separate agendas, though they followed the same themes. Examples: • Help Oregonians who are struggling to stay in their homes. Like in the last legislative session, both sides of the aisle will propose bills addressing the foreclosure crisis. The Democrats, for example, want to ensure that a lender holds a mandatory meeting with a homeowner before the home can be foreclosed on. • Stand up for rural Oregonians hit hardest by the recession and declining federal funds. Democrats will be watching the recommendations coming from the timber payment task force and will push for a legislative fix that will help counties facing insolvency. • Allow a preference for goods made by Oregon’s small businesses and other American companies. Democrats have indicated their support for legislation that would, for example, help local transit agencies give a preference to buying vehicles made in the U.S. • Continue to foster job retraining and the health care transformation in Oregon. Democrats plan to work with the governor to continue overhauling the state’s health care system. They also support worker retraining and job placement programs through partnerships with businesses and community colleges. • Statement: “Protecting essential services that Oregonians rely on is the top priority for Democrats. We will balance this budget and eliminate waste in order to protect the vital programs that serve our seniors, kids, and most vulnerable.” — Senate Majority Leader Diane Rosenbaum Sources: 2012 legislative agendas from the leadership of both parties, accompanying news releases, interviews
Annual sessions and their challenges Voters gave lawmakers the go-ahead to make the switch in 2010. Oregon is now one of 45 states that hold annual sessions. “The legislative branch of the government had become unequal to the other two branches,” Courtney said. “It was suffering. It was supposed to be equal, but it was meeting so infrequently, and when it did meet it was cumbersome. It could not handle its workload in a meaningful period of time.” Rep. Gene Whisnant, RSunriver, said he’s concerned Oregonians who live east of the Cascades will have a difficult time attending public hearings. See Legislature / A6
Robots will target invasive Malheur Lake carp By Dylan J. Darling
agendas. The speed will be fast and the tasks many.
Some lawmakers have voiced concerns about the short session. Lawmakers have 35 days to meet, but they plan to adjourn after meeting for 29 days. Some say that restricts the ability of the public to testify or vet policy. Advocates of an annual session said it should increase transparency, giving the public another opportunity to weigh in on what’s happening at the Capitol. But both sides agree this first constitutionally mandated session in an even-numbered year marks a significant change in the way the state does business. “We’re all learning how to handle this session,” said Senate President Peter Courtney, one of the main backers of making the switch. Not to say lawmakers haven’t had some practice. Since 2007, they have held supplemental or special sessions during the interim, ensuring they met annually. There have been other special sessions in the past as well. Kitzhaber called four special sessions in 2002.
make sure the planes depart on time. “There are a lot of components that are different when you make that switch,” Dickie said. “Large airports are like a small city in a way. There is someone doing every job. Someone managing accounting, someone managing marketing. That’s different at a smaller airport.” In Redmond, Dickie will perform many of those manager-level roles. See Airport / A5
What Republicans want Lawmakers were more specific on their goals, and their potential targets: • Improve Oregon’s business environment: Republicans want to provide tax incentives to businesses that hire Oregonians — especially unemployed residents — and businesses that invest in the state. They also seek to strengthen enterprise zone rules and replace Measure 67’s corporate tax increases with “jobs-friendly” rates. • Provide tax relief to Oregon families. Specific GOP plans include doubling the two lower-income tax brackets and providing a $250-perchild tax credit. • Reform land use and take advantage of natural resources. Republicans want to ditch “onesize-fits-all” land use rules in favor of regional planning, and to extend sustainable tax credits to include some buildings constructed using Oregon forest products. • Make health insurance more affordable. Republicans want Oregonians who purchase their own insurance to be able to deduct the cost from their taxable income and forgo buying coverage that doesn’t fit their needs (their examples: men paying for mammography screenings, women for prostate screenings). • Increase education funding with a “School Savings Act.” Republicans plan again to push an overhaul of the Public Employees Retirement System to “significantly reduce the system’s unfunded liability” and to lower contribution rates for school districts. • Statement: “Republicans are returning to Salem with an aggressive agenda that empowers the private sector to create jobs and boost our economy. ... Our solutions will create a better climate for Oregon businesses, while putting more money in the pockets of Oregon families.” — House Republican Leader Kevin Cameron
When Linda Beck first heard that researchers wanted to use waterborne robots to help with the ongoing carp invasion of Malheur Lake, she and other scientists imagined fishlike machines gliding underwater. Instead, the robots, set to hit the lake’s waters in 2013, look like oversized toy boats. “We were a little disappointed by that,” said Beck, a fish biologist at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge’s managers are excited about what the robots could do in terms of controlling carp. The $2.2 million study starts this year with researchers from the University of Minnesota, Johns Hopkins University and Central State University in Ohio testing floating robots on lakes in Minnesota. It will continue in 2013 at Malheur Lake on the refuge near Burns, a lake that’s been plagued by carp for decades. If successful, the robot boats could accelerate research into where more than a million carp gather in the lake, possibly leading to their removal from its waters.
Fish finder There are 35 carp implanted with radio transmitters in Malheur Lake, Beck said. Using a boat and receiver gear to find those fish can take a scientists seven to 10 days. Enter the robot boat. Depending on how they are used they could find and follow the fish much longer than a human scientist, gathering boatloads of data about their movements. See Carp / A8
Burns Hines 78
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Lawen Crane
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Harney Lake 205
Malheur Lake
OREGON Bend
Lauren Dake and David Wray / The Bulletin
20 To Ontario
Frenchglen
Burns
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
Greg Cross / The Bulletin