Serving Central Oregon since190375
FRIDAY June 27,2014
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ALL AGES• D1
bendbulletin.com TODAY'S READERBOARD
EDUCATION
Weekend guide —There's
e
no shortage of things to do: Bite of Bend, NorthWest Crossing street festival, Steely Dan concert and more.GO!
•
e •
Finding diverse school
•
staff
• After dealing with a traumatic brain injury, Karin Morris decided to devote her career to helpingother peoplewith disabilities. Now she'staken onthe job of working for the city of Bend toimproveaccessibility.
Plus: Mixologyshow—A craft spirits showcase in Sunriver draws distilleries from across the country.C6
By Tyler Leeds The Bulletin
The diversity of students in the Jefferson County School District — where
Graphic
Odituory —Sen. Howard Baker was known for Watergate inquiry and the question "What did the president know, and when did heknow it?" BS
inside
the populationis almost neat l y one-
• Diversity t h i r d Amer-
in local i c a n Indian, schools, one-third AS
Hispanic and
one-third white — is nearly entirely absentfrom thestaff. As with every other Cen-
Safer diking — More communities aremakinganeffort. A6
tral Oregon school district,
Marijuana legalization-
the teacher workforce in Jefferson County is more
Supporters turn in petitions in Salem, with apparently more than enough signatures.B3
than 90 percent white.
According to academics, state education leaders and
superintendents, this gap
And a Wedexclusive
matters.
— From pink dolphins to eco lodges, Brazil hopesWorld Cup boosts tourism. bendbnlletin.cnm/extrns
"Really, the applicants
just aren't there," said
Jefferson County Superintendent Rick Molitor. "We want our staff and teachers
to be in line with the demographics of our students,
EDITOR'5CHOICE
and it's something we're
striving for, but we don't have the applicants."
Adoptees,
illegallysold,
Ryan Brennecke i The Bulletin
Karin Morris, the city of Bend accessibility manager, talks about accessible design considerations during a lunch and
teacher workforce, the
learn session Tuesday in Bend.
OSU-Cascades Master of Arts in Teaching program
turn to DNA
to find family
By Hillary Borrude The Bulletin
is offered eight students
from underrepresented populations $10,000 toward Eve See-Dutra says her daughter
ber of the city of Bend Accessibility Advisory Committee and said he has
By Gracie BondsStaples
"There's a lot more to the to help others. Americans with Disabilities "She's always had the desire to
Geoff Babb, 56, of Bend, is a mem-
Karin Morris was always determined
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
help the underdog," See-Dutra, 62,
the last year. "She's really reached out to understand and get to knowthe different disabled or adaptive groups
At a small inn tucked be-
said Wednesday. Fifteen years ago, a car accident
hind a Chevron gas station
left Morris in a coma, hooked up to
DUCKTOWN, Tenn.
-
just off U.S. Highway 64, men and women in their 50s and 60s trickled into
room 109 last Saturday morning. A teacher, a for-
Act than curb ramps. The goal is that people with
disabilities are included in the society ... to make a ventilator. Suddenly, Morris was in the position of underdog. In the years since the accident, she learned to live and work with traumatic brain
injury. She built a career working
(accessibility) an everyday occurrence so it just becomes a natural thing."
with other people with disabilities,
a hairdresser were among
and just over a year ago, the city of Bend hired Morris as its accessibility manager. The city has struggled over the ris' job performance. Fulkerson has years to gain the trust of residents been critical of the city's handling of with disabilities and accessibility accessibility issues. The coalition adadvocates, who had to sue to get the vocates to make the community more
They came from Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee to have their cheeks swabbed,
hoping their DNA might help them find their biological families and the missing link to their medical histories. Even if the tests turn
up just one match, said organizer Melinda Elkins Dawson, of Akron, Ohio,
their efforts will have been
in town. I think Bend is steadily mak-
ing progress in the right direction," Babb said. Morris, 37, is working on projects to help the city comply with a 2004
ity advocates on finishing required curb-ramp work has prevented some people from taking a broader view of accessibility. "There's a lot more to the Americans with Disabilities Act than curb
ramps," Morris said. "The goal is that people with disabilities are included frastructure. A year into Morris' is also a member of the steering com- in the society ... to make (accessibiltenure, advocates have a mixed re- mittee of the access group and is ity) an everyday occurrence so it just action. Carol Fulkerson, a volunteer complimentary of Morris. "Any time becomes a natural thing. It becomes disability and accessibility advocate I personally asked her a question and this is what we want to do, because and a member of the Central Oregon brought up a concern, she answers in we want everyone to participate Coalition for Access steering com- an expedient manner, with the infor- equally." mittee, declined to comment on Mor- mation I need," Backstrom said. See Advocate/A4 city to fix problems with bus stops, sidewalk curb ramps and other in-
accessible to people with disabilities. Carl Backstrom, 46, of Redmond,
worth it.
Like many of those who gathered here Saturday,
and sold in the 1950s and
1960s from Dr. Thomas Hicks' clinic in McCaysville, a sleepy Georgia town, just across the state border.
In all, 30 people — some Hicks babies, some potential relatives and their
supporters — turned out for the testing, performed free by Ohio-based DNA Diagnostic Center. It could take up to three
school year. SeeDiversity/A5
High court ruling reins in Obama By Zachary A. Goldfarb The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The
Supreme Court decision invalidating President Barack
Related
• Ruling on of recess apabortion p ointments clrnrc lai d bare the 'buffer legal and zone,'A4 political risks that the president faces as he makes
the use of executive power a coretenet ofhissecond term.
Dawson is one of about
200 co-called Hicks babies, infants given up by their biological mothers
tuition for the 2014-2015
been pleased with Morris' work over
settlement agreement, but she said in — Knrin Morris, city of Bend an interview last week the "hyper-foaccessibility manager cus" by the city and some accessibil-
mer newspaper editor and the first to arrive.
To help increase diversity in the Central Oregon
Road projects, jobs at risk in fund showdown By Laura Litvnn
With Congress refusing to embrace his agenda, Obama has turned to
his presidential powers to take unilateral action on several controversial
tried to move things along Thursday with a bill in the
agree to. "It's important for the com-
2012, when it agreed on a two-
issues. He has postponed
Bloomberg News
year measure for highway
requirements of the Af-
WASHINGTON — A roadwork slowdown reminiscent
Senate Finance Committee that would provide a six-
mittee to get something done, but also to get it done right,"
and mass transit programs. With the Highway Trust
of the partial closure of the federal government last year is hanging over the U.S. economy as Congress leaves town without a deal for replenishing the Highway Trust Fund. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.,
month, $9 billion infusion. His bill, funded largelyby tax changes, failed to win over Republicans, and the committee chose to leave for a weeklong
said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah,
Fund expected to bedepleted as soon as July, progress on
recess without voting as they
pursue a deal all sides might
The brinkmanship is not
projects and almost 700,000
without precedent. Congress
jobs await word on new feder-
fordable Care Act. He has authorized tough new rules limiting power plant emissions. And he is seeking to impose new regulations to requirecompanies to pay their employees more m
had to pass nine brief extensions from late 2009 until mid-
al funding.
overtime.
the top Republican on the committee.
about 112,000 construction
See Roads /A6
SeeCourt/A4
months to test all the
participants' samples, but what's 90 days compared with the lifetime these
TODAY'S WEATHER
baby boomers have been waiting to find their bio-
logical families? SeeAdoptees/A5
b
Afternoon showers High 69, Low43 Pa g e B6
INDEX All Ages Business Calendar
Df -6 Classified E -f 6 Dear Abby D6 Obituaries B5 C5-6 Comics/Pu zzles E3-4 Horoscope D6 Sports C1-4 In GO! Crosswords E 4 L o cal/State B1-6 TV/Movies D6, GO!
The Bulletin AnIndependent Newspaper
vol. 112, No. 178,
e2 pages, e sections
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