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• September 30, 2011 75¢
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Tensions rise between hospital, union amid talk of strike By Betsy Q. Cliff The Bulletin
As negotiations proceed at a slow pace, tensions have escalated between St. Charles Bend and a union representing about 600 employees in the past couple of weeks. Employees voted in favor of becoming a part of the Service Employees International Union in January and negotiations for the group’s first contract began in May. The union
represents primarily service and maintenance workers including food service, dispatchers and employees working in equipment processing. While there had long been tension between the sides, the current furor began last week when the hospital’s administration sent out an e-mail to all employees about the possibility of a labor strike. That, several employees said, sent rumors of a strike echoing through hospital halls and beyond.
The e-mail, titled “Frequently Asked Questions on SEIU Negotiations,” laid out the aspects of a labor strike, though it said the hospital believed no strike was imminent. It detailed the process that workers would take to strike, workers’ rights in event of a strike and contingency plans the hospital had made. The e-mail said the “hospital will bring in qualified people to provide coverage in areas where (employees)
choose to participate in the strike.” The hospital said it sent the e-mail in response to rumors it was hearing about a potential strike. “We had so many questions,” said Katy Vitcovich, senior vice president of human resources. “I must have been stopped 10 times in the hall about what if there was a strike. We were responding to questions that were in the rumor mill.” See Hospital / A5
Bend police suspending probe into credit scam By Rachael Rees The Bulletin
With no leads, the Bend Police Department is suspending its investigation on the credit and debit card scam that victimized more than 700 Central Oregonians last summer. Losses totaled $250,000 as people found their credit card numbers had been stolen and fraudulent charges had been made all over the United States and overseas. But with no new definitive information from banks or credit card companies, Lt. Ben Gregory said he’s reached a dead end. Gregory said he’s been working with three banks. Out of the three, one is confident of the location of the skimming, while the other two have only provided possibilities. “It sounds like a lot of cop-out to me but that’s the way it is,” Gregory said. “I can only work with what I’m given.” A computer forensic specialist went to the location suspected of the data breach, he said. After searching the computer systems, the specialist was unable to find a breach. Gregory said one problem is several fraud victims never shopped there. Gregory said the different banks don’t agree with the information he’s obtained. Bank investigators told Gregory the skimming was most likely happening overseas. With people shopping all over the country and throughout the world, he said it’s difficult to follow victims’ statement trails and isolate the skimming. Gregory said he’s weighing the chances of solving the case against other cases. He said he’s making crimes against people a priority. “It doesn’t mean the case won’t be reopened,” he said. “It’s just suspended for now. If I get additional information that takes me to a lead I’ll reopen the case.”
A whole new highway
Rachael Rees can be reached at 541-617-7818 or at rrees@bendbulletin.com.
he newly constructed four-lane section of Highway 97 south of Bend is set to open in early October. This aerial
Scientists crusade for cancer vaccine
photo is looking north-northeast toward Bend, with Lava Butte at left. To mark completion of the new section,
By Maura Lerner
Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Department of Transportation Director Matt Garrett and others are scheduled to at-
MINNEAPOLIS — A few weeks ago, the Mayo Clinic made an intriguing announcement: One of its scientists had discovered a possible way to prevent ovarian and breast cancer with vaccines. And Mayo was ready to start testing them in people. Within days, word had spread around the globe. Hundreds of women were suddenly vying for a few dozen spots in the clinical trials in Minnesota. Keith Knutson, the lead scientist, wasn’t surprised: If his experiments pan out, they could signal a turning point in the battle against cancer. The experiments, set to begin early next year in Rochester, are designed to see if the vaccines can prevent recurrences of ovarian and breast cancer in women who have survived earlier bouts. See Cancer / A5
Photo submitted by ODOT
T
tend an inauguration event at the Lava Lands Visitor Center today at 1:30 p.m. The new highway configuration provides two lanes of travel in each direction. Two wildlife tunnels were built to reduce collisions between deer and motorists.
Atom smasher’s shutdown Government garage sale? ends an era of big science Inside
shoreline, beautiful views and a harbor.” As former home WASHINGTON — Like to the federal Animal DisAmericans trying to raise • Banks roll ease Center, it may need a bit out fees for quick cash by unloading their of “biohazard remediation,” unwanted goods, the federal making it a real fixer-upper. debit cards, government is considering a Many conservatives — inBusiness, novel way to reduce the deficluding Rep. Paul Ryan of WisPage B1 cit: holding the equivalent of a consin, chairman of the House garage sale. Budget Committee, and the Deep within President Barack budget experts at the Cato Institute — Obama’s proposals to raise revenue support the broad idea of shrinking the and reduce the deficit lies a method government by selling parts of it. Demthat has garnered bipartisan support, ocrats like the idea of virtually painless something rare in Washington these revenue-raising. Whether Congress days. It involves selling an island, can pass any bill in the current atmocourthouses, maybe an airstrip, gener- sphere, however, is far from certain. ally idle or underused vehicles, roads, “This is something that we can have buildings, land — even the airwaves bipartisan agreement on,” said Rep. used to broadcast television. Jeff Denham of California who, as one Among the listings: Plum Island, of the most conservative House RepubN.Y., off the North Fork of Long Island, licans, almost never agrees with the which the government has already be- president. gun marketing as 840 acres of “sandy See Government / A5
By Edward Wyatt
New York Times News Service
By Brian Vastag The Washington Post
One scientist called it a 25-year adrenaline rush. Today, though, the buzz will end. After a remarkable run as the most successful atom smasher in the world, the Tevatron, a four-mile underground ring about 50 miles west of Chicago, will smash no more. At 11 a.m., Pier Oddone, director of Fermilab, the Energy Department facility that operates the Tevatron, will command the shutdown of the mammoth machine. Operators will switch off dual beams of particles that have been colliding since 1985, sprouting terrific sprays of fleeting par-
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ticles that offered a glimpse of the subatomic world. “That will be it,” said Gregorio Bernardi, a Fermilab physicist. “Then we’ll have a big party.” Conceived in the 1970s as an audacious effort to probe the subatomic realm, the Tevatron discovered three of the 17 particles thought fundamental to the universe. It became a prime training ground for two generations of young physicists. And in 1995, it bagged its biggest success, finding a subatomic particle called the top quark, the last of six fundamental building blocks of matter to be discovered. See Tevatron / A5
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Vol. 108, No. 273, 68 pages, 7 sections
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In a story headlined “Cascades campus likely won’t be affected by gun rule,” which appeared Thursday, Sept. 29, on Page A1, Kevin Starrett’s name was spelled incorrectly. The Bulletin regrets the error.
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Mayo Clinic researcher James Krempski harvests mouse ovarian tumor cells for testing at the Mayo Clinic lab in Rochester, Minn. Researchers at the clinic want to teach the human immune system how to detect cancer. Glen Stubbe Minneapolis Star Tribune
TOP NEWS INSIDE STOPGAP SPENDING BILL: With OK by House, it goes to Obama, Page A3