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OREGON Wounded officer’s daughter confident he’ll pull through, see Page C3. Coastal state park adding 10 cabins, see Page C3.
OBITUARIES Gladys Horton, co-founder of the Marvelettes, see Page C5. www.bendbulletin.com/local
THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011
Sen. Wyden victorious in fight against ‘secret holds’ Senate votes 92-4 to shorten anonymous blocks on bills; Merkley’s resolutions downed By Keith Chu The Bulletin
WASHINGTON — One of Oregon’s U.S. senators won a long-sought victory Thursday in the fight to clear up the often opaque workings of the U.S. Senate, while the other senator saw his proposal fail after months of effort. The Senate voted 92-4 to approve a proposal by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to shorten “secret holds,” which allowed any senator to block the movement of a bill or nomination without revealing his or her identity. Meanwhile, two resolutions by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., that would have made it much harder to delay Senate votes with filibusters were voted down. Holds are an arcane Senate procedure — not a formal rule — that can be ended with 60 votes, through a time-consuming process. In a speech a few hours before the vote, Wyden argued that the practice of secret holds allowed members to dodge accountability for their beliefs. “U.S. senators ought to have the guts to stand up to say, ‘This is important to me, I’m the one who ought to be held accountable,’ ” Wyden said. The holds, Wyden said, also were a tool of lobbyists, who could delay legislation they opposed without a senator having to pay a political price. In 2007, Wyden passed a measure that he believed would require senators to identify themselves six days after placing a hold, but a loophole in the language meant that the measure did little to stop secret holds in practice. Wyden said on Thursday that the new anti-secrecy resolution fixed the earlier measure’s problems, while shortening the disclosure time to two days. Wyden, along with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, had worked for about a decade to end the use of secret holds. Wyden had developed a well-worn repertoire of jokes about the practice, saying that “secret hold” sounds more like a hair spray or wrestling move than something done in the Senate. Merkley, meanwhile, had tried for months to overhaul Senate rules in a variety of ways, including weakening the power of filibusters, in exchange for guaranteeing the minority party the right to offer amendments to every bill. See Senate / C2
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Search for driver continues Anthony John Martin, 48, killed in hit-and-run on Third Street in Bend By Scott Hammers The Bulletin
Police are looking for the driver and vehicle involved in a fatal hitand-run crash on Bend’s north end late Wednesday night. Anthony John Martin, 48, was struck by a vehicle as he pushed a bicycle across Third Street near the intersection with Northeast Seward Avenue shortly before 11 p.m. A witness to the crash performed CPR on Martin, as did officers responding to the crash site. Paramedics from the Bend Fire Department arrived on the scene and determined he had died.
solve a hit-and-run case. Often drivers who hit someone will share what happened with family and friends, who will then contact police. Court records indicate The vehicle that struck Martin has lived in and out Martin was heading south of the area for much of the on Third Street, and contin- Anthony John past 20 years, during which ued south after the crash. Martin he was convicted multiple Southbound lanes of times for DUII, driving with Third Street were closed for a suspended license and othabout four hours early Thursday as er offenses. police investigated. Residents of the last address assoOfficer Liz Lawrence said the Bend ciated with Martin in court records Police Department did not have any said they did not know Martin, but information to release to the public police came by their home around on the vehicle that struck Martin and 3 a.m. Thursday looking for people fled the area. She declined to say if who knew him. detectives following the case had a Family members could not be description of the vehicle. reached to provide additional inforLawrence said a vehicle descrip- mation on Martin. Bulletin archives tion isn’t always needed for officers to indicate he may have a daughter,
born in Bend in November 2009. Local law enforcement agencies have successfully located suspects in most recent hit-and-run crashes resulting in fatalities and serious injuries. Less than 24 hours after the April 2007 crash that killed Kimberly Potter on South Third Street, Bend Police had arrested driver Christopher Goodson and three other men who had been in the car with him that night. In July 2006, Joshua Day of La Pine struck and killed Donald Arnold, also of La Pine, as Arnold walked along U.S. Highway 97 south of Wickiup Junction sometime between 2:30 and 3 a.m. Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies found Day later that morning. Scott Hammers can be reached at 541-383-0387 or shammers@bendbulletin.com.
High Desert heat wave
IN CONGRESS
WARM SPRINGS
Tribal members could gain from $3.4B settlement
Rob Kerr / The Bulletin
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aking advantage of the unseasonably warm January weather, Johny Zandonatti, 30, readies himself to return a hit by Susie Gross, 27, at Juniper Park on Thursday. “It’s so nice,” Gross said between hits. “This is the second time this week we’ve gotten out to hit the ball.” According to the National Weather Service, the record high for Jan. 27 was 64 in 1934. It was warm Wednesday but only hit 59. For the area forecast, turn to Page C6.
By Megan Kehoe The Bulletin
Members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs may stand to benefit from a $3.4 billion settlement regarding land and money held in trust by the federal government, according to a news release. About 500,000 individuals across the country will be eligible to receive compensation from the Cobell v. Salazar settlement, including members of Warm Springs. The settlement centered on the alleged federal government mismanagement of funds and royalties owed to individual American Indians, along with the government’s failure to provide historical accounting for what are called Individual Indian Money accounts. Those who are eligible will be able to claim an average of $1,800 from the settlement. To be eligible, individuals must have had at least one cash transaction in an open IIM account between Oct. 25, 1994, and Sept. 30, 2009. Also, those individuals who have owned trust land as of Sept. 30, 2009, or who have had an IIM account at any time between 1985 and Sept. 30, 2009, are eligible. Estates of deceased individuals who would have qualified for either one of those groups would also be able to claim money. The amount of money that individuals receive from the settlement depends on which of the two groups they fall under, as well as the amount of activity in their IIM accounts. See Settlement / C2
DEQ proposes stringent water rules Increase in fish consumption rate will greatly affect state-imposed standards By Kate Ramsayer The Bulletin
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is proposing more strict rules about the amount of more than 100 toxic chemicals that can be released into waters of the state, which could impact a handful of cities like Prineville as well as agricultural or forestry operations in the future. The changes are based on increased estimates or how much fish Oregonians eat, said Andrea Matzke, water quality standards specialist with DEQ. Because toxins in the waterways can build up in fish and shellfish, fish consumption is a key factor in how the state calculates how much of those toxins is acceptable. “The more you start eating fish, you could be eating more toxics,” Matzke said. “So when you increase the fish consumption rate, the criteria becomes more stringent.”
“The more you start eating fish, you could be eating more toxics. So when you increase the fish consumption rate, the criteria becomes more stringent.” — Andrea Matzke, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality water quality standards specialist And the state is proposing to increase the fish consumption rate from 17.5 grams a day to 175 grams, or 6.2 ounces, a day. That’s about the equivalent of 23 8-ounce fish meals a month, Matzke said. The fish consumption rate was based on
studies — mostly of tribal members — and stakeholder meetings, she said, and is designed to protect the health of everyone in the state, including those who eat the most fish. And it would result in the strictest water quality standards of any state, nationwide. “These criteria are going to be very stringent,” she said. DEQ will hold a meeting on the proposed changes Tuesday in Bend. The proposed standards would mainly apply to companies or municipalities with a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. DEQ has only issued a handful of those permits in the Deschutes Basin, including to the city of Prineville and Black Butte Ranch. Prineville will just have to make sure they follow the state’s regulations if they change, said Jerry Brummer, Prineville public works superintendent. See Water / C2
Public meeting The DEQ is holding a public meeting on its proposed new water standards for toxics at 1 p.m. Tuesday, in the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Deschutes River Room, 63055 N. U.S. Highway 97, in Bend. The deadline for submitting comments on the issue has been extended to 5 p.m., Feb. 23. To comment, write to Andrea Matzke, Oregon DEQ, Water Quality Division, 811 SW Sixth Ave., Portland, OR 97204; call (503) 229-5384, or e-mail ToxicsRuleMaking@deq .state.or.us.