Bulletin Daily Paper 04/22/11

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Spring is climb time

Bend ranked No. 1

Rock climbing preview at Smith Rock • SPORTS, D1

BUSINESS, B1

in magazine for sportsmen

WEATHER TODAY

FRIDAY

Sunny, warmer High 57, Low 23 Page C6

• April 22, 2011 50¢

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OREGON SCHOOL FUNDING

Single gunshot killed Meyer Kitzhaber approves

Autopsy gives family some relief; questions turn to disappearance’s early days

K-12 budgets; now it’s time for the cuts

By Scott Hammers and Sheila G. Miller The Bulletin

The body was confirmed Thursday to be Sandy Meyer’s.

By Lauren Dake The Bulletin

SALEM — Gov. John Kitzhaber signed a pair of bills Thursday that provide $5.7 billion for K-12 schools over the coming two-year budget cycle. By settling on a school spending plan well before the end of the session, the Legislature and governor gave schools a chance to nail down their budgets early. Public school leaders will have extra time to plan for the coming two years, and teachers and other staffers who face layoffs will have more time to look for new jobs. The budget agreement came after the governor leaned on legislative leaders to fund earlychildhood programs and postsecondary education at levels he’d proposed in his budget. He agreed with many lawmakers who called the K-12 budget inadequate but argued that it would provide stability. Both the Senate and House passed the two bills, Senate Bill 5552 and Senate Bill 5553, last week. The first bill allocates $5.6 billion to K-12 schools and the second tacks on $100 million from the Education Stability Fund, a reserve account. Some lawmakers are pushing to dip further into reserves for the benefit of public schools, but the governor has indicated that he won’t support such legislation. See Education / A5

Sandy Meyer, the 72-year-old Bend woman missing for more than six weeks, died of a single gunshot wound to the head, Oregon Medical Examiner Karen Gunson said. An autopsy Thursday confirmed the body found in southwest Bend the day before was Sandy Meyer. The body

BEND-LA PINE

8 admin posts to be cut, helping save $1M

was intact, Gunson said, and showed no other signs of trauma. Gunson ruled the death a homicide, and Bend Police believe she was killed by her husband, 71-year-old John Meyer. John Meyer committed suicide, shooting himself at the couple’s home in Mountain High one week after he had reported his wife missing March 10. After his death, police found a large

amount of shredded paper at the home and began putting it back together to look for useful information. Among the papers, officers found several lists of things to do and things to buy. Bend Police Capt. Jim Porter said he could not yet provide specific details but that the lists included information suggesting John Meyer had murdered his wife. See Meyer / A4

How to help, ways to play this

Earth Day

By Sheila G. Miller The Bulletin

Bend-La Pine school district administrators on Thursday agreed to wideranging concessions that will help the district save nearly $1 million in the 2011-12 budget. The district will eliminate eight administrative positions and will cut administrators’ compensation by taking a total of up to 13 furlough days, an increase of three furlough days from the 2010-11 school year. They will not receive step increases and will freeze their cost-of-living adjustments. Administrators will see no insurance cap increase for 2011-12. See Bend-La Pine / A5

Travelers balk at $4 gas, and it’s not yet summer By Julie Mianecki McClatchy-Tribune News Service

WASHINGTON — As gas prices across the nation inch higher, the Obama administration will investigate the energy markets for any evidence of manipulation of oil and gas prices, the Justice Department said Thursday. With the average price of a gallon of gas at about $3.84 this week, almost a dollar higher than a year ago, the newly formed Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group will search for incidents of fraud and collusion in addition to

New York Times News Service ile photo

President Barack Obama announced Thursday that his administration will investigate to see if fraud or manipulation in oil markets is behind the sharp increase in gasoline prices.

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price manipulation. “The attorney general’s putting together a team whose job it will be to root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices — and that includes the role of traders and speculators,” President Barack Obama said at a town hall meeting in Nevada on Thursday. “We are going to make sure that no one is taking advantage of the American people for their own short-term gain.” The effects are already being felt across the country. With gas prices inching toward $4, as is the situation at Central Oregon stations, and above in some states, Americans are canceling spring break plans and rethinking summer vacation, and some tourist destinations are offering gas vouchers of as much as $50 to talk people out of giving up and staying home. Memorial Day is still five weeks away, and summer doesn’t officially start for two months. So, this year, anxiety over high gas prices — and whether the family vacation will bust the family budget — has come early. “I can’t go anywhere — because I can’t afford it,” Greg Sensing, who works in admissions for the University of Maryland said. See Gas prices / A6

Rob Kerr / The Bulletin

Using cardboard and egg cartons — and with the help of scissors, tape and hot glue — kids got a fun lesson in recycling Thursday at Tom McCall Elementary School in Redmond. Sammie Burr, 8, left, works with Shawn Ashby, 7, on their Earth Day costumes, using recycled snack boxes. “I thought I would buy a costume,” Shawn said, “but now I am making one.” The costume contest is Saturday. Redmond will celebrate Earth Day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at American Legion Park.

Today in GO! Listings on celebrations in Bend and Redmond, including parades, Page 10 Cut out your masks for the festivities

Vol. 108, No. 112, 70 pages, 7 sections

By Kirk Johnson New York Times News Service

OKLAHOMA CITY — Whether it is a legitimate debate over election reform, a calculated ploy or a conspiracy theory gone viral, questions about President Barack Obama’s nation of birth

have morphed from the Internet fringe to the mainstream in state Capitols around the country. Many legislators, however, have proved quite reluctant to turn the issue — a sure winner with the conservative base, even before Donald Trump adopted it

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as a talking point — into concrete legislation. So-called birther bills have foundered or fallen dormant in at least five states. In Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, vetoed legislation this week, calling it “a bridge too far.” But now, Oklahoma, a deeply

conservative state, could be the first to put its doubts into law, through a bill that would require all candidates, from Town Council hopeful on up, to provide certified proof that they meet the legal requirements for office. See Birth / A4

TOP NEWS INSIDE

INDEX Abby

Earth Day is today, but volunteers from the city’s Bend Beautification Program will be working through the weekend pulling weeds, picking up trash and sweeping sidewalks around the city. See if there’s still time to sign up to volunteer by contacting Cheryl Howard at 541-388-5579 or choward@ci.bend.or.us. Volunteering events are scheduled in Redmond, too; see GO! Magazine, Page 10.

Evidence aside, ‘birther’ bills surface in Capitols nationwide

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Making Bend beautiful

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LIBYA: U.S. authorizes armed drone strikes, Page A3 OIL SPILL: BP to pay $1 billion — to start, Page A3


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