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REDMOND
Stepping up to new eating guidelines A history • PAGE A3
Bend Police crack down on parking along Mt. Washington
Feeling stiffed on Social Security
As June deadline approaches, talks hinge on 2 different views By Patrick Cliff The Bulletin
The budget negotiations between teachers and administrators in the Redmond School District have come down to this: whether the salaries that have been paid or the salaries that were promised matter more. During labor negotiations, the district has pointed to what teachers have actually earned over several years. Many teachers have seen their total compensation rise despite cuts to cost-of-living increases, days and positions, according to a district analysis. Teachers do not deny that many salaries have grown over this time. Instead, they have highlighted how their concessions have left some teachers several thousand dollars short of what the original contract called for. The different perspectives reveal the concerns of each side. District leadership has said there is no money left, that cuts are unavoidable and that previous cuts have done as little harm as possible. The teachers union, meanwhile, worries about both the practical effect of the cuts and the symbolic damage they have done to the teaching profession. See Redmond / A4
By Scott Hammers The Bulletin
Bend Police have started cracking down on illegal parking along Mount Washington Drive, posting new signs in the gravel shoulder along the east side of the road and threatening $50 tickets. The parking problem is largely driven by participants and spectators attending events at the Skyline Sports Complex, adjacent to Mount Washington Drive. The complex is one of the largest operated by the Bend Park & Recreation District, and its lighted fields are regularly used by softball and soccer leagues and tournaments. Jan Taylor, community relations manager for the parks district, said while police initiated the discussion leading to the crackdown, parking along the street has been a concern of the district’s for years. No one has been injured yet, she said, but children running across the street and vehicles blocking the bike lane are dangerous, as are drivers opening their doors into traffic. Taylor said the park district has not observed parking problems on the same scale at its other parks, and that the lots at Cascade Middle School to the west of the fields are more than large enough for even the busiest days at the park. See Parking / A6
District sees higher pay; teachers see concessions
Comparing compensation The Redmond School District is working with its teachers to close an $8 million budget shortfall. The district highlights how many teachers have seen their compensation increase in recent years, while teachers point to how many cuts they have made already. Rob Kerr / The Bulletin
When looking over federal benefit documents, Chuck Hewitt, of Powell Butte, found discrepancies in his Social Security checks. But officials with the Social Security Administration say the numbers are not discrepancies at all. “They said it didn’t amount to much,” Hewitt says — but in today’s economy, he says, every bit matters.
What the school district says The Redmond School District points to the fact that both average salary and benefits for teachers have increased since 2008, according to district data. Salary $80K
By law, benefit checks are rounded down, never up
60K 40K
By Andrew Clevenger • The Bulletin
ROTC: The cool kid on campus again Helped by the recession, more active recruiting and a sea change in student perceptions of the military after 9/11 and the end to the ban on gays in the armed forces, ROTC programs on college campuses are thriving. And some elite schools like Stanford and Harvard are welcoming ROTC back for the first time in decades. “There definitely are people not supportive of ROTC,” says a student at Stanford. But “I can’t fathom anyone burning a building down.” For story, see Page A6.
Benefits
$65,493
$66,503
$11,856
$12,456
$13,140
$51,620
$53,037
$53,363
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
20K
WASHINGTON — This month, Chuck Hewitt will turn 65, which means that he, like 38 million other older Americans, qualifies for Medicare, the government run health insurance plan. To that end, Hewitt was recently notified of the effect his Medicare premium would have on his monthly Social Security benefits. But when he looked over the documents, he noticed a discrepancy. Hewitt’s Medicare premium is $115.40 a month, and his Social Security benefit is a full dollar amount ending in .00. When the Social Security Administration subtracted Hewitt’s Medicare contribution from his monthly benefit, it rounded down to the nearest full dollar amount. What, Hewitt wondered, happened to the extra 60 cents? So he called the SSA and asked. He was told that the disappearing 60 cents wasn’t a mistake. Rather, the agency doesn’t deal with increments smaller
$63,476
than a dollar. Hewitt, who worked as the public works inspector for Redmond and developed an eye for detail inspecting construction sites, did some quick math. He realized that if all Medicare enrollees were being shorted part of a dollar, it could really add up. “For me, a year, at 60 cents a month, it’s not a big deal. But if you combine that with everybody else across the nation, it’s a big deal,” the Powell Butte resident said. See Benefit / A4
0
What the teachers union says The Redmond Education Association points out that actual salaries have not kept pace with teachers’ original contracted salaries. $80K Conceded:
Conceded:
Conceded:
60K
$813
$2,552
$4,223
40K
Salary: $49,655
Salary: $51,165
Salary: $52,368
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
20K 0
Sources: Redmond School District, Redmond Education Association District calculations are an average from 15 salary schedule examples. REA calculations are based on a a mid-career teacher’s salary schedule. Andy Zeigert / The Bulletin
TOP NEWS INSIDE BREAST CANCER: Study: Drug cuts risk significantly for millions, Page A2 YEMEN: Injured president leaves the country for medical care, Page A2
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Little safety net for foreclosures tied to joblessness By Andrew Martin New York Times News Service
The Obama administration’s main program to keep distressed homeowners from falling into foreclosure has been aimed at those who took out subprime loans or other risky mortgages during the heady days of the housing boom. But these days, the primary cause of foreclosures is unemployment. As a result, there is a mismatch
between the homeowner program’s design and the country’s economic realities — and a new question about how best to fix it. The administration’s housing effort does include programs to help unemployed homeowners, but they have been plagued by delays, dubious benefits and abysmal participation. For example, a Treasury Department effort started in early 2010 allows the jobless to postpone mortgage
payments for three months, but the average length of unemployment is now nine months. As of March 31, there were only 7,397 participants. “So far, I think the public record will show that programs to help unemployed homeowners have not been very successful,” said Jeffrey Fuhrer, an executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. See Foreclosure / A6
In Business • Able to buy a home? Loans are available — even with no money down, Page G1