Northwest Travel
Don’t skip the theatrics
Tourism heats up in Central Oregon
Theater festival takes center stage in Ashland • COMMUNITY, C1
BUSINESS, G1
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• August 7, 2011 $1.50
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BEND PREMIER CUP SOCCER RESULTS • SPORTS, D2
Common ground sought on medical marijuana
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Loud proud Parents aren’t shy about voicing their support for Bend South Little League
By Lauren Dake The Bulletin
SALEM — Rep. Andy Olson, R-Albany, is a former narcotics cop who led the charge to rein in Oregon’s medical marijuana law. Last week, he visited his local cannabis club. There, he sat with his some of his constituents in what he described as “more or less a safe haven” to get information about growing and using medical marijuana. He says the shops, which are sprouting up all over the state, including in Central Oregon, seem a lot like dispensaries, which are illegal. But he says the visit illustrates the biggest success that came out of the medical marijuana talks this legislative session. “It boils down to, we opened this up and we got the discussion out there,” Olson said. He believes the sheer number of bills introduced this session — more than 20 aimed at altering the law — shows people believe the program has gone too far and change is warranted. The law, approved by voters in 1998, makes it legal for people with certain medical conditions to smoke marijuana. This session, there was a lot of talk of restricting who could obtain medical marijuana cards. But there is also a movement in the state toward decriminalizing marijuana. Bob Wolfe, director of the Oregon Marijuana Policy Initiative, or OMPI, said the legislative proposals aimed at limiting access to medical marijuana were a result of “fear-based statements from politicians who don’t know the subject at all.” See Marijuana / A7
TOP NEWS INSIDE
Photos by Rachel Luna / For The Bulletin
Tom Waterman, center, the uncle of player Cal Waterman, cheers for the Bend South Little League team as the team scores another run to take the lead over Montana in its second game in the Northwest Regional Tournament at Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino, Calif., on Saturday.
By Beau Eastes
Cam Baker hits a home run to give Bend South team the lead over Montana on Saturday.
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COPTER SHOT DOWN: Navy SEALS are among 30 Americans killed in Afghanistan, Page A2 More inside • Bend South bounces back
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on second day of tournament, Page D1
Movies
C3
Business
G1-6
Obituaries
B5
Classified
E1-6
Oregon
B3
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — he 2011 Little League Northwest Regional Tournament is a pretty intense place. There’s pacing back and forth, high-decibel screams, and the occasional jolt or jump when too much nervous energy is bottled up. And that’s just in the stands. “I have friends back home in Bend who have told me they’re listening to the games on the radio and they think they heard me yelling,” says Tina Davis, whose son Cam pitches and plays infield for the Bend South All-Stars. “I tell them, ‘Yeah, it was probably me.’ I get pretty loud at these games.” Playing for a spot in the Little League World Series for ages 11
and 12 in South Williamsport, Pa., later this month, Bend South has shown remarkable poise through two games of the pool-play portion of the six-team regional tournament. The Oregon state champions bounced back from a 9-6 loss to Lewiston, Idaho, on Friday to rally past Big Sky, Mont., 10-6, on Saturday. While the players, all of whom will be either seventh- or eighthgraders this fall, seem to be calming their nerves a bit, their parents fully admit that their stomachs are turning with every pitch. “I run up and down the stairs every half inning,” says Carolyn Husmann, whose son Jack is an outfielder for Bend South. “It’s a stress-reliever, and I’m training for the Portland Marathon.” See Baseball / A5
Community C1-8
Perspective F1-6
Crosswords C7, E2
Sports
D1-6
Editorial
F2-3
Stocks
G4-5
Local
B1-6
TV listings
C2
Downgrade adds to partisan strife in Washington
Weather
B6
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Milestones
C6
U.S. CREDIT RATING
The Washington Post
We use recycled newsprint The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper
SUNDAY
Vol. 108, No. 219, 46 pages, 7 sections
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WASHINGTON — Standard & Poor’s historic downgrade of the U.S. credit rating caused the capital to erupt Saturday in the exact partisan clashes that S&P said led to its decision in the first place. Both major political parties accused each other of causing the downgrade and used the credit rating agency’s report to make their case. Democrats criticized Republicans for refusing to consider increasing tax revenue to help
tame the nation’s debt. Republicans blamed Democrats for not taking serious action to reform entitlements and faulted President Barack Obama for allowing the downgrade to happen on his watch. It was hardly a banner day for the nation’s capital, where Congress and the president, already suffering low poll numbers for their inability to work together, endured reprimands and lectures from nations worldwide. See Credit / A7
It was hardly a banner day for the nation’s capital, as lawmakers endured reprimands over the nation’s credit rating downgrade. The Associated Press ile photo
Mannix sets his sights on inheritance tax repeal By Lauren Dake The Bulletin
SALEM — Someday, Marie Bowers, of Redmond, would like to return to the land her family has been farming for four generations. Much of the grass seed farm is owned by her grandparents and great-grandmother. When they die, she and her parents stand to inherit the property. Bowers is concerned that the state’s inheritance tax could force her family to sell the farm instead. The inheritance tax was discussed briefly during Attorney this year’s legand former islative session lawmaker and could reKevin Mansurface in the nix is working 2012 election. on a ballot Attorney measure that and former would let lawmaker voters decide whether to re- Kevin Manknown peal Oregon’s nix, largely for inheritance his tough-ontax. crime sentencing measures, is working on a ballot measure that would let voters decide whether to repeal the tax. Bowers said she sees it as a “double tax,” meaning her family has already paid taxes on the property once and should not have to pay again when it’s passed on. “So, there is an old saying: Farmers and ranchers are land rich, but cash poor,” Bowers said. “So, while your land may be worth a lot of money, people think we have sufficient earnings off the land. It doesn’t produce enough income.” See Tax / A5
Some mentally ill people say they forge own coping skills By Benedict Carey New York Times News Service
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — The job was gone, the gun was loaded, and a voice was saying, “You’re a waste, give up now, do it now.” It was a command, not a suggestion, and what mattered at that moment — a winter evening in 2000 — was not where the voice was coming from, but how assured it was, how persuasive. Losing his first decent job seemed like too much for Joe Holt to live with. It was time. “All I remember then is a knock on the bedroom door and my wife, Patsy, she sits down on the bed and hugs me, and I’m holding the gun in my left hand, down here, out of sight,” said Holt, 50, a computer consultant and entrepreneur who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia. See Health / A6