Organic farm gets grant • B1
CTC debuts ‘The Spitfire Grill’ in Bend JANUARY 27, 2012
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Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com
No state tax assessment for Facebook
Crook County meningococcal case 5th in year By Sheila G. Miller The Bulletin
A fifth case of meningococcal disease in 10 months has been confirmed in Crook County, this time striking an infant younger than 6 months. Karen Yeargain, the communicable disease coordinator for the Crook County Health Department, said the infant is still in the hospital in fair condition. The health department is stepping up its campaign to get Prineville residents vaccinated against the disease. “We’ve been suggesting it, and what we’ve said in the past is we’re encouraging people to consider it,” Yeargain said. “Now we’re saying get it, not just consider it.” Meningococcal disease is caused by a type of bacterium found in throat and nasal passages. At any given time, a quarter of the population has the bacteria without any symptoms. See Meningococcal / A5
By Lauren Dake The Bulletin
SNOW SPREE Jake Price, of Bend, catches air on the cinder cone at Mt. Bachelor Thursday.
Photo by Andy Tullis / The Bulletin
Avalanche danger
IN LOCAL: • Despite recent storms, Central Oregon’s snowpack is still well below average, C1
1 A slope is wea k if new
snow falls onto old sno that has melted slightly and refrozen, forming crust of ice
• Authorities warn of avalanche potential — a danger to skiers and showshoers, C1 IN SPORTS: • Powder rules at Mt. Bachelor, D1
GENERALLY GENERALLY SAFE Ridge top SAFE Dense forest POTENTIALLY UNSAFE
SALEM — The state announced Thursday that data centers, such as Facebook’s in Prineville, will not be centrally assessed by the state for taxation under a newly written administrative rule. The proposed solution, state officials said, should give data centers the certainty they were asking for on taxation. However, Rep. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, who is sponsoring legislation on the issue, said the rule doesn’t go far enough. He is adamant that legislation is necessary to
keep data centers investing in the state. At the center of the debate is Facebook’s data center in Prineville. Officials from the social media giant said the state’s assertion that it could be centrally assessed breaks a deal struck with Crook County granting it a 15-year hiatus from most property taxes. Central assessment is done by the state and means intangibles assets, such as brand value or worldwide goods, can be taxed. It often translates into a higher tax bill for the company. See Facebook / A5
N
Expansion complete, Deschutes pub reopens By Erik Hidle The Bulletin
The expanded and redesigned Deschutes Brewery & Public House in downtown Bend is now open for business. The pub opened its doors quietly on Monday afternoon after being closed for a month to put finishing touches on the nearly yearlong project. The expansion has more than doubled the pub’s size. The 7,500-square-foot space can now serve 306 diners. That additional dining room, the expanded kitchen and a far less cluttered Deschutes Brewery layout solves & Public House one of the biggest issues the 1044 N.W. Bond St., Bend restaurant has Old New experienced in the past few Seats 125 306 years. Square feet 4,000 7,500 “The most Employees 60 100 frequent complaint we got was that the wait is too long,” said Gary Fish, founder and president of the brewery. “It has been really cool to be there this week because I’ve seen a lot of people in there that I haven’t seen in years. We’ve got some good friends in town who are coming back, and that’s what we want.” Being too busy is an enviable problem. See Deschutes / A6
TOP NEWS GOP DEBATE: Romney stays on the offensive, A3 GREECE: Long-term outlook is still grim, B1 TODAY’S WEATHER Sunny and cooler High 40, Low 13 Page C6
INDEX Calendar E3 Comics E4-5 Crosswords E5, F2 Dear Abby E3 Editorials C4 Family E1-6
Horoscope E3 Movies GO! 30 Obituaries C5 Sports D1-6 Stocks B4-5 TV E2
The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper Vol. 109, No. 27, 66 pages, 7 sections
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Glowing product reviews, for only $2 a star By David Streitfeld New York Times News Service
Andy Tullis/The Bulletin
Server Adam Birdwell carries meals to a table in the redesigned Deschutes Brewery & Public House in downtown Bend on Thursday. The expanded pub reopened on Monday after a monthlong closure.
At Yale, the collapse of a Rhodes Scholar candidacy By Richard Perez-Pena New York Times News Service
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — On Nov. 13, Patrick Witt, Yale University’s star quarterback, announced that he had withdrawn his Rhodes scholarship application and would instead play against Harvard six days later, at the very time of the Rhodes interview. His apparent choice of team loyalty over individual honor capped weeks of admiring national attention. But Witt was no longer a contender for the Rhodes, a rare honor reserved for those who excel in academics, activities and character. Several days earlier, according to people involved, the Rhodes Trust had learned that a fellow student had accused Witt of sexual assault, and Rhodes informed Yale and Witt that his candidacy was suspended unless the university decided to re-endorse it. See Yale / A5
High school graduation rates The Oregon Department of Education has released district and high school graduation rates for the 2010-11 school year.
Graduation rates dip in region, still top state’s marks
District / school
4-year 5-year
Bend-La Pine Schools
68.2%
75.7%
Bend Senior High
73.8
76.6
The Bulletin
La Pine Senior High
63.4
65.2
34
51.3
74.4
81
Even though graduation rates in most Central Oregon school districts slipped some in 2010-11, they still retained higher four-year graduation rates than statewide averages. The average four-year graduation rate in Oregon crept up about 1 percentage point to 67.2 percent, according to data released today by the Oregon Department of Education. Four-year graduation rates in the Jefferson County and Redmond school districts were below the state average by at least 10 percentage points. The state also calculates a five-year graduation rate; Oregon’s is 70.5 percent. Those two districts missed that mark by a narrower margin. The Crook and Jefferson districts were the only two in Central Oregon with a higher annual dropout rate than the state average of 3.3 percent. Crook’s rate was 3.53, while Jefferson’s 7.94 was the highest in the region. ODE spokeswoman Crystal Greene said much work remains to improve graduation rates. “The (four-year) rate is still just over twothirds. There are still a lot of kids who are not meeting that milestone in that time frame,” Greene said. See Graduation / A6
Marshall High School* Mountain View High Summit High
75.9
86.4
Crook County School Dist.
66.7
71.5
Crook County High
82.7
91.2
Pioneer Secondary Alternative High*
27.9
28
Culver School District
80
83.3
Culver High
80
83.3
Jefferson County Sch. Dist.
57
63.6
Madras High School
57
63.6
Redmond School District
48.9
67.5
Redmond Proficiency Academy
72.5
58.8
Redmond High
47.5
71.3
Sisters School District
80.2
79.5
Sisters High
86.5
87.7
State
67.2
70.5
*Alternative high schools Source: Oregon Department of Education
By Patrick Cliff
In the brutal world of online commerce, where a competing product is just a click away, retailers need all the juice they can get to close a sale. Some exalt themselves by anonymously posting their own laudatory reviews. Now there is an even simpler approach: secretly offering a refund to customers in exchange for a write-up. By the time VIP Deals ended its rebate on Amazon.com late last month, its leather case for the Kindle Fire was receiving the sort of acclaim once reserved for the likes of Kim Jong Il. Hundreds of reviewers proclaimed the case a marvel, a delight, exactly what they needed to achieve bliss. And definitely worth five stars. As the collective wisdom of the crowd displaces traditional advertising, the roaring engines of e-commerce are being stoked by favorable reviews. The VIP deal reflects the importance merchants place on these evaluations — and the lengths to which they go to game the system. Fake reviews are drawing the attention of regulators. They have cracked down on a few firms for deceitful hyping and suspect these are far from isolated instances. “Advertising disguised as editorial is an old problem, but it’s now presenting itself in different ways,” said Mary Engle, the Federal Trade Commission’s associate director for advertising practices. “We’re very concerned.” See Reviews / A6