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MARCH 27, 2012
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Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com
OLCC staff startled by director’s possible expulsion
CYCLING SQUABBLE
6-foot lanes for Skyliners The Bulletin
By Lauren Dake The Bulletin
SALEM — News that the head of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission could lose his job surprised his staff, a spokeswoman said Monday. “Our executive team was not aware this was coming,” said Christie Scott, with the OLCC. A member from the governor’s staff recently told the state agency’s executive director, Steve Pharo, that the governor’s office was “looking for a change,” according to Scott. Pharo declined to comment. Scott confirmed that Pharo was told his job could be in jeopardy. Pharo doesn’t think he did anything to warrant losing his post, Scott said. Pharo has served as the agency’s director since 2006 and has worked for the OLCC since 1994. In the last two years, the agency has infused the state’s general fund, along with county and city budgets, with more than $350 million, according to Scott. “We had record amounts of revenue sent back to the general fund,” Scott said. See OLCC / A4
Shevlin Park
By Hillary Borrud
Rob Kerr / The Bulletin file photo
Six-foot bicycle lanes will be added to Skyliners Road during a construction project scheduled to begin next spring. A cyclist had petitioned for wider lanes, but county commissioners on Monday rejected 8-foot lanes as unnecessary.
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Bicyclists will get dedicated lanes on Skyliners Road when Deschutes County begins a major overhaul of the popular route next year, but county commissioners said Monday they won’t be the 8-foot lanes one man campaigned for over the last year. Tad Hodgert, a cyclist who lives on Skyliners Road, has spoken in favor of wider lanes, delivering more than 70 signatures on a petition for 8-foot lanes to the county in January. Hodgert wrote in a letter to the county that 8-foot
Andy Zeigert / The Bulletin
bike lanes would make Skyliners Road a “national caliber bike course.” “The several national level events held on Skyliners Road these past years bring much needed dollars into the local economy,” Hodgert wrote.
“Build it right, many more will come.”
8-foot lanes rejected as expensive, unsafe However, road officials from county, state and federal agencies found that 8foot lanes are unnecessary.
AIMING FOR SPRING BREAK FUN
Officials, awaiting health law ruling, prep for Plan B By Reed Abelson New York Times News Service
AT THE MOVIES
‘Hunger Games’ proves female leads can win over audiences
Photos by Rob Kerr / The Bulletin
EYE ON THE PRIZE
Archery instructor Tom Powell, 67, advises novice archer Nicole Natter, 11, during an archery class Monday at Competitive Edge Archery in Bend. The class was one of several being offered during spring break week. For more information on spring break classes, contact the Bend Park & Recreation District at 541-389-7275 or visit www.bendparksandrec.org.
By Christopher Palmeri Bloomberg News
LOS ANGELES — Lions Gate Entertainment’s $155 million opening-weekend haul for “The Hunger Games” proved female action heroes can attract big audiences, and may inspire Hollywood to make more films with female leads. The movie, made for about $80 million, generated the third-biggest opening weekend ever, researcher Box Office Mojo said. That puts it ahead of such venerable fanboy material as “Spider-Man 3,” which went on to gross $336.5 million in the United States and Canada, both “Iron Man” pictures and every other film but “The Dark Knight” and the last “Harry Potter.” “The Hunger Games,” which set a record as the biggest opening ever for a nonsequel, illustrates how Hollywood under-appreciates audiences’ acceptance of female action heroes, according to Phil Contrino, editor of researcher Boxoffice.com. “People were hungry for something like this,” Contrino said in an interview. See Movies / A4
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They support 6-foot lanes. Michael Odom, a project manager for the Federal Highway Administration, cited Oregon’s bicycle and pedestrian plan, which states that “anything larger than six feet creates other safety risks to cyclists by encouraging parking in the bike lane.” The Federal Highway Administration will pay for the $9 million reconstruction of Skyliners Road, but it will not pay for 8foot bike lanes instead of the planned 6-foot lanes, Odom wrote in a March 14 letter to Deschutes County. See Bike lanes / A4
ON THE MONEY
A WINNING SHOT
Young archers aimed for a pair of folded $1 bills on a target during Monday’s junior archery camp at Competitive Edge Archery in Bend.
Kate Taylor, 11, won Monday’s accuracy competition when she hit the $1 bills. Bend Park & Rec archery classes continue this week with morning and afternoon sessions.
Surgery may be best option for Type 2 diabetics By Denise Grady New York Times News Service
For some people with diabetes, surgery may be the best medicine. Two studies have found that
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Vol. 109, No. 87, 36 pages, 7 sections
weight-loss operations worked much better than the standard therapies for Type 2 diabetes in obese and overweight people whose blood sugar was out of control. Those who had sur-
gery, which stapled the stomach and rerouted the small intestine, were much more likely to have a complete remission of diabetes, or to need less medicine, than people who
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were given the typical regimen of drugs, diet and exercise. The surgery also helped many to lower their blood pressure and cholesterol. See Diabetes / A4
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Showers, breezy High 52, Low 36 Page C6
State officials and insurance executives are devising possible alternatives to the coming federal requirement that most Americans buy health Inside insurance, • Justices signal even as the intent to Supreme reach a Court verdict, A4 hears arguments • Poll: Most about the oppose constithe health tutionallaw, A4 ity of the mandate. The options being discussed include imposing state requirements that people get insurance, penalties for people who delay and automatic coverage enrollment. While it is unclear which way the court will rule, state officials and insurance executives say they have no choice but to prepare their options before the mandate goes into effect in 2014. “We’re always working on Plan B — always,” said Sen. Karen Keiser, a state lawmaker in Washington state who leads a group tackling the issue. “It will be up to state legislators, that is where the power will move,” said Keiser, a Democrat. “We have a lot of options at the state level.” Some Wall Street analysts predict that if the federal mandate is struck down and the rest of the law is upheld, the industry will quickly shift its focus to alternatives, particularly those that enable the states to bolster enrollment, so enough healthy people sign up and premiums do not skyrocket. See Health / A4
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