WEDNESDAY
May 21, 2014
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STORIES ON D1 • STATE CHAMPS: 5A GOLF TITLES FOR SUMMIT GIRLS, BEND BOYS, C1
bendbulletin.com TODAY’S READERBOARD Firefighting air force —
The U.S. Forest Service boosts its air tankers to 21 as it tries to modernize its fleet. A6 Update on San Diego fires, B5
Targeted killing — Memo that authorized a U.S. citizen’s death will be released. A4
450 jobs are coming to Bend By Rachael Rees The Bulletin
Ibex Global, a Bend call center at the edge of the Old Mill District, plans to more than double its workforce by hiring 450 employees by summer’s end. “This year will be the biggest we’ve ever been in Bend,” said Alec Campbell,
Also — Data on the missing Malaysia flight will go public. A4
INVESTIGATION
Subpoena for Cover Oregon records
about 400, Campbell said. The first training class starts June 8, and the company plans to recruit until September, Campbell said. Heidi Simila, recruiting manager for Ibex Global Bend, said she started hiring about a month ago. By the end of the week, she expects to have about
MAY ELECTION
Cigs to e-cigs to no cigs
— Study suggests those who used e-cigarettes to quit smoking were more likely to succeed than those who used patches, gum or nothing at all. A5
vice president of client services for Ibex, formerly TRG Customer Solutions. The company, headquartered in Washington, D.C., employs more than 9,000 in 18 call centers in five countries, according to its website. The Bend call center, on Southwest Hill Street near Wilson Avenue, currently employs
75 new employees. She said the openings are in customer service technical support positions. Pay starts at $10.50 an hour during training and increases to $12 an hour after workers complete training. Employees also are eligible for benefits after 30 days. See Jobs / A6
Complete results on A2 • More stories on B1
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
PRIMARIES
Flaherty ousted Wehby will face U.S. SENATE
Merkley By Lily Raff McCaulou The Bulletin
PORTLAND — Republican Monica Wehby will take on Democratic incumbent Jeff Merkley for a seat in the U.S. Senate this fall. Wehby, 52, is a pediatric neurosurgeon who lives in Portland. The first-time candidate gained the early support of national Republican party leaders and overcame some unflattering recent revelations about past relationships to soundly defeat her main rival, Jason Conger, in Tuesday’s primary election. Conger, 46, is a Bend attorney who has served in the Oregon House since 2010. See Senate / A3
By Gosia Wozniacka The Associated Press
PORTLAND — Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed state records for a grand jury investigation of the troubled Cover Oregon health insurance website, the governor’s office said Tuesday. Oregon abandoned its plans for an independent online exchange after it failed to launch and the state said fixing it would be too time-consuming and expensive. Instead, Oregon last month decided to switch to the federal portal, the first state to do so. The state paid its independent contractor, Oracle Corp., $134 million in federal funds to build what turned out to be a glitchfilled site. Instead of signing up for health insurance in one sitting, Oregonians had to use a hybrid paper-online process that was costly and slow, and the state had to hire more than 400 workers to help them. The governor’s office released subpoenas Tuesday from the U.S. attorney’s office. The subpoenas were issued to both Cover Oregon and the Oregon Health Authority, which was responsible for the early technology development of the exchange site. See Cover Oregon / A6
TODAY’S WEATHER Mostly sunny High 72, Low 42 Page B6
Dear Abby D6 Obituaries B5 Outdoors D1-6 Sports C1-4 TV/Movies D6
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
Doc ument 3. qx d
2/ 22/ 05
By Shelby R. King The Bulletin
Patrick Flaherty has served his first, and likely last, term as Deschutes County district attorney after being unseated in the most contentious race of the election. John Hummel, an attorney who once served on the Bend City Council, won handily in Tuesday’s election. Hummel said he decided to
run for office after seeing how Flaherty’s leadership style had created what he called a “toxic” office environment and disagreeing with the way Flaherty went about making personnel changes that caused five former and current employees to file lawsuits against him, ultimately resulting in more than $1 million in settlements. Flaherty had said he ran for re-election
Ryan Brennecke / The Bulletin
John Hummel addresses his supporters during a campaign party Tuesday at Summit Saloon after seeing encouraging results for his run for DA. “It’s nice to see that hard work pay off,” he said.
because he was honored to serve as DA and wanted to continue working on programs — such as veterans court — that he began organizing during his first term. The men envisioned vastly different roles for a district attorney, with Flaherty saying he’d run a traditional office focused on prosecuting criminals. See DA / A3
Deschutes County district attorney
By Steven Dubois
The Associated Press
Patrick Flaherty 9,839 votes
John Hummel 14,923 votes
60.1%
39.6%
Initial election results
ELECTION HIGHLIGHTS Fire levy — Voters in and just outside of Bend appeared to approve a pair of fire levies. B1
County races — Incumbent commission-
Circuit Court — Randy Miller bests
Thomas Spear in the Deschutes County Circuit Court race. B1
U.S. House — Greg Walden sails to win the GOP nomination and will face Bend businesswoman Aelea Christofferson in November. B1
Richardson will take on Kitzhaber
Turnout — As reported late Tuesday night: • Deschutes................................27.7% • Crook ..........................................36% • Jefferson.....................................38% Note: The Deschutes County clerk said about 10,000 more ballots needed to be processed, and that those numbers wouldn’t be available until this morning.
PORTLAND — Gov. John Kitzhaber and Dennis Richardson easily won their respective primaries, setting up a fall gubernatorial race in which Cover Oregon figures to be a key issue. Richardson, a state representative from Southern Oregon, was heavily favored versus five candidates who lacked money and name recognition. Tuesday night, all of his opponents were struggling to reach double digits. Kitzhaber is seeking an unprecedented fourth term. See Governor / A3
NATIONALLY
Good day for GOP establishment; 3 old qualities made it so
1: 07 PM Pa ge 12
Vol. 112, No. 141, 32 pages, 5 sections
Bend Bulletin - Saturday We use recycled newsprint
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MON-SAT
Patrick Flaherty, the incumbent Deschutes County district attorney, hugs his wife, Valerie Wright, after checking early election results at a home in Bend on Tuesday evening.
ers seeking renomination and re-election fare well; the Crook County Court will go officially nonpartisan. B1-2
INDEX Business C5-6 Calendar B3 Classified E1-8 Comics E3-4 Crosswords E4
GOVERNOR
Joe Kline / The Bulletin
By Jonathan Martin
New York Times News Service
Though the 2014 primary season is still in its infancy, the main lesson so far appears to be that, even in an era of deep dissatisfaction with D.C., a few political fundamentals — candidate quality, fundraising and in-
than $11 million to date, emphasizcumbency — remain paramount. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., ing what his 30 years in the Senate and potential to serve as leveraged all three in his effort to beat back what ANALYSIS majority leader in the next Congress could mean for was once thought to be a serious primary challenge from a Kentucky. In Georgia, Republicans sent Daconservative opponent. McConnell, the minority leader, has spent more vid Perdue, a former CEO of Dollar
General, to a July runoff against Jack Kingston, who has served 11 terms in the House, to fill an open Senate seat. Democrats had hoped the eventual GOP nominee would have been a hard-liner who could be vulnerable in November. See Primaries / A3
In Oregon
• The opposite is true: It was a good day for conservative candidates for the state House, B1