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Motion for damages OK’d Bend shortfall could top before Umpqua suit settled $25M; deeper cuts loom Bank was accused of turning blind eye to ‘Ponzi scheme’ By Nick Grube disclosure agreement. Terms have not yet been released, and the parties said that a final document had not yet been signed. Attorneys for the trustee and creditors of Summit 1031 made more than an hour of statements at the Sept. 13 hearing, 11 days before the settlement was reached. The statements accused Umpqua Bank of knowingly doing business with Summit, when Summit was what attorneys called a Ponzi scheme. See Umpqua / A5
By David Holley The Bulletin
Just before Umpqua Bank settled an aiding and abetting lawsuit, originally worth $30 million, filed by the bankruptcy trustee and creditors of Bend-based Summit 1031 Exchange, a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge approved a motion to add a claim of punitive damages to the lawsuit. It’s unclear whether the decision or something else caused the settlement, because parties from both sides are not commenting on the issue, citing a non-
Donors in the shadows, but flood of cash in the spotlight
The Bulletin
Layoffs, deferred street maintenance and delays in hiring police and firefighters are all possibilities now that a dismal budget outlook just got worse for the city of Bend. Because home values fell last year in Oregon, property taxes in Bend increased less than city officials expected. This alone is estimated to increase a sixyear $17 million general fund shortfall by $8 million to $10 million, and leave a government that has already gone through several rounds of layoffs and seen major
If you go What: Bend City Council meeting When: 4:15 p.m. work session, 5:30 p.m. open line with council, 7 p.m. meeting Where: City Hall, 710 N.W. Wall St. cuts in services over the years looking for more budgetary solutions. “It’s not a bowl of cherries,” Bend City Manager Eric King said. “It’s a problem that’s not going to be fixed easily. It’s just been amplified and there’s no way
DROPPING IN TO HELP FISH HABITAT
Flaherty urges county not to negotiate with deputy DAs
By Thomas Fitzgerald The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — “Pennsylvania’s hurting,” the TV ad says, and Democratic Senate nominee Joe Sestak “voted to make it worse” by supporting limits on carbon emissions. They would lead to higher electric bills, $4a-gallon gas and lost jobs. Republican Pat Toomey voted against a $1,500 bonus for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq but favored letting Wall Street tycoons keep “every penny” of their bonuses. Prominent disclaimer language on each 30-second spot tells the viewer who’s responsible: Americans for Tax Reform, for the anti-Sestak one, and VoteVets Action, for the anti-Toomey piece. But good luck tracking down who gave the money to ATR and VoteVets to finance those attacks. They don’t have to tell you — and they won’t. Aside from the rise of the tea party movement, the major story in this year’s midterm election campaign has been the sheer volume of cash that special-interest groups are pumping into House and Senate races across the country, much of it from anonymous donors. These outside groups — unions, business associations and ideological organizations — have doubled their spending on political advertisements and messaging compared with the 2006 midterm election. See Donations / A4
By Erin Golden The Bulletin
Incoming Deschutes County District Attorney Patrick Flaherty made clear this week that he plans to fire some current deputy district attorneys — and will oppose any labor contract that challenges his authority to make employment decisions about his deputies. In an Oct. 18 letter to Deschutes County Counsel Mark Pilliod and the Deschutes County Commission, Flaherty outlined his interpretation of state Patrick law when it comes to hiring Flaherty will and firing prosecutors. He take office as wrote that he’s concerned Deschutes about ongoing negotiations County district between the county and a attorney in recently-formed union of January. deputy district attorneys, and does not believe the attorneys have the right to bargain for job security. “The Oregon Supreme Court has long held that an outgoing government elected official cannot bind its success to a contract if that contract involves a governmental function,” he wrote. See DA / A5
ELECTION
WOMEN IN THE RING?
TOP NEWS INSIDE
Big changes may be in store for sumo wrestling
FRANCE: Disruption from strikes, protests grows, Page A3 OBITUARY: Tom Bosely, beloved for his role as “Happy Days” dad, dies at age 83, Page C5
By Daniel Krieger New York Times News Service
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Editorial
C4
Obituaries
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Education
C3
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Calendar
E3
Environment A2
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Crossword E5, F2
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C1-6 E3
C5
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Pete Erickson / The Bulletin
A
helicopter drops a log into the Metolius River near the Lower Bridge campground Tuesday as part of the Metolius River Fish Habitat Project. The project is a combined effort of the U.S. Forest Service and the Upper Deschutes Watershed Coun-
The Bulletin
cil to place large logs in the river to improve fish habitat. The logs slow the water’s velocity,
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helping to restore habitat and create cover for salmon, redband trout and bull trout. The river
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to avoid it.” Bend’s general fund, which pays for public safety, code enforcement and street maintenance, had an estimated six-year $17 million shortfall as recently as last week. That estimate was based on a projected 2 percent increase in property tax revenues in the current fiscal year. But when the Deschutes County Assessors Office finalized its tax roll last week, it was found that projection was off by about half, and the increase for Bend over the past year was closer to 1 percent. See Budget / A4
Vol. 107, No. 293, 38 pages, 5 sections
near the project is closed to the public for safety reasons, but is expected to reopen Friday.
OSAKA, Japan — For years, promoters of sumo wrestling have been pushing for the sport’s inclusion in the Olympic Games. To get there, the International Sumo Federation has gotten behind a form of the sport that would offend purists and surprise most everyone else: women’s sumo. When the International Olympic Committee declared in 1994 that single-sex sports could no longer qualify as candidates for the Games, it turned the tradition of giant men slapping each other in the ring on its head. Since then, sumo has been coming into its own as an equal-opportunity sport. Such a radical change to Japan’s ancient national sport did not come easy, and the initial push came from outside the country. Among those who lobbied the IFS, as the sumo federation is commonly known, was Stephen Gadd, the general secretary of the European Sumo Union and president of the Netherlands Sumo Federation. See Sumo / A5