Flare on the flat track
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Sawyers enter not guilty pleas By Sheila G. Miller The Bulletin
Amanda L. Smith / For The Bulletin
Tami Sawyer, left, laughs as she leaves the federal courthouse in Eugene with husband Kevin Sawyer’s attorney, Shaun McCrea, after her arraignment on Monday.
Broken Top one step closer to foreclosure with notice
EUGENE – Kevin and Tami Sawyer appeared in federal court for the first time Monday, where they were arraigned on federal charges of money laundering, bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and false statement to a financial institution. The pair, flanked by their criminal defense attorneys, stood before Judge Thomas Coffin in the Wayne L. Morse
Cour thouse in Eugene and did not speak during the arraignment. C o f f i n entered not guilty pleas on behalf of Kevin Sawyer the couple. Tami, 47, worked as a real estate broker. Kevin, 56, rose to the rank of captain with the Bend Police Department be-
fore retiring in March 2009. He was placed on paid leave in February 2009 because of an FBI investigation. The Bend couple was indicted on Oct. 21. The indictment alleges that between January 2004 and January 2009 they used investor money to pay for personal expenses and to fund their other companies and ventures. According to the indictment, investors allegedly lost more than $4.4 million. See Sawyers / A4
Frolicking in foliage
By Zack Hall The Bulletin
The Minnesota-based company that holds Broken Top Club’s debt has sent a notice of default to the private Bend golf course. Thrivent Financial confirmed Monday that it has sent the notice to the struggling golf club, but refused to comment further on the future of Broken Top. A notice of default is the first step of the foreclosure process. An electronic search Monday afternoon of the Deschutes County Clerks Office’s database did not return an official notice of default. Jim Wolfe, chairman of Broken Top’s board of directors, was not available for comment Monday. Thrivent loaned memberowned Broken Top $5.5 million in 2008 to purchase the club, according to documents filed in the Deschutes County Clerks Office. Last month, Broken Top cut staff, including its general manager and head professional, as it tried to cut costs and negotiate its future. A letter to members laid out three possible options for Broken Top: a sale, bankruptcy or foreclosure. See Broken Top / A4
TOP NEWS INSIDE INDIA: Obama backs country’s presence on security council, Page A3
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We use recycled newsprint The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper
Vol. 107, No. 313, 42 pages, 7 sections
MON-SAT
ing at Drake Park in Bend on Monday morning. Yanalcanlin was teaching a group of youngsters for the East Cascades Audubon Society’s Birding For Preschoolers program.
Snow is forecasted for elevations as low as 3,500 feet. For a closer look at the forecast, see the article on Page C1.
Higher premiums and copayments expected for 2011
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WASHINGTON — For millions of Americans who get their health insurance through their job, autumn brings not only falling leaves and cooler breezes, but also difficult choices. That’s because it’s the time when many employers present workers with their insurance options for the coming year. The selection is likely to be even less appealing this year than last. According to experts and industry insiders, recent trends suggest rates will continue to rise and employers will continue to shift more of the cost of health insurance onto workers — asking them to shoulder a larger share of premiums, for instance, or increasing out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and co-pays. This past year, overall premiums for employersponsored coverage — meaning the amounts paid by employer and employee combined — rose a relatively modest average of 3 percent for family coverage, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust. See Health care / A4
Union contract nearing for DAs By Erin Golden The Bulletin
Deschutes County officials and representatives of the newly formed Deschutes County Deputy District Attorneys Association appear to be close to signing off on a labor contract. At a bargaining session Monday, both sides expressed general agreement about a proposal that includes a “just cause” provision for the discipline and dismissal of deputy prosecutors by the district attorney — an item that’s been a top priority for the union since it “A lot has formed earlier this fall. happened in Specific information about the terms of the last several the contract was not months and we available, as meeting participants declined have several to provide copies of the individuals who proposals submitted by the county or the union. are quite fearful, Generally, however, (wondering) just cause provisions should they opt require a manager — in this case, the district in, should they attorney — to take spe- not opt in.” cific steps and provide reason before disciplin- — Becky Gallagher, ing or dismissing his or attorney, Deschutes her employees. County Deputy District The union’s EugeneAttorneys Association based attorney, Becky Gallagher, has said members of the group hope such a provision might provide security during a leadership change in the District Attorney’s Office. Patrick Flaherty, who defeated longtime District Attorney Mike Dugan in the May election, will take office in January. He has said publicly that he plans to make some staffing changes in his office and believes Oregon law is clear on the right of district attorneys to hire and fire their deputies. In August, Flaherty notified one chief deputy district attorney, who is not a union member, that he will not be employed once Dugan is out of office. More recently, he sent an e-mail to current deputy district attorneys, informing them that they need to reapply for their jobs if they want to keep them. See Contract / A4
U.S. SPACE PROGRAMS
NASA looking closer at Mercury, Mars By Kenneth Chang New York Times News Service
The Washington Post
Horoscope Local
I
ly Martin, 2, left, laughs with Mary Yanalcanlin, 53, both of Bend, after some leaf throw-
By N.C. Aizenman
INDEX Abby
Andy Tullis / The Bulletin
DESCHUTES
On Earth, 2011 will be another tumultuous year for NASA: Its space shuttles will be retired, and it will have to wrangle with Congress and the Obama administration over a rocket and a destination for the United States’ human spaceflight program. In space, though, NASA will have a less contentious time pursuing its science missions. Planetary scientists will finally get their first extended look at Mercury. After a trip of six and a half years through the inner solar system, NASA’s Messenger spacecraft will finally pull into orbit around Mercury on March 18. The spacecraft has zoomed past Mercury three times, its camera photographing about 98 percent of the surface. Its other instruments have collected intriguing data regard-
ing the magnetic field and the tenuous atmosphere of molecules that are blasted off the planet’s surface by the Sun’s radiation. But each of those fly-bys lasted just hours, while the orbital phase of the mission will go on for at least a year. That will allow Messenger to gather enough data to identify elements and minerals in the rocks on Mercury and to observe changes in the atmosphere and magnetic fields as the Sun’s 11-year sunspot cycle emerges from its quiet period. “We’ve got the instruments to do that, but we need time in orbit,” said Sean Solomon, the principal investigator of the mission. Most intriguing is what Messenger will find when it peers into craters near Mercury’s poles. See NASA / A5
NASA
View of the north polar region of Mars from orbit in an undated handout photo. As funding for space programs dwindles, NASA is shifting focus from manned space travel to monitoring Mars and Mercury.