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With the win, road to big game goes through OSU • SPORTS, D1
WEATHER TODAY
SATURDAY
Mostly cloudy, chance of snow High 36, Low 19 Page C8
• November 27, 2010 50¢
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com
Red tape Black Friday boom: Shoppers flock in Bend, U.S. holds up some U.S. heat aid Portland THE BUSIEST EVER?
From staff and wire reports
For one day at least, you could almost imagine the recession didn’t happen. Millions of the nation’s shoppers braved cold to crowd stores while others grabbed online bargains on what could be the busiest Black Friday ever. It was happening in Central Or-
bomb attempt foiled
egon. It was happening across the country. In Bend, department stores like Macy’s and Kohl’s were bustling with sleepy-eyed bargain-hunters. Shoppers braved the icy streets of the Bend Factory Stores, leaving outlets like Nike and Eddie Bauer with bags stuffed full of shoe boxes and
clothes. Other businesses saw their share of the Black Friday frenzy. In Prineville, women’s clothing store Bella Boutique saw a significant amount of people shuffle through its doors. Owner Dawn Gilbertson said she hadn’t even planned on opening the store on Black Friday, wanting to
put all her efforts into the store’s traditional Sunday sale event. However, Gilbertson changed her mind at the last minute. “I figured that people were in town anyway, and that it would be a good idea,” said Gilbertson. “It’s been nonstop in here since we’ve opened.” See Shopping / A8
Central Oregon will feel pinch unless lawmakers act in the next few weeks
TREE’S AGLOW; CHRISTMAS IS A GO
By Keith Chu The Bulletin
WASHINGTON — As temperatures hover around freezing in Central Oregon this weekend, local aid agencies have less money than in previous years to keep the heat on for low-income families, thanks to the glacial pace of business in the U.S. Congress. A kink in the funding process for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program has caused To learn a 40 percent cut in funding, meaning fewer local families more will get a check this year, unless For more lawmakers increase funding in information about heating the next few weeks. Congress didn’t intend to cut assistance, or to funding to the heating program. apply for aid, call Because members weren’t able NeighborImpact to agree on a federal budget at 541-504-2155. by the Sept. 30 deadline, they passed a temporary spending bill, keeping funding the same for most programs through the beginning of December. But because final funding for the programs is still uncertain, the federal Department of Health and Human Services has released only about 40 percent of the funding available last year. See Heat / A6
PORTLAND — A Somaliborn teenager plotted to carry out a car bomb attack at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in downtown Portland on Friday, but the bomb turned out to be a dud supplied by undercover agents as part of a sting, federal prosecutors said. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested at 5:40 p.m. just after he dialed a cell phone that he thought would blow up a van laden with explosives but instead brought federal agents and Portland police swooping in to take him into custody. Mohamud yelled “Allahu Akhkbar” and tried to kick agents and police as the arrest came, according to prosecutors. He was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton released federal court documents Friday that show the sting operation began in June after an undercover agent learned that Mohamud had been in contact with an “unindicted associate” in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier region. Mohamud is a naturalized U.S. citizen who has been living in Corvallis. According to a federal complaint, Mohamud was in regular e-mail contact with the “unindicted associate” in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier starting in August 2009. — William McCall, The Associated Press
Slopes to get bulk of snowfall
TOP NEWS INSIDE
Ryan Brennecke / The Bulletin
WIKILEAKS: U.S. warns allies of upcoming leaked documents, Page A2
Hundreds gather Friday evening on Wall Street in downtown Bend to watch the annual tree lighting ceremony to officially kick off the Christmas season. More than a mile of Christmas lights went into decorating the 70-foot spruce.
INDEX Abby
B2
Business
Local
Mexico’s meth industry Being N. Korea’s portal flourishes on imports carries rewards, pains
C1-8
C3-5
Movies
B3
Classified
F1-6
Obituaries
C7
Comics
B4-5
Sudoku
B5
Community B1-6
Sports
D1-6
Crossword B5, F2
Stocks
C4-5
Editorial
C6
TV listings
B2
Horoscope
B5
Weather
C8
By William Booth and Anne-Marie O’Connor The Washington Post
We use recycled newsprint The Bulletin An Independent Newspaper
MON-SAT
Vol. 107, No. 331, 66 pages, 6 sections
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More snow should be moving into Central Oregon today, but only limited accumulations are expected in the near-term forecast. Alan Polan, journeyman forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Pendleton, said most of Central Oregon should expect to wake up to snow today, with an inch or two in Bend and less than an inch at lower elevations. Areas above 4,500 to 5,000 feet should see more snow, he said, with 4 inches to 7 inches expected at Mt. Bachelor and along the crest of the Cascades. Bend and Redmond should see an end to the snow by midmorning, as temperatures climb into the upper 30s. Higher elevations are likely to see limited snow through the rest of the day and tonight. Polan said a high-pressure system is expected to move into the region Sunday, bringing with it dry weather and clear skies that should last through midday Tuesday. A weaker cold front is forecast to arrive in the area Tuesday, Polan said, but is not currently expected to deliver significant snowfall. — Scott Hammers, The Bulletin
William Booth / The Washington Post
A young man makes furniture at a halfway house for recovering addicts in Apatzingan, Mexico. The local cartel reportedly ordered a halt to the sale of meth to locals in the city, calling it a scourge. Police say sales to foreigners continue.
VERACRUZ, Mexico — Exploiting loopholes in the global economy, Mexican crime syndicates are importing mass quantities of the cold medicines and common chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine — turning Mexico into the No. 1 source for all meth sold in the United States, law enforcement agents say. Nearly three years ago, the Mexican government appeared on the verge of controlling the sale of chemicals used to make the drugs, but the syndicates have since moved to the
top of the drug trade. Cartels have quickly learned to use dummy corporations, false labeling and lax customs enforcement in China, India and Bangladesh to smuggle tons of the pills into Mexico for conversion into methamphetamine. Ordinary cold, flu and allergy medicine used to make meth — pills banned in Mexico and restricted in the U.S. — are still widely available in many countries. In the past 18 months, Mexican armed forces have raided more than 325 sophisticated factories capable of producing a million pounds of potent methamphetamine a year. See Meth / A6
By Keith B. Richburg The Washington Post
DANDONG, China — Just across the Yalu River from North Korea, this sleepy border town in China’s Rust Belt is booming. Inside Towering apartment blocks • Tension are going up on the city’s westremains high, ern edge near the new Friendship Page A2 Road Bridge, which will soon be the second bridge connecting Dandong to the North Korean city of Sinuiju. Offices for trade and export-import companies dot the main road along the riverfront. See Border / A8