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SUMMIT 1031
Person of interest ID’d in Bend bank robbery
Bankruptcy trustee wins $2.5M in defamation vs. blogger
BEND COUNCIL
Citing cost, committee nixes probe into junket contracts
By Sheila G. Miller
By Nick Grube
The Bulletin
The Bulletin
A local financial adviser has won a defamation suit against a selfdescribed investigative blogger. A federal jury recently decided that the blogger made unfounded claims against Kevin Padrick and his business, Obsidian Financial Group LLC, and awarded them $2.5 million. A federal judge, meanwhile, said the blogger was not a member of the media and, therefore, does not enjoy the same legal protections as bona fide journalists do. Padrick, a senior principal for Obsidian Financial Group LLC, was appointed in 2009 to serve as the bankruptcy trustee for Summit 1031 Exchange, a local company that had specialized in tax-sheltered land deals. Summit’s owners allegedly used much of their customers’ money for their own purposes and have been charged with fraud and other crimes in federal court. Crystal Cox, a Montana blogger and real estate agent, posted extensively about Padrick and his company, alleging among other things that he committed tax fraud in his role as trustee. Padrick filed the complaint in January, alleging Cox published false and defamatory statements, among them that Padrick had defrauded the government, that he’d engaged in illegal, fraudulent activities (including tax fraud and solar tax credit crimes), and that he’d paid off the media and politicians. See Defamation / A5
The city of Bend will not ask its auditors to dig into contracts it has with a company that paid for a hunting trip for a public works employee. Mayor Jeff Eager called for such an investigation after learning that the business, Consolidated Supply Co., frequently footed such junkets at the time the city employee went on one. Auditors also would have looked at contracts the city had with Creative Utility Solutions LLC, which is co-owned by a former Consolidated Supply Co. salesman. But after learning Wednesday that the audit would cost $7,000 to $8,000, members of the Bend Audit Committee decided not to take on the additional cost. See Junket / A6
Andy Tullis / The Bulletin
Bend Police officers investigate the scene of a bank robbery at U.S. Bank at the corner of Third Street and Olney Avenue in Bend on Wednesday. Late Wednesday, Bend Police identified David Christopher Glass as a person of interest in the robbery.
• Bend Police seek David Christopher Glass in connection with a holdup at a U.S. Bank By Scott Hammers The Bulletin
Courtesy of Bend Police
Bend Police released this surveillance video image of the suspect at the U.S. Bank on Third Street in Bend. Police were called around 12:30 p.m. after a man claiming to have a gun fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of money. Officers said no one was injured, and it is not believed the man displayed a gun.
Bend Police identified a 6-foot-7, 250-pound man as a “person of interest” Wednesday night as they continued their investigation into the robbery of the U.S. Bank at the corner of Third Street and Olney Avenue in Bend earlier in the day. Police are seeking information about David Christopher Glass, who has blue eyes and partially gray hair. Police are also looking for a vehicle driven by Glass, a white 2007 Buick Rainier with Idaho
“(Viewers expect) objective information from news programs, and that’s not the case. ... The public has no idea they’re being pitched a commercial.” — Corie Wright, an attorney for Free Press, a media watchdog group
Consumer reviews: news or product placement?
license plates. The news release issued by police at about 10 p.m. stopped short of naming Glass as a suspect, but included two images of the suspect taken from surveillance tapes inside the bank. The images depict a man matching the description of the suspect provided earlier in the day, a man between his mid-30s and his mid-50s, over 6 feet tall with a slight to medium potbelly, wearing dark pants, a dark, long-sleeved shirt and a red baseball cap. See Robbery / A5
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Alison Rhodes is passionate about child safety, and in hundreds of TV news interviews, the self-styled “Safety Mom” has talked up products designed to increase it. During a segment on Washington’s Fox morning news last year, for example, Rhodes showed off a home electronic monitor made by ADT and a backpack with a built-in alarm known as the iSafe bag. “It’s amazing,” she gushed to the host about the backpack. “It really is amazing.” What neither Rhodes nor the station mentioned was this: The companies
Rhodes mentioned on the air had paid her to plug their products. In effect, Rhodes’ appearance was a kind of stealth commercial dressed up as a traditional product-review interview. Such product-friendly segments aren’t just potentially deceptive; they’re illegal, under a federal law that prohibits “payola” or “plugola,” as the practice is commonly known. Yet similar types of segments have grown as TV stations have expanded their early morning newscasts over the past decade, packing them with “expert” reviews. And they are especially rife during the holiday gift-giving season. See Consumer / A6
Courtesy of myfoxdc.com
Some of the companies that “Safety Mom” Alison Rhodes promotes on the air had paid her to plug their products, which is illegal.
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Bend officials are still trying to figure out how to allow events like bike races without compromising the quality of life of people who live nearby. For months, city councilors have received many complaints from people fed up with concert noise rattling their windows and street closures disrupting their travel.
See Events / A6
Stealth drone reflects a tougher Iran strategy By Joby Warrick and Greg Miller The Washington Post
By Paul Farhi
City hears proposals on event conflicts
WASHINGTON — The CIA’s use of surveillance drones over Iran reflects a growing belief within the Obama administration that covert action and carefully choreographed economic pressure may be the only means of coercing Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, current and former U.S. officials say. The administration’s shift toward a more confrontational approach — one that also includes increased arms sales to Iran’s potential rivals in the Middle East as well as bellicose
Correction In a story headlined “Coalition’s goal: end homelessness in the next decade,” which appeared Wednesday, Dec. 7, on Page A1, the amount of funds the Homeless Leadership Coalition believes it needs to raise was reported incorrectly. The group’s goal is to raise about $10 million to implement parts of the 10-year plan to end homelessness. The Bulletin regrets the error.
statements by U.S. officials and key allies — suggests deepening pessimism about the prospects for a dialogue with Iran’s leaders, the officials say. The administration’s evolving strategy includes expanded use of remote-controlled stealth aircraft, such as the one that came down in eastern Iran last week, as well as other covert efforts targeting Iran’s nuclear program, according to U.S. government officials and Western diplomats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence-gathering efforts. See Iran / A5
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