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Lawyer in rape case wants info withheld By Nick Grube The Bulletin
While out on bail, accused rapist Thomas Harry Bray met a Portland woman for a lunch meeting in which he allegedly offered her an antidepressant, court documents Bray show. The former Central Oregon Community College anatomy instructor is a licensed physician, but because of a pending Oregon Medical Board investigation that started after his arrest he’s not allowed to practice medicine or prescribe any drugs. According to court documents, the 24-yearold Bend woman that Bray, 37, allegedly assaulted on Feb. 25 claims he might have drugged her beforehand. The two had just met on the dating site Match.com. But Bray’s attorney, Stephen Houze, contends the incident with the Portland woman is irrelevant in the case against his client, and isn’t something jurors in a prospective trial should know about. Houze filed several motions last month to keep certain information about Bray out of court for fear that it might taint a jury’s view of his client and hinder his right to a fair trial. In addition to Bray’s encounter with the Portland woman, Houze wants to prevent jurors from knowing about his client’s interactions with former students and his relationship with a girlfriend. Houze also claims police did not advise Bray of his Miranda rights when he was taken into custody, and wants his client’s statements as well as his physical and emotional reactions to his arrest withheld. Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Brigid Turner said the prosecution intends to fight Houze’s motions, and has filed several retorts to his requests. A motion hearing is scheduled in front of Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Tiktin on Oct. 20. See Rape / A4
Chase to open 2 area branches • Full-service banks in Bend and Redmond may open by September By Tim Doran The Bulletin
Chase Bank plans to open two new branches in Central Oregon by late next year, which would make eight branches in
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Senators push for mortgage refinancing The Bulletin
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Chuck Hegele, 62, holds one of the 76mm rounds he remanufactured to be fired from a World War II M-18 “Hellcat” tank. Hegele will fire it today in front of a Discovery Channel television crew at his property in Lone Pine. The tank, made in 1944 and used primarily in Europe as a tank destroyer, is owned and operated by Steve Preston, of Oregon City.
• A Deschutes County artillery expert will launch rounds today from a World War II tank By Erik Hidle The Bulletin
TERREBONNE — Chuck Hegele likes to blow stuff up. He blows up big stuff, such as cars and shipping containers.
Watch Chuck Hegele and his cannon in action www.lonepinecannon.com
And he does it in a big way, with cannons and explosives. On his website is a video of a dilapidated bus being torn to shreds as a Civil Warstyle cannon hits its mark and a timed explosion detonates from within. When the smoke clears there is hardly anything left. “I just love watching people’s faces when we do this,” Hegele said. “That’s the fun part for me.” This is his hobby. He reactivates ordnance, rebuilds demilitarized cannons and, twice a year, invites people to his
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Street, and another at 1826 N. U.S. Highway 97, on the north side of Redmond near Walmart. Both will be full-service outlets, providing personal and business banking, mort-
from the region, Lindley said. While Central Oregon continues to struggle economically, Lindley said, Chase sees growth in the region’s future. “We still believe that in the long run, it’s a great community and will rebound,” he said. See Chase / A4
By Andrew Clevenger
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the region for the nation’s second largest banking company. By the third quarter of 2012, Chase plans to build a new branch in Bend on Northeast U.S. Highway 20, west of 27th
gage lending and investment services, said Ray Lindley, Oregon and southwest Washington market manager for JPMorgan Chase, the parent company of Chase Bank. To staff the branches, the bank expects to hire up to 20 employees next year, many
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300-acre ranch and cannon range in Lone Pine and creates some big explosions. He says he’s one of only a dozen people who can legally do this. He’s considered a “person of responsibility” by the federal government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has issued him a “manufacturing of high explosives license.” Those bureaucratic accolades — earned through hours of meticulous paperwork,
thorough background checks and regular visits from ATF agents — certify Hegele as one of the few civilian experts in the field of things that go boom. Today a television crew from Discovery Channel will be at his cannon range. A friend, Steve Preston of Oregon City, is bringing a Hellcat tank to town and a program called “G.I. Dough” will film the pair launching rounds into an old car on a hill near his home. See Boom / A4
In alleged plot to kill Saudi ambassador, main suspect had peculiar connections By Greg Miller and Julie Tate The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States seemed as convoluted as it was cold-blooded, involving an effort by Iran to recruit a Mexican drug cartel to kill the envoy in Washington. But the main suspect in the case, a 56-year-old Iranian American named Mansour Arbabsiar, was peculiarly positioned to advance such an elaborate plot, according to U.S.
and had frequent business officials and court filings. Arbabsiar spent years in across the border in Mexico, the United States but had he had come to know other connections with elements travelers who he believed in Iran’s military, including were narcotics traffickers Arbabsiar a “cousin” who served in the and possibly capable of carcountry’s Quds Force, an rying out a high-profile hit, elite unit accused of terrorist the complaint filed by the attacks and assassinations abroad, Justice Department said. according to the Justice Department. Arbabsiar appears to have operThe cousin reportedly worked with ated small auto sales outfits in Coranother Iranian, Gholam Shakuri, pus Christi as well as a restaurant, also a member of Quds Force. according to public records. See Suspect / A4 Because Arbabsiar lived in Texas
WASHINGTON — Sixteen senators, including Oregon Democrats Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, wrote to Obama administration officials Tuesday, urging them to allow millions of homeowners whose mortgages are held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refinance at today’s more favorable interest rates. The letter, addressed IN D.C. to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, National Economic Council director Gene Spurling and Federal Housing Finance Agency acting director Edward DeMarco, urged them to follow through on President Obama’s pledge to help more homeowners refinance their homes while mortgage rates are historically low. “With interest rates having hit an all-time low of 3.94 percent, there are nearly 19 million loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paying interest above 5.0 percent that could benefit from a refinance,” the letter states. “Any changes to existing programs must enable as many of these borrowers as possible and to do so at rates comparable to those received by any other current borrower who has not suffered a drop in home value.” Obama concluded that refinancing could save families with mortgages more than $2,000 a year, and help counteract some of the drag on the economy caused by falling housing prices. Four Republican and 10 Democratic senators signed the letter. Bipartisan legislation in the Senate seeks to eliminate barriers that keep “responsible borrowers trapped in higher interest loans” from refinancing. These barriers include loan-to-value limits, which can give underwater borrowers no choice but to walk away from their mortgage, and loan level price adjustments, up-front, risk-based fees, which make it less beneficial to refinance, “and cannot be justified on loans on which Fannie and Freddie already bear the risk.” See Refinance / A6