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A2 The BulleTin • SaTurday, January 8, 2022 The Bulletin LOCAL, STATE & REGION how to reach us CIRCULATION didn’t receive your paper? Start or stop subscription? 541-385-5800 PHONE HOURS COVID-19 data for Jan. 7 Deschutes County cases: 29,044 (940 new cases) Deschutes County deaths: 221 (6 new deaths) Crook County cases: 3,843 (35 new cases) Crook County deaths: 60 (zero new deaths) Jefferson County cases: 4,727 (63 new cases) Jefferson County deaths: 69 (6 new deaths) Oregon cases: 459,700 (10,451 new cases) Oregon deaths: 5,761 (33 new deaths) COVID-19 patients hospitalized at St. Charles Bend on Friday: 36 (3 in iCu). The Bulletin had been tracking the seven-day average case count based on state data since local cases were first reported, until the state stopped providing county-level data for weekends or holidays. When data is available, The Bulletin will continue to publish information about the pandemic. 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and holidays PORTLAND METRO | COLUMBIA RIVER GENERAL INFORMATION 541-382-1811 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Planning funds for bridge OK’d ONLINE www.bendbulletin.com EMAIL bulletin@bendbulletin.com AFTER HOURS Newsroom ................................541-383-0348 Circulation ................................541-385-5800 NEWSROOM EMAIL Business ........business@bendbulletin.com City Desk .............news@bendbulletin.com Features.................................................................. communitylife@bendbulletin.com Sports ................. sports@bendbulletin.com NEWSROOM FAX 541-385-5804 OUR ADDRESS Street .............. 320 SW upper Terrace drive Suite 200 Bend, Or 97702 Mailing ........... P.O. Box 6020 Bend, Or 97708 B ADMINISTRATION Publisher heidi Wright ..............................541-383-0341 Editor Gerry O’Brien .............................541-633-2166 DEPARTMENT HEADS Advertising Brian naplachowski .................541-383-0370 Circulation/Operations Jeremy Feldman ......................541-617-7830 Finance anthony Georger ....................541-383-0324 Human Resources ................541-383-0340 JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN The Oregonian The Portland-area Metro Council voted Thursday to funnel $36 million of state money toward the planning of a new Interstate Bridge over the Columbia River. Five of the six councilors for the regional governing body voted in favor of releasing funds that will allow the proj- ect to move forward, reviving efforts to build a new Interstate 5 bridge following the 2014 failure of the Columbia River Crossing project. Even as project manag- ers characterized the vote as a formality, several councilors expressed hesitation about al- lowing the project to move for- ward without more information about the capacity of the pro- posed bridge or what they char- acterized as adequate attention to climate and equity issues. Nonetheless, the elected council members said they felt the pressure to approve the funds in order to conduct more research on the proposed bridge, and to focus on other re- gional transportation projects. The council also voted to adopt a “Values, Outcomes and Actions” motion, which lays out specific goals that the Interstate Bridge Replace- 123rF The Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge on Interstate 205 crosses the Columbia River. ment Project must follow to win Metro’s support for future funding and approvals. That document was shaped in part by demands from climate ac- tivists and land use planning groups. They include that the Inter- state Bridge project team must conduct an analysis of how to reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled through mea- sures like rush-hour tolling and high-capacity transit. And it must also conduct a health impact analysis of air quality of the corridor between downtown Portland and Van- couver. It must also conduct an “in- vestment-grade” traffic analysis ahead of any decisions about the bridge design, which would allow for a clearer sense of how big the bridge should be. Mary Nolan, the only coun- cilor to vote against allocating the $36 million, asked Johnson directly if he would commit to conducting studies and look- ing at alternatives that meet the council’s expectations. Johnson initially hesitated to make the commitment. “We are once again trying to find what is the best solution to create a multi-modal cor- ridor to convert single occu- pancy trips into transit, bike, walk and roller trips,” he said. “Those are the things we are looking at to make this foot- print as small as possible. But if you’re asking us to go out and build something that is go- ing to fail, that is not a success story for anyone trying to build any project.” Nolan took issue with that characterization. “I’m not even asking you to do a less significant project,” Nolan said. “I’m asking you to commit to including mod- ifications that dramatically switch the modal split, reduce greenhouse gases. I’m asking whether, essentially, everything we’ve done today has struck a chord with you.” A few speakers also sup- ported funding the project, including a coalition of more than 20 Portland-area busi- ness associations, chambers of commerce and land develop- ment companies such as the Portland Business Alliance, the Greater Vancouver and Washington County chambers of commerce and Travel Port- land. TALK TO AN EDITOR City Julie Johnson ...................541-383-0367 Business, Features, GO! Magazine Jody lawrence-Turner ............541-383-0308 Editorials richard Coe ...........541-383-0353 News Tim doran .......................541-383-0360 Photos .........................................541-383-0366 Sports Mark Morical ...............541-383-0318 TALK TO A REPORTER Bend/Deschutes Government Brenna Visser .............................541-633-2160 Business Suzanne roig ............................541-633-2117 Calendar .....................................541-383-0304 Education Bryce dole .....................................541-617-7854 Fine Arts/Features david Jasper .................................541-383-0349 Health Suzanne roig ............................541-633-2117 La Pine ........................................541-383-0367 Public Lands/Environment Michael Kohn ............................541-617-7818 Public Safety Garrett andrews ......................541-383-0325 Redmond.....................................541-383-0367 Salem/State Government .. 541-383-0367 Sisters .........................................541-383-0367 Sunriver .....................................541-383-0367 REDMOND BUREAU Mailing address ..................P.O. Box 6020 Bend, Or 97708 Phone ......................................... 541-617-7829 CORRECTIONS COVID-19 relief Man who defrauded programs gets 4 years in prison Andrew Aaron Lloyd bought Tesla stock, rental properties valued at a combined $18M BY ZANE SPARLING The Oregonian An Oregon man who created several hundred employees out of thin air and then fraudulently obtained $3.4 million in COVID-19 relief funds has been sen- tenced to four years in prison. Andrew Aaron Lloyd invested his ill-gotten gains and won big — even- tually purchasing more than 15,000 shares of Tesla stock and 25 rental prop- erties in Oregon and California, valued at a combined $18 million. Lloyd, a 51-year-old Lebanon resi- dent, has been ordered to pay $4 mil- lion in restitution, give up the real estate assets and forfeit his stock in the electric car manufacturer. His sentencing marks Oregon’s larg- est closed case of COVID-19 relief fraud, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson. West Linn dentist Salwan W. Adjaj was charged with bilk- ing nearly $8 million in December, per court records, and remains in custody on a pretrial release violation. In a sentencing memo calling for a harsher 65-month sentence, federal prosecutors called Lloyd an “opportu- nistic fraudster” who got lucky as a day trader. “The seriousness of the offense is not diminished by sheer dumb luck,” As- sistant U.S. Attorney Gavin W. Bruce wrote. “Lloyd did not return these funds voluntarily; law enforcement recovered the funds before he could spend them or lose them.” Court records show Lloyd transferred a $1.8 million slice of his Paycheck Pro- tection Program funds to a brokerage account, which grew to $13 million as Tesla stock soared. Lloyd also obtained a fraudulent $160,000 Economic Injury Disaster loan from the U.S. Small Busi- ness Administration. Over 60 days, Lloyd submitted more than a dozen phony applications for home care, shopping and construction businesses, often duplicating the same list of 56 “fictitious” employees while claiming millions of dollars in phony payroll expenses, court documents say. He closely tracked the various rounds of Paycheck Protection Program fund- ing, at one point assuring an accomplice that the ruse would work because Con- gress would add “another [$]300 billion very soon,” the documents say. Lloyd was indicted last January and pleaded guilty in June to charges of bank fraud, money laundering and wire fraud. He was sentenced this week. His accomplice, Russell Anthony Schort, submitted another fake applica- tion crafted by Lloyd in exchange for a $295,000 cut of the proceeds, according to prosecutors. But Schort, 39, of Myrtle Creek, was “not the mastermind” of the plot, prose- cutors said. He served 14 days in prison and was sentenced in November to time served, as well as restitution of the cash and three years of probation. Schort and Lloyd are among the 10 total people who have faced federal charges for per- petrating or participating in COVID-re- lief fraud schemes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson. The Bulletin’s primary concern is that all stories are accurate. if you know of an error in a story, call us at 541-383-0367. TO SUBSCRIBE Call us ......................541-385-5800 • Home delivery and E-Edition ..........................$7 per week • By mail .................................$9.50 per week • E-Edition only ...................$4.50 per week To sign up for our e-editions, visit www.bendbulletin.com to register. TO PLACE AN AD Classified ......................................541-385-5809 advertising fax ..........................541-385-5802 Other information ....................541-382-1811 OBITUARIES no death notices or obituaries are published Mondays. When submitting, please include your name, address and contact number. Call to ask about deadlines, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Phone ..........................................541-385-5809 Fax .................................................541-598-3150 email .......................obits@bendbulletin.com Shortages caused by surge shut down 3 Portland schools COURTNEY VAUGHN Pamplin Media Group At least three Portland schools announced closures Friday due to staffing shortages and student absences as an- other surge of COVID-19 in- fections took hold. On Thursday, Parkrose School District announced Prescott Elementary would close Friday, citing “excessive staff and student absences and not enough substitutes avail- able.” In a Jan. 3 message to fam- ilies from Parkrose Superin- tendent Michael Lopes Serrao, Serrao warned of likely staffing shortages due to illness and ab- sences. “Due to the rapid rate of infections, we anticipate that Parkrose staffing and support will be impacted,” Serrao stated, noting an uptick in student cases during the weeks prior. “However, in an emergency situation where we cannot safely provide service to stu- dents, we may have to an- nounce an emergency closure due to the spread of the virus. We will only do this as a last resort, but please be prepared this winter for announce- ments regarding the status of COVID-19 in our community.” Hours after that announce- OTHER SERVICES Back issues ................................541-385-5800 Photo reprints .........................541-383-0366 Apply for a job ........................541-383-0340 all Bulletin payments are accepted at the drop box at City hall or at The Bulletin, P.O. Box 6020, Bend, Or 97708. Check payments may be converted to an electronic funds transfer. The Bulletin, uSPS #552-520, is published daily by Central Oregon Media Group, 320 SW upper Terrace drive, Bend, Or 97702. Periodicals postage paid at Bend, Or. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Bulletin circulation department, P.O. Box 6020, Bend, Or 97708. The Bulletin retains ownership and copyright protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising copy and news or ad illustrations. They may not be reproduced without explicit prior approval. CHECK OUT OUR COTTAGES! All the Amenities & Conveniences of Home & So Much More. 541-312-9690 2920 NE Conners Ave. Bend, OR 97701 Call to See Today! Comfortable living space to feel at home. ment, Portland Public Schools announced Leodis V. McDan- iel and Cleveland high schools would also close Friday and temporarily transition to dis- tance learning starting Monday until at least Friday. Portland schools cited “a sig- nificant increase in the number of COVID-related absences for both students and staff.” “After closely monitoring the data over the past few days, the district is seeing a signifi- cant increase in the number of COVID-related absences for both students and staff,” Marga- ret Calvert, regional superinten- dent of secondary schools, said in an announcement Thursday.
