Month: May 2012

If you thought the Pole Pedal Paddle was over, it wasn’t — hundreds of kids Sunday participated in the Kids Mini-Pole Pedal Paddle event. A total of 245 teams of six children from first to sixth grade took part in the biggest Mini-PPP event they’ve ever had. The course began with the kids getting into

Ten Sisters High School students will be going to China this summer for two weeks — but to get there, they have to raise a lot of money. On Sunday, the group held a round-robin ping-pong tournament and raffle at Earthwood Homes in Sisters. About 25 players of all levels showed up to play. David

A teen party in the woods west of Bend ? complete with a bonfire and, reportedly, alcohol ? went awry late Saturday night when it was broken up and the young people scattered ? two apparently hurt when they fell off a 20-foot cliff above Tumalo Creek in the darkness. That turned the breakup of

U.S. Nordic Ski Team member Kris Freeman out-dueled defending champion Andrew Boone in a tough back-and-forth battle Saturday to capture the elite men’s title in the 36th annual U.S. Bank Pole Pedal Paddle. Bend’s own Stephanie Howe, meanwhile, made it a “three-peat” to capture her third straight elite women’s crown, once again ahead of last

The 36th annual U.S. Bank Pole Pedal Paddle. While many just simplify the event’s name to PPP. There’s three other “P” words that could also describe the event: Preparation, Plenty of color and Party. Scott McKenzie has watched every single Pole Pedal Paddle since the very beginning. He started taking pictures of the event in

It takes hundreds of volunteers to put together the US Bank Pole Pedal Paddle every year. Without them, it just wouldn’t be possible. There are over 200 volunteers this year who have taken care of race preparation all the way from Mt. Bachelor to putting together packets for the nearly 3,000 racers. From start to

Due to budget cuts, Bend police said Friday that they no longer will respond to most crashes in private parking lots. A Bend man said he’s angry police won’t follow up on his case after his truck was backed into, and the driver fled. The damage to the man’s truck may look minor, but it’s

SkyWest Airlines, which operates United Express and Delta Connection flights out of Redmond Airport, said Thursday it was told this week that United will switch to another customer service provider for flight check-in and baggage handling at the airport. The change potentially affects up to 26 Redmond-based SkyWest workers. But the move won?t affect the

Fifteen-year-old Summit freshman Madison Odiorne admits her first time competing for a state title wasn’t all smooth sailing. “From the beginning, it was a little rough,” Odiorne said Thursday. “The front nine was not my best round, by far.” She started the day seven shots behind Churchill High School senior and three-time defending state champion

Oregon is known for going green and efforts to create new ways of renewable energy. An experimental project on the side of the Newberry Volcano southeast of Bend could soon be added to the list. Seattle based AltaRock Energy is in the process of testing a new technology that creates geothermal energy by sending water

High school students from Cascade Academy of Central Oregon became teachers on Wednesday, when they helped a group of seniors learn about technology. It was a chance for teens who grew up with the knowledge to help those who are still catching up on those skills. Many senior citizens came to the class to learn

It starts with just one person giving up his time. “I am known as the first volunteer of Habitat for Humanity International,? Clive Rainey said Thursday in Bend. About 35 years ago, he was teaching in a small community in Georgia. None of the kids in his class could read or write their own names.

Results of a recent study out of Johns Hopkins University out Thursday found alarming numbers of “chronically absent” students in grades K-12 nationally. And not good news: Oregon students rank high on that list. Researchers say missing a lot of classes puts those students at risk of dropping out of school or failing to graduate

Gov. John Kitzhaber paid a visit to Bend Thursday, stopping by the Breedlove Guitars factory and NeighborImpact’s affordable housing complex, where he signed a state proclamation supporting community action organizations. “I saw a ‘hiring now’ sign in Bend on the way in yesterday, which is very refreshing,” Kitzhaber said. “I’m confident it’s still going to

Startling new numbers released by the state of Oregon shows obesity among adults is on the rise — and a program for Bend-area children is aiming to tackle that issue on the younger end of the spectrum. From 1990 to 2009, the number of obese adults in the state grew by 121 percent. The report

Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown has won the Democratic primary, easily Defeating Paul Damian Wells. With 56 percent of precincts tallied Tuesday night, Brown had 91percent, to 9 percent for Wells. During Brown’s term, Oregon became the fourth state to adopt online voter registration. She came under criticism for her handling of a decision

The Bethlehem Inn announced Wednesday it was able to raise more than $80,000 last week during its annual “Spotlight on Homelessness” event. That doubled what the emergency shelter raised at last year’s event. Organizers say homelessness seems to be a never ending issue in Central Oregon. Though the situation is the same, the faces of

A rare intra-party challenge to an incumbent Central Oregon state lawmaker was very successful, Wednesday’s close-to-final primary election tally showed, as former Republican state lawmaker Tim Knopp handily defeated incumbent Chris Telfer by more than 2-to-1 in an expensive, closely watched primary contest. With just about all the ballots counted Wednesday morning — more than

A Clackamas County sheriff’s spokesman says a 20-month-old girl found unresponsive in her family’s swimming pool in Damascus has died. Sgt. Adam Phillips said family members called 911 and began CPR after they pulled little Elona Sirotinskiy from the pool Wednesday morning. She was flown to a Portland hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Sheriff’s

Former Republican state lawmaker Tim Knopp easily defeated incumbent Sen. Chris Telfer in an expensive, closely watched primary contest. Final numbers Wednesday showed Knopp won over 68 percent of the votes to Telfer’s 32 percent. Telfer was one of two state legislative incumbents who lost their seats last night. Former Republican state senator Neil Bryant