Month: July 2012

A Dundee couple and their two children were found shot to death Wednesday in what police said they suspected was a murder-suicide. Randall Engels, 37, Amy Engels, 35, their son Jackson and daughter Bailey were found shot to death after officers said they forced their way inside the home just before 5 a.m. on July

The 2012 $1 Million Dollar Great Drake Park Duck Race is on! Local Rotarians and Credit Unions Working Together kicked off the 23rd Annual Great Drake Park Duck Race last week. The 2011 Duck Race beneficiaries were presented a check in the amount of $79,429: Kristy Krugh (Ronald McDonald House), Kim McNamer (Deschutes Children’s Foundation),

The Nature of Words is pleased to announce the slate of guest authors who will be featured during the 2012 literary festival. The lineup includes renowned storytellers and social activists, evocative poets, award-winning fiction writers, a conservation biologist, a playwright, a songwriter, and a famed science fiction/fantasy writer. The Nature of Words 2012 literary festival

Oregon State Police said Thursday their preliminary information indicates no known reported traffic fatalities occurred in the state over the 30-hour Fourth of July holiday reporting period. The reporting period was between 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, July 3, and 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, July 4. According to ODOT’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), since 1970 there has

Bend water and sewer utility rates rose July 1, as they have each summer in recent years, to help pay for needed improvements to both systems, the city said Thursday. Monthly rates for sewer customers will increase $2.44 per month. Most water customers will see the water charge on their monthly utility bills increase by

Oregon ranks 45th in the nation when it comes to funding higher education, according to report in the Oregonian. Karnopp Petersen has been instrumental in advocating for better support of higher education in Central Oregon. Last month, Karnopp Petersen hosted a discussion of how Central Oregon can write its own future in higher education with

The Smith Rock Sunrise Summer Classic Half Marathon is pleased to announce that twenty one or more Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen are running the event from their military base located near Kabul in Afghanistan. The group is preparing and training for their participation in the upcoming U.S. Air Force Marathon scheduled for

Deschutes National Forest Supervisor John Allen announced Thursday a new district ranger for the Bend-Ft. Rock Ranger District. Kevin Larkin, currently a deputy district ranger for North Kaibab Ranger District on the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona, will begin his duties on the Deschutes National Forest on Monday, July 16. He will replace Shane Jeffries,

As predictable as the colorful, sparkling skies over Pilot Butte on Fourth of July night were the kennels full of frightened, barking dogs at the Humane Society of Central Oregon, scared from their homes and yards by the “pre-show” of legal and illegal fireworks around Bend. By an hour before the big 10 p.m. show,

After months of debate and public input, the Bend Park and Rec Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to place a $29 million bond on the November ballot. Park District Executive Director Don Horton told the board before the vote that the bond measure is the first such attempt at funding beyond the organization’s property tax

The Oregon Health Authority has put Pacific Source Community Solutions in charge of the region’s first CCO, or Community Care Organization. The CCOs are a key ingredient of Gov. John Kitzhaber’s prescription to change health care in the state. Pacific Source will begin operating on Aug. 1, becoming one of the first eight certified CCOs

Despite the well-known challenges Bend has faced in seeking to escape from a deep recession after years of sizzling growth, the city is still growing — and attracting attention on yet another of those “best of” lists, the latest focusing on small towns attractive to business. New U.S. Census Bureau estimates out this week show

Do you know an individual, family, business or organization, who has made a positive impact on the lives of fair goers or an outstanding contribution through accumulated service hours, to the success of the Crook County Fairgrounds? The Crook County Fair Board is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Crook County Friend of the Fair

More than 50 donors have put Oregon State University-Cascades $1.575 million closer to becoming a comprehensive, four-year branch campus of OSU with its own physical campus, the school announced Monday. The outpouring of community support came in less than two months — and has far outpaced the goal of $1 million and 40 donors for

Ed Keith has been hired as the new Deschutes County forester and will start on Monday, July 16. Keith will replace County Forester and Project Wildfire Director Joe Stutler, who retired last week from the county. “Living in Deschutes County means living with the threat of wildfire,” said county Commissioner Tammy Baney. “The job of

Two Bend women have been arrested in a drug raid on a northeast Bend motel that turned up a small amount of methamphetamine and other evidence, Central Oregon drug agents said Tuesday. Cindy Byrd, 40, and Lexie Cooper, 19, remained in the Deschutes County Jail on Tuesday, still held without bail on probation violation charges

Central Oregon boasts about its sunny weather. But it also has one of the highest rates of new melanoma diagnoses in the country. The most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma can be prevented by staying covered. That means applying sunscreen generously and often, wearing protective clothing and avoiding excess sun exposure between 10 a.m.

Jefferson County firefighters corralled a brushfire that broke out below a train trestle off Canyon Drive in Madras Monday afternoon. Interim Jefferson County Fire Chief Doug Dawson said the blaze was reported around 3:30 p.m. just off Canyon Drive, below the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway train trestle that runs through town. Mutual-aid fire crews were

The Mountain View Hospital said Monday it has installed a new Siemens SOMATOM Definition AS, 64-slice CT unit in the hospital’s Medical Imaging department. The new CT scanner will allow hospital staff to perform examinations faster and more efficiently than before. The 64-slice unit produces 64 images per rotation; an upgrade from the hospital’s previous

Robbie Kirzy from Kirzy’s Place Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation took in 37 neglected horses in May. But she soon found out it was too much to handle for a start-up center. So she, along with the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, took the horses to another place. A total of 33 horses from the Powell Butte