Month: August 2012

Crux Fermentation Project held a fund-raiser for the four-legged Bend Police members Sunday. The event was the Police K-9 Unit Barbecue, where all the proceeds will benefit the dogs. Central Oregon Community College members helped put on the event. Families and kids came out to meet and pet two of the patrol dogs on the

Mop-up work continued Sunday on a 2-day-old 120-acre wildfire that broke out Friday evening off China Hat Road about eight miles southeast of Bend. It is now 50 percent contained. Lisa Clark of the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville said aerial mapping was the reason the fire’s size estimate increased by 20 acres

Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies will be taking part in the Oregon Safety Belt Overtime Campaign later this month. It is a statewide selective traffic enforcement program that seeks to reduce the number of motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries by increasing public awareness of laws regarding the three most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crash injuries:

Authorities are looking for anyone with information about a brushfire that broke out early Sunday morning along China Hat Road on Bend’s south end and was quickly put out by fire crews. Firefighters were dispatched around 5:20 a.m., just before daybreak, to the blaze reported along China Hat Road between Knott Road and Highway 97,

Redmond police issued 23 citations and six warnings during their third of four scheduled pedestrian safety operations, held Thursday at the intersection of SW 5th Street and Black Butte Ave between noon and 3 p.m. Here’s the Redmond PD news release on the operation, and plans for the next one: The primary focus of this

A Bend man wanted for firing several shotgun blasts toward two pedestrians in northwest Bend early Friday flagged down a passing motorist near Benham Falls late Friday afternoon and said he wanted to turn himself in, police said, leading to his arrest. Officers said they learned he’d recently talked of “shooting random people.” Around 1:45

More than 1,100 people came out to grab free clothes, and home goods at the 10th annual Central Oregon Great GiveAway Saturday. The event allowed people to pick out outfits and other donated items in locations in Bend, Redmond and Prineville. The event is put on by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Jason Conger held a grassroots event Saturday, starting at Jewell Elementary School in Bend. Many volunteers, and even other Republican candidates showed up to the event. The group spent the day knocking on doors in Bend neighborhoods, campaigning for their candidate. Conger said this campaign season is really all about the economy, and getting people

The Obama Administration announced Friday that “it won’t allow infrastructure funds to sit idle as a result of stalled earmark projects at a time when hundreds of thousands of construction workers are looking for work.” “U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is making $806,000 in unspent earmarks immediately available to Oregon for projects that will create

CJ, the Las Vegas chimp that made headlines after two recent escapes, arrived Friday at Chimps Inc., the Tumalo chimp sanctuary that will be her new home, officials said. “Thanks to Marla O’Donnell, sanctuary director, and Lee Watkinson, one of CJ’s former owners, she is safe and sound in her new home,” the announcement said.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., met with OSU-Cascades officials and several energy industry employers Friday, a discussion that focused on the importance of alternative forms of energy, and new jobs they could create. Now that OSU-Cascades is moving toward becoming a four-year university, it hopes to attract students from all over the country, and land them

The Waterfalls 2 Fire burning on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation was less active Wednesday, but the still-growing forest fire prompted some road, trail and campground closures. The fire has grown to 2,723 acres, and there is no estimate on containment. Some 400 people are working to get the fire contained. On Wednesday, the Pacific

Fire danger in Central Oregon has prompted fire officials to restrict certain activities on lands managed by the Prineville District Bureau of Land Management, the Ochoco National Forest and the Crooked River National Grassland. Effective 12:01 a.m. August 21 (Tuesday), open fires, including charcoal fires, will be prohibited, except in the following designated campgrounds: Ochoco

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber issued a rare statewide state of emergency Thursday evening to offer National Guard help to battle wildfires burning around the state and due to the threat of more blazes from predicted weekend thunderstorms. “At 5:50 P.M. today, Governor Kitzhaber verbally declared a statewide State of Emergency due to the imminent threat

An audit released by the state of Oregon shows in 2011 the state overpaid $41 millions in jobless benefits. The audit released this week found that a glitch in the system used to process claims is responsible for the error. “The system was allowing for example double payments,” said Dee Anna Hassanpour the deputy administrator

The Bureau of Land Management Prineville District Office announced the public comment period on the Trout Creek Rock Climbing Area Access and Trail Plan Environmental Assessment will be open from Aug. 17 – Sept. 15. The Trout Creek Area, located 10 miles north of Madras, is a popular site for recreation activities including camping, boating,

Sheriffs’ deputies in Jefferson County are looking for a Portland man they say led them on a chase early Thursday morning. Det. Starla Green said she pulled over Samson Price, 28, for expired tags on Highway 26 near the border with the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Green said she approached the car and was talking

An Oregon State Police SWAT unit peacefully talked a Central Oregon fugitive out of a rural Newberg home Wednesday afternoon, one day after he allegedly fled a traffic stop in the area and ran into the woods. Ryan David Crossley, 44, had been sought by Newberg-Dundee police since Tuesday night, according to the McMinnville News-Register.

Training to become a Certified Ombudsman Volunteer will be held beginning September 11 in the Bend area. This is a State of Oregon volunteer program designed to assist the Deputy Ombudsmen in Salem in investigating and monitoring complaints of seniors living in long-term care. Long-Term Care Ombudsmen advocate for senior citizens who are living in

With the effect on gas prices of last week’s fire at the Chevron Oil refinery in California already being felt by Oregonians at the pump, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) sent a pair of letters to the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration. The letters ask them to