Month: September 2012

Prineville Chamber of Commerce announced the resignation of Bill Gowen, who has served as Chamber CEO since 2010. Prineville native and local business owner, Joe Becker will be serving as Interim Executive Director for the Chamber until a new candidate is found to assume the role of Executive Director. Becker has served on the Chamber

Wildfires have damaged thousands of acres of Oregon’s High Desert land this summer, and restoring it will be a prime topic at this week’s Desert Conference in Bend. The Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) brings together conservation groups and volunteers, ranchers and educators, and representatives of state and federal agencies. Julie Weikel, an ONDA board

Oregon State Police and Wasco County officials are investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting around midnight Tuesdaymorning in the Dalles. The shooting resulted in the death of a 50-year old man. Around 11:00 p.m. officers were dispatched to a reported rape in progress at a home on Hostetler street. Officers arrived and detained the suspect at

Another packed crowd of Sisters-area residents heard some hopeful news from the lines of the Pole Creek Fire on Monday evening, as the containment figure crept up to 15 percent. Fire managers told the residents that number, up from 10 percent, could increase substantially if all goes well over the next few days on the

The recess bell rings out across an empty school yard as a normally chaotic playground stays empty at Sisters Elementary School. Smoke has blanketed the Sisters area as the Pole Creek Fire southwest of town continues to burn. “We have 1,200 kids — and they’re kids, they want to run around, they want to be

On Thursday, Sept. 13, stakeholders throughout Deschutes County participated in a one-day workshop for the development of integrated strategies to effectively identify and respond to the needs of justice-involved adults with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. Sequential Intercept Mapping, facilitated by SAMHSA’s GAINS Center in Delmar, New York, is a workshop designed to

On Saturday, Sept. 15th, about 130 motorcyclists delivered almost 1,800 teddy bears to the Bend, Prineville, Madras and Redmond hospitals. This was the 15th annual Teddy Bear Run, sanctioned by the Central Oregon Chapter of A.B.A.T.E. Of Oregon. The motorcyclists rode as a group to each of the hospitals to deliver the teddy bears with

A late fire season around the Northwest and Friday night thunderstorms have ignited new fires in Central Oregon, several on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation — one that grew to over 1,600 acres — and a small new one spotted Monday morning on the Deschutes National Forest. Fire lookouts on Round Mountain and Odell Butte

When a wildfire breaks out in the national forest, forest rangers sometimes risk their lives leading people out of the woods and back to safety. But just how prepared are they for such dangerous situations? The Deschutes National Forest wilderness and trail rangers have no search and rescue training in evacuations, but they are experienced

Former COCC instructor Thomas Bray looked on in a blue jail uniform, hands and feet shackled – his first court appearance out of a suit and tie – as his attorney argued Monday that a ballot measure used by prosecutors to seek an 83-year jail term for his rape conviction is unconstitutional. Despite the lengthy

A heating unit in an unoccupied guest room at Bend’s Shilo Inn ignited curtains in a blaze Monday morning that fortunately went out on its own, causing $75,000 damage but no injuries, officials said. Firefighters responded around 9:15 a.m. to the report a maintenance worker’s report of a possible fire in Room 521 at the

The state of Oregon and HomeSource of NeighborImpact announced new resources Monday to help Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook county homeowners at risk of foreclosure. A new website, www.OregonHomeownerSupport.gov provides information about foreclosure prevention counseling, legal assistance and other programs for the tens of thousands of distressed homeowners in Oregon who remain at risk of losing

A 32-year-old Redmond woman was killed early Monday when her car left the Old Bend-Redmond Highway and struck a tree head-on, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said. County 911 dispatchers got a call around 1:40 a.m. from a neighbor reporting the crash near Redmond, just south of 93rd Street, said sheriff’s Lt. Paul Garrison. Deputies and

Atelier 6000 is a professional printmaking studio and gallery in Bend but on Sunday the art was out in the parking lot and be steamrolled — apparently for the last time. The “Under Pressure” steamroller event has been going on since 2007, and sadly the last roll was this weekend. The studio is stopping the

Reed Market Rd. and Mt. Washington Dr. are scheduled for asphalt overlay as part of the city of Bend’s 2012 Street Maintenance Program. The overlay project will extend the life of the existing roadway and create a smooth, safer surface. The preparatory phase of the project was performed at night to reduce traffic impact. However,

Eergency officials from Deschutes County, the city of Bend, St Charles Medical Center and personnel from TransCanada Corp. will conduct a joint emergency exercise drill on Wednesday, September 26, to test response procedures in the unlikely event of a pipeline incident on TransCanada’s Gas Transmission Northwest system. The exercise will begin at 9 a.m. and

The American Red Cross said Sunday it has opened an aid station at the Sisters Elementary School gymnasium to provide a place for individuals to get out of the smoke in the Sisters area. The aid station will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., through at least Monday evening. Snacks and water will

It was supposed to be a pleasant overnight outing in the Central Oregon woods on a warm, late-summer weekend. But a week after being trapped by a fast-growing wildfire that torched their cars, a group of hikers in the Pole Creek area are counting their blessings, thankful for all the help they had on that

The smoke from the Pole Creek Fire didn’t stop many residents from attending the final day of the annual Sisters Fall Street Festival on Sunday. While the smoke hovered around town Sunday morning, by the afternoon the smoke had lifted, and more people were coming out to the annual festival in downtown Sisters. Organizers say

Crook County sheriff’s deputies said they responded to two crashes within a half-hour Saturday evening that sent three people to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. Shortly after 6 p.m., deputies and Crook County Fire and Rescue personnel responded to a reported motorcycle crash on Remington Road, about 11 miles southeast of Prineville, said sheriff’s