Month: October 2012

October 7 – 13 th is National Fire Prevention Week and the Bend Fire Department is celebrating with an Open House event! Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than

Campfire Central Oregon is in need of funds, volunteers and even kids, and on Sunday, volunteers held a fund-raiser to raise that awareness. The Ignite Change walk and run is now in its second year. The fund-raiser used to be a golf tournament, but organizers wanted to make it more family-friendly. Kids could participate in

This November, Bend Parks and Rec voters will decide if they want to pay for a $29 million bond measure. On Sunday, supporters of the measure wanted to offer a first-hand look at where the improvements would be. So they took a bike ride. Measure 9-86 would help the park district make major improvements around

Homebrewers: How would you like to have your beer judged by professional brewmasters? That’s what happened at the first annual Deschutes Brewery homebrew competition Sunday at the Bend Fall Festival. Fifteen homebrewers had the opportunity to be judged by four well-known Bend brewers: two brewers from Deschutes Brewery, one from Goodlife Brewing Company and the

Oregon is climbing in the ranks of states that are encouraging entrepreneurial activity. That’s according to a new analysis by the University of Nebraska’s Bureau of Business Research. The researchers compared data like business growth and the number of patents by state to rank Oregon sixth in the nation, up from 10th last year. The

Oregon Republicans from all 36 counties attended a state central committee meeting in Bend on Saturday. More than 100 GOP delegates, alternates, candidates and guests gathered at The Riverhouse Convention Center for the party’s meeting. Members heard from all of the parties statewide congressional candidates and also voted on the November ballot initiatives. The committee

Thousands of people crowded downtown Bend Saturday for the second day of the 2012 Bend Fall Festival. Now in its 12th year, the annual celebration of the harvest season closed down several streets. The festival has two stages featuring free music, an artists promenade with more than 125 artists showcasing their work, and a family

Before the Oregon Ducks battled the Washington Huskies Saturday evening, a busload of Central Oregon Duck fans were pumped. The Central Oregon Duck Club runs the bus for all the Pac-12 home games. The bus boards from downtown Bend and then goes to Sisters to pick up another round of Duck fans. Then it’s on

Scientology has often been surrounded by controversy, often involving movie stars. But the latest attention-grabbing legal fight focuses on a Bend dentist’s alleged dictate that an employee attend a Scientology-affiliated symposium. “The ultimatum that he gave me, to go to this symposium, sit down and listen to him speak to me about it, or it

The Oregon secretary of state’s office reported late Friday it has learned that Oregonians statewide are receiving robocalls saying the voter registration of someone in their household may be inactive — in most cases, falsely. The calls are not from county elections officials or the secretary of state’s Election Division. County elections officials say in

The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners has completed its most recent recruitment process for the County Administrator — without success in hiring one. A public reception was held for the candidates on September 16, followed the next day by a series of panel interviews on September 17. At the conclusion of the process the Board

The Oregon Education Investment Board (OEIB) will hold seven community forums, including one Oct. 30 in Bend, and a webinar at which stakeholders can provide input and feedback on education funding. The OEIB will present its vision for building a seamless P-20 system and, most important, provide an opportunity for all Oregonians to engage in

U.S. troops have now been fighting in Afghanistan for 11 years. According to the latest polls, 60 percent of Americans want to bring troops home as soon as possible and now an Oregon National Guard unit is preparing for deployment. About 1,800 troops are preparing to deploy, many of whom live in Central Oregon. The

Fire managers throughout Oregon are feeling the heat — or you could put it this way: Fall has arrived, but summer didn’t get the memo. Continued hot, dry weather is plaguing the region that could lead to a significant fire from a single spark. A warm east wind event contributed to several fires Wednesday afternoon

The Rethink Waste Project kicks off this weekend with the opening of The Art of Recycling youth art project at the Bend Fall Festival. The Art of Recycling is an upcycled community art project featuring the words “RETHINK WASTE.” Each letter utilizes a specific discarded, leftover or common item, including plastic bags, wine corks, and

A Rural Tourism Studio is being offered in the newly created River Canyon Country (Madras, Prineville, Warm Springs, Terrebonne, and surrounding area) starting in early November. This is a program offered by Travel Oregon to assist in developing a vibrant tourism and recreation economy in the River Canyon Country and is open to anyone in

As of this weekend, the United States will have been involved for 11 years in a war in Afghanistan — a war that more Americans are questioning, in terms of its cost. According to the latest polls, 60 percent want to bring troops home as soon as possible. But as recently as last month, an

Dams, locks and levees on waterways in the Northwest and across the nation are in bad shape, according to a new government report by a national panel of engineers and scientists. The report says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has had an inadequate maintenance budget for so long that it now faces an “unsustainable

Oregon health officials said Friday they are working with epidemiologists around the country to track cases of sudden kidney failure linked to ingestion of a designer drug known as “spice.” The drug, which is typically smoked, is believed to have sickened at least six people in Oregon and Southwest Washington since May. State Public Health

The United States Postal Service is hiring temporary employees to work at mail processing facilities in Portland, Eugene, Salem, Medford and Bend during the upcoming holiday mailing season. The non-career positions pay $11 an hour and provide no benefits. The number of hours assigned will depend on mail volume and all positions will work during