Month: February 2014

Big changes are coming to NewsChannel 21’s Local Alert Weather Center as we upgrade our current weather system to TruVu Max! TruVu Max is a powerful new tool for our team to give the forecast on a hyper-local level unseen before in Central Oregon. “Our new in-house forecast model has a resolution of four kilometers

Nationwide, organic egg shortages caused by a shortage in organic chicken feed are driving up prices for farmers and consumers. The shortage has left organic egg shelves empty at grocery stores across the nation. With a high demand for the eggs, it can be a struggle to keep up. Ray Marden started farming in Hawaii,

OSU-Cascades has released the first round of renderings of what the new four-year campus could look like. At a public meeting Thursday night, the university showed off the the layout of the first phase of the campus and how the buildings may look. Designers say they want the buildings to represent Central Oregon and would

Tobaccoless cigarettes called e-cigarettes are gaining popularity in this country. Health experts say e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking, but some fear they can get others hooked on nicotine. Peter Chugaev has been smoking for 45 years and for the past 15 he’s been trying to quit. Now he’s turning to electronic cigarettes to try

The Sunriver Music Festival is now offering more “Friends of the Festival” membership benefits. Friends of the Festival members will continue to enjoy early summer festival concert ticket purchases, discounts on concert series tickets, invitations to receptions and special events and commemorative gifts from the Festival. In addition, the James F. and Marion L. Miller

PacifiCorp will lower Mirror Pond water levels in downtown Bend next week to facilitate another inspection of the hydroelectric dam, this time by a Bend Parks and Recreation contractor, utility officials and Friday. “The inspection will be conducted by a contractor for the Bend Parks and Recreation District as part of deliberations around the potential

The Bend Police Department Citizen’s Academy has received recognition as a national and regional model and continues to be a highly popular program in the Bend community. The goal of the program is to inform and educate participants about the Bend Police Department and the variety of ways it carries out its mission. Instruction covers

Many Bend backyards don’t have much snow left in them – but two had enough to find shoe prints in the snow, which led to a transient arrested on criminal trespass charges and two outstanding warrants, police said Friday. Around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, a resident reported finding shoe prints in the snow in his

Law enforcement agencies from Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties joined the state of Oregon in a 14-day traffic enforcement blitz dedicated to proper safety belt and child restraint use from February 10 through February 23. Local agencies included the Bend Police Department, Crook County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, Prineville Police

When the people at Crescent Creek Church in La Pine learned that 71% of La Pine Elementary and 86% of Rosland Elementary kids were on the free or reduced lunch program, they began to investigate the issues of child hunger in La Pine. Although there are programs available to ensure the kids get meals during

Freezing fog and slick roads prompted Jefferson County and Culver schools to open two hours late Friday — two of the districts not affected by Thursday morning’s round of ice-related school delays. While Bend and Redmond airports reported clear skies and temperatures in the 20s at 5 a.m. Friday, Madras Airport was at 30 degrees,

It’s the latest push for home-grown energy production: the Deschutes National Forest has completed an environmental assessment for more potential geothermal drilling on 11 parcels totaling about 6,200 acres near the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. A published notice this week began a 30-day comment period on the proposal to authorize the Bureau of Land Management

Personal care aides: an industry not hurting for business. “We’re constantly hiring, so every Tuesday we hire and do an orientation,” Right at Home Operations Manager Michelle Wainwright said Thursday. The in-home care and adult assistance business staffs about 80 people. They specialize in care for the elderly and sick while providing companionship, health care

One of the most noticeable changes is that calories will be larger and in a more prominent position on the label. This will make it much easier to see.

A Portland couple escaped serious injury Thursday afternoon when their car left Oregon Hwy. 22 east of Detroit and plunged into the shallow waters of Sardine Creek, Oregon State Police reported. OSP, ODOT and the Gates Rural Fire Protection District were dispatched around 1:30 p.m. to a report of a vehicle in the water off

As the debate over trapping continues ahead of a possible 2016 ballot measure to ban the long-time practice, Oregon State Police said Thursday they found a spot where a hiking couple encountered a trapped bobcat off a trail in the Cline Butte area west of Redmond nearly a week ago. OSP Sgt. Scott Sogge told

At the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services Forensics Lab in Ashland, a crack team of forensic scientists analyze evidence from around the world and help solve crimes that threaten wildlife. This scientific crime-stopping effort is the focus of Wildlife Forensics: Detection and Discovery in the Animal World opening Saturday at the High Desert Museum. In

As more pot shops sprout in Bend, the debate over medical marijuana heats up in Salem with a new bill to regulate the drug: Senate Bill 1531. And many in Central Oregon are watching. “It helps to professionalize what we’re doing,” Bloom Well owner Jeremy Kwit said Tuesday. Important legislation for those in the business,

Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., applauded a Senate hearing Thursday — that moves the Crooked River Collaborative Water Security Act of 2013 one step closer to passage. The senators said the bill is based on an agreement that the senators facilitated among a broad coalition of stakeholders in the region. They said it

The Redmond School District Board of Directors has voted to be a receiving district during open enrollment for the 2014-2015 school year. The district has chosen to participate in open enrollment since the enactment of Oregon House Bill 3681 in 2012. The law allows students to transfer to school districts outside of their legal residence