Month: March 2014

An Oregon State Police trooper’s Highway 97 traffic stop last Wednesday about 15 miles north of Madras led to the seizure of about 31 pounds of marijuana and the arrest of a Minnesota man, troopers said Monday. OSP Drug Enforcement Section has been conducting a follow-up investigation and has agreed to release information, troopers said

Applications are now available for families who want to enroll their children in NeighborImpact’s Head Start program in Deschutes and Crook counties. In 2013, Head Start enrolled 516 children in 24 classrooms. Head Start provides a broad range of services in addition to classroom education. Health, nutrition, and family support services are complemented by a

Central Oregon’s job growth stalled in February, with all three counties posting seasonally adjusted job losses — and yet, the unemployment rates also dropped a bit, the state Employment Department reported Monday. As a result, improvements to the unemployment rate slowed in February, with slower hiring than typically expected this time of year. However, unemployment

An attempted traffic stop south of Madras Sunday morning led to a police chase into Metolius, where a man and woman ditched the car, ran and hid in a home. An Oregon State Police SWAT team ended the over two-hour standoff with the pair’s arrest, troopers said. The sequence of events began around 7 a.m.,

Hazing of double-crested cormorants is set to begin soon in several areas along the Oregon coast in an attempt to improve survival of juvenile salmon and steelhead as they migrate from inland waters to the Pacific, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said Monday Double-crested cormorants are large, fish-eating waterbirds that occur throughout Oregon,

The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) said Monday it has fined WildCat Haven $5,600 for safety and health violations after an animal keeper was attacked and killed at the Sherwood sanctuary. The sanctuary in rural Sherwood violated its two-person safety procedure and cage latches did not

A reported cougar sighting by a passing motorist late Sunday night in Deschutes River Woods, south of Bend, sparked a fruitless search and a reminder to the public of some basic safety tips. Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched around 11 p.m. to the intersection of Baker Road and Riverwoods Circle regarding the cougar sighting,

A fire that began in a small outbuilding at Crooked River Ranch Friday night apparently spread to a car, then to a double-wide manufactured home that was destroyed, Interim Fire Chief Mark Wilson said. A neighbor apparently spotted and called in the fire around 7:15 p.m. at 8383 NW Ice Avenue, on the Deschutes County

A Prineville man escaped injury early Sunday when his pickup truck flipped on Highway 126 after he dropped a cigarette in his lap, Crook County sheriff’s deputies said. Deputies and Crook County Fire and Rescue medics responded to the single-vehicle crash near milepost 12, west of Prineville, said sheriff’s Sgt. James Savage. Deputies found driver

Three snowmobile crashes in Central Oregon on Saturday afternoon killed one rider, a Lebanon man, and injured two others, authorities said. Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley said deputies were investigating a snowmobile crash that resulted in the death of a Lebanon man. Around 4 p.m., Linn County 911 dispatch received a call reporting the crash

Two boys were struck by one and possibly two SUVs in Deschutes River Woods, south of Bend Friday evening, authorities said Saturday, adding that the injuries were non-life-threatening. Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched around 6:30 p.m. to the area of Baker Road and Lakeview Drive on the reported vehicle-vs.-pedestrian crash, said sheriff’s Sgt. Aaron

The first of two memorial services was held Saturday for Pivoyne Zenalda Castro-Luna, a Bend woman who police say was a homicide victim, while a memorial fund has been started to assist her two teen-aged children. Police have not solved or released many details about the killing of Castro-Luna, 42, whose body was found in

Bend’s OSU-Cascades four-year university is set to open in the fall of 2015, but not everyone is on board — and some are threatening to take the Westside location pick to court, saying it’s not a wise decision Two weeks ago, a group called the “Truth in Site Coalition” formed, and on Thursday night about

Tom Hignell is looking at what used to be a waterfall on the Pilot Butte Canal north of Bend. “You can see how big a fall it was, and it used to go down here crashing — and it was beautiful,” Hignell said Friday. The Central Oregon Irrigation District piped that stretch of the canal

Gov. John Kitzhaber has signed a drought emergency declaration sought by Crook County, paving the way for state assistance after a winter that saw little snow, making for a tough water year ahead for farmers and others, officials said. Thursday’s signing by the governor follows a review by the state Water Availability Committee and the

Lollipops, gummies, and truffles — Oregon is making it illegal to sell some of these items at medical marijuana dispensaries. House Bill 1531 was signed into law on Wednesday by Governor John Kitzhaber. It says marijuana infused products must be in child resistant safety packaging and that packing must not be attractive to minors. As

There’s a vicious cycle in Crook County. A high number of adults are smoking and teens are mimicking their behavior. Nine percent of eighth graders and 19 percent of 11th graders say they use tobacco in Crook County. Those numbers are much higher than Oregon’s state average. “Kids are smart — they can find ways

There’s a new motto going around Redmond. “If you brew it, and if you pour it, they will come,” Jesse Sweetman, the owner of Redmond Craft Brewing Supply, said Friday. Bend may be packed to the brim with breweries, but Redmond is starting to catch up. Redmond is bringing it. It’s an untapped location and

A Redmond fugitive who threatened police and led officers on a chase over a year ago was sentenced Friday to more than eight years in prison on a variety of charges, from perjury and computer crime to ID theft, prosecutors said. Deschutes County Circuit Judge Barbara Haslinger imposed the 100-month sentence on Michael Lee Hanson,

From solar panels atop a junior high school in the Yakima Valley to a wind project on the southern Oregon Coast, to a geothermal facility in Klamath Falls, 15 renewable energy projects — two in Bend — are closer to reality, thanks in part to funding from Pacific Power’s Blue Sky renewable energy program. Together,