Month: March 2014

The 2014 Legislature passed SB 1534 allowing all taxpayers, regardless of income, to claim the severely disabled or disabled child exemption credit. This immediately affects nearly 1,500 taxpayers who have filed, or are filing, their 2013 income tax returns. Those who haven’t yet filed may take advantage of the credit; those that have already filed

Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Transportation urge all drivers to drive safely and save lives over during the spring break period, March 22 – 30, 2014. Many people traveling this spring break, either alone or with family or friends, will hit our highways day and night. During the 2013 spring break period

KPOV 88.9 High Desert Community Radio is holding its spring membership pledge drive April 10 – 19. KPOV is the only non-profit public radio station originating from Bend, broadcasting throughout Deschutes County and the Prineville area. KPOV is supported by listeners and local businesses and powered by volunteers. KPOV is asking businesses and non-profit groups

Ridgeview High School‘s Mr. Raven pageant held on Saturday, March 15 raised a total of $13,721 for the St. Charles Cancer Center. The event featured 10 Ridgeview High School male senior student contestants who each had a female assistant. Each contestant was expected to participate in fundraising activities held over the course of the last

Bend fire investigators said Thursday ignition of creosoted in a chimney flue likely sparked an attic fire that caused $11,000 damage Wednesday to a manufactured home in Romaine Village. Firefighters responded shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday to a report of smoke coming from the manufactured home at 60968 Ridge Drive, said Battalion Chief Karl Findling.

Scoff or not, believe it or not, Bend is once again showing up on plenty of those “greatest/best of” places lists around the country, a return to the attention seen during during better economic times and the growth boom that also made Central Oregon one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. Two examples emerged

Five people suffered non-life-threatening injuries Thursday afternoon in a four-car crash on Hwy. 126 west of Redmond, triggered when a teen driver struck the rear of a car stopped waiting to turn left, Oregon State Police reported. The driver was cited. Shortly after 2 p.m., a Toyota Camry driven by Donna Woodman, 54, of Redmond,

The effort to bring salmon and steelhead back to Whychus Creek means some big changes starting next month for the creek that flows through downtown Sisters. This $2 million floodplain restoration and fish migration project in five years in the making. Whychus Creek has a long history of flooding, and efforts to fix the problem

“We are living in a hotel or a motel,” said 14-year old Shelby Bonford. “We’ve been moving a lot.” Bonford is one of nearly 500 students in Redmond who are considered homeless, which is 6 percent of its student population. “Educators didn’t realize that students who are couch surfing are homeless,” said Angela Quattlebum, homeless

Two Cascades East Transit riders and a Redmond woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries Thursday afternoon when an SUV and a bus carrying nine people collided at an intersection near St. Charles Bend, police said. Officers were dispatched around 2 p.m. to the crash at the intersection of NE Neff Road and Medical Center Drive, said Lt.

“So far so good, but we’ve got a long way to go,” state officials say about the ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species and keeping new ones from entering the state. Even key legislators such as Representative Caddy McKeown see the progress being made -and see that more needs to be

A 614-acre prescribed burn planned for Thursday south of Bend will be postponed until Monday, when weather conditions are forecast to be more favorable, officials said. Fuels specialists intend to conduct the burn approximately mile south of Arnold Ice Cave, near the intersection of China Hat Road (FS Road 18) and FS Road 1820. Ignitions

Faith Community Nursing (FCN) is the specialized practice of professional nursing focused on holistic health within churches, synagogues and other faith groups. Its focus is on prevention and it emphasizes the spiritual aspects of care. Faith Community Nurses and Health Ministers work to promote health within their local congregations. A class, Foundations for Faith Community

A Jefferson County SWAT team found and arrested a 24-year-old fugitive hiding near the furnace in his girlfriend’s Madras home Tuesday evening, a week after he reportedly crashed his car in a rural area west of town, prompting an extensive manhunt, Sheriff Jim Atkins said Wednesday. Atkins said he received a time that Tyler Fuller

Over the past four years, thousands have raised a pint to the Bend Ale Trail. “We originally established the program to be a marketing program that would help support the local breweries — little did we know it would be bringing in beer tourists from around the country,” Visit Bend President Doug LaPlaca said Wednesday.

A Redmond High School athletic trainer is back from a youth sports summit in our nation’s capital, and bringing lessons that could help protect your kids. That trainer is Cari Wood, who has been the head athletic trainer for 20 years at the school. High school athletes suffer 2 million injuries a year, and trainers

You’ve seen the signs before: road work ahead. So what is the “work” these signs advertise? “What we had to do here was make some surface repairs,” said D.J. Buhmann, a Bend utility worker. Utility workers in Bend are always busy with jobs like these. “Within the city of Bend, we’ve got 10,000 manholes and

The Oregon Court of Appeals has reversed the child-neglect conviction of a Redmond father who was asleep twice when his 3-year-old son escaped their home. A three-judge panel found in a decision handed down Wednesday that Jorge Negrete’s conduct wasn’t model parenting, but it also wasn’t criminal. Negrete had been convicted of second-degree child neglect

It was an emotional day at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Madras on Tuesday, at the sentencing of 25-year old Montana Silk Marlatt. Marlatt will spend 23 years in prison without parole for the fatal shooting of 19-year old Devon Moschetti last April. He originally was charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to the other

The Des Chutes Historical Museum is celebrating the 70 th anniversary of Smokey Bear with special displays and events, thanks to a partnership with the National Smokey Bear Association, the Deschutes National Forest, and Discover Your Forest program. Smokey Bear: 70 Years of Fire Prevention is an exhibit of rare and one-of-a-kind Smokey Bear memorabilia