Month: April 2014

At recess you’re never really alone, But for some kids, recess can be really lonely. “I would sit in a field and roll a ball,” one fifth-grade student told NewsChannel 21 Wednesday. “Recess was really sad and boring.” That was before the “Buddy Bench” — a national movement that now officially has a seat at

Ten of 12 businesses visited in Prineville and Powell Butte recently passed a check for alcohol sales to minors by refusing to sell alcohol to a minor volunteer, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission reported Wednesday. The sales checks performed on Tuesday, April 11th resulted in a compliance rate of 83 percent, which is consistent with

The Deschutes County Community Development Department has drafted its Annual Report and Work Plan for fiscal year 2014-15. The document summarizes achievements over the past year and outlines anticipated projects and goals in each of CDD’s four divisions for the next fiscal year. It is available for public review on CDD’s website at www.deschutes.org/cdd. CDD’s

Three Warm Springs men were injured, one critically, when the driver turned an SUV in front of a semi-truck on Highway 97 at the north end of Madras Tuesday afternoon, Oregon State Police said. Troopers said Wednesday that “alcohol is being investigated as a contributing factor” involving the driver of the Chevy Trail Blazer, Justin

A 66-year-old Bend man was killed Tuesday night when the motorhome he was driving left Highway 97 in northern Klamath County and rolled several times down a 40-foot embankment, Oregon State Police reported. Norman Lee Horn died at the scene of the crash, which occurred around 9:35 p.m. about two miles north of the state

Thursday May 1 st marks the beginning of Wildfire Awareness Month in Oregon and May 3 rd is Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in Deschutes County. Across the state and in Deschutes County, fire departments and organizations are encouraging residents to learn about living in Fire Adapted Communities and take steps to reduce the threat of

In 2013, the Bend Road User Safety Task Force initiated an effort to count pedestrians and bicyclists using the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project methodology. Now, the Task Force needs your help! Following a consistent, nationally recognized methodology will improve the quality and consistency of the data, and increase the frequency with which this

Have you received an email with the subject line “Administrative Office” that looks like it came from the Oregon attorney general? The email claims you are delinquent on a payday loan and must make payment to avoid legal consequences. Finally, it asks you to click on a link or an attachment for more information or

Bend Area Habitat for Humanity is thrilled to announce that local Habitat for Humanity advocate, Les Alford, has won the Clive Rainey Lifetime Achievement Award from Habitat for Humanity International. Alford was the leader and inspiration in organizing Bend Area Habitat for Humanity, beginning with a meeting of an interdenominational group on March 7, 1989.

Georgia’s “Safe Carry Protection Act” — or as critics call it, the “Guns Everywhere Bill” — sparked controversy nationwide. “Gets me worried though, walking into a bar where people have been drinking and a couple of guys are packing a Colt .45,” Fox News anchor Stuart Varney said on his program last week. For Oregon

A new state audit released Wednesday found that minority and economically disadvantaged eighth-graders were significantly behind their peers in learning. African-American, Hispanic and Native American eighth-graders were at least a year behind their peers in reading and math. Economically disadvantaged students were at least a year behind in math. “Oregon must improve achievement for all

Given favorable conditions, Deschutes National Forest fuel specialists on the Sisters Ranger District plan to conduct an approximately 160-acre prescribed fire beginning Thursday two miles north of Camp Sherman along the north side of Forest Road 1425 in the Metolius Basin. Objectives of this prescribed fire include reducing hazardous fuels in a historically fire-adapted ecosystem

Oregon Housing and Community Services is expecting closure of its successful Home Rescue Program in June, having distributed the allotted $220 million, and is urging homeowners who need help to apply now. The state is on track to commit the entire $220 million of federal foreclosure prevention dollars, provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s

A handwritten note demanding money proved to be the key that led to the arrest Monday night of a 54-year-old Madras man near Prineville in last week’s holdup of a northeast Bend branch of Home Federal Bank, officers said Tuesday. Robert Chester Short was arrested shortly before 9 p.m. Monday at a campground along Highway

Spring is here, but nationwide lime prices are close to an all-time high. Some places have seen prices increase by close to four times, and it has some High Desert shoppers wondering what’s causing this trend. “When it goes just to one area, everybody is drawn to the same area, which causes a shortage, which

Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Oregon’s Board of Directors has accepted Lisa Maxwell, Executive Director’s resignation. Lisa Maxwell has accepted a position in her home state to be close to family and friends. “I am grateful to the dedicated staff, committed volunteers, board members, generous donors and community partners I have worked alongside the

An elderly driver from Colorado was killed and two Hillsboro residents in an SUV were injured in a two-vehicle crash that blocked U.S. Highway 20 near Santiam Pass, west of Sisters for over an hour Monday morning, Oregon State Police reported. Troopers late Monday identified the woman killed in the crash as 86-year-old Deana May

In the fall of 2015, Bend will start to look different. For the first time, freshmen will show up in the fall, ready to begin the start of their college careers at a four-year university, OSU Cascades. Central to that vision is the development of a brand new campus on Bend’s Westside, at the intersection

A newly published scientific study discovered that some resident fish in the lower Columbia River, namely largescale suckers, contain chemicals that health officials have determined can cause health concerns for people who eat large quantities of the fish. The study, from scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, states that several of the chemicals have been

On Monday night there was supposed to be, by some accounts, a debate between the two leading GOP primary U.S. Senate candidates, state Rep. Jason Conger and Dr. Monica Wehby, but only Wehby ended up appearing and speaking at the event. Back on April 17th, Bob Perry of the Redmond Patriots told NewsChannel 21 by