Month: October 2014

Friday marked day two of the Richard Gustafson trial. Gustafson, the founder and former co-owner of Acrovision Sports Center, is facing sexual abuse charges as well as encouraging child sex abuse and possession of cocaine. Criminal forensic experts took the witness stand Friday morning. A computer forensic analyst said the three computers seized in this

After being delayed for a day, the Richard Gustafson trial on sex abuse charges got underway Thursday morning in a Bend courtroom. Due to the sensitive nature of the case, NewsChannel 21 was asked not to identify any of the young girls involved, or their family members. Thursday morning, Gustafson waived his right to a

A “quality natural environment” was the top goal listed in a city of Bend survey taken by more than 1,600 people as it begins work on a new process to revise the city’s urban growth boundary (UGB), officials said Friday. The city registered more than 1,500 comments on a recent online survey, one part of

A man called 911 after seeing someone try to steal his truck in a Prineville fast-food parking lot Thursday morning, then watched him take another parked car and drive off, police said. That sparked a wild pursuit that included the suspect fleeing a guns-drawn traffic stop and eventually stopping when he hit spike strips on

Deschutes County Clerk Nancy Blankenship is warning voters not to mail their ballots Friday, as the Bend-area mail now routed through Portland could mean it won’t arrive at her office by the 8 p.m. Tuesday deadline. The Secretary of State’s Office had said that Friday was the last day to safely mail ballots and have

It wasn’t arts and crafts night at the Bend Senior Center, but you might have thought so on Thursday. Posters and markers, beans in jars and colorful flash cards were scattered across the hall for the Bend 2030 Forum on Affordable Housing. The forum featured a series of games in which attendees would write out

At its October program meeting, Meyer Memorial Trust’s board of trustees awarded 74 grants, totaling nearly $5.5 million for organizations and initiatives across Oregon and Southwest Washington, including four totaling $126,730 in Central Oregon. The latest awards support efforts as varied as the Lebanon Soup Kitchen, opened 25 years ago after a resident noticed hungry

A week ago, Summit High School lost one of its assistant football coaches, Andre Parris. He had battled a form of bone cancer, chondrosarcoma, for 15 years. Parris was a loving husband and father, but many who knew him say he felt most at home under the lights at Summit. Players and coaches alike describe

When a ground ambulance won’t move fast enough, here in Central Oregon, we rely on air ambulances. It turns out air ambulances have shaky safety records across the United States. It’s not a service you expect to have to use. “It was September 18, 2011,” Tashina Jordan said. That’s the day Tashina Jordan’s healthy 5-week-old

A 60-year-old Bend woman, stabbed in the chest by her 23-year-old son, was in good condition Thursday at St. Charles Bend as police confirmed that the young man shot and killed himself minutes later, after police arrived on scene. Susan Elaine Stafford was found with apparent life-threatening injuries in the front yard of her southeast

The residency debate in one Bend City Council race took yet another turn Monday as a supporter of candidate Lisa Seales filed a complaint with the secretary of state’s office, alleging voter registration fraud by candidate Casey Roats. Roats has acknowledged living at his parents’ home just outside the city limits for much of the

Travelers will see delays on U.S. 26 west of Government Camp Saturday as a contractor restripes the highway’s two westbound lanes. The delays will take place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. and travelers could encounter 20-minute delays as flaggers direct traffic. The work by the contactor K&E Excavating will restore the roadway to its

The Bethlehem Inn announced Thursday it is in urgent need of food, paper products and grocery store gift cards in support of its Emergency Meal Program. Donations of lunch meat, sliced cheese, chicken and hamburger are among the foods most needed (please visit bethleheminn.org for more information). Gift cards allow the Inn to make purchases

Oregon State University – Cascades said Thursday it will use a new $305,000 suicide prevention grant to develop programs at the branch campus to support student mental health and to identify and respond to students who are at risk for suicide. The campus was one of 15 universities nationwide to receive a 2014 Garrett Lee

A look at the trends behind those monthly statistical snapshots is what’s promised at the Bend Chamber’s early Economic Forecast Breakfast, and Thursday morning’s gathering was no exception. Nor was the message: optimism about the coming year, tempered by issues that need addressing. Tim Duy, a University of Oregon professor and director of the Oregon

Bend residents are invited an upcoming open house at City Hall to use an online calculator and discover how proposed water and sewer rate structures would affect your utility bill. The city of Bend is in the process of developing new policies around its water and sewer rate structures to ensure consistent service, protect natural

If you’ve pulled into St. Charles Bend recently, you may have been greeted with a pleasant surprise: open parking spaces. “I noticed that there seemed to be more parking,” frequent hospital visitor Steve Puccetti said Wednesday. “But I was here awfully early this morning, too.” It has been a goal of the hospital for more

Sunday marks the end of Daylight Saving Time and serves as a good reminder for Oregonians to test their smoke alarms. The Office of State Fire Marshal is urging residents to test their smoke alarms before automatically changing the batteries. “Smoke alarm technology has advanced and many now come with 10-year batteries and some are

For the 13th straight year, Oregon State University and the University of Oregon alumni associations – in conjunction with the American Red Cross and Lane Blood Center – are sponsoring the Civil War Blood Drive. The three-week blood drive campaign is designed to unite students, faculty, alumni and fans with a shared goal to help

OSU-Cascades Vice President Becky Johnson isn’t about to say the effort to build a campus on Bend’s Westside has been smooth sailing of late, or that the land-use fight with opponents to get it built is over. But during a wide-ranging conversation Wednesday afternoon with NewsChannel 21 reporters and staff, Johnson made clear that she