Month: December 2014

For the fourth year in a row, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is partnering with America’s State Parks to offer free guided First Day Hikes in state parks across Oregon on New Year’s Day . Information about the special hike to take place at Smith Rock State Park is below. The usual $5 day-use

An autopsy conducted on the body of a Deschutes County Jail inmate who died hours after his arrest found no obvious cause of death, and officials investigating the incident said Tuesday they must now wait for the results of toxicology tests in about a month. The autopsy on Edwin Burl Mays, 31, of Bend, was

What do you do when the low bid on a $500,000 project comes in at $1 million? That’s the question facing the Bend Parks and Rec Board as it reworks plans to upgrade the Bend Senior Center. The master plan for renovation of the center on Reed Market Road will add 40,000 square feet to

Two residents were arrested after a three-hour standoff Monday at a southwest Redmond home where a visiting 22-year-old man had been robbed at gunpoint Sunday night, police said. Sgt. Jesse Petersen said Christopher James Moe, 39, and Lisa Ann Richter, 45, reportedly used a gun “and other means to steal money and other items” from

Four finalists have accepted invitations to be interviewed for the position of president at Central Oregon Community College, the school announced Tuesday as it released the names of three of the candidates. The COCC Board of Directors met Tuesday and said the name and biography of the fourth finalist will be announced in early January.

A Hillsboro solar equipment company and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., hailed a Commerce Department ruling Tuesday as a victory for strong enforcement of trade rules, as it found China and Taiwan has been subsidizing low-cost solar panels dumped into the U.S. market. The agency sided with Hillsboro-based SolarWorld, ruling that Chinese and Taiwanese producers used

Three Rivers Elementary School in Sunriver held its very first Holiday Shop on Tuesday, all thanks to generous members of the community. For the past month, kids have been saving up their “Holiday Bucks,” and they finally got to splash out. They were earned for such good deeds as “being kind to peers in the

The Pacific Northwest Region of the USDA Forest Service announced Tuesday it will be advertising over 600 temporary positions throughout the Region’s national forests in Oregon and Washington starting in January. The positions will be in specialties such as fire, trails, timber, recreation, fisheries and archeology. “If you are interested in working with a dedicated

A Redmond woman’s stopped her trial on 89 charges of abusing her stepdaughter, including strangulation and assault, by pleading guilty to 16 of the counts and was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison. Deschutes County Circuit Judge Wells Ashby imposed the sentence on Michelle Saunders, 42, who pleaded guilty Friday to charges including second-degree

Bend Garbage & Recycling, Cascade Disposal and High Country Disposal will be closed on Christmas Day & New Year’s Day. Their Thursday and Friday customers will be affected by the holiday collection schedule. Beginning Christmas Day, regular garbage and recycling service will be one day late for both holiday weeks. Thursday customers will be serviced

Consumers are enjoying a holiday bonus with gas prices at their lowest level in five years, AAA Oregon/Idaho reported Tuesday. For the week, the national average for regular unleaded skids 13 cents to $2.53 a gallon while Oregon’s average plunges 15 cents to $2.77. AAA Oregon/Idaho Public Affairs Director Marie Dodds says, “AAA estimates drivers

In recent years, the sage grouse has become a popular topic in Oregon, and it is only natural that some may ask: Is it possible for cattle and sage grouse to live in harmony? Ranchers say the answer might surprise you. One of the main concerns related to the issue involves cheatgrass and how it

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department invites the public to ring in 2015 by participating in one of 31 guided hikes to take place in state parks on New Year’s Day. This is the fourth year that OPRD has participated in First Day Hikes, a nationwide initiative sponsored by America’s State Parks to encourage people

Sen. Ron Wyden, D- Ore., urged the Energy Department on Tuesday to come up with a plan and a strict timeline to address storage tanks leaking radioactive nuclear waste at the Hanford Site in southeast Washington. Wyden requested the plan in response to a Government Accountability Office report released today that describes the continuing deterioration

Volunteering : The AARP TaxAide program provides free IRS certified tax preparation & electronic filing service to residents in Deschutes County. AARP membership is NOT required either to take advantage of the service or to volunteer. Each year the TaxAide program seeks out those wanting to help as volunteer greeters . As a greeter, you

Did your company pull out all the stops for your holiday party this year? Was it more than last year? ‘Tis the season to celebrate an improving economy. “The celebration is a little bit more festive, if you will,” Riverhouse Hotel Manager Rocky Adrianson said Monday. “It’s just been a really busy season,” said Barbara

National statistics show around 80 percent of schoolchildren have been bullied. Now, the Bend jewelry store Nashelle is helping raise awareness of the issue, in artistic fashion. Nashelle owner Heather Straw was at Highland Elementary in Bend on Monday, teaching the kids how to make necklaces with a message. “What I’m going to help you

This holiday season, Oregon Humanities invites Oregonians to participate in the third round of Dear Stranger, a letter-writing project the organization kicked off in April 2014. Dear Stranger aims to connect Oregonians from all walks of life through the mail. Call it an old-school pen-pal program, a long-distance community-building project, or a new-school commitment to

A thin layer of snow, along with fog and freezing fog, made for more treacherous driving conditions over much of the High Desert Monday morning and apparently contributed to a string of crashes, including a fatal head-on collision on Highway 97 about four miles north of La Pine. The two-vehicle fatal head-on crash occurred around

Average retail gasoline prices in Oregon have fallen 8.6 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.84 a gallon as of Sunday, according to GasBuddy ‘s daily survey of 1,307 gas outlets in Oregon. That compares with the national average that has fallen 8.3 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.57/g, according