Month: December 2014

Mt. Bachelor announced Tuesday that it will give $50,000 in cash to local non-profit organizations as part of its annual Charity Ski Week program. When combined with other charitable initiatives, Mt. Bachelor will donate nearly $120,000 this winter to Central Oregon programs dedicated to education and community service. The Charity Ski Week program allows skiers

The Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory is pleased to announce they will be hosting a new Audubon Christmas Bird Count Circle for the 115 th Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Between December 14, 2014 and January 5, 2015, hawk-eyed volunteers across the country will brave various weather conditions to count birds during the annual Audubon Christmas

Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., responded to Tuesday’s release of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on torture by the Central Intelligence Agency. “Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a small number of CIA officials decided to listen to the advice of outside contractors who told them that the way to quickly get important information

It’s been three years since Bend-La Pine Schools have had to adjust their boundary lines. With Central Oregon’s growth, and two new schools being built, it’s time for a new round of adjustments. The school district has released three different boundary line proposals and is holding three meetings for you to voice your concerns. “The

A St. Charles Bend pharmacy worker put the wrong medication in an IV bag, leading to the fatal error that killed a Sisters woman last week, hospital officials said Monday in an update on the ongoing investigation. “It is a human error,” Robert Gomes, CEO at St. Charles Bend and Redmond, told reporters at a

From the inside, Mosaic Medical’s newest clinic in southeast Bend is small –500 square feet –but still looks pretty typical: exam rooms and medical supplies. Head outside, though, and you’ll see it’s not so ordinary: The clinic is housed in an apartment complex — in an old laundry room, to be exact. It took about

It’s a tough time of the year for military families who can’t be with their loved ones. But for some families, it’s what happens after they do come home that can have devastating consequences. “This was our last family portrait,” Redmond resident Erryn Fulton said recently, holding up a photo of smiling faces dressed in

A new slate of officers will lead the NeighborImpact Board of Directors starting in January. After two years of leadership, Board Chair Susan Bailey has passed on the gavel and will be replaced by in-coming chair, Chad Carpenter. The NeighborImpact board is designed to be diverse, representing all three counties and elected officials, the economically

McMenamins Old St. Francis School is adding more than 40 hotel rooms to its downtown Bend property by moving out some old cottages that The business takes up half a city block and currently has 19 hotel rooms and four cottages — and the hotel is booked consistently. “A lot of times, the wait list

Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Tuesday praised the inclusion of a one-year extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act he originally wrote in 1998 with Republican Congressman Chris Cox, in a bill to fund the federal government. The Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) prohibits state and local government from levying discriminatory taxes on Internet taxes

Each year, the Oregon Department of Corrections and Department of Forestry team up to select and train inmates to dispatch to wildfires, and more than 2,700 were on the lines during this year’s busy fire season, officials said Tuesday. Inmates are selected to serve on supervised 10-person crews and have to complete the same nationally

The Oregon average price of gasoline is at its lowest price since October 2010 — and more decline is expected in coming weeks, AAA Oregon/Idaho reported Tuesday. The average dipped below $3 a gallon last Thursday for the first time since November 12, 2010. For the week, the Oregon average plunges nine cents to $2.92

Gorilla Growlers, a growler fill station in Bend, has given an easy means to provide for the Bethlehem Inn. The Bethlehem Inn is in need of items to keep the homeless warm. When the shelter is at capacity and cannot accept residents due to fire code regulations, they try to provide sleeping bags and warm

The Pine Tavern, located at 967 NW Brooks Street in Bend, hosts a giving tree this holiday season benefiting families and individuals served by the Bethlehem Inn. Last year, more than 2,000 people in the tri-county area were homeless. A lack of affordable/ subsidized housing and a predominance of low wage jobs increase the pressures

The website for Oregon’s test-flight ranges for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS, also called commercial drones) is up and running. The site – at http://uastestranges.soaroregon.com — provides comprehensive information on the state’s three test ranges at Pendleton, Tillamook, and Warm Springs, where UAS can be flown in a safe, well-supported test environment. The website provides a

WorkSource Oregon and Community Partners are announcing National Career Readiness Certificate opportunities in Central Oregon throughout December. Over 250 seats are available in Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. This certificate is open to all individuals aged 16 and above and is free. The NCRC helps job seekers demonstrate their skills to employers, helps employers find

Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) led 11 senators Tuesday in calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its proposed Clean Power Plan to achieve even greater reductions of carbon pollution. In the first major congressional call to further strengthen the plan from its existing targets, the senators emphasized that it is

Two of the nation’s most widespread scams of recent years have been making their way through Bend recently, and one recently scammed a grandmother out of $1,000, officers said Sunday. A caller from an 800 number claimed to be Portland police sergeant and told the woman that her grandson was in jail on drug charges

In recent decades, breweries have sprung up all over America – in towns big and small – evolving the art and science of brewing while enhancing the city’s livability. With this in mind, Livability.com has named Bend a Best Beer City, 2014. “Bend offers innovative and award-winning breweries, residents who consume beer at higher rates

Scientists monitoring incoming tsunami debris were taken aback last spring when some 30 fishing vessels from Japan washed ashore along the Pacific Northwest coast – many of them covered in living organisms indigenous to Asia. Incidence of wayward skiffs and other tsunami debris subsequently declined sharply over the summer because of seasonal shifts in the