Month: February 2015

The founder of Operation Elf Box is taking off on a cross-country bike ride on March 1. Josh Hart and his border collie, Jo, will ride from San Diego to St. Augustine, Florida. Their goal is to share the mission and vision of the non-profit. Hart and Jo started a gofundme.com site to help them

A federal judge in Portland on Thursday sentenced a former Bend psychic to more than eight years in prison for orchestrating a bold family fraud scam that took more than $15.5 million from a Portland-area victim, living an opulent lifestyle while leaving him almost broke. Along with the 100-month sentence, U.S. District Judge Robert E.

Attempting to bring some closure to a 2 1/2-year-old case, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel announced Thursday that criminal charges won’t be filed in the June 2012 shooting death of Shane Munoz by Kevin Perry at Perry’s Awbrey Butte home. Perry, then 37, shot and killed Munoz, 33, early on the morning of June

A construction worker on a southeast Bend sewer project escaped with minor injuries Thursday morning when a large rock tumbled into the 18-foot-deep trench where he was working and struck him, a company official said. Bend police and fire medics were dispatched around 8:30 a.m. to the work site along 15 th Street near Ferguson

The game of war is evolving and growing in the backyards of Central Oregon. The weapon of choice? Airsoft guns. “With our realistic guns, it gives us more of a realistic feeling, like we’re in combat,” said 13-year old Colton Seymour of Sisters. The realism thrills the players — and confounds law enforcement. Deschutes County

Deschutes County seeks two residents to voluntarily serve on the Deschutes County Investment Advisory Committee. Applications are being taken now until March 16. The Deschutes County Investment Committee is composed of five members with a background and/or experience as a banker, security broker, CPA/accountant, municipal finance personnel, and a Deschutes County budget committee member. The

A Madras woman has been cited in connection with a Monday afternoon crash that sent a well-known Madras businessman to the hospital with broken ribs and other injuries, police said Wednesday. Barbara Smith, 42, was cited Tuesday evening for failure to obey a traffic control device and failure to yield to a pedestrian in a

With the NBA’s 3-point shootout this past weekend, it had me thinking: What does it take to be a good shooter? I caught up with three of the best in our area: Mountain View’s Davis Holly, Bend’s J.J. Spitler, and Summit’s Sarah Heinly, to find out. There’s a saying for three-point shooters: if you’re on,

State Rep. Jodi Hack (R-Salem) proposed Wednesday a constitutional amendment “to increase state government oversight and accountability” by creating impeachment procedures of the executive branch. “Oregonians deserve the highest levels of transparency, oversight and accountability from their elected officials,” said Hack. “As we move forward from this unfortunate moment in our state’s history, we need

In Oregon, Wednesday was Exclusion Day, the day to children were sent home from school or daycare if they have not had the proper immunizations or updated their records. Deschutes County Health Services saw the numbers drop from last year. In 2014, Bend-La Pine Schools had to send home 76 students for not being caught

A Redmond man was arrested after a three-car crash Wednesday on the Old Bend-Redmond Highway north of Bend that caused minor injuries, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said. Deputies were dispatched around 3:10 p.m. to the reported crash on the highway at 94 th Street, said Sgt. Aaron Harding. The initial report indicated two vehicles were

A south Deschutes County man just arrested for the 2009 killing of his ex-girlfriend had moved to China, leaving a home off Vandervert Road south of Sunriver, according to Deschutes County court records. Area neighbors on Trader Lane said it’s been more than a year since 40-year-old Stephen Nichols lived at the house with his

Freedom. Adventure. Responsibility. Oregonians expressed these values most often when asked to describe what Oregon’s Road Usage Charge Program should represent. By popular preference, the road usage charge program is now named “OReGO” and has a new logo to match, ODOT officials said Wednesday. ODOT this week launched myOReGO.org , the program’s official website, where

April Fools’ Day may be more than a month away, but Mother Nature is already pranking Central Oregon plants into popping up early. “We’re at least a month early,” OSU Extension Service Horticulture Professor Amy Jo Detweiler said Wednesday, pointing to some lilacs already budding. “You can see the scales are starting to break, and

A report to be published Thursday in the journal Nature suggests that global warming may increase upwelling in several ocean current systems around the world by the end of this century, especially at high latitudes, and will cause major changes in marine biodiversity. Since upwelling of colder, nutrient-rich water is a driving force behind marine

Health Republic Insurance, a non-profit health insurance carrier, announced that it has extended its enrollment window and will continue to sell plans to individuals and families until March 15 , with a plan effective date of April 1 . The extended enrollment period only applies to plans purchased directly from Health Republic and not on

Thrust into the governorship in the midst of an ethics scandal at the highest level of state government, Kate Brown was sworn in Wednesday as Oregon’s 38th governor and vowed that she, her family and staff won’t accept any outside funds on issues before the state. Here are the full remarks she delivered to dignitaries

As an Advertising Consultant for NPG of Oregon, Inc. (operating 4 TV stations including KTVZ – NBC, KFXO – FOX, KQRE – Telemundo and NTVZ – CW in Bend, Oregon), our staff work with a variety of local companies to help them grow their business through television and digital advertising. Our consultants work in an

United Way of Deschutes County, a non-profit community catalyst since 1953, has announced the election of four new members to the volunteer Board of Directors. The board plays an instrumental role in identifying essential community programs, ensuring the efficient use of donor dollars, establishing policies and strategic community objectives. “Our Board of Directors is actively

A transient threatened a 7-Eleven store clerk with a rock and took off with a 24-ounce malt liquor early Wednesday, prompting a search and apprehension of a 56-year-old transient, with the helpful bite of Bend police K-9 Haras, officers said. Police responded about 12:40 a.m. to the reported robbery at the convenience store on the