Month: February 2015

The first resignation of a sitting Oregon governor due to scandal has sparked an expected flood of reaction, from elected officials and others. Here’s the statements we’ve received, in full: Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown (in line to be the next governor): This is a sad day for Oregon. But I am confident that

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, embroiled in a growing ethics scandal involving fiancee Cylvia Hayes, announced his resignation Friday, effective at 10 a.m. next Wednesday. Kitzhaber released the following statement Friday: . I am announcing today that I will resign as Governor of the State of Oregon. It is not in my nature to walk away

The Oregon Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the US Department of Agriculture, said Friday it is responding to a detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a flock of backyard birds near Tumalo. ODA, working with the USDA’s Animal Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is in the process of setting up a quarantine zone

The weather has made for a short season for most winter activities and this includes ice skating. The Redmond Area Parks and Recreation District and the City of Redmond have closed the ice rink for the season. The continued warm weather has made it difficult to maintain ice and visitation rates have decreased. “The ice

On Tuesday, Hanjin, a major shipping company, announced it is going to pull out of the Port of Portland, a move that has a huge impact on many Central Oregon businesses already hit by a West Coast port work slowdown. Ruffwear, a dog-gear maker in Bend, has empty shelves where boxes of inventory are supposed

An 11-year-old Bend boy trying to cross South Highway 97 on foot, away from an intersection, was struck by a car Thursday night and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Officers and Bend Fire Department medics responded shortly before 8 p.m. to the reported crash on the highway in front of the

The months-long legal and political dispute over Bend City Councilor Casey Roats’ eligibility for office apparently is over, as the city confirmed Thursday that a lawsuit pressing the matter is being withdrawn. Before November’s election, Bend personal-injury lawyer Phillip Ringo had gone to court, saying Roats was ineligible because he violated a city charter provision

For over two years, Deschutes County residents and the families involved with a tragic undisclosed case have waited for a charging decision from the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office. On Thursday, February 19 at 9:30 a.m., Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel will announce his decision on the case. Bend Police Chief Jim Porter will

Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., announced Friday more than $1.4 million for an Oregon National Guard program that helps servicemembers and veterans find jobs when they return home. When funding for the Joint Transition Assistance Program (JTAP) lapsed late last year, the senators asked the National Guard Bureau to work with them to

The city of Bend will be closing SE 15 th Street near Chloe Lane between February 23 and approximately April 24 for the installation of a sewer collection pipe. Traffic will be detoured around the construction along Ferguson Road, SE 27 th Street and Knott Road. The Southeast Interceptor is a gravity-powered sewer collection pipe

Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc., a Lakewood, Colorado-based natural grocery chain with a store in Bend, is recalling two lots of Natural Grocers brand Organic Garlic Powder as the product has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Consumption of products containing Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail

Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler and legislative leaders called Thursday on Gov. John Kitzhaber to resign in the midst of a growing ethics scandal involving his fiancee Cylvia Hayes and her involvement in energy policies. Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney told reporters Thursday that he and House Speaker Tina Kotek had asked for Kitzhaber to give

A 39-year-old Bend transient who set his mother’s SUV ablaze and tried to burn her southeast Bend home when she refused to let him in was found hiding in her backyard and arrested, police said Thursday. Police and firefighters were dispatched shortly before 3 a.m. Wednesday to the home in the 700 block of Southeast

Decades have passed since a Bend teen’s remains were found in a wooded area south of the city, but there are many who remember Susan Wickersham occasionally, and some who think about her life and why she died all the time. “She’s really never far from my thoughts,” said Wickersham’s older sister, Rhonda McMurran. “Probably

Comments are swirling surrounding Governor John Kitzhaber’s growing scandal. Central Oregonians are questioning their longest-serving governor, with many saying it’s time for him to go. “Politically, he’s kind of boxed himself in,” OSU-Cascades political science professor James Foster told NewsChannel 21 Thursday. He’s not the only one who thinks so. Many of KTVZ’s Facebook followers

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and over a dozen House colleagues called Thursday for a swift resolution to the labor slowdown affecting ports up and down the West Coast. At a press conference, Walden outlined the disastrous consequences the crisis has caused for farmers and manufacturers in Oregon, like tree fruit growers in the Columbia Gorge

A pickup truck crossed the center line of Highway 97 in Redmond and struck a semi-truck head-on Wednesday afternoon, sending the pickup driver to the hospital. Traffic was restricted for hours, as the Oregon State Police bomb squad was called in from Salem to investigate and remove suspicious, possibly explosive items in the pickup, troopers

The lack of snow and the warm temperatures are a big concern when it comes to irrigation water in the summer. “We have a very dismal snowpack,” Jeremy Giffin, Deschutes Basin watermaster, said Wednesday. “This is by far the lowest snowpack we’ve had in over 20 years.” Most of Oregon is at least 50 percent

A 31-year-old Redmond man stopped for speeding on the Bend Parkway at over 100 mph early Thursday was arrested on DUII and reckless driving charges, police said. Shortly before 2:30 a.m., a Bend officer conducted a DUII investigation at Highway 97 and Robal Road after stopping Michael Ryan Graham in a 2006 BMW 325 for

Two upcoming seminars in Bend will help local businesses navigate wage and hour laws and employee management practices so that organizations can comply with state and federal law. New supervisors and supervisors looking for an update on changing employment laws are encouraged to attend. Each year, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) fields