Month: March 2015

A slowdown in the fourth quarter did not boot Deschutes County (the Bend-Redmond metro area) out of the nation’s top 10 for home price appreciation in 2014, federal statistics out Thursday said. The Bend-Redmond area actually saw its home prices drop .01 percent in the last quarter of 2014, but the 11.25 percent rise for

The Oregon Department of Education held an informational forum Thursday night at the COCC campus in Redmond so parents, educators and students could learn more about the new Smarter Balanced Assessment. Oregon students are preparing for a new standardized test. The Smarter Balanced Assessment uses long-form questions and comprehensive answers to test students at a

The city of Prineville has hired a public relations firm to handle city communication and help boost its image. “(We’re) trying to be open and tell the community what we’re doing,” City Manager Steve Forrester said Thursday. “We’re really doing some wonderful things, and we just don’t have a platform to talk about that effectively.”

Near the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter outside of Riley in southeast Oregon, archaeologists recently discovered evidence suggesting one of the oldest known human occupations in the western United States, officials said Thursday. Archaeologists with the Bureau of Land Management and the University of Oregon Archaeological Field School have been excavating at the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter since

The Deschutes National Forest will continue work on a pilot project with the Deschutes Basin Board of Control and local irrigators to restore a wetland at Ryan Ranch next week. Beginning on Monday, workers will conduct maintenance on temporary culverts installed earlier this winter. The culverts will allow water from the river into the Ryan

Discover Your Forest has partnered with the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests and Crooked River National Grassland to offer a training opportunity for individuals who would like to become a Certified Interpretive Ranger (CIR) for the US Forest Service. The three-day course will be offered April 14, 21 and 28 beginning at 9:00 a.m. each

Sunday marks the beginning of daylight saving time and also 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

Central Oregon is considered very dog-friendly. However, the state’s laws are lax when it comes to protecting canines left in hot cars. A new bill before lawmakers in Salem is aiming to change that. “We have a lot of dogs in this area, and a lot of times people bring their dogs with them places,”

It’s 55 miles an hour along most stretches of Highway 97, but that could all change, as lawmakers are working on a bill to increase speeds to 70 miles an hour along rural stretches of Oregon highways. House Bill 3402 aims to increase speeds for most vehicles up to 70 miles an hour on Highway

Neighbors with a garden hose stepped in before fire crews arrived Wednesday, helping to limit damage from a fire behind a northeast Bend home that investigators said was caused by improperly disposed-of cigarettes. Firefighters were called around 2:25 p.m. to the reported house fire at 20337 Sonata Way, said Bend Fire Capt. Darren Root. They

The Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory will be hosting two public meeting to gather input from area residents on a Strategic Plan and Interpretive Plan. Both planning processes are helping to craft a vision for future improvements. A public meeting for input from area residents on the draft Interpretive Plan will be held at SHARC

West Coast regional grocery chain Haggen will take ownership of the Albertsons store at 16199 Boones Ferry Road in Lake Oswego, at 12:01 a.m. Friday, March 20. The new Haggen store is scheduled to open its doors to Lake Oswego shoppers at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 21. The store is the first of 20

Skiers and riders from around the country are descending on Mt. Bachelor this week for the U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association’s National Championships. But one team didn’t have far to go to compete. This is the first time the event has been at the Northwest ski resort. Relatively high snowpack along the West Coast

One month after first word of an impending sale, it’s official: The Riverhouse Hotel & Convention Center in Bend has changed hands — and the new owners said Wednesday a multimillion-dollar upgrade is in the planning stages. In early February, Managing Partner Wayne Purcell said they were near an agreement to sell the landmark hotel

Bend Park & Recreation District is seeking adult volunteers to coach lacrosse for the 2015 Youth Lacrosse League. Program participants are boys and girls in first through eighth grade. Volunteer coaches are an essential part of the league, providing support with program logistics, coaching and mentoring youth. Volunteers must enjoy working with kids and be

Dr. Tony Miksa, the top candidate to become president at Central Oregon Community College, has withdrawn from consideration due to a death in the family, college officials said late Wednesday afternoon. Dr. Miksa’s father-in-law passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, the school noted. The COCC board had announced last month its choice of Dr. Miksa, vice

Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., joined by colleagues Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ed Markey (D-MA), met Wednesday with the head of the Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products to urge the agency to finalize its plan for regulating tobacco products. During the meeting,Merkley also asked for the FDA to strengthen the proposed rules to

Wear a reflective coat or vest, or receive a sizable fine. An Oregon lawmaker wants cyclists to be fined $250 if they are riding without the proper safety gear at night. House Bill 3255 would require cyclists to wear,”reflective clothing, including but not limited to a reflective coat or reflective vest.” Oregon law already requires

A former Bend police captain, convicted along with his wife in a multimillion dollar fraud and money-laundering scheme, has been released from a halfway house and now sits on house arrest, a federal corrections official confirmed Tuesday. It was one of the biggest fraud cases in Bend history: the case of Tami and Kevin Sawyer,

Oregon State University said Wednesday it is helping to bolster U.S. anti-terrorism and nuclear security efforts through a new graduate student training initiative in nuclear forensics. A new option in an existing degree program will train the next generation of nuclear forensics professionals, giving them the technical expertise needed to identify pre- or post-detonation nuclear