Month: May 2015

City Walls at City Hall, an arts initiative of the City of Bend Arts, Beautification and Culture Commission, is pleased to announce a special exhibition featuring the works of Sandy Brooke, Henry Sayre and their students. The Invitational Juried Show honors Sayre and Brooke as they retire from Oregon State University, most recently at OSU-Cascades.

Governor Kate Brown on Friday declared drought emergencies in eight additional Oregon counties, including Deschutes, due to drought, low snowpack levels and low water conditions. With these eight new counties, Oregon has almost doubled the number of drought declarations made in 2014. The new counties are Deschutes, Grant, Jackson, Josephine, Lane, Morrow, Umatilla, and Wasco.

Bend City Manager Eric King declared a Stage 1 water curtailment alert Friday for the city, in the wake of a state drought declaration for Deschutes County. But he said citizens are under no new restrictions at present, only urged to conserve water ahead of what could be a long, dry summer. “Water conservation is

Discover Your Forest and the Deschutes National Forest are seeking applicants for the Young Women’s Career Camp, June 16-18. Young women from around Central Oregon in grades 10-12 are invited to apply for the camp, which will be hosted on the Deschutes National Forest as a three-day, two -night camp-out. During the camp, female members

Governor Kate Brown recently appointed, and this week the Senate confirmed, the addition of Mayor Betty Roppe to the state Energy Facility Siting Council. The councilhasregulatory and siting responsibility for large electric generating facilities,high-voltage transmission lines, gas pipelines and radioactive waste disposal sites. State-level oversight of energy facilities helps ensure that Oregon has an adequate

A second day of intense thunderstorms and heavy rainfall Friday were causing high-water problems on the High Desert, while a landslide and rockfall blocked Highway 26 west of Mitchell for a time. The National Weather Service in Pendleton issued an urban and small stream flood advisory for northwest Crook County and north-central Deschutes County shortly

Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler and Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced Friday that Bank of New York Mellon Corp. has agreed to pay $180 million to settle a class-action lawsuit seeking to recover losses Oregon and other investors suffered due to alleged foreign exchange fraud engineered by the New York-based financial institution. Oregon sought to recover

The Lookout Mountain Ranger District of the Ochoco National Forest said Friday it finalized plans this week to move forward with a post-fire salvage and restoration project within the area burned by last year’s Bailey Butte Fire, which blackened more than 10,000 acres. District Ranger Slater Turner signed a Decision Notice that authorizes the removal

Ridgeview High School junior Skylar Adams has been accepted to the 2015 Summer Seminar for High School Juniors at Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. The Summer Seminar offers students from all over the country the opportunity to experience all aspects of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s operation. For two exciting weeks, 65 talented young people between

After a state of emergency was declared in California due to a pipeline oil spill polluting miles of Pacific coastline, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and 17 Democrat colleagues on Friday urged the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to halt all offshore oil and gas drilling permits in the Arctic region. Merkley, along with Senators

One rainy afternoon in the bouldering area of the Bend Rock Gym, Bend Endurance Academy Climbing Director Mike Rougeux asked Call of the Wild Adventures owner, Emilie Cortes, if she was familiar with the trend of young female athletes dropping out of competitive pursuits in their teen years. Mike works with youth training and coaching

Learning to live with a chronic condition can help prevent at risk people from developing even more serious health concerns. Many people with diabetes, heart disease, lung disease and other conditions face barriers to good health management. If they’re unable to travel to their doctor’s office or don’t understand how to properly take their medicine

Pro cyclist Ian Boswell is back home in Bend for a visit after racing in the Tour of California. Boswell held a candid question and answer session at Crow’s Feet Commons. The 24-year-old pro cyclist shared the details on everything from being a professional road cyclist, dating — even the reputation of drugs in the

A five-month region-wide investigation led to this week’s arrest of three men in connection with up to 13 gunshots fired last December during a dispute near a southwest Redmond park, with bullets hitting at least two nearby homes and an SUV, police said Thursday. A multi-agency investigation of the shooting incident near Umatilla Sports Complex

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced a bill Thursday that would support new jobs and economic growth by providing small businesses greater access to business capital from credit unions. “Small businesses generate jobs, and access to capital is the lifeline that keeps those businesses running and growing both in Oregon and nationwide,” Wyden said. “This bill

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., released the following statement Thursday after the U.S. Senate Banking Committee passed on a party-line vote a sprawling bill that would deregulate many key aspects of the financial industry: “Seven years ago, following a decade of predatory home-lending and risky derivative-trading practices by big banks, we witnessed the greatest financial crisis

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.), Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and a broad coalition of more than 50 members of Congress continued to fight Thursday to protect the rights of consumers in Oregon and across the country who are being hurt by forced arbitration contracts in the financial services industry. In a letter

Motorists who choose to drive impaired, not use their safety restraints, drive distracted or make other dangerous driving decisions should expect to draw the attention of law enforcement officers statewide during the 2015 Memorial Day holiday weekend. Oregon State Police (OSP) troopers, county sheriffs and local police officers will step up enforcement efforts, now through

Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley praised Thursday’s announcement by federal regulators that cuts red tape for unmanned aircraft systems test sites in Pendleton, Tillamook and Warm Springs to conduct research that creates jobs in an innovative industry. The announcement by the Federal Aviation Administration follows a letter Wyden and Merkley wrote the FAA on

A Redmond middle school student was arrested Wednesday, accused of bringing a large knife to school, police and school officials confirmed Thursday. Police said the girl had the knife on a school bus Wednesday morning and brought it into Elton Gregory Middle School. Lt. Mike Kidwell said no one was injured, and no students or