Month: July 2015

The Oregon House on Wednesday unanimously passed House Bill 3148-A, legislation that seeks to provide critical relief to low-income wildfire victims through the creation of the Wildfire Damage Housing Relief Account. Chief sponsored by House Republican Leader Mike McLane (R-Powell Butte), the bipartisan measure serves as an additional resource for Oregon families that lose their

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Oregon State University-Cascades researcher Shannon Lipscomb a $1.5 million grant to develop and test a program to help teachers improve the school readiness of preschoolers who have been exposed to trauma. The four-year grant from the Office of Early Learning is the largest award ever for OSU-Cascades, the

Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Shay Mikalson named three veteran administrators to new school principal positions Wednesday. Dana Arntson, the district’s Director of Elementary Programs, will serve as principal at Ensworth Elementary School in Bend. Arntson has more than 27 years of teaching and administrative experience in California and Oregon. She has 11 years of administrative

A California company, Cypress Creek Renewables, wants to shed light on renewable energy east of Bend. Using two solar farms, they plan to provide enough energy for 3,000 homes, but first they have to gain approval from a Deschutes County hearings officer. As a part of the plan, the company would like to build two

The Madras Army Air Field North Hangar, built to boost the nation’s efforts during World War II, is among Oregon’s latest entries in the National Register of Historic Places. In 1943, the U.S. Army transformed the wheat fields northeast of Madras into a fully-functioning air field to train B-17 bombardment squadrons as part of a

Years ago, local homebuilder David Hesla had a dream: To help friends and neighbors fighting cancer by raising money through building projects. As a result, the Net Hope Collaboration Project was born. Hesla teamed up with Joe Emerson and Ann Brayfield of ZeroHomes.org and David Sailors of the Garner Group to build a more affordable

The Oregon Health Authority said Wednesday it has lifted a health advisory issued June 25 for Lake Billy Chinook, 26 miles southwest of Madras in Jefferson County. Water monitoring has confirmed that the level of blue-green algae toxins are well below guideline values for human exposure, officials said. However, the agency said it still “recommends

The Bend Park and Rec District has received some calls from those concerned about proceeding with Saturday’s traditional Fourth of July Pet Parade due to the region’s hot spell, but officials said Wednesday that with proper precautions, all should have a fun, safe time for all. Marketing Manager Colleen McNally told NewsChannel 21 the district

This year’s 4 th of July Pilot Butte public fireworks display will commence at approximately 10pm on Saturday. In preparation, the Oregon State Parks Department and Bend Fire Department ask that the community observe the following restrictions to Pilot Butte State Park from July 1 st through July 5 th . The access road to

A 31-year-old Prineville woman was arrested Tuesday afternoon on second-degree manslaughter, DUII, criminally negligent homicide and other charges in a June 20 pickup rollover crash in southern Crook County that killed a man from the northeast Oregon town of Ione, sheriff’s deputies said. Jamie Sue McCormack was taken into custody at the Crook County Jail

Bend’s central westside is rapidly changing with new residential development, schools, parks and an expanded Oregon State University – Cascades campus on the horizon. As part of a community engagement process, Bend residents have developed three scenarios for how Bend’s central and westside neighborhoods could change over time. Now we need to hear from you

A fire near the Black Canyon Wilderness 11 miles south of Dayville grew quickly in the heat and low humidity Tuesday, racing across 6,000 acres as forecasters issued warnings of more heat and challenging fire weather in coming days,. The Corner Creek Fire (formerly Incident 297), was estimated by late afternoon at 2,500 acres, up

A 45-year-old convicted bank robber pleaded guilty in a Medford federal courtroom Monday to seven more bank holdups around the Northwest, including the 2010 robbery of the downtown Redmond branch of Bank of America. Bradley William Monical pleaded guilty to robbery and weapons charges in three Oregon armed bank robberies in Redmond, Medford and Klamath

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., visited Eugene on Tuesday and called on Congress to quickly vote on the bipartisan Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act to keep children safe from the toxic chemicals that they come in contact with on a daily basis Merkley also released key findings from an experiment conducted by the

The noise and bright lights of fireworks delight humans, but can terrify our companion animals. The week surrounding the Fourth of July is the Humane Society of Central Oregon’s busiest week of the year. There is a dramatic increase in lost and frightened animals due to the sounds of fireworks. If you lose or find