Month: August 2015

There were four structure fires in Bend last week alone. One of them was at an office building on Shevlin-Hixon Drive after a transient lit it purposefully on fire. The reported damage was $265,000. There were no smoke detectors in the building and that’s not against the law or a building or a fire code

Good progress was reported Tuesday by the day shift battling the the 17,166-acre Stouts Creek Fire, burning in rugged, densely forested country 16 miles east of Canyonville in Douglas County. Hoses were being strung down the miles-long western flank of the fire and mop-up was underway in that part of the fire. Mop-up was also

The Bend bike scene just got a little bit of friendly competition from another High Desert city. That’s because the Crook County chapter of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance finally has enough funds gathered to build a bike park near downtown Prineville. The city is already a stop for many cyclists traveling one of two

A 3-month-old girl brought to the Pioneer Memorial Hospital ER with serious, suspicious injuries triggered an investigation that led to the arrest of the baby’s 20-year-old father, Crook County sheriff’s deputies said Monday night. Sgt. Travis Jurgens said deputies responded to the hospital around 4:45 p.m. Friday. The child was taken to St. Charles Bend

The City of Redmond Transportation Division will be closing NW Larch St from Business Highway 97 to NW 4 th Street on Thursday, August 6 th from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The closure is needed to trim the trees over the roadway. Note: Larch St. is an access road to St. Charles Medical Center

In its third year honoring the legacy of the Rude Rudy’s Golf Tournament, and its commitment to feeding the hungry in Central Oregon, Newport Avenue Market‘s Go Golf! Tournament participants hit the links at Broken Top Golf Club on Wednesday, July 22. Successful in its objective, the event raised an astounding $46,158, with 100% of

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department said Tuesday it is seeking comments on proposed rules that would amend the Oregon State Parks reservation process. The agency said the changes … 1) Provide better customer service by reducing the reservation window from two days to one day, allowing customers more flexibility; 2) Simplify the reservation cancellation

Oregon State Parks campfire restrictions are now in place in the Columbia Gorge, the middle and southern portions of the Willamette Valley, on southern Oregon coastal beaches and a few locations east of the Cascades, officials said Tuesday. Here’s a current list: ++Columbia Gorge++Where: Ainsworth, Viento, Memaloose, Deschutes River State Recreation Area and all day-use

By the barest of margins, a sharply split Bend City Council voted 4-3 Monday against sending a controversial local gas tax proposal for street repairs to the November ballot. Just what happens next is still up for discussion. Councilors again returned to the issues of fixing an estimated $80 million street maintenance shortfall during a

According to the National Fire Protection Association, there are an estimated 282,600 intentionally set fires nationwide each year, causing an average of 420 civilian deaths, 1,360 civilian injuries and $1.3 billion in property damage. Bend has experienced several arsons in recent years, from the downtown church fires in 2013, to last week’s intentionally set fire

Mid Oregon Credit Union is collecting needed school supplies for students in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties. The Supplies 4 Schools drive will run through the month of August. This year’s Supplies 4 Schools will assure that children who can’t afford needed and required school supplies will have a sense of belonging and readiness on

A new study now underway by the U.S. Geological Survey is exploring the groundwater resources and geothermal energy potential in drought-stricken areas of Eastern Oregon and nearby parts of California, Idaho and Nevada. Volcanoes are associated with vast amounts of geothermal energy and lava-flows form many of the Pacific Northwest’s most important aquifers, potentially the

Prineville Mayor Betty Roppe received a Mayors Leadership Award during the closing banquet of the Oregon Mayors Association Summer Conference, held July 30 – August 1 in Cottage Grove. Mayor Roppe received the award in the “small city” category; the “large city” award went to Central Point Mayor Hank Williams. Mayor Roppe has been volunteering

A Bend cleaning crew was on their way to a job in Sunriver on Saturday afternoon when they came upon the aftermath of a violent head-on collision south of the resort. They quickly helped pull the victims from the wreckage until help arrived. “It’s a life-changer for many people,” said Dalaina Oleson, who works for

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., spoke on the Senate floor before Monday’s vote in which the Senate rejected removing federal funding for Planned Parenthood, an organization that the senator said provides many vital women’s health services. Wyden’s full remarks can be found below. Video of Wyden’s remarks can be found here . “This weekend I watched

At Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel’s request, a judge on Monday dismissed a murder charge against Daniel Norquist in the July 25 shooting death of his landlord, Andrew Cordes, at his northeast Bend duplex, and he later was released from jail. Hummel had filed a motion earlier Monday to dismiss the case, citing new

Onboard Dynamics, a Bend-based innovator in alternative refueling technologies, will highlight its natural gas compression capabilities at the first-ever White House Demo Day onTuesday. “U.S. policymakers increasingly are evaluating how alternative fuels can impact our country’s overall energy use,” said Rita Hansen, CEO of Onboard Dynamics. “With Onboard Dynamics’ unique natural gas compression technologies, vehicle

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said Monday it has lifted fishing restrictions on the lower Deschutes River. Anglers can again now fish after 2 p.m. from Macks Canyon to the mouth of the river. Water temperatures in the lower Deschutes are back to near normal for August, prompting fishery managers to re-open the

Three motorcyclists were injured, one seriously, when they crashed and were thrown from their bikes on a curving section of Huntington Road north of La Pine Sunday morning, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said. Deputies and La Pine Fire medics responded around 11:20 a.m. to the reported crash of several motorcycles on Huntington Road near Velvet

A 29-year-old Redmond man tried to break the windows of patrol cars parked at the Redmond Police Department, challenged responding officers with a knife and eventually was subdued with a Taser and taken into custody Monday morning, officers said. Officers were dispatched at 7:14 a.m. regarding a man trying to break the windows of patrol