Month: November 2015

The High Desert Museum is collecting donated blankets with personal stories behind them to be used in a new exhibition opening next spring. Portland-based artist Marie Watt will shape some 300 blankets into a sculpture called Blanket Stories, a tower that carries the poignant stories of the blankets’ owners. The stories behind the blankets could

Camp Fire Central Oregon, a local organization that provides programs for our youth to find their spark and ensure they gain the skills necessary to thrive throughout their lives, announces the kick off of its year-end giving campaign starting with #GivingTuesday TM , December 1. #GivingTuesday™ is a national day of giving on the Tuesday

Imagine a drone flying into a hurricane zone to drop urgently needed supplies, called in by a swipe on a smart phone, or a series of tethered buoys that can predict a tsunami’s magnitude and send warning to researchers and affected people. These were among the hundreds of solutions proposed by local students to survive,

The Bend Endurance Academy’s Cyclocross Team finished their regular season over the weekend at the State Championship Cyclocross Race in Sandy, OR. Three Bend Endurance Academy cyclists won their age group competitions: Hannah Mavis (17-18 JR Women), Henry Jones (15-16 JR Men) and Ryder Uetrecht (13-14 JR Men). Also on the podium with third-place results

On Saturday the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with Data Delete, sponsored a personal papers Shred Day, prescription drug take back day, and can food drive for Holiday Partnership. Undersheriff John Gautney reports: The event was in the parking lot next to the Sheriff’s Office and with the help of the staff that volunteered

Black Friday is almost here, but don’t forget about Small Business Saturday on November 28 th ! In order to encourage Bendites and visitors to Shop Small, The Downtown Bend Business Association has created the Shop Small Passport Event. One lucky person will “Win Big by Shopping Small” as 50+ local Downtown Bend businesses have

A Washington state woman pulled over for speeding on Interstate 5 in the Eugene area Friday night was found by a drug-sniffing police dog to be carrying more than 24 pounds of crystal methamphetamine hidden in her SUV, Oregon State Police said. An OSP trooper stopped a 2003 Honda Pilot around 10 p.m. for going

Across Central Oregon, many people are making difficult choices. They need to choose which bill to pay first or whether to pay the energy bill, for necessary medication, or to put food on the table. It is difficult for many people, especially for low-income families and the elderly. In order to help lift this burden

More than 800 dogs and cats from animal shelters in California are getting a second chance at life, and about 30 of them arrived Friday afternoon in Redmond on a special flight, one of many around the West. About 30 dogs were flown from Southern California to Central Oregon. Volunteers with BrightSide Animal Center of

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel filed criminal charges Friday against a current and former employee of the Sunriver FireDepartment, accusing them of illegally accessing the emails of Fire Chief Art Hatch and other employees. “Any access to computers is a crime,” Hummel told NewsChannel 21. “So every document they have accessed is a potential

State Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, responded with concern Friday to the adoption of 2017 Public Employee Retirement System advisory rates estimated to cost school districts already reeling from a $1.785 billion shortfall in 2015-2017. Bend-La Pine School District faces a 3.76% to 4.76% rate increase, and Redmond School District faces a 3.87% to 4.87% rate

Mt. Bachelor opened its 58th winter season on Saturday, with limited conditions in early-season snow, and skiers and boarders traveled to the slopes under sunny, blue skies to see how things were shaping up. Operations include a terrain park served by the Sunshine Accelerator lift and resort services staged out of the West Village base

In 2015, a witches’ brew of drought, hot weather and dry lightning spawned more than 2,000 wildfires across Oregon that consumed some 631,000 acres of forest and rangeland, state officials said Friday. In a massive coordinated effort, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and its local and federal partners fought back, stopping hundreds of new

Over the past few months, Oregon State Police have voluntarily suspended all substance analysis in the Bend and Pendleton crime labs, but Deschutes County’s chief prosecutor said Friday it hasn’t led to a backlog in evidence to be processed – at least, so far.. The moves were taken in late August and early September in

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has released a ” Business Readiness Guidebook for Oregon Recreational Marijuana Operations ” for individuals interested in applying for a recreational marijuana license. The guidebook was produced under the guidance of Governor Kate Brown’s office, with contributions from more than a dozen state agencies that directly regulate the marijuana industry

Four broken drinking fountains in downtown Bend will be removed starting Nov. 30, and that’s brought a mix of reaction – including some who hadn’t noticed they were even there. The Downtown Bend Business Association asked the city to repair the broken fountains earlier this year. The city looked into whether fixing the fountains would

Oregon Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., joined Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), joined by Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Al Franken (D-MN), Friday in announcing introduction of the Supporting Working Moms Act of 2015. This bipartisan legislation helps ensure that more working mothers

A Redmond couple who recently replaced their smoke detector battery was awakened by it early Friday and were able to escape their home and call firefighters to a blaze in their garage that caused $10,000 damage, officials said. Redmond Fire & Rescue was dispatched shortly before 3 a.m. to the fire in a two-story house

In the last year, Oregon gained its 4 millionth resident. And with Deschutes County being once again the fastest-growing county in the state, we are all starting to feel the growing pains. The growth is impacting both the rental and housing markets. Building officials say we should embrace growth and the change it brings, while

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., joined colleagues Thursday in backing a measure to halt entry of Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S., saying to do so now would be “reckless and dangerous.” But Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.,called instead for a strong screening process to uphold America’s tradition of welcoming war refugees. The House easily passed