Month: December 2015

A Seattle woman who crashed her rented snowmobile near Todd Lake on Friday sought medical help Saturday at Elk Lake Lodge, prompting a call-out of Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue and a Life Flight helicopter trip to Bend, officials said. SAR personnel were dispatched around 9:45 a.m. Saturday to assist Katje Fiala, 36, who

OSU-Cascades got a Christmas Eve present of sorts Thursday from the Oregon Supreme Court, which declined to hear an appeal by opponents seeking to block OSU-Cascades’ new campus on Bend’s Westside, where construction is now well underway. The court, without comment, declined to take up the appeal by the Truth in Site Coalition, which has

A 28-year-old man who held up a northeast Bend credit union last week told authorities later why he did it, and about the 40-minute shopping spree he went on before police caught him, trying to hide behind a newly bought Christmas tree, The Oregonian reported Wednesday. The newspaper reported the details provided by Brett Gillispie-Comstock

Epic Aircraft, the Bend-based manufacturer of high performance, all carbon fiber, single-engine turboprop aircraft, announced this week it’s achieved a significant milestone in its E1000 certification program with the successful maiden flight of its first conforming flight test article, code-named FT1. “The company remains on track to achieve Type Certificate and begin customer deliveries during

Hundreds of volunteers woke up bright and early on Christmas Eve to deliver Christmas baskets to families in need across Central Oregon. For many families, Christmas just got a little brighter. The Bend Elks and volunteers worked all month to make sure more than 300 families didn’t go hungry on this holiday. It’s a holiday

A Prineville man sentenced to jail in 2008 in a string of animal killings was arraigned and pleaded not guilty Wednesday after a 32-count indictment added sexual assault of an animal to the new allegations of fatally shooting two calves and weapons charges. Ronald Albert Livermore, 67, appeared by video from the Jefferson County Jail

Bend police issued a holiday warning Wednesday that aggressive scammers posing as the IRS and threatening jail or fines continue to make calls to area residents. Meanwhile, a Central Oregon resident reported the continuation of a familiar scam call, supposedly from Pacific Power, demanding hundreds of dollars or the lights will be turned off. Last

A 74-year-old Sisters-area woman was killed Wednesday morning when she lost control of her car on icy Highway 20 east of Sisters and it crossed into the oncoming lane, where it was struck by an oncoming pickup truck, Oregon State Police reported. It was the worst of numerous crashes and highway closures around the region

Crook County Sheriff Jim Hensley is hanging up his hat at the end of this month, after serving as the top cop in the county for five years — and in the area’s law enforcement for decades longer. Hensley has been in law enforcement for more than 33 years and says because of medical reasons,

A La Pine trailer home was destroyed by fire late Wednesday morning, but firefighters working in sub-freezing temperatures kept the flames from spreading to nearby outbuildings and an RV, officials said. La Pine Rural Fire Protection District crews responded around 11 a.m. to the reported structure fire at 52995 Day Road, said Fire Chief Mike

(Editors’ note: Mr. Pies recently shared with NewsChannel 21 a judge’s court order that indicates his conviction on these charges was set aside and his record with regard to this matter was expunged, which we have verified by checking Oregon’s online court files, where they no longer exist.) A Bend man arrested more than a

The Bend Park and Recreation District announced Tuesday that The Pavilion, the community’s new ice rink and recreation facility, will open to the public next Monday. “We’re excited to invite the community to skate during the holiday break and get ice skating, hockey and curling programs underway,” said Matt Mercer, the park district’s director of

A Deschutes County judge has sentenced a 35-year-old La Pine man to a 100-year prison term for the molestation of his girlfriend’s young daughter, who told family, police and the jury what had happened, prosecutors said. Tuesday’s sentencing by Circuit Judge Michael Adler followed a jury’s Dec. 11 unanimous conviction of Brett Riddle on eight

Oregonians are invited to offer their thoughts and ideas on the Governor ‘s Transportation Vision Panel’s preliminary findings, including a Jan. 14 session in Redmond. The panel will use the public’s input heard during a series of meetings from Jan. 4 through March 14 to refine its recommendations to the Governor on the future of

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission announced Tuesday the “Top 10” list of distilled spirits sold in Oregon from Dec. 1, 2014 through Nov. 30, 2015. The first list ranks the products by volume in liters, with H R D Vodka, sold by Oregon-based Hood River Distillers, in the #1 seat. The second list ranks the

Yet another storm is brewing. In the last 24 hours, Mt. Bachelor has already received 20 more inches of snow, and skiers and snowboarders are definitely taking advantage of the fresh powder. “The mountain is so epic right now — it’s dumping, it’s light it’s cold, it’s filling in — we’re getting free refills,” snowboarder

So, just how severe was Oregon’s wildfire season this summer? About 838,000 gallons’ worth, according to Neal Laugle, the Department of Forestry’s aviation unit manager. That’s how much liquid retardant the department’s air tankers dumped on fires in 2015. And that figure doesn’t include the thousands of gallons of straight water dropped by ODF contracted

A backlog of untested forensic evidence at the Oregon State Police’s five crime laboratories has increased 90 percent since 2005, to about 3,700 cases. The Forensics Division must improve its efficiency to help reduce this backlog, according to a new audit released Tuesday by Secretary of State Jeanne P. Atkins. The audit found that increased

Unemployment levels dropped significantly across Central Oregon in November, the state Employment Department reported Tuesday. Improvement to Deschutes County’s jobless rate was largely driven by impressive holiday retail hiring, the strongest on record. Crook County: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent in November, the lowest rate in nearly eight years. The rate

Deschutes County commissioners decided Monday to temporarily opt out of allowing new rural marijuana businesses, and to create a committee to review proposed regulations so they can make a more informed decision. After a pair of lengthy recent hearings dominated by rural residents worried about the impacts of large marijuana grows — and earlier hearings