Month: January 2016

The Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission needs to improve its work environment and increase accountability to address substantial delays in its core services for teachers and other educators, according to an audit released Thursday by Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins. The audit was prepared in response to House Bill 3339 from the 2015 legislative

Deschutes County residents and attorneys now have greater access than ever before to the county’s Law Library as a result of a new partnership between the county and Deschutes Public Library. Previously accessible to the public for just 25 hours during the week and only at the county’s offices in downtown Bend, the Law Library

Even though no one from Oregon won the $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot, keep in mind those Powerball tickets could still give you some cash. There were more than 250,000 winning tickets in Oregon from the record-breaking Powerball drawing Wednesday night. Prizes range from $50,000 to $4. Seven $50,000 winning tickets were sold in Oregon, from

The Bend Police Department announced Wednesday the recent formation of a new team intended to help community members through difficult times, specifically mental health crises. The new Community Response Team started in November, said Lt. Clint Burleigh. The mission, he said, “is to protect and serve by reaching out with our community partners to help

Deschutes County has appointed Jimm Burton to serve on the Deschutes County Budget Committee. Burton, a South County resident, will serve as one of the committee’s three citizen members. The budget committee, which includes the Board of County Commissioners, reviews the county’s proposed budget and recommends a final version for adoption. “Jimm’s strong background in

A settlement meeting Wednesday led to a compromise that resolved a challenge filed by opponents to Bend’s proposed gas tax to one sentence in the March ballot measure’s explanatory statement. Bend attorney and former mayor Jeff Eager, hired by area fuel retailers to assist their opposition effort, had filed a challenge Wednesday to a sentence

A Bend man checking on his summer home at Prineville Reservoir on Tuesday saw a pickup truck in the driveway and called Crook County sheriff’s deputies, who went inside and arrested two burglars who had piled up their loot in the pickup including two rifles, sheriff’s deputies said. Deputies responded around 11:30 a.m. to the

If a winning ticket for Wednesday night’s $1.5 billion jackpot ends up in your pocket, being safe and making sure the wrong people don’t try to take advantage of your good fortune is important. “Any time you buy a lottery ticket, whether it’s a $1 scratch it or a ticket for $1.5 billion in a

A team of creative students at Bend’s Sky View Middle School came up with an idea that’s won them some cash and tablets in a national competition. Central Oregon is known for its wide variety of outdoor activities, and these students used it to their advantage in crafting their idea for a smartphone app. The

On Saturday,, the second of two Basic Life Support ambulances will be placed in service at the Bend Fire Department’s West Fire Station on Simpson Avenue. The new BLS system uses Emergency Medical Technicians to respond to less-critical medical calls. In addition to the ambulance operators responding to an incident, a paramedic responds in a

At least once a year, Jim Anderson of Sisters visits the place he calls “the most beautiful place in the world.” Recently, the world has learned a great deal about that place. The Malheur National Refuge was thrust into a national spotlight when a small armed group took over the preserve’s federal headquarters more than

With tax season in full swing, the Better Business Bureau Northwest warned Wednesday of new twists on tax scams hammering local consumers. According to the BBB Scam Tracker, tax scams ranked at the top nationally in 2015 with more than 2,000 reports out of 10,000 reported. The Internal Revenue Service says consumers lost more than

On Day 11 of the occupation, LaVoy Finicum, one of the leaders of the armed group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge compound, announced they will host a community meeting in Burns on Friday at 7 p.m. where they plan to detail why they are there — and when they will be leaving. It comes

Oregon’s congressional delegation voiced their reactions Tuesday night to President Obama’s final State of the Union address. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., had this to say just after the speech: “I found the president’s last State of the Union address to be disappointingly divisive, frankly. It felt more like a campaign speech, long on partisanship and

Garmin Ltd. announced Wednesday that its subsidiary, Garmin International, Inc., has completed its acquisition of PulsedLight, Inc., a privately held designer of optical distance measurement technology located in Bend. The company makes sensor boards that are highly accurate, smaller, and more lightweight, compared to most other optical distance measurement devices, the companies said. PulsedLight developed

A Sandy truck driver reported missing Tuesday afternoon was found deceased a short time later at the Brothers Oasis Rest Area on U.S. Highway 20, about 40 miles southeast of Bend, Oregon State Police said. Around 2:45 p.m., police in Sandy, east of Portland, took a missing-person report of an overdue truck driver, Bret Anderson,

On Jan. 1, Oregon’s new sick leave law was implemented, requiring businesses with more than 10 employees to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year to their employees. Deschutes Brewery managers said Tuesday that their guidelines have changed slightly, but they have a great sick leave policy that will benefit from

A man wanted for violating a no-contact order after pulling a gun and threatening to kill two women at a motel last summer was spotted by an officer Monday afternoon in southeast Bend, triggering a pursuit through several yards and his arrest when a police tracking dog found him hiding in a backyard doghouse, officers

We’re just a day away from the biggest Powerball drawing in history. As of Tuesday, the pot is 1.5 billion. Both seasoned and new Powerball players are taking advantage of the big jackpot. Bend retailers we spoke with Tuesday estimate about a third of the customers purchasing Powerball tickets this week are first-time buyers. Central

The month of January is the last opportunity for Oregonians to enroll in health insurance plans for 2016– and avoid what could be a sizable penalty if they don’t, officials said Tuesday. Open enrollment lasts through Jan. 31. It is the time of year to change plans and, for those who do not have insurance,