Month: February 2016

A Bend man initially accused of abducting and raping a former girlfriend last year, holding her against her will in her home, took a plea deal in mid-trial last week and was sentenced to more than eight years in prison, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said Monday. In the second week of his trial,

Chipotle restaurants in Bend and across the country reopened Monday after a midday four-hour nationwide closure to talk about food safety efforts in the wake of recent E. coli and other outbreaks. The fast food chain closed all of its locations nationwide for a four-hour food safety meeting for all 50,000 of its employees. The

Courtney Negethon and her husband moved from Montana to Central Oregon in order to start fresh and plant new roots. Now seven months pregnant, Negethon and her husband are just trying to get by each night. A community baby shower going on through March 31 is trying to help mothers and their babies in Deschutes

An Ogden, Utah man was killed and four people, three of them children, were treated for injuries Monday morning after their minivan left icy U.S. Highway 20E east of Brothers and overturned, Oregon State Police said. Initial information indicates Anthony Mychael Vanoudheusden, 27, was driving a 2001 Ford Windstar van heading east near milepost 55

The U.S. Bank Mini PPP is now open for online registration. To register go to, www.mbsef.org, click on Events and then click on U.S. Bank Kid’s Mini PPP. The U.S. Bank Mini Pole Pedal Paddle will take place in the Les Schwab Amphitheater on Saturday, May 22. Teams of six participants each ranging in age

Bend Fire Department Deputy Chief of Administration Bill Boos has been selected for the 2016 Fire Service Executive Development Institute, a year-long leadership development program that offers new and aspiring chiefs the tools they need to be successful and productive in their public safety careers. Boos competed with new fire chiefs and chief officers from

A weekend autopsy on a man’s body found in the Deschutes River near downtown Bend late last week found no signs of foul play, police said Monday. “Toxicology results are pending,” police Lt. Clint Burleigh said in a brief update after the autopsy was conducted at the State Medical Examiner’s Office. The man has been

A Redmond woman was arrested in Burns on Sunday on drug charges in connection with a raid on a northwest Redmond mobile home a week earlier, police said Monday, adding that a second suspect remained at large. Whitney Grosso, 25, was located and arrested by Burns police around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, said Redmond police Sgt.

Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue crews came to the aid Saturday of a 62-year-old Bend man who fell into a tree well while skiing down Tumalo Mountain and needed help getting out, officials said. County 911 dispatchers got a call around 11:20 a.m. from Gary Kean, who reported his situation near Dutchman Flat, said

Dogs stole the spotlight Saturday in Sunriver. The Sunriver Brewing Company and the American Cancer Society Bark for Life hosted the third annual K-9 Keg Pull. One of the organizers, Lauren Olander, said it’s a perfect combination. “It is a great opportunity for the community to come out and combine two things that are totally

A 22-year-old Prineville man stole a car warming up in a Sisters driveway early Saturday and crashed it a short time later on Wilt Road, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said. He then left but was found nearby by deputies and arrested on DUII and other charges. Deputies responded shortly before 6 a.m. to an address

Soft music played as hundreds of people from across the country crowded into a Mormon church in a small Utah town for Friday’s funeral for the spokesman for the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge armed standoff. “I’m just really proud of him. I’m heartbroken; but I’m proud of him,” said LaVoy Fincium’s daughter Brittney Beck. Pictures

A Seaside police sergeant was shot and killed Friday night while trying to arrest a man wanted on a felony assault warrant, and a fellow officer returned fire, fatally wounding the suspect, authorities said. Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis on Saturday identified the slain police officer as 39-year-old Sgt. Jason Goodding, a 13-year veteran

Oregon’s mountain snowpack remains at normal to above-normal levels and continues to surpass last year’s peak levels, according to the February Water Supply Outlook Report released Friday by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Friday’s statewide average snowpack is 121 percent of normal, they said. Portions of southeastern Oregon are experiencing the highest snowpack levels

The city of Bend has placed signs to warn commercial truck drivers of the new, lower weight limits on the Archie Briggs Road bridge over the Deschutes River for some heavy vehicles. The bridge currently doesn’t meet new federal standards after the Oregon Department of Transportation conducted an inspection. The weight limits affect, among other

Deschutes County seeks two volunteer Planning Commission members and is accepting applications until Friday, March 4, at 5 p.m. The Planning Commission reviews land use policy and zoning regulations and makes recommendations to the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners. Members are the official citizen involvement committee on land use planning for the unincorporated area of

Five middle school girls are making a big difference in the lives of some kids.Members of Camp Fire Central Oregon’s Teens In Action program were in downtown Bend Friday, raising money for a cause that may not have crossed your mind. “We are throwing birthday parties for children in need who usually don’t really get

Water is the source of life and in Central Oregon. It’s also the source of beer. “Water is extremely important to the brewing process,” said Brian Faivre, brewmaster with Deschutes Brewery. The quality of our water helps to explain why Bend has the highest number of craft breweries per capita in the nation. “What brewers

A catering van burst into flames shortly after hitting a deer on Highway 97 near Deschutes Junction north of Bend on Friday, but the driver got out and was uninjured, officials said. The van’s driver said he was heading north just south of the Tumalo/Deschutes Market Road exit shortly after noon when the deer entered

The Oregon State Sheriff’s Association issued a statement Thursday that it said is a “response to questions about the Oregon office of sheriff” amid the continued occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Here it is, in full: Sheriffs in all 36 Oregon counties have taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United