Month: February 2016

Do you know a business that goes above and beyond to keep their sidewalks safe? Nominate them for a Deschutes County Safe Sidewalk award. The Deschutes County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) will recognize winners this spring during a Board of County Commissioners meeting. Winners will receive a certificate from the County and acknowledgment

A Redmond woman accused of assaulting another woman with a knife during an argument was arrested Friday, along with another man wanted on an unrelated warrant for parole violation, authorities said. Officers were dispatched around 8:30 p.m. Thursday to a reported assault with a knife in the area of Southwest 35 th Street and Indian

The list of charges against Ammon Bundy is long. The case is not even on trial yet, and it’s already controversial. Bundy’s lawyers have come under fire. The latest and most prominent is an ethics complaint filed by the Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis with the Oregon State Bar. In it, Marquis wrote that

NewsChannel 21 (KTVZ/KFXO) is pleased to announce an agreement has been reached with DISH Network, meaning that KTVZ and KFXO newscasts and programming will remain on the DISH channel lineup. The management of KTVZ and KFXO grateful for your patience and understanding as the companies have been negotiating. If you’d like more information, visit http://www.npgco.com/savemylocalstation.

Kitten season is the name animal shelters and rescue groups give to the time of the year when most kittens are born, which usually ranges from April to October. In 2015, BrightSide received more than 200 kittens less than 8 weeks in age who needed fostering prior to adoption. Thanks to volunteers, these very young

Deschutes County sheriff’s Capt. Erik Utter has announced he is resigning from the agency effective March 1, Sheriff Shane Nelson confirmed Friday. Nelson said he can’t provide details on the reason for Utter’s departure because he cannot discuss personnel details about current sheriff’s office employees. Utter made his decision known in an email to sheriff’s

Roundabouts are still being built all across Bend, but do you know how to drive through them safely and courteously? Bend police want you to follow the rules of the road — and if not, you could face a $260 ticket. Sgt. Ron Taylor’s job is to look for drivers who are breaking the law

The new Bend Whitewater Park, closed last fall for alterations, will reopen on Saturday, the Bend Metro Park and Recreation District announced. Temporarily closed since October, construction crews have taken advantage of seasonal low water flows in the Deschutes River to make several improvements to the park, the park district said. That work included installation

It’s been almost a month since a group of armed occupiers, including Ammon Bundy, traveled to John Day from Burns to get to a community meeting where they were scheduled to speak. On their way, the group was arrested and LaVoy Finicum fatally shot. It was the beginning of the end of the armed occupation

Not everybody with a Bend mailing address will get to fill out the ballot bubble in the city’s special election on a 5 cents per gallon gas tax. “Because I don’t get to vote, I’m really angry about it,” Deschutes River Woods resident Kathleen Chapman said Thursday. Chapman lives just a few miles south of

Deschutes County (the Bend-Redmond Metro Area) is in a familiar spot, the top 20 fastest-rising house-price markets, in new federal figures out Thursday. But two other figures show just how high – and low – the High Desert real estate market has gone over a several-year period. The metro area, defined as all of Deschutes

The Oregon Health Authority reported Friday the state’s first case of sexually transmitted Zika infection. The illness was spread from a man who had traveled in a Zika-affected country to his female sex partner, who had not traveled. Both people later tested positive for the virus. Zika seldom causes serious illness, officials stressed. Four out

La Pine Elementary School celebrated reading at the 18th annual Cat in the Hat Night. The night is part of the national Read Across America program and is filled with Dr. Seuss-centered activities. The event drew in more than 300 students and family members from La Pine and Rosland elementary schools. Families came out to

The Oregon House unanimously passed a bill Thursday aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse and overdoses. State Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend, introduced the legislation, and calls Oregon’s opiod addiction an epidemic. “Oregon has some of the highest rates of narcotic drug use of any state in the nation, and the problem with prescription drugs is

Bend-La Pine Schools has announced the finalists for the principal positions at Amity Creek Magnet at Thompson School and High Lakes Elementary School. Community members are invited to meet the finalists and offer feedback at forums set 5 to 6 p.m. Feb. 29 at Amity Creek and 5 to 6 p.m. March 1 at High

The debate over the fate of Bend’s Troy Field came before a special city council meeting Wednesday night. Councilors heard from proponents and foes of a request to lift a public facilities designation so Bend-La Pine Schools can sell the parcel to a hotel developer. Last fall, after no public entity stepped forward to buy

The Oregon House voted unanimously Thursday to pass HB 4124, a bill introduced by Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend, to prevent prescription, especially narcotic, drug abuse and overdoses. “Opioid addiction has become an epidemic and is continuing to spread,” Buehler said. “This disturbing trend has a very real human cost – one that I have seen

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown sat down with NewsChannel 21’s Lauren Martinez Thursday morning to talk about her priorities, her year in office and the final days of the short session of the state Legislature. Among the topics: the Harney County refuge occupation, marijuana issues and her enthusiastic support of the new minimum wage law. Tune

The special election on Bend’s gas tax is underway, and both sides are spending thousands of dollars to spread their message. The cost to the city of this special election is about $70,000, but both sides are spending thousands more in campaign ads. According to the city, it would cost about $80 million to fix

Thousands of people who live outside Bend’s city limits get their mail with a “Bend” address on it, including places like Deschutes River Woods – but they don’t get to vote on the current 5-cent gas tax proposal before city voters. Some residents on Bend’s outskirts have expressed frustration, even anger in comments to NewsChannel