Month: March 2016

After weeks of debating and a high-visibility, hard-fought campaign, Bend’s 5-cent gas tax proposal for road maintenance was being soundly defeated in mail ballots counted Tuesday night. With most ballots counted by early Wednesday, the outcome was decisive — nearly 64 percent no (18,049 votes) to 36 percent yes (10,225). The ballot returns topped 57

A two-car collision at Highway 126 and the Powell Butte Highway late Tuesday afternoon sent one driver to the hospital and heavily damaged a Pacific Power pole, causing a road closure and power outage that lasted for several hours. Oregon State Police said around 4 p.m., the driver of a Ford Taurus, Kevin Santos, 18,

Here’s the full text of the statement by FBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Bretzing at Tuesday’s news conference on the investigation into the fatal shooting of LaVoy Finicum: On January 26 , 2016, along Highway 395 in Harney County, Oregon State Police (OSP) troopers and FBI agents put themselves in harm’s way as part

On Saturday at Mt. Bachelor, there will be a festive parade of folks putting tracks down the hill in their best-animated outfits. It could be bananas, it could be furry, have a tutu or it could be an astronaut! This popular event is Oregon Adaptive Sports’s (OAS) very own Junior Racers event, a free event

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked the chief of the Forest Service on Tuesday about the agency’s ongoing support for a bipartisan wildfire funding fix that would free up more funding for the work that prevents the largest, most damaging wildfires. In a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Forest Service Chief Thomas

State Treasurer Ted Wheeler on Tuesday cautioned Oregonians to beware of a newly reported telephone scam in which a threatening impersonator claims to be from the State Treasury. Several callers contacted Treasury Tuesday to report the scam, and also reported that the caller ID from the scammers even showed that the calls were placed from

Five FBI agents of an elite national unit are under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department after one agent allegedly lied about shooting twice at the former spokesperson for the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, LaVoy Finicum. The findings come on the heels of an investigation into the actions taken by Oregon

Oregon State University – Cascades master’s in counseling degree recently received full accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs, the national body that accredits counseling and similar degree programs. With accreditation, OSU-Cascades’ counseling degree program, and its concentrations in mental health and school counseling, are recognized as meeting the standards

This spring, partners in the Central Oregon area, will host FireFree days. Crook, Deschutes, Klamath, and Jefferson counties will all be hosting FireFree events for local residents to easily prepare for wildfire season. Check the dates below for a FireFree event near you! Fire science tells us that if you have created and maintained a

It’s a small patch of green, at the center of a big debate – and Bend city councilors voted 4-2 Monday night to side with those who hope to save Troy Field from development, and against Bend-La Pine Schools, which it said failed to make its case for selling the land for nearly $2 million

A 71-year-old Prineville woman who mistakenly hit the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal crashed her car completely into a dry cleaners Monday afternoon, injuring a worker inside and causing more than $30,000 damage, police said. Officers responded around 3:12 p.m. to the reported crash at Ford Cleaners, at 1555 NE Third Street, said

A Sisters construction company’s bookkeeper and office manager has been arrested on 27 felony theft counts, accused of embezzling $430,000 from the company over the past several years, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said Tuesday. Cheryl Ann Waldron, 62, was arrested Monday by sheriff’s deputies after being indicted by a grand jury on 27

A second challenger filed his candidacy Tuesday to run against Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson — a sheriff’s deputy who said voters deserve a choice amid the recent tumult affecting the agency. Eric Kozowski, a deputy with the agency for the past six years, filed on the filing deadline day for the May 17 primary.

An undetermined but apparently small number of ballots in Tuesday’s special election on Bend’s proposed 5-cent gas tax were returned to voters due to U.S. Postal Service processing snafu, officials said Monday. They reminded all that it’s too late to mail them back in and have them count. “Some March 8 Special Election ballots were

Recent revisions in state employment data has revealed that “Deschutes County’s economy is growing at a blistering pace,” Regional Economist Damon Runberg said Tuesday in releasing January jobless rates. Over the past year, he said, the local economy added 4,150 jobs, an impressive growth rate of nearly 6 percent, Runberg said. Fast job growth drove

On Sunday, Bend firefighters competed in the 25th Annual Scott Firefighter Stair Climb Challenge in Seattle. This event is a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and draws firefighters from around the world to Seattle to climb 69 floors of Seattle’s tallest building, the Columbia Center. A total of 1,800 firefighters from 7 countries,

The Oregon Natural Desert Association’s wilderness coordinator filed Monday to run as a Democratic candidate for the Oregon House seat of incumbent state Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend. Gena Goodman-Campbell, 32, is the Central Oregon wilderness coordinator for the Bend-based Oregon Natural Desert Association. She filed on the eve of Tuesday’s candidate filing deadline for the

Tuesday is election day for Bend’s proposed 5-cent gas tax, and the Deschutes County Elections Office has already been busy preparing to count the ballots. Ballot returns were at about 46 percent late Monday on the single-issue city election. The revenue generated would go to fixing streets around the city. For county elections officials, it’s

In recognition of National Consumer Protection Week (March 6-12), Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced Monday the annual Oregon Department of Justice’s 2015 Top 10 Consumer Complaints. For the first time, a new category of consumer complaint, auto repair, appeared on the list. Imposter scams, telecommunications and motor vehicle sales also took the top three

Starting April 1, Soroptimist International of Bend will be placing their collection Bra Boxes around town at participating retail businesses to help bring awareness to the fight against international human trafficking. These garments will help create a pathway to a better life for a woman rescued from the sex slave trade in Africa and Latin