Month: March 2017

Two state lawmakers took a break from the state Capitol on Friday to travel home to Deschutes County, visit with their constituents and listen to their concerns. State Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, and Rep. Gene Whisnant, R-Sunriver co-hosted three town halls throughout the county, in Sunriver, Bend and Redmond. Constituents living in Sunriver came to

This August, thousands of people will be looking to the sky, as well as taking to it. The Madras Municipal Airport is gearing up for the Aug. 21 solar eclipse. “We have people coming in from all over the United States for this,” Airport Manager Robert Berg said Friday. “Right now, we’ve got people booked

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – A hearings officer will decide whether a southern Oregon dog must be put down for attacking a horse. The Daily Courier reports (https://is.gd/1h8wLF ) the case of a pit bull named Kron sparked a public outcry in Josephine County and on social media. The county Board of Commissioners initially ordered

(Update: OSP releases names in crash; father in fair condition) An 11-year-old Eugene boy suffered fatal injuries and his father and older brother were injured Thursday morning when their SUV slid into the path of an oncoming van and they collided on Century Drive near the entrance to Mt. Bachelor, Oregon State Police reported. OSP

A Bend man was arrested on DUII, reckless driving and other charges after a high-speed police pursuit on Highway 20W early Friday morning. The car soon crashed into a pole, knocking out power to more than 450 Tumalo-area residents for more than five hours, officials said. Shortly before 12:30 a.m., a Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy

Sunriver Water, LLC is looking to increase rates for water service, and Thursday night there was an Oregon Public Utility Commission hearing on the request in Sunriver. If the proposal is approved, the average home would see a 25 percent increase in its water rate, and the two golf courses they service would see an

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) – More than 100 cattle found neglected and starving on a ranch in eastern Oregon earlier this year have been sold. The East Oregonian reports (http://bit.ly/2nG6U0z) officials say Tuesday’s auction at the Hermiston Livestock Commission brought in more than $140,000. A few more of the animals will be sold next week. The

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A woman who claimed she suffered a fractured eye socket after a drunken man punched her at a McMinnville bar has lost her $800,000 lawsuit against the business. The Oregonian/Oregon Live reports (http://bit.ly/2nFWIoT) Talisha Blevins claimed the Cabana Club was partially responsible for the incident because it served the man while

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Damian Lillard had 31 points and 11 assists, leading the Portland Trail Blazers past the Houston Rockets 117-107 on Thursday night. Jusuf Nurkic had a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with 19 points for the Trail Blazers, who have a season-high five-game winning streak and a 1 ½-game lead over

People living along the rising Deschutes River in Tumalo are watching as it inches closer to their homes. “I have never seen it that high,” resident Kenndra Urbach said Thursday. Deschutes Basin Watermaster Jeremy Giffin said releases from the Wickiup Reservoir have been suspended because of flooding concerns. “We’re starting to see some warmer temperatures,

CAN Cancer, Community Assistance for Neighbors with Cancer, helps local families manage non-medical expenses, including fuel, travel, and food costs while receiving cancer treatment. Our communities have raised over $279,400 and helped over 1,000 local patients across Central Oregon! 100% of the money stays local and 100% of funds raised goes to the patients. This

Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined more than 30 fellow Democratic senators Wednesday to introduce legislation that would rescind President Trump’s executive order, signed Tuesday, which they said aims to reverse several landmark U.S. initiatives to combat climate change. “Climate change is causing great destruction to our rural resources — our fishing, our forests,

A proposal aimed at helping communities avoid catastrophic losses due to wildfires received a public hearing Wednesday. Senate Bill 1017, sponsored by Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli, of John Day, will help establish wildfire buffer zones to put space between forestlands and urban areas. The bill provides incentives in the form of tax credits to

Harassment, or “hazing,” of double-crested cormorants is set to begin soon in several areas along the Oregon Coast in an effort to improve survival of juvenile salmon. Double-crested cormorants are fish-eating waterbirds that occur throughout the state. The species is an Oregon native, and is particularly prevalent on the state’s estuaries during April through October.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has fired three of the five members of the Environmental Quality Commission, who oversee the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, without a warning. The Eugene Register-Guard reports (http://bit.ly/2nnO0ZL ) that Brown called commissioners Colleen Johnson, Morgan Rider and Melinda Eden Wednesday to fire them. The governor’s office

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The Defense Department says a U.S. Air Force airman from Oregon has died in a non-combat incident in Syria. In a news release Thursday, the department said Staff Sgt. Austin Bieren of Umatilla died Tuesday in northern Syria, where he had been deployed in support of combat operations. The 25-year-old security

A previously deported Mexican national charged with child rape, recently released by local authorities despite an immigration detainer, is among the 84 foreign nationals arrested during a three-day operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Alaska, Oregon and Washington targeting at-large criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants and immigration fugitives. Of those arrested during the

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., along with senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee Representative Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., introduced three pieces of legislation Thursday to preserve the integrity of state marijuana laws and provide a path for responsible federal legalization and regulation of the marijuana industry. The Path to Marijuana

(Update: inmate work crew removes dumped garbage) The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office inmate work crew was out west of Bend Wednesday, clearing a spot in the Deschutes National Forest that had been used as a dump site. The area off Forest Service Road 4610 is part of the popular Phil’s Trail Complex. “It looked like

A new Oregon Construction Contractors Board web page warns consumers about phony or predatory contractors who take money and produce little or no work or who violate state contracting laws. The people who make this list owe money to homeowners or to the State of Oregon in unpaid fines. None has a license in good