Month: April 2017

Central Oregon locals and visitors are invited to dance their Sundays away at the 2017 Bend Memorial Clinic Free Summer Sunday Concert Series. These annual Sunday afternoon concerts at the Les Schwab Amphitheater, which start on June 4, have become a staple of summer in Bend. With musical styles ranging from rock to funk and

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Authorities say one of two teenagers arrested after a fatal shooting in a Portland park told a homicide detective they had wanted to steal the victim’s belt. An affidavit filed by a Multnomah County prosecutor says a 17-year-old boy charged with robbery told Detective Erik Kammerer that stealing the belt was

BAKER, Ore. (AP) – State wildlife officials are cutting in half the number of deer tags allowed for this fall’s hunting season in Baker County following the winter deaths of hundreds of deer. The Baker City Herald reported (https://is.gd/Z1RdRH) Monday that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will only sell 1,450 deer tags this

A captain with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District was injured in a roughly 40-foot fall during a Death Valley “canyoneering” trip with two colleagues last week, prompting a rescue effort that began with his two partners and ended with a California Highway Patrol helicopter rescue, officials said Tuesday. Here’s a news release from the fire

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Oregon’s unemployment rate has plunged to less than 4 percent. The state Employment Department said Tuesday the March jobless rate was 3.8 percent, the lowest mark since comparable records began in 1976. The unemployment rate at this time last year was 4.9 percent. The agency says government, manufacturing and professional and

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) – An Ashland man remains missing a week after he walked away from home. Media outlets in southern Oregon report 86-year-old Harold Hardesty was last seen walking away from his house on Monday, April 10. Jackson County Search & Rescue teams searched the property surrounding Hardesty’s home over the weekend. Air searches

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A grand jury has cleared a Marion County sheriff’s sergeant of wrongdoing after he shot at a man who injured him during a traffic stop. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (http://bit.ly/2pxWTRO) the grand jury determined Monday that Sgt. Jason Hickam was justified in firing his weapon toward Juan Francisco Martinez on April 7

Central Oregon drug agents’ raid on a home north of Bend Friday night led to three arrests and the seizure of heroin and methamphetamine, as well as cash, packaging material and scales, officials said Monday. Two of the three remained jailed Monday on parole violations. The Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team, assisted by Oregon State

Several hundred Deschutes County residents asked Sen. Ron Wyden a variety of questions at a town hall Monday evening at Summit High School, and he said his 11-stop swing east of the Cascades comes at a time of heightened interest in government and politics — the highest he’s ever seen. Wyden said the number of

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – A Eugene-based nonprofit is working to get a camp up and running in a secluded area in the Coast Range to house dozens of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. The Register-Guard reports (https://is.gd/pgx07c) Veterans Legacy Executive Director Mark Oberle says the group is hoping to fix up the seven-building complex and

There was passionate testimony in Salem on Monday for and against two controversial gun bills as others watched the action, including a Redmond gun dealer. The proposals with hearings held Monday are less wide-ranging than a 2015 expansion of gun sale background checks. Senate Bill 797 would require a background check actually be completed before

The four-day Lazy Rockin’ Stirrup Country Music Festival in Paulina has been approved to more than double its maximum capacity. “(The organizers) came in originally for 3,500 people and they moved up to 7,500 recently,” Crook County Judge Seth Crawford said Monday. Paulina has a population of around 70. Event organizers upped the attendance request

Before his Bend town hall meeting Monday evening, Sen. Ron Wyden appeared on NewsChannel 21 Fox at Four, talking about issues ranging from North Korea and China to the new U.S. Supreme Court justice and whether the Senate can find a path to bipartisan progress on issues like tax reform. “The fact is, China keeps

The snow has melted at the lower elevations in Central Oregon, and the U.S. Forest Service is preparing for this year’s wildfire season. They’re going through weather projections for the next few months, trying to get a handle on what this fire season could look like. Precipitation is an obvious predictor, and a lot of

Beneficiary Saving Grace is in need of lightly used or new stuffed animals for their stuffed animal corral at the Balloons Over Bend Children’s Festival. Time for spring cleaning!! Bring your lightly used or new stuffed animals to Saving Grace to be given to each child in attendance at the Balloon’s Over Bend Children’s Festival.

(Updating with no verdict Monday) LAS VEGAS (AP) – A jury has ended a full day of deliberations without a verdict in the federal trial of six men who had assault-style weapons during a standoff that stopped government agents from rounding up cattle near Cliven Bundy’s ranch in April 2014. Officials said late Monday the

Bend-La Pine Schools said Monday it is planning for a surge of new students next fall, specifically anticipating more than 1,100 new kindergartners. Families and incoming students are invited to attend Kindergarten Round-up events at neighborhood schools on Wednesday. “We are on pace to welcome hundreds of new kindergarten students and their families to our

Current wildfire policy can’t adequately protect people, homes and ecosystems from the longer, hotter fire seasons climate change is causing, according to a report co-authored by an Oregon State University professor and published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Efforts to extinguish every blaze and to reduce the buildup of dead

Crews from High Desert Aggregate and Paving under contract to ODOT are working on a $3 million project to repave and improve U.S. Highway 26 at Gumwood Lane, north of Madras. The purpose of this project is to repave US26 to improve the safety, as well as prevent any further deterioration of the pavement. The

Trentyn Tennant, a 10th grader at La Pine High School, recently spent a week at the Washington Capitol working as a page for the Washington State Senate. Trentyn was one of 30 students who served as Senate pages for the 14th week of the 2017 legislative session. He was sponsored by 10th Legislative District Sen.