Month: September 2017

(Update: Federal agencies lift campfire restrictions) With consistently cooler nights and reduced fire activity around the Pacific Northwest, the Prineville District Bureau of Land Management, the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests and the Crooked River National Grassland are lifting campfire restrictions effective 12:01 a.m. Wednesday on public lands in Central Oregon. The Industrial Fire Precaution

Preliminary estimates show there were modest employment gains in August across Central Oregon, a month remembered for smoky skies and the total solar eclipse, the state’s regional economist said Tuesday. Despite these seasonally adjusted job gains, the unemployment rate ticked up across the region, Regional Economist Damon Runberg noted. Much of the unemployment rate growth

The Sisters Folk Festival said Tuesday it has notified pass holders that they can claim a partial refund on their tickets for the 2017 Festival, canceled due to wildfire smoke and the health hazards it posted. In an announcement from SFF, organizers stated: “Cancelling the 2017 Sisters Folk Festival, our biggest fundraiser, was the most

(Update: Second suspect arrested) KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) – Police have made a second arrest in the killing of a 32-year-old man in southern Oregon. Klamath County District Attorney Eve Costello said Tuesday that 21-year-old Kyle Steele was arrested Monday shortly before midnight in Nevada. Costello had previously announced the arrest of 21-year-old Tevin Lafond. She says

ARLINGTON, Ore. (AP) – Oregon State Police say a driver traveling the wrong way on Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon died in a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer hauling vehicles. OSP Sgt. Michael Berland says dispatchers got a call about the wrong-way van Monday at 7:40 p.m. Minutes later, they were informed of the head-on crash

A La Pine driver spotted using a cellphone and not wearing a seat belt was chased by a Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy Monday at up to 80 mph before she stopped and was arrested. A deputy observed the traffic violations around 4:30 p.m. on Burgess Road near Day Road, said sheriff’s Sgt. Jayson Janes. As

Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley on Monday night secured their provision in the Senate’s defense bill that would provide federal funding to train more members of the National Guard to fight wildfires. But they voted no on the overall bill, objecting to the major increase in defense spending. The Wyden-Merkley amendment would authorize

Scientists at Oregon State University have taken an important step toward gene therapy for deaf patients by developing a way to better study a large protein essential for hearing and finding a truncated version of it. Mutations in the protein, otoferlin, are linked to severe congenital hearing loss, a common type of deafness in which

Animals in the Goldilocks zone — neither too big, nor too small, but just the right size — face a lower risk of extinction than do those on both ends of the scale, according to an extensive global analysis. Reporting Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers who determined body masses

A Bend paddleboarder who came to the rescue of a woman struggling in the Deschutes River near the Newport Avenue Bridge spillway said last year he didn’t consider himself a hero, just “somebody trying to help somebody out.” But the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission respectfully disagreed, and Tanner Boslau is one of 18 civilians –

In the second quarter of 2017, community hospitals across Oregon saw low operating margins compared those of prior years, continuing the trend from the previous several quarters, officials said Monday. The median operating margin at an Oregon hospital was 2.3 percent in the second quarter of 2017 — significantly down from the 5.3 percent recorded

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Police say two people have died and four others suffered life-threatening injuries in a multiple vehicle crash in Portland. Portland police say officers responded to a report of a crash involving multiple vehicles at Northeast 15th Avenue and Northeast Lombard Street at 8:46 p.m. Monday. Police say officers and medical personnel arrived and

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A 23-year-old inmate at the Two Rivers Correctional Institution died suddenly, becoming the fifth unanticipated death at the state prison this year. Oregon Department of Corrections spokeswoman Betty Bernt says staff members were responding to complaints from Kenneth Allen Sunday at the Umatilla facility when he became unresponsive. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (https://goo.gl/7iak6s )

(Update: Adding Wyden-Merkley news release) SALEM, Ore. (AP) – One of the people who was behind the creation of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument says Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendation to President Donald Trump recommending downsizing it has several errors. A memo from Zinke to the president justifying his recommendation that the boundary of the monument which

Several female real estate agents in Central Oregon say they have been receiving unnerving phone calls recently. “It felt like a strange interaction,” Shelise Murray said Monday. “So I went ahead and got off the phone and took notes on how that went and the times that he had called me, because it was multiple

The intersection of 11th Street and Portland Avenue is slated for change. It comes after a string of accidents and numerous complaints. For those who live at the intersection, like Paul Anderson, honking is inevitable. “Horns are constantly beeping, I would say approximately one every 15 minutes,” Anderson said Monday. And close calls are constant.

Disaster responders from the American Red Cross in Oregon and Southwest Washington (Cascades Region) are on the ground in Texas and Florida helping communities devastated by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma with shelter, food, water, cleanup supplies and recovery assistance. Responders from Saint Helens, Grants Pass, Williams, Portland, Bend, Eugene, Keizer, Junction City, Dallas, Salem, Florence,

Rain is falling in Central Oregon — for the first time in weeks in many spots — and that is a welcome sight for those out fighting fires for the past several weeks. According to Incident Meteorologist Ian Morrison, the Whitewater Fire near Santiam Pass has seen its fair share of rain already. “Well the

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office has continued to coordinate with fire managers on the Nash Fire, which is part of the Horse Creek Complex. After discussion with the incident management team and the Deschutes National Forest, the Sheriff’s Office will drop all pre-evacuation notices around Elk Lake due to the Nash fire at 3 p.m.

The Oregon State Police Fish & Wildlife Division sought the public’s help Monday to find whoever is responsible for the unlawful taking and wasting of a buck deer in Crook County. On Saturday afternoon, OSP was notified of a dead buck deer north of Prineville, about 1 1/2 miles from McKay Creek on McKay Creek