Month: December 2018

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., will hold nine town halls around Oregon over three days in early January, including three in Central Oregon on Friday, Jan. 4, his office said Thursday. Merkley “will update constituents on his work in Washington, D.C., and answer their questions and invite their suggestions about how to tackle the challenges facing

Kôr Community Land Trust, a Bend-based grassroots nonprofit, closed Tuesday on their first piece of land, located at 21221 Hurita Place in Bend. Kôr uses the community land trust model of individually owned homes on trust-owned land to provide affordable homeownership opportunities for qualified Central Oregonians. The first land in trust will be developed as

Bend Garbage & Recycling and Cascade Disposal have joined together to improve their customer recycling guides. The new guides are designed to show the simplicity of recycling and focus on what items are acceptable in your local recycling program. Brad Bailey, President of Bend Garbage & Recycling, says, “With the global recycling market crisis that

Oregon is ranked as having some of the highest rates of mental illness and lowest access to care – 49th in the country, according to the group Mental Health America. An Oregon senator wants to make some changes, so it’s easier for people who need help to get it. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote a

There’s a new vehicle that takes kids to and from school. It’s called a Walking School Bus, and local elementary school students from around the region are boarding! A walking school bus is a group of children who walk to school together with one or more adults. Much like a school bus, as the students

HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) – A man has died after being hit by a MAX train in Hillsboro. Authorities say the eastbound train hit the man early Thursday morning 50 yards west of Northeast Cornelius Pass Road at the start of a train overpass. Shuttle buses are serving area stations. Sgt. Eric Bunday, a Hillsboro police

A Madras man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Eugene federal court to last year’s post-eclipse robbery of the U.S. Bank in Madras and also admitted possessing methamphetamine with an intent to distribute the drug, federal prosecutors said. On August 21, 2017, amid the busy post-eclipse crowd in Madras, a man later identified as Tyler Wayne Fuller,

(Update: Reservations now available on United website) Central Oregonians wanting to fly to – or make connections – through — Chicago will have a new direct flight to try out next summer, though you might need a pillow: Redmond Municipal Airport’s longest direct connection will be a red-eye flight to the Windy City. RDM announced

Good Thursday Morning, Everyone…The advance of the next system will thicken our cloud cover today and bring showers through the afternoon along with breezy winds. Highs will be in the mid 40’s to low 50’s and southerly winds will ramp up to 15-20 mph with gusts to 25+ mph. Showers will taper off tonight, but

It was another jam-packed agenda for the final Bend City Council meeting of the year, and one of the many topics discussed was the future of the Juniper Ridge development. Councilors approved a revival of an advisory board for the city-owned property, which stalled when the economic downturn hit a decade ago. This was a

In 2017, Oregon recovered 2,327,645 tons of waste, or 42.8 percent of all waste generated, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s 2017 Oregon Material Recovery and Waste Generation Report shows, the agency said Wednesday. The annual report tracks the amount of waste that Oregonians generate, dispose of and recover through recycling, composting or incineration for

Shepherd’s House Ministries is pleased to announce they are over halfway to their $215,000 December matching challenge. All gifts donated before midnight Dec. 31 will be doubled because of a group of generous donors. Help them reach more people with hope and healing in 2019 by supporting this effort. Donations can be made online, or

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) – The Oregon Health Authority is expecting to lift requirements that led to rationing the use of a $1,000-per-pill drug that can cure hepatitis C. The Mail Tribune reports most patients covered by the Oregon Health Plan had to already have liver damage in order to qualify for the hepatitis C cure.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Damian Lillard had 24 points, including 15 in the third quarter, and the Portland Trail Blazers handed the Memphis Grizzlies their fourth straight loss with a 99-92 victory on Wednesday night. Portland’s bench was key, outscoring the Grizzlies’ reserves 44-14 for the team’s third straight win. Meyers Leonard had 12 points

The city of Prineville and Apple announced Wednesday they have teamed up to create a resilient, cost-effective and sustainable water supply solution to meet growing community demands for generations to come The city’s building an Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) system, a water management tool that allows the city to meet peak demands by taking

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The Center for Biological Diversity and Cascadia Wildlands have sued the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for failing to ban the trapping of Humboldt martens in Oregon’s coastal forests. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Portland comes after the mink-like animal was proposed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.

(Update: NWS classifies tornado as ‘significant’ EF2) SEATTLE (AP) – The National Weather Service says preliminary investigation shows an extremely rare tornado that touched down west of Seattle Tuesday was rated an EF2. That means it is considered to have been a significant tornado. Estimated peak winds during the tornado were up to 130 mph.

Happy Wednesday evening, everyone! Winds will be breezy at times through midnight and will become windy and gusty after that with gusts around 35 miles per hour. Overnight expect partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies as we’ll be dry until the second half of the day tomorrow. Lows will be in the upper 20s and

On Jan. 1, there will be changes that some Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients in Clatsop, Deschutes, Jackson, Linn, Polk, and Tillamook counties may notice. The mandatory Employment and Training program is expanding to recipients categorized as Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) who don’t qualify for an exemption from the SNAP time limits. Expanding

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – An audit has found that if the state of Oregon had used a web-based procurement app in the last biennium, it could have saved more than $1 billion. Secretary of State Dennis Richardson said Wednesday that adoption of a statewide eProcurement system, if quickly implemented statewide, could close Oregon’s 2019-21 budget