Month: March 2019

(Update: TSA contractor adds 600 appointment slots, second agent after initial 1,000 fill up fast) Saving time when flying is very popular in Central Oregon — and that’s why the Transportation Security Administration just added 600 more appointment slots for their enrollment in the PreCheck expedited screening program at Redmond Airport. The previous 1,000 appointment

Unclaimed income tax refunds totaling almost $1.4 billion may be waiting for an estimated 1.2 million taxpayers who did not file a 2015 Form 1040 federal income tax return, according to the Internal Revenue Service. That includes more than $19 million for nearly 18,000 Oregon taxpayers. To collect the money, these taxpayers must file their

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced Wednesday his intent to introduce legislation that would end the tax benefit for donations made to colleges and universities before or during the enrollment of children of the donor’s family. “Yesterday’s headlines about the wealthiest Americans buying access to our elite colleges and universities is just

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A member of the right-wing Proud Boys group has pleaded not guilty to felony third-degree assault and misdemeanor fourth-degree assault. The Oregonian reports 23-year-old Donovon Lyle Flippo of Vancouver, Washington, entered the pleas Wednesday in connection with a June attack on a man in Portland. Flippo was arrested Tuesday and taken

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon will pay off half of its Medicaid debt through new taxes on health care providers. Gov. Kate Brown on Wednesday signed a bill that includes a six-year tax on hospitals and insurance plans to help fund the state’s $950 million Medicaid shortfall. The move is expected to bring in over

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) – Two men drown after one tried to rescue a dog that fell through a frozen pond, and a neighbor tried to rescue the first man. KOMO-TV reports a 73-year-old man was walking his dogs near Bellingham at about 6 p.m. Tuesday when the dogs ran onto a frozen pond and fell

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Pete Kaiser has become the latest Alaska Native to win the Iditarod dog sled race. Kaiserwon the race for the first time early Wednesday, crossing the finish line in Nome after beating back a challenge from the defending champion, Norwegian musher Joar Ulsom. Crowds cheered and clapped as Kaiser came off

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., urged the Senate on Wednesday to take the cyber threats to congressional computers and cell phones seriously by providing an annual report on the number of successful hacks of Senate devices. In a letter addressed to the Senate Sargent of Arms (SAA), Michael Stenger, the bipartisan Senate

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A new report says the elimination of Oregon’s backlog of untested rape kits has led to hundreds of new DNA profiles being added to a national database and multiple cases have been prosecuted. The report from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office was released Tuesday. Oregon was one of 20 states to

Good Wednesday Morning, Everyone…Despite clearing skies and plenty of sunshine today a NW flow of cold Arctic air will keep our daytime highs well below average today. Highs will reach the mid to upper 30’s and NW breezes will stay fairly gentle at 5-10 mph. A few clouds will press in overnight, but we will

Good Wednesday Morning, Everyone… Despite clearing skies and plenty of sunshine today a NW flow of cold Arctic air will keep our daytime highs well below average today. Highs will reach the mid to upper 30’s and NW breezes will stay fairly gentle at 5-10 mph. A few clouds will press in overnight, but we

As Bend clears away tons of snow downtown, where’s it all going? Not all that far, as it turns out. The city Streets Department is removing snow from downtown streets in an effort to improve safety. Department Director David Abbas said crews started work removing snow last Friday night, then took a break Saturday night,

(Update: Kaiser leaves White Mountain) ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska musher leads the world’s most famous sled dog race in the push to the finish. Pete Kaiser, from Bethel, Alaska, was the first musher to leave the checkpoint in White Mountain, at 4:05 p.m. Tuesday. All mushers must take a mandatory eight-hour break at

LOS ANGELES (AP) – CJ McCollum scored 35 points, Jusuf Nurkic and Damian Lillard added 20 apiece and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped the Los Angeles Clippers’ five-game winning streak with a 125-104 victory Tuesday night. McCollum, who was 12 of 21 from the field and made six 3-pointers, took control of the game during

All of that snow piled up along roads around Bend from plowing has left many storm drains buried under hard, heavy berms of snow. With temperatures on the rise in Central Oregon and a big thaw underway, getting those drains cleared of snow is on the city’s priority list. Plowing and maintaining the roads are

Dr. Laurie Chesley has been named the new president of Central Oregon Community College. The COCC board of directors voted 6-0 Tuesday evening to hire Chesley as only the sixth president in the college’s 70-year history. Chesley will assume the position on July 1, replacing Dr. Shirley Metcalf who has served in the role since

Happy Tuesday evening, everyone! Shower chances will end overnight as a few showers are left behind the cold front. Winds will stay breezy for us this evening gusting around 25 miles per hour for most of Central Oregon. Expect partly cloudy skies overhead apart from the chance for snow showers. Low temperatures will fall into

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum testified Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Senate Bill 577, a bill created by Rosenblum’s Hate Crime Prevention Task Force. The legislation proposes a targeted investment in a model of service that gives assistance to individuals and communities impacted by hate, regardless of whether the incident is

President Trump on Tuesday signed into law a major public lands bill that includes legislation introduced by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., to better protect Crooked River Ranch from wildfire. Walden said the Crooked River Ranch Fire Protection Act (H.R. 524) will allow for needed management of the fire fuels that surround the large rural subdivision

This week, the Oregon FBI’s Tech Tuesday segment is all about building a digital defense against car advertisement scams. We all want to make a little extra cash, right? When it looks both easy and legal – all the better. Unfortunately, scammers are more than willing to take advantage of you in your time of