Month: April 2019

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon is exploring an additional $2 tax on cigarettes to help fund the state’s Medicaid program. Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday the proposed tax would bring in $346 million every two years. She adds that higher cigarette prices will also encourage smokers to quit the habit. The plan would also implement

Save a Warrior is an organization dedicated to serving veterans and first responders. By providing a week-long camp geared toward behavioral and physical practices, participants strive to rebuild a healthy life after war or amid other traumatic stress. Bend veteran Matt Bassitt encourages those struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and thoughts of suicide to seek

Bend community members and visitors have already seen new inspiration, messages and lots of orange popping up on social media and around town as part of the Bend JOY Project. Back for its third consecutive year, the project has recently launched a new program – a 10-Day Community Challenge. Designed to help individuals and families

(Update: ODOT Wed. AM update; some standing water; C.O. roads open; Hwy. 26 closure at Picture Gorge may be lengthy) The rain eased off Tuesday across much of Oregon, but rivers were on the rise and flooding issues continued to mount in several areas, while ODOT reopened state Highway 58 near Oakridge in the evening.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon could be the 16th state to join a movement to switch to a popular vote model in presidential elections. The Senate voted 17-12 after a pitched floor debate on Tuesday to pass Senate Bill 870 and join an agreement between states known as the National Vote Interstate Compact. Under the

A Utah man who sped through a stop sign near the Redmond Airport Tuesday night eluded a pursuing deputy and left his car in a nearby parking lot, prompting a manhunt that led to his arrest, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said. Around 7:40 p.m., a deputy tried to stop the driver of a dark green

Good Wednesday Morning, Everyone… Storm activity carried into the NW by a strong flow out of the Gulf of Alaska will thicken our clouds and give us a chance of afternoon showers today. Highs will stay cool, topping out around 50 degrees, and westerly winds will pick up to 15-20 mph with gusts to 30

A fire fanned by strong winds quickly fire destroyed a home west of Redmond Tuesday night, but some passing motorists helped the two residents escape unharmed, an official said. Redmond Fire and Rescue crews were called around 7:40 p.m. to the fire at a double-wide manufactured home in the 8200 block of West Highway 126,

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Maurice Harkless hit a corner 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Portland Trail Blazers secured home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 104-101 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Lakers a few hours after Magic Johnson abruptly resigned as their president of basketball operations. Johnson shocked

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Deputies say they caught a “burglar” in a house outside Portland after they responded to a possible home invasion, but the burglar wasn’t alive or a person. It was a robotic vacuum cleaner. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports a house sitter in Cedar Hills had called 911 Monday, saying someone was inside the

The cafeteria at the Redmond Early Learning Center becomes a very loud place every day during lunch, but lately, a desire for quieter mealtimes has become a valuable lesson. RELC is the district’s in-town kindergarten facility, serving nearly 400 kindergartners (known as Honeybees) within the Redmond School District. During lunch, the cafeteria sees 100 children

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A Republican state senator has been criticized after claiming slaves benefited from being designated as three-fifths of a person. Sen. Dennis Linthicum of Klamath Falls said on Tuesday during floor debate that the Three-Fifths Compromise was meant to prevent slaveholding states from gaining too much power in Congress. The comments came

A partnership between the Oregon Department of Corrections and the Oregon Health Authority has led to a significant reduction in the amount of sodium in meals served since 2016 to adults in custody at the state’s 14 correctional institutions, the two agencies said Tuesday. DOC’s Food Services staff, and the AICs who work in the

(Update: Suspect arrested after pursuit) TACOMA, Wash. (AP) – Authorities say a suspect has been arrested in connection with a series of ATM explosions in Tacoma, Spanaway and Lacey. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday afternoon on Facebook that a suspect had been arrested after an ATM explosion at a Wells Fargo Bank in

At its February special forum, City Club of Central Oregon announced the three finalists for the second annual “Conversation of the Year” award. Unlike most awards, which recognize individual achievement, the Conversation of the Year award celebrates the quality of the conversation itself and recognizes the community as the true winner. One or more individuals,

Happy Tuesday evening, everyone! Gusty winds will stay with us through tonight. Expect winds to top around 40 miles per hour between now and midnight and staying breezy through the morning. Lows will be cold in the 20s and 30s. Overhead we’ll be mainly dry and see partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies. Wednesday will

Crook County officials on Tuesday rescued a Post-area ranch worker who went to rescue some cows stuck on an island in the rain-swollen Crooked River, was bucked off her horse and became stranded on an island herself. Crook County 911 received a distress call about 10:20 a.m. from the Bonnieview Ranch in Post, Undersheriff James

The Central Oregon Canal Historic District in Deschutes County is among Oregon’s latest entries in the National Register of Historic Places, the Oregon Park and Recreation Department said Tuesday. Oregon’s State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation recommended forwarding the historic district’s nomination to the National Park Service –which maintains the National Register– at their November

Welcome to the Oregon FBI’s Tech Tuesday segment. This week: we continue our series on building a digital defense against frauds targeting senior citizens. A recent law enforcement operation to target those who prey on elderly Americans shows that the victims lost more than three-quarters of a billion dollars in the past year. That sweep

If you know someone who’s been battling an addiction, you’re not alone. For one family in Redmond, addiction is all too familiar. Three years ago, Sierra Campbell was getting married. She already had one child, and another was soon to come. Campbell was a big part of her family. “We always did holiday stuff at