Month: August 2019

Firefighters have responded to almost 50 new wildfires since Thursday morning, with the majority of those occurring east of Bend as the storms tracked from the southern part of the state, northeast through the High Desert and the Ochoco National Forest, officials said Friday. Here’s the rest of the morning update from the Central Oregon

Local public safety agencies are planning an emergency notification exercise at mid-morning Saturday. The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Crooked River Ranch Fire and Rescue, Deschutes County 911 and Frontier Regional Dispatch will send out a test message via the Deschutes Alerts and Frontier Regional Alerts programs around 10 a.m. to residents

Here’s the city of Redmond’s planned road closures and delays for the week of Aug. 10-17. Redmond Area Street Closures, Events and Delays Map Special Event: Wild Ride Car Show, “What’s Your Wild Ride?” August 10, 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Starting at 6:00 a.m. Saturday, August 10, the following streets will be closed to

The Oregon Department of Revenue reported Friday it has recently seen a spike in concerned taxpayers reporting “fishy phone calls,” many involving fake claims of problems with their Social Security accounts. The callers fraudulently identify themselves as Social Security representatives and threaten the taxpayer with deactivating their Social Security number or account because of suspicious

HAPPY VALLEY, Ore. (AP) — Two arborists breaking down the setup of the Pickathon music festival were killed Thursday when the cherry picker they were in fell over. KGW reports the incident occurred at around 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Pendarvis Farm. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said arborists were helping take down shades that were

In 2018, Oregon had the second highest rate of unsheltered homeless people in the country. The state also had the third-highest rate of chronically homeless people in the U.S. As Central Oregon continues to grow, the number homeless people coming into the area has increased. Mary Brunelle , 63, who moved to Bend four years

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said Thursday he concluded Redmond police officers responded properly in late June when they arrested five people after an alleged drunken driving hit-and-run incident. But he also decided one of the five, among those recording the scene in videos that went viral, won’t face charges. Here’s Hummel’s news release

(Update: Crook County Sheriff’s Office offers details) An intense thunderstorm dumped heavy rain in the Powell Butte area early Thursday evening, triggering flash flooding that damaged at least one home and sent rushing water, mud and large rocks across roads, into canals and backyards while closing the Powell Butte Highway for about two hours. Elsewhere

Good Friday Morning, Everyone… Thunderstorm activity can be expected across our entire region today. The National Weather Service has declared a Fire Weather Warning for all of eastern Oregon and Washington . Highs will be in the mid 80’s and gentle southerly winds this morning will turn gusty out of the west. Rain showers and

It’s still summer, but Bend Park and Recreation District is thinking about the cooler days of fall. Registration for fall recreation programs begins Monday, Aug. 12 at 5:30 a.m. Fall programs run from Sept. 1 through the end of December and include youth and adult activities, after-school programs, ice skating and ice sports, fitness, swimming,

(Update: Suspect also shot) GASTON, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say two Washington County sheriff’s deputies were shot near Gaston. Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett said the suspect was shot and taken to a hospital Thursday. The deputies were taken to hospitals. The sheriff’s office said a deputy who was seriously injured has an encouraging prognosis.

(Updating: Expanded throughout) SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration cannot withhold millions of dollars in law enforcement grants from Oregon to force the nation’s first sanctuary state to cooperate with U.S. immigration enforcement. U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane, in Eugene said in his ruling late Wednesday that the

(Update: More details, comment from forest official) The water system at Lava Lake and Little Lava Lake campgrounds has been contaminated, prompting a shutdown to users, the U.S. Forest Service said Thursday. Forest Service officials were doing a routine check of the water system Thursday morning when some of the water samples turned out to

Happy Thursday evening, everyone! A FIRE WEATHER OR RED FLAG WARNING is in effect through Saturday morning. We’ll see abundant lightning out of thunderstorms with gusty winds. Fuels are dry, but we are getting some rain with these thunderstorms. Through the rest of the evening tonight expect gusty winds with scattered thunderstorms. Lightning will be

The 2019 Oregon Legislature has passed a bill that bans the possession and use of deer and elk urine scent lures that contain or are derived from any cervid urine beginning Jan. 1, 2020. House Bill 2294 was sponsored by Rep. Witt (D-Clatskanie) and Rep. Brock Smith (R-Port Orford) and is meant to reduce the

(Update: Expanding throughout; comments from Bend planner) SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon hopes to build its way out of its housing crisis under first-in-the-nation state legislation signed by Gov. Kate Brown Thursday meant to encourage local cities to construct denser, more affordable housing options. The law, House Bill 2001, targets a century-old practice known as

Here is the city of Bend’s weekly road and traffic report for August 11-18: For the Week of August 11 – 18 NE 27 th Street, south of intersection with NE Butler Market Road, for waterline installation, road closure with detour, 8/11/19, 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. 15th Street between Chloe Lane and Gateway Drive

(Update: More details from fire dept., CNG; gas leak stopped) A private contractor struck a natural gas line in Madras late Thursday morning, closing U.S. Highway 97 in both directions for nearly 90 minutes while a Cascade Natural Gas crew responded to cap and repair the line. The broken line and tell-tale rotten-egg odor added

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — Six Washington State Patrol troopers have filed a class-action lawsuit against Ford Motor Company, saying their patrol vehicles gave them carbon monoxide poisoning. KOIN reports the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court, states the troopers suffered physical harm. A separate lawsuit was filed Thursday by five troopers against the

The Bend City Council’s looking at not requiring sidewalks in one older Bend neighborhood, and instead having residents put money into a fund for a network of sidewalks, assisted by the city. The Woodriver Village subdivision is unique, as it was approved back in 1972 by Deschutes County, long before it was annexed into the