NewsChannel 21 spoke Friday with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, about how he and four fellow senators recently wrote to 22 major convenience stores and their wholesalers, reminding them of their obligations and legal liability under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
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The city of Prineville has chosen a third-party firm to help conduct a nationwide search for a new police chief in the wake of Larry Seymour’s recent resignation, consultant Jim Band said Friday – while a $1.5 million lawsuit against the city and Seymour by a fired employee took an unusual twist.
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BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Deschutes Public Library District is seeking applicants to fill a newly vacant board position after the resignation of longtime board member Ray Miao. The vacancy is in Zone 4, which serves Deschutes County precincts 2, 4, 9, 12, 21, 25, 33, 43 and 44 in east and southeast Bend. Any
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Eight Central Oregon projects are receiving about $24 million in federal funds, and many more projects across the state are also included in spending bills recently passed by Congress, Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a series of announcements this week.
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SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Reports from KATU News indicate the left-wing, socialist-adjacent Oregon Center for Public Policy is leading yet another attempt to take the Kicker refund from taxpayers to grow state government and line progressive pockets. “Far too many Oregonians feel the impacts of high taxes, inflation, and other rising costs due to decades of poor
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The Deschutes National Forest announced Thursday it’s seeking public input for the next 30 days on its draft environmental assessment for the West Bend Trails project, an ambitious set of changes to improve the very popular trail system, while removing unauthorized routes that can disturb wildlife.
Continue ReadingSALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Oregon taxpayers have already claimed more than $1.6 billion of the record $5.61 billion surplus revenue kicker tax credit being returned to taxpayers in 2024, the Oregon Department of Revenue announced Thursday. The department also reported that it has received more than 950,000 tax returns thus far this year. Another 1.2
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Deschutes County, which paced the state as one of the fastest-growing counties in the U.S. for quite a stretch 20 or 30 years ago, is back atop the state’s growth rankings in a year that saw Oregon actually decline in population, the U.S. Census Bureau reported in July 1, 2023 estimates released Wednesday night.
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The Ochoco National Forest has opened a 30-day public comment period on a draft environmental assessment to formalize an unofficial 51-mile equestrian trail system and conduct restoration of areas damaged by off-road vehicles.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW/KTVZ) — The Portland City Council has unanimously passed an ordinance that will ban the use of gas-powered leaf blowers on all public and private property, KGW reports. The ban takes effect in January 2026, although gas leaf blowers will still be permitted during the months of October, November and December for the first two
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After more than a year of discussion – and just days before the May primary candidate filing deadline – the Crook County Court voted 2-1 Friday to change the county’s form of government from two commissioners and a judge who is the board chair to three equal commissioners and a county manager, they’ll appoint.
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(Update: adding video comments from local TikTokkers) BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Oregon Reps. Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer voted with the strong House majority Wednesday to require that the popular social media app TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, be required to sell the app to a U.S. company or that the app be banned from being
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(Update: Adding video, comments from the city manager) La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) — The city of La Pine has received more than $300,000 to plan a big upgrade to its sidewalks. The city was awarded $375,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan Act that was given to the state back in 2021. “This money has
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BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Nominations for the Deschutes County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Safe Sidewalk Awards are now open. The committee is seeking nominations of businesses, individuals or organizations that have made an extra effort to keep their sidewalks safe by clearing debris and hazards. Winners will be recognized with Safe Sidewalk Awards,
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Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler was back in the NewsChannel 21 studio on Wednesday’s Sunrise show for her monthly responses to your questions. Topics this time included the downtown 2-hour parking limit, plowing side streets, the mayor pro tem’s role, saving more trees and the Jackstraw project’s property tax break. You can submit your question for
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BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council. in partnership with the Coordinated Houseless Response Office, released a Request for Qualifications Wednesday as the first step in a process to design, site, and operate temporary outdoor shelters in Deschutes County. The Request for Qualifications follows an in-depth process working with public partners, including the
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BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Deschutes National Forest announced on Wednesday the selection of Kevin Stock as the permanent Bend-Fort Rock District ranger. “I’m excited to welcome Kevin Stock into his new District Ranger role,” said Deschutes National Forest Supervisor Holly Jewkes. “The district will benefit from his extensive natural resource management experience.” Stock is
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MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Oregon DMV office in Madras was closed Wednesday due to staffing issues, the agency announced. DMV staffing issues have led to several one-day or short-duration closures in recent years, especially in smaller offices such as Redmond and Madras. You can do much of your DMV business online at https://dmv2u.oregon.gov/eServices/_/
Continue ReadingThe stage is almost set for what promises to be a busy spring campaign season for Central Oregon candidates and measures on Oregon’s May 21 primary election ballot.
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WASHINGTON (KTVZ) – Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senate Health, Employment, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee Chair Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., sent a letter to federal agencies this week, requesting they issue guidance to insurers to crack down on cost-sharing practices that land patients with surprise medical bills after receiving preventative services. “Health plans
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