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Government-Politics

Wildfires, water, & politics: Central Oregonians discuss pressing issues with local lawmakers at town hall

(Update: adding information from Bend’s town hall on April 26th, video) BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A group of Central Oregon residents gathered Sunday for a legislative town hall in Bend, and brought big questions to Central Oregon lawmakers โ€” touching on everything from wildfire and water concerns to federal funding cuts and growing political division.

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Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield

Coalition of AGs challenges Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting, including Oregon’s Dan Rayfield

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Attorney General Dan Rayfield and a coalition of 23 other attorneys general, along with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, have asked a federal court to permanently block an executive order restricting mail-in voting. The coalition filed a motion for summary judgment today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

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Problem Solvers: Polluters over people; EPA’s repeal of emission standards puts Oregon’s climate goals in jeopardy

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) In what President Donald Trump called “the single largest deregulatory action in American history, by far.” his administration revoked the 2009 Environmental Protection Agency Endangerment Finding. Essentially pulling the federal rug out from under states and their emission standards. It limits states powers to regulate emissions and puts Oregon off track for

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Burn alert: Up to 120 acres of prescribed burning planned Thursday southwest of Lake Billy Chinook

Update: Adding video SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) โ€” Firefighters on the Sisters Ranger District are planning prescribed burning ignitions Thursday, if conditions are favorable. Firefighters plan to conduct up to 120 acres of ignitions on Flymon 7 South Prescribed Burn, located 5 miles southwest of Lake Billy Chinook, the Deschutes National Forest said Wednesday in a news

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SNAP benefits MGN

Officials advise Oregonians affected by new federal work rules how they could regain their SNAP benefits

Update: Adding video SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) โ€” As the impacts of recent federally directed changes to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work rules begin to show in Oregon, the state Department of Human Services shared information Wednesday, to help people who have lost benefits, or may lose them soon, understand how they may be able

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Jonathan Lockwood Patti Adair House 5th District

Decision 2026: Meet the two Republicans vying to flip Oregonโ€™s 5th Congressional District

By Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle SALEM, Ore. — Republican voters in Oregonโ€™s 5th Congressional District will choose between a longtime Republican communications professional and a local elected official in the May 19 primary.ย  Former legislative spokesperson Jonathan Lockwood and Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair are Republicans from opposite generations vying for the Republican vote.

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Home-hardening

City of Bend’s new ‘home-hardening’ rules to reduce wildfire threat will take effect May 15

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The city of Bend will enact “home-hardening” requirements on May 15 for new homes, to improve their resiliency in the face of any future wildfires. The Bend City Council recently adoptedย Section R327 of the Oregon Residential Specialty Code, establishing the homeโ€‘hardening requirements designed to improve wildfire resilience for new, detached residential

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Former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer Resigns Amid Misconduct Allegations

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Former Central Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned from President Donald Trumpโ€™s Cabinet on Monday following investigations into alleged misconduct involving her and her husband. Chavez-DeRemer served as U.S. secretary of labor for 14 months. She is the third Cabinet member to leave the administration in recent months, following the departures of

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Child Psychiatric Facility rendering Redmond

Construction set to begin this summer on youth psychiatric facility in Redmond – a first for the region

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Construction is expected to begin this summer on the first child psychiatric facility in Central Oregon, a crucial addition that will keep many youth in the area for inpatient treatment and not have to travel far from their family and friends.  Deschutes County commissioners got an update on the project Monday from county Health Services Director Holly Harris.  

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Central Oregon’s unemployment rates hold steady in February, despite fewer job gains than normal

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Central Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rates saw very little movement from January to February, holding steady in Deschutes and Crook counties and dropping slightly in Jefferson County, the Oregon Employment Department reported Tuesday. Here’s that full report, from Regional Economist Patrick O’Connor: Bend MSA (Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties): The Bend

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