BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — All three Central Oregon counties saw little to no change in their seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in August, with marginally higher rates year-over-year, the Oregon Employment Department reported Tuesday. Crook County: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased over the month of August and is now 5.8%, down from 6.0% in July—in
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WASHINGTON (KTVZ) — Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Representative Judy Chu, D-Calif., introduced legislation Tuesday called the PROGRESS Act that would improve access to capital for small businesses owned by women and people of color. Short for Providing Real Opportunities for Growth to Rising Entrepreneurs for Sustained Success, the PROGRESS Act would create two new tax
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La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) – The La Pine Park & Recreation District announced online Monday that their office and some services have been forced to temporarily close due to “serious harassment” of staff, both at work and in their private lives. In the note “to our La Pine Community,” posted on the park district’s website
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WARM SPRINGS, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation on Monday shared the results of a report that tested water quality on the lower Deschutes River, saying it found some of the nation’s best water, easing potentially costly requirements for a major water treatment system upgrade. The tribes said repeated water
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WASHINGTON (KTVZ) — Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced Monday that $1,852,748 is heading to the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership (OMEP) to bolster Oregon manufacturers. This funding will provide public-private partnerships to small and medium sized manufacturers across the state. “If we don’t make things in America, we won’t have a middle class in
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WASHINGTON (KTVZ) — Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Monday he has joined in introducing a crucial bill that he said would empower tenants to organize, participate in, and operate tenant organizations without fear of retaliation or interference in Oregon and nationwide. Here’s his news release: The Tenants’ Right to Organize Act, led by Senator John Fetterman,
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WASHINGTON (KTVZ) — Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced Monday that the Health Resources and Services Administration is awarding seven Oregon health centers a total of $4.1 million to launch and expand their behavioral health services, including $600,000 for Central Oregon’s Mosaic Community Health clinics. “This federal funding is critical to providing Oregon communities with
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Construction is almost finished on the first accessory dwelling unit (ADU) created under a new city design program, located on the east side of Bend.
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WASHINGTON (KTVZ) — Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said Monday they have joined Senate colleagues in calling on 11 of the largest and most popular social media and encrypted chat companies in the United States to increase resources needed to combat 2024 U.S. election administration and certification disinformation. “We are deeply concerned that
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SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Oregon Department of Administrative Services published Monday the annual maximum rent increase allowed by statute for calendar year 2025. The DAS Office of Economic Analysis has once again calculated the maximum percentage as 10%, the maximum allowed under the 5-year-old state law. Implemented in 2019, Oregon law requires DAS to
Continue ReadingBEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The City of Bend said Monday it is renaming the Utility Department to “Water Services Department,” and the Engineering and Infrastructure Planning Department to “Engineering Department,” to more simply reflect the services provided. The name “Water Services” reflects what the department provides. The Water Services Department manages all aspects of Bend’s
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State Representative Janelle Bynum is campaigning in Central Oregon this weekend, as we’re just over a month away from Election Day. Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District candidate was joined by state Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum for her visit to the region.
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By Evan Watson, KGW PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Oregon Department of Forestry needs emergency funding to pay for the most expensive wildfire season in state history, with record-high costs of $250 million and counting, KGW reports. As of mid-September, more than 1.9 million acres of land had burned across Oregon — nearly double the acreage
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SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) – This week marked the 12th deployment of 2024 for the Oregon Department of Forestry’s incident management teams, or IMTs —11 during fire season and one following the ice storm earlier this year. An IMT is a group of specially trained and qualified personnel who together provide the type of highly adaptable and
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SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) – The State of Oregon, through collaboration between the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Oregon Water Resources Department and the Oregon Health Authority, released a Nitrate Reduction Plan on Friday to outline the state’s key strategies to reduce groundwater nitrate concentrations to less than seven mg/L
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WASHINGTON (KTVZ) — Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., announced Friday the Farmers Conservation Alliance in Bend has earned a $200,000 Energizing Rural Communities award from the U.S. Department of Energy. “In my meetings and town halls throughout Oregon, I hear regularly from farmers and ranchers about the negative impacts the climate crisis is
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MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Oregon Department of Education, in partnership with the Oregon Lottery, announced Friday afternoon at a Jefferson County Middle School surprise all-school assembly that English teacher Christa Rohrbach has been named one of Oregon’s 18 2024-25 Regional Teachers of the Year! Every day in Oregon classrooms, teachers offer their innovation, energy and
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — As the 2024-2025 respiratory virus season gets under way, statewide infectious disease experts urge everyone in Oregon to Risk Less. Do More. in alignment with a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services national vaccination campaign. Risk Less. Do More. aims to increase awareness of vaccines that reduce serious illness from influenza, COVID-19 and
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(Update: Adding video, comments by Brooks Resources President Kirk Schueler) BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Bend City Council on Wednesday evening approved the sale of two lots totaling 94 acres in the Juniper Ridge Area to Taylor Brooks for $8 million and also acquired three lots in the Core area from Taylor Development for $3.5 million for
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It’s been nearly three weeks since the new Measure 110 reforms and deflection program began in Deschutes County and across the state — and at this point, local treatment services are calling it a miracle.
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