PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) — The owner of a Prineville car dealership, the focus of recent KTVZ Problem Solvers reports for allegedly scamming clients while selling their vehicles, has been arrested on 35 counts of aggravated ID theft, forgery and illegal consignment practices. Michael Dwayne Smetzer Jr., 37, of Prineville, entered not guilty pleas to all
Continue Reading
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)– The legislative session officially ended Friday, and transportation funding failed to pass. Democrats presented the package just last month, sending legislators across the aisle into a frenzy to ensure funding could be passed. Without that funding, the Oregon Department of Transportation says up to 1,000 jobs could be cut. However, bipartisan support
Continue Reading
(Update: Adding video, comments from poster and homeless) SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ)– Jill Sweet shares her life on the road as a vanlifer across social media, many of her posts highlighting staying in Central Oregon. But one video is going viral, after Sweet shared she had been harassed by a homeless person living in Sisters. In
Continue Reading
(Update: Adding video) REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Zachary Bass has served as the director of Redmond Airport for nine years, a job that feels like running a small city. “We have kind of our own security force. Our fire department is really focused just on the airport. We have a lot of ability to kind
Continue Reading
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Is it infrastructure? Or just too many people? That’s the question business owners and residents in Bend are asking, and the problem solvers are investigating, as Empire Avenue continues to back up every day. “I think it really holds people back because you just avoid the area at all costs,” said
Continue Reading
Central Oregon’s largest hospital for wildlife is encouraging hunters to change to non-lead ammunition, as they’ve treated over 85 animals for poisonings in the past 4 years, almost all of which passed away from the illness. But the cost, availability, and accuracy of the bullets are major hurdles for hunters.
Continue Reading
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Nearly a year after Celia Hess died from heat exposure on a scorching hot day in August of 2024, her family is suing Frontier Seniors Living who once owned Aspen Ridge Memory Care in Bend, for 17 million dollars in damage. According to a Facebook post, Areté took over management of
Continue Reading
(Update: Adding video) CENTRAL OREGON [KTVZ] — Central Oregon’s housing market continues to evolve. It presents both challenges and opportunities. Affordability and supply, remain at the forefront of concerns. According to Rocket, in Bend, the median home list price reached $899,000, in April 2025. That’s a 14.5% increase from 2024. What follows is Redmond, with
Continue Reading
LAKE COUNTY, Ore. (KTVZ) — Dog hoarding is growing in rural areas of Southern Oregon’s Lake County, as 14 dogs were seized just this month, and 100 more are likely on the way. The concerning issue has caught the attention of several Central Oregonians, who have stepped in to help. “Oh, my God! It –
Continue Reading
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Oregon experienced its most severe wildfire season on record in 2024, with an estimated 1.9 million acres of forest and grassland burned. “The 2024 fire season definitely was exceptional,” said Ben Walen, a forest resource officer with the Oregon Department of Forestry. With summer quickly approaching, the threat of wildfire is
Continue Reading
Scrolling, streaming, a constant buzz, and endless distraction. Cell phones have found a permanent place in students’ pockets. Right now, there is a bill moving through the Oregon Legislature — sponsored by Bend State Representative Emerson Levy that would prohibit students from having access to cell phones and other mobile devices in the classroom.
Continue Reading
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Jessie Gallaher-Trump, a longtime jump coach at Ridgeview High School, has been officially trespassed by the Redmond School District, barring her from attending school events for the remainder of this year and all of next. Gallaher-Trump, who also works as a social worker at Redmond Proficiency Academy and coaches the Cool
Continue Reading
Richardson respected the Judge’s ruling but stressed as a Vietnam Veteran with Traumatic Brain Injury, those dogs were his lifeline_________________________________________________________________________________________BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A judge ruled that a La Pine-area man whose three dogs were taken away after a widely seen video of him repeatedly hitting one with a shovel, was not allowed to own
Continue Reading BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A La Pine-area man was formally charged Friday with aggravated animal abuse for hitting his dog with a shovel as photos of his three seized dogs were shared with KTVZ’s Problem Solvers. The victim dog, Hooch, and John Coe Richardson’s other two dogs, Evie and Paco, were seized Wednesday when Deschutes
Continue Reading
LA PINE, Ore. (KTVZ)– Just outside the city limits of La Pine, in the dense forest that surrounds the community, you won’t find wild animals enjoying their habitat. Instead, homeless camps. Deputies with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office showed the Problem Solvers first-hand the camps set up right outside of town. “This is a camp
Continue Reading
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the Problem Solvers Wednesday that a La Pine-area man caught on camera apparently abusing his dog with a shovel has been arrested and charged with aggravated animal abuse, and his three dogs were taken to an area shelter for evaluation.
Continue Reading
Despite the presence of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at the Flynn family farm for nearly a month, Oregon Wolf 158 continued to wreak havoc, killing multiple calves and resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in damages. The family is now advocating for reforms to the Endangered Species Act.
Continue Reading
A southeast Bend neighborhood is pushing back against PacifiCorp’s proposed plan to build a transmission line from Prineville to Chiloquin that would potentially in part parallel their neighborhood.
Continue Reading
The Oregon House Committee on Judiciary held the first hearing Monday on legislation introduced by Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend, to keep more sex offenders out of schools – a bill prompted by an incident at a Bend school nearly three years ago.
Continue Reading
Nearly 35,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service land off China Hat Road south of Bend will be closed off to visitors and homeless encampments starting in May as the agency begins work on the Cabin Butte Vegetation Management Project.
Continue Reading