2016 in review: A tumultuous year on the High Desert
The year 2016 was, in many ways, a dramatic, tragic, challenging year around the nation and world – and no less so on the High Desert.
Central Oregonians were shocked and saddened by a series of high-profile crimes, in a year that began with a nearby wildlife refuge takeover grabbing national headlines and ended with a string of deadly crashes on highways across the region.
Here’s a brief look at back at some of the area’s memorable news events over the past 12 months.
THE REFUGE TAKEOVER: It didn’t happen in Central Oregon, but involved many area residents, many of whom traveled by convoy from Bend for a rally the day it began, nearly a year ago. There were not just local participants, but protests (for and against) in Central Oregon cities as the occupation dragged on, grabbed worldwide headlines and took a tragic turn with the Oregon State Police shooting death of spokesman LaVoy Finicum. Not everyone agreed with the tactics, but the issues struck a chord with many: the justice system (and a later acquittal at a federal trial in Portland of brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy and five others), federal land management and property rights, to name a few.
THE KAYLEE SAWYER KILLING: There were crimes large and small drawing attention around the High Desert in 2016, but perhaps none more so than the death of Central Oregon Community College student Kaylee Sawyer, whose disappearance sparked a wide-ranging search until it was learned COCC campus public safety officer Edwin Lara of Redmond allegedly struck her with his patrol car, dumped her body in a canyon west of Redmond and fled the area, accused of abducting a Salem woman and shooting a man in California, carjacking a family and leading police on a chase before his arrest. He’s due to go on trial for aggravated murder in 2017.
THREE DEADLY OFFICER-INVOLVED ENCOUNTERS: Central Oregon was not immune to deadly police encounters seen elsewhere in the country: In late May, a State Police trooper shot and killed a man at the High Desert Museum who had assaulted a gift shop worker and later came at the trooper with a knife. Deschutes County DA John Hummel ruled his actions were justified, as were those of a Redmond police officer who struck, killed a man with his patrol car who was aiming a gun at passers-by and police on busy Canal Boulevard. And on a busy night in downtown Bend just two days before Christmas, a Bend man pulled over for suspected drunk driving resisted arrest, police said, and was fatally shot by officers, sparking questions and an investigation that will continue into the new year.
SHERIFF’S OFFICE TURMOIL: Capt. Scott Beard was indicted in January on charges of embezzlement and fraud (he pleaded guilty in May), the start of a tumultuous year that saw others depart – Capt. Erik Utter in February, while others got into hot water over alleged policy violations. Then there was the hotly fought race between appointed Sheriff Shane Nelson and a rare challenger, Deputy Eric Kozowski, who lost to the incumbent in November. Late in the year, the county agreed to pay just over $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of Edwin Mays III, who died in the county jail in December 2014 of a drug overdose after some jail guards joked about and mocked his condition, as seen on security video
ELECTIONS DRAW SPOTLIGHT: Starting with Bend voters’ resounding rejection of a proposed gas tax at a March special election (the cost of which helped sink it) … in the May primary, Deschutes County 911 won the permanent funding it sought and Sisters narrowly won a new school bond. In November, three new Bend city councilors were elected, in one case soundly defeating incumbent Keith Knight, amid a year that saw controversial topics like climate change draw attention
DEADLY END TO THE YEAR ON CENTRAL OREGON ROADS: Fatal crashes occur at any time of year, for a wide variety of reasons, but December proved especially tragic, with close to a dozen deaths on area highways in less than two weeks, including a triple-fatal crash on Highway 26 north of Warm Springs and two pedestrians struck and killed by cars in Bend and east of Redmond.
WHITEWATER PARK CHURNS CONTROVERSY: Bend Parks and Rec opened its new Whitewater Park but soon heard loud complaints from many about damage, scrapes and bruises, then closed it for safety adjustments, a new round of which was taking place in the winter
A CENTRAL OREGON HIGHER ED MILESTONE: The hotly debated OSU-Cascades four-year campus on Bend’s Westside opened in the fall, and soon the parking issue neighbors had feared led to streets lined with cars as school officials tried various means to ease the parking crunch.
BUSINESSES COME AND GO: Montana’s First Interstate Bank buys long-time Bend-based Bank of the Cascades for $589 million … Bend Research’s parent company, Capsugel, was bought by a big Swiss pharmaceutical firm, Lonza Group, in Decembert for $5.5 billion … Haggen stores in Bend became Albertsons again, a year and major legal battles later … Deschutes Brewery chose Roanoke for its East Coast production facility after a big campaign to woo the Bend company … Mt. Bachelor built and opened its new eastside lift, Cloudchaser … St. Charles began a new $66 million patient tower and ICU expansion project to cope with the area’s growing needs … two long-time Bend restaurants closed, Izzy’s Pizza (to become Round Table) and McGrath’s Fish House
MARIJUANA BUSINESS TAKES ROOT: In some places – in others around Oregon, voters or officials limited or banned various aspects of the burgeoning business; Deschutes County adopted long-awaited rules for rural marijuana operations, aiming to balance the wishes of pot entrepreneurs with the worries of rural residents about odors, lights and crime.
CRIME AND COURT NEWS: A dispute turned into a shooting that shut down Newport Avenue for 13 hours in April; two men were wounded, two arrested … former State Police crime lab forensic scientist Nika Larsen was charged with and pleaded guilty to stealing prescription drugs submitted as evidence as prosecutors review thousands f cases she was involved in … a Sunriver-area man shot and killed his son’s girlfriend, also wounding his son before fatally shooting himself
BEND GETS ITS NEW URBAN GROWTH BOUNDARY: The scaled-down plane draws no opposition and gains state approval in November, but big issues loom – sewer and water expansion costs to density and infill that will no doubt bring more neighborhood disputes amid the effort to create more affordable housing and ease a severe rental squeeze.
LONG-TIME CONTROVERSIES CONTINUE: Pacific Power changed course and said it wants to keep Mirror Pond Dam, throwing a curve into plans for silt dredging and redevelopment …. The Oregon spotted frog led to a legal fight over operation of Deschutes River reservoirs as environmentalist said the unnatural rises and falls were harming their habitat – a dispute that irrigation districts and farmers feared would cause them serious harm. A settlement reached in the fall was sharply criticized by one irrigation district for its impacts on farmers.
MADRAS AIRSHOW TRAGEDY: A large crowd at the late-August Airshow of the Cascades at Madras Airport was stunned to witness a fatal biplane crash during a loop that killed pilot Marcus Payne.
A SNOWY WINTER AT HAND? Unlike 2015, when a huge pre-Thanksgiving dumping heralded a fairly mild and not-too-snowy year for the Bend area, December of 2016 brought a lot of snow that stuck around for weeks, blowing through Bend’s snow-removal budget but boosting hopes that a good snowpack in the winter will ease water concerns next spring and summer.
SPORTS STARS EXCEL ON NATIONAL STAGE: Bend’s Ashton Eaton won his second straight decathlon gold medal at the Rio Olympics, as the Bend North Little League team made a strong showing before a national TV audience at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
What of 2017? A total solar eclipse comes to Central Oregon, lawmakers meet again in Salem, and there’s a new president. But day by day, with all the ups and downs, surprises and expectations, NewsChannel 21 and KTVZ.COM hope your new year brings you and your family nothing but good health and good news.
