If you're like a lot of lovers of a good celestial spectacle, you may need an extra shot of espresso to help yourself wake up this morning.


Gazing at a rare super blue blood moon is a task best left for the dead of night (or morning), after all. 
Thanks to Observatory Manager Grant Tandy of the Worthy Garden Club Hopservatory for sharing this photo taken through the telescope at the Hopservatory last night. Just wow. 

The Worthy Garden Club Hopservatory will be open tonight (Jan. 31) from 7 to 9 pm if you're looking to get your own look at the full moon through that telescope.

The race for Oregon House District 54 already has one Democratic candidate filed in the race—and now, one Republican is announcing her run for the Republican nomination.

Cheri Helt, who currently sits on the school board for Bend-La Pine Schools, announced today that she's seeking the Republican nomination for the seat currently held by Rep. Knute Buehler. Buehler is vacating his seat to run for the Republican nomination for Oregon governor.

According to a release from Helt's campaign, Helt filed for the nomination today, though as of 4 pm Tuesday, her name had not appeared among documents filed with the Oregon Secretary of State. Helt is the owner of Zydeco Kitchen & Cocktails in downtown Bend. 
Helt's announcement included an interest in focusing on high school graduation rates, teacher pension reform and health care costs as key priorities, as well as addressing housing issues that continue to plague Central Oregon.

"We all know that Bend is changing – and with growth comes both opportunities and challenges," Helt wrote in the Jan. 30 release. "Simply put, the cost of living in our community is growing out of reach for too many of our neighbors. The rising cost of housing – whether renting or owning – is a major problem for many. I’ll work with local officials and community leaders to pursue state policies to keep Bend affordable for the young and old as well as longtime residents and new arrivals experiencing the cost of living squeeze."

The representative for District 54 represents Bend in the Oregon House. Democrat Nathan Boddie, a Bend city councilor, earlier announced his bid for the Democratic nomination in the race. 

T

his week on “Jeopardy!,” Bend local, Rachel Lindgren dominates with five wins and a cash haul of $75,999, so far.

Last January, Lindgren decided on a whim to try out for “Jeopardy!”— the popular televised quiz show hosted by Alex Trebek.
“It was just something to show off all the pointless things I knew,” Lindgren told the Source Weekly Thursday. That seemingly trivial audition is in the process of changing Lindgren’s life. With winnings close to $80,000 and more rounds to come, what will she do in the days ahead?

“Money has always been an issue and I am having a difficult time even comprehending what to do with the amount I have,” she said.
Lindgren, is a modest 26-year-old woman from Carson City, Nev. She moved to Bend last year and currently works at the ticket counter at Mt. Bachelor.

“I still want to work, and I hope to return to the Forest Service this summer,” she said.
Lindgren has a bachelor’s degree in biology and forestry from the University of Nevada, and says she hopes to donate some of her winnings to the Museum of Natural History at the University of Nevada. With her other winnings, she hopes to obtain pilot’s license, travel and return to school.

“I don’t know where I am going to go or what I am going to do but I am excited to be given the opportunity to explore,” said Lindgren.

After her five-day winning streak, Lindgren has gained local and national popularity. State Rep. Knute Buehler, and Sen. Ron Wyden have both tweeted messages of support for Lindgren on Twitter.

“My Facebook has been blowing up. I have been offered everything from marriage proposals to flight lessons,” she explains. “It’s fun to be recognized, for now.”

With “Jeopardy” having 23 million viewers weekly, Lindgren is on a potential road to national fame. After winning five rounds, candidates qualify for a chance to appear on the game show’s Tournament of Champions, although qualifying does not guarantee an invitation, according to the show’s website.

Lindgren doesn’t know if she will be featured on the Tournament of Champions, but said “It’d be really exciting to go back. I have kept in touch with the other contestants, it’s been an incredible experience.”

The filming for this week of “Jeopardy!” was done last October in Culver City, Calif.
“I wasn’t expecting to get this far. They film five shows in one day, twice a week. I hardly even had time to pee,” said Lindgren.

Apparently, she only had time to win. Will she win again tonight? Tune into KOHD at 7 p.m. to see Rachel Lindgren on “Jeopardy!”

Editors note: Lindgren did not win the fifth round of Jeopardy.

The class of 2017 for the Bend-La Pine Schools just made history.

Last year, the student graduation rate for Bend-La Pine Schools marked an all-time high for the percentage of students graduating on time, says a report released today by the Oregon Department of Education. The combined rate for district students earning a diploma on time improved by more than 10 percentage points in the last six years alone—up from 68.2 percent in 2011 to 78.7 percent for the 2016-2017 school year.

“Our staff’s relentless efforts to know each individual by their name, strength and need allows our teaching and learning teams to personalize student engagement in ways that ensure students are involved in their education and on track for graduation,” said BLPS Deputy Superintendent Jay Mathisen. “We are fortunate to have many of Oregon’s best educators and support staff on our team, making these successes a reality for students.”

The Bend-La Pine Schools student graduation rate continues to outpace the state graduation average. Across the state, Oregon students' on-time graduation rate was 76.7 percent.

The graduation rate tracks students beginning in ninth grade and measures how many of those students graduate within four years. The rate is adjusted for students moving in or out of the district.

Jefferson County School District 509J graduation rates leap forward.

Madras High School shows significant growth in all student subgroups

High school graduation rates released by the Oregon Department of Education this week show that Jefferson County School District 509J is making significant improvements. While the district’s graduation performance has been improving over the past two years, 2017 showed a 12 percentage point increase over 2016, moving from 60 to 72 percent for students graduating in four years. Madras High School increased to 78 percent, not including graduation rates for the new Bridges High School which opened in September of 2016.
“We are extremely proud to see the results of the hard work and focus from Madras High School staff and students,” said JCSD 509J Superintendent Ken Parshall. “This didn’t happen overnight. Our team has been working to engage students at a deeper level and provide them with the support they need to be successful in school, graduate and explore college and careers.”
According to Madras High School co-principals Mark Neffendorf and HD Weddel, building relationships between students and staff and setting high expectations at the high school has been critical to the district’s success.
“From the moment our freshmen walk through the door, our team makes it a priority to get to know them. We want them to know we are here for them and that we believe in them. And that support continues the entire time they are here with us,” said Weddel. “We are also holding students accountable and setting high expectations for academics and behavior and they are rising to the occasion,” added Neffendorf. “We track every single student on an on-going basis to make sure he or she is on track and not falling behind. If we find students are struggling in any way, we work with them individually to make sure they have the support they need to be successful.”

The voters have spoken: Measure 101 will soon become law. The measure, the only item on the ballot for the Jan. 23 special election, was an attempt to overturn some of the provisions of a House bill that passed in 2017.


With the passage of Measure 101, those provisions will stay in place.

Statewide, 61 percent of voters approved the measure. In Deschutes County, roughly 54 percent voted in favor.


This, from our coverage of the measure in the Jan. 11 issue:

Measure 101 approved the following provisions:

1. A tax of 1.5 percent on the gross premium equivalents received by the Public Employees' Benefit Board, during a calendar quarter for the two-year duration of the legislation

2. A tax of 1.5 percent on the gross premiums earned by an insurer during a calendar quarter for the two-year duration of the legislation

3. A tax of 1.5 percent on the gross amount of premium equivalents received by a managed care organization, during a calendar quarter for the two year duration of the legislation

4. An additional assessment of 0.7 percent on the net revenue of all non-waivered hospitals in Oregon. Measure 101 also would allow insurers subject to the legislation to increase premiums by up to 1.5 percent—the amount of the assessment charged.

Funds from the measure will be used to provide funding for Medicaid funding in Oregon, which helps provide health insurance to some 350,000 low-income adults, kids and people with disabilities in Oregon, as well as other medical assistance and services that help to stabilize the insurance marketplace.

Keeping with our transportation theme this week, here’s some interesting information just released from WalletHub, concerning which states are best, and which are worst to drive in.

For starters, Oregon ranks the sixth-best state overall to drive in. Our neighbors north and south, well they’re near the bottom of the barrel. In fact, only Hawaii ranked worse than the Evergreen state. Texas, Kansas and Nebraska rounded out the top three.

While Oregon was the best state for lowest auto maintenance costs, the state was voted 46th, or fifth-worst, in highest gas prices. Hawaii and California were the two most expensive.

The study used four categories: cost of ownership; traffic and infrastructure; safety and access to vehicles and maintenance to rank each state.

Read the WalletHub study here.

HEADS UP!

Central Oregon’s best events calendar just got even better.

We’ve just launched a new events platform to serve you, our trusted clients and promoters, even better!

We’re happy to personally answer any questions you might have, but here’s what you should know right now:

What’s the same?

Events are still FREE to submit.

It’s still as easy as before to submit events—but you’ll find a more user-friendly interface to submit them. Just head to BendSource.com and look for the “Submit Event” tab, just like before.

You can edit your own events!

Our trusted partners can now edit their own events, changing dates or other details—something not possible with our past platform.

Automatic event submission!

The new platform allows us to gather your event information from your Facebook pages, meaning that once you’ve created an event through your own Facebook page, we’ll find it and automatically enter it to your calendar. Imagine the possibilities—one less place to submit your event! (If you plan regular events, please email Keely at calendar@bendsource.com to ensure your Facebook page is on our radar.)

What’s different? You’ll need a new user account.

The first time you create an event, you’ll have to create a new user profile for our events platform. (Note: if you want to comment on stories on our website, your old profile will still work.) Create your user profile HERE

Photos rock. Videos rock even more!

Want your event to stand out as much as possible? Don’t forget to add a great photo! Want event more engagement with your event? The new module even allows you to post videos, GIFs and other multimedia content, right inside your event listing.

What else should you know?

Stay tuned for some awesome new advertising opportunities, pairing your business with Source-listed events—by far the most-viewed section of our website. Questions on new ad placements? Email advertise@bendsource.com

Questions or concerns about our new events platform?

Check out our guide at bendsource.com/submitevent

Still have questions? Email Keely at calendar@bendsource.com, or Editor Nicole Vulcan at editor@bendsource.com

Thanks for helping the Source maintain Central Oregon’s most robust and comprehensive events calendar!

An ex-security guard at Central Oregon Community College accused of murder has changed his plea to guilty.

According to KPTV, Edwin Lara, who was arrested in 2016 for the murder of 23-year-old Kaylee Sawyer of Bend, entered a guilty plea Monday morning, and will not face the death penalty as a result of a plea bargain. This is an about face from the not-guilty plea Lara entered on August 25, 2017.

Lara was arrested after a high-speed chase on I-5 near Corning, Calif., 36 hours after Sawyer’s death. According to police, his crime spree didn’t end after he allegedly killed Sawyer. He was also charged with two counts of kidnapping and one count of attempted murder. 

Sawyer’s body was discovered in a remote canyon near Redmond. Prosecutors say she died of blunt force trauma, however his indictment alleged Lara kidnapped and attempted to rape Sawyer before killing her to cover the crimes.

Lara’s wife, a Bend Police officer, went to the authorities after he confessed to killing Sawyer. He originally told his wife it was an accident—that he’d hit Sawyer with his patrol car—and that he’d hid the body out of panic.

This is when Lara’s alleged crime spree started. Lara was extradited to Oregon on August 24, 2017. He apparently confessed to the killing of Sawyer, but his confession was ruled inadmissible by a Deschutes County judge because Lara was denied phone a phone call while in custody in Tehama County, Calif.

Lara will now serve a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole.

Were you in Drake Park this Saturday morning? Then you couldn't miss the thousands out there for the Central Oregon Women's March for Action, on the anniversary of the inauguration of the 45th president. According to the Facebook page for the event, 3500 people attended.

Source photographers were on scene to capture the action. 

Cosmic events are kicking off 2018. The first full moon showed brightly on the night of January 1, but the best is yet to come. 
On January 31, the moon will go through three rare events: a blue Moon, a blood Moon and a lunar eclipse. What’s more, a supermoon will start off the chain of rarities the night of January 30.

A supermoon happens when either a full or new moon reaches Earth at its closest elliptical orbit. The Moon on January 30 will appear slightly larger in size, however it will not be completely full so it’s not a true supermoon. It’ll be 13.2 percent larger and 28.2 percent brighter, according to NASA.

To continue the events on January 31, a blue moon, blood moon and a lunar eclipse will occur. A blue moon is a rare, but not as rare as the saying, “once in a blue moon” implies. They happen about every 2.7 years, and it is the occurrence in which two full moons happen in the same month. A lunar cycle (new moon to new moon) takes 29.53 days, as opposed to the average 30 to 31 days in a calendar month. This year another blue moon will take place in March.

A blood moon will happen on the same night. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon turns a deep blood red however, this is not a blood moon. A blood moon means it’s the fourth total eclipse to happen in a row. The reason the moon turns red during an eclipse has to do with the Earth’s atmosphere. As the Earth moves between the sun and the moon, it casts a shadow, also called an umbra. The shadow created by the Earth’s atmosphere, which extends 50 miles above the surface, is known as the penumbra. As the sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the green to violet portion of light’s spectrum are filtered out, leaving only the red light. This light is then reflected back toward Earth, creating a red hue to appear on the Moon, according to earthsky.org.

The grand finale of events is a lunar eclipse. Unlike solar eclipses, which take place in a specific place, lunar eclipses are visible anywhere it is night time. The entire eclipse will only be visible in some places. Unfortunately, Oregon is not one of the places. However, Oregon and the rest of the west coast will have a view at the end of totality. The eclipse will begin at 2:51 am, slide into a partial eclipse at 3:48 am, and between 4:51 am and 6:07 am, totality will progress. The moon will emerge completely from the umbra (Earth’s shadow) at 7:11 am.

To get the best view of this cosmic event, get up early and head somewhere with a clear view. Areas like the Columbia River, Powell Butte, or Millican are great options. This is the one and only total eclipse this year, so don’t miss it! The next eclipse will happen January 21, 2019.

Oregon received a passing grade in the current Apartment List’s Annual Renter Satisfaction Survey.

This, however, is an average. Like a teen’s grades, Oregon's rating was all over the map. The state received an A+ for pet-friendliness, yet (and big surprise) garnered an F for affordability.

The data came from over 45,000 responses focused exclusively on renters, looking to provide a unique insight into what states and cities must do to meet the needs of America’s 111 million renters.

Of the 50 largest cities, Raleigh, N.C, Minneapolis, Minn., Boston, Mass. and Virginia Beach, Va. earned the top scores for renter satisfaction. Detroit, Mich., Tulsa, Okla., Oakland, Calif. and Tucson, Ariz. received the lowest.

Those surveyed rated their cities on 11 diverse factors, including affordability, public transit and weather. Nationwide, the four factors that have the biggest influence on overall satisfaction are safety, job opportunities, and social life and recreational activities.

Thanks to Susan Hovey for sharing these images, and happy MLK all.

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—Strength to Love, 1963