Clayton Franke

Sharlene Wills ran her fingers over the small arrow on the crosswalk button for her first hint. She squared up to the crosswalk, stepping out slowly until she felt the bumpy surface under her feet. She heard the cars to her left roll to a stop and the chime of a robotic voice in the air.   “Walk sign is on to cross Division Street.”  “Forward,” Wills told her yellow lab guide […]

A proposal to create a new service “hub” in east Redmond for homeless people to connect with housing resources, mental health programs, food and other services is gaining support from the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners.   The service center would be part of a burgeoning campus of homeless assistance projects in east Redmond, close to where hundreds of people are living in RVs, tents and trailers on government-owned lands slated for future industrial development.   Deschutes County commissioners on June 3 approved a letter […]

A planned $15.4 million project will bring two new roundabouts and two new traffic lights to Olney Avenue and Revere Avenue in midtown Bend, with an estimated completion date in 2028.  The project includes swapping a pair of four-way-stop intersections for traffic signals along Fourth Street, and another at Eighth Street and Revere. At Eighth and Olney Avenue, the City tentatively plans to replace a stoplight with a roundabout. Those […]

Bend — one of Oregon’s fastest-growing cities — became the second in the state to pass fees on natural gas appliances in new home construction, a controversial policy meant to curb greenhouse emissions in buildings to meet the City’s climate goals and help combat the effects of climate change.  The Bend City Council during a June 3 meeting voted 5-1 in favor of the natural gas fees, named the Climate Pollution Fee. A second vote […]

Federal legislation introduced in Congress could be the first step toward building a second road to access a High Desert canyon south of Prineville, where a growing number of residents have expressed concerns about emergency access, particularly in a wildfire.   U.S. Rep Cliff Bentz, who represents Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District across eastern and southern Oregon, introduced a bill May 21 to give Crook County an 80-foot right […]

Deschutes County may have found a service provider to support people in a developed homeless campground in East Redmond, but it’s unclear how much money will be left over for other operations like security, trash removal and porta potties.  In March, Deschutes County and the City of Redmond completed construction on a 36-site fenced campground with gravel roads, campsites, power and water. But it’s been sitting vacant after initial calls to run it went unanswered by Central Oregon’s largest homeless service nonprofits, which said the County was asking too much for […]

A policy to make Bend home builders pay more for installing natural gas appliances in new construction is almost to the finish line.   The Bend City Council is set to vote Wednesday on the proposed Climate Pollution Fee, designed to fight climate change by encouraging builders to power homes with electricity instead of natural gas, which contributes to global warming.   If adopted, Bend will become the second city in Oregon, behind Ashland, […]

Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch delivered a State of the City address Thursday morning focused on how the City is handling the sweeping challenges of population growth, which he largely blamed on a “deluge” of state mandates restricting local control before announcing his plans to run for reelection for a final time this year.   Fitch’s speech lasted about 40 minutes with City staff, local elected officials and members of the public […]

Applause and cheers thundered through the La Pine City Council meeting Wednesday evening as the body quashed a proposed industrial land sale to develop a data center that generated fierce public opposition in recent weeks.   The City Council’s unanimous vote on May 27 came after hearing a combined nearly five hours of public meeting comments this month, mostly lambasting the proposal. People formed online Facebook groups […]

The number of people injured in e-bike crashes in Bend is on the rise, prompting safety warnings from officials and emerging education efforts as the weather warms and cycling increases.  The announcement comes as local and state policymakers respond with a patchwork of new rules and regulations intended to address skyrocketing popularity in e-bikes and other powered mobility devices.   The Bend Police Department, Bend Fire & Rescue, Bend-La […]