Clayton Franke

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 […]

The Bend City Council on May 20 approved a master plan to expand the facility that filters Bend’s main water source for drinking. The plan provides the roadmap for future upgrades including a new pretreatment system, hydropower generation facilities, future storage reservoirs and other infrastructure City officials say is critical to ensuring long-term resiliency in a major water source for residents.   Approval of the Outback Facility Plan comes as the City awaits a final decision from the U.S. Forest Service on the transfer of a 48-acre piece of land north of Skyliners Road. Some […]

The City of Redmond is moving ahead with plans to demolish an old police station downtown and build an outdoor ice-skating rink expected to open by Thanksgiving next year.   Project meetings kicked off earlier this month after the City Council, sitting as the Redmond Urban Renewal Agency Board, awarded a design contract to Kirby Nagelhout Construction Company. The City expects the rink to cost between […]

When Keith Rockow moved to Deschutes County in 2003, one of the first ways he got involved in local politics was by planting a yard sign in his front lawn for Gene Whisnant, a Republican who represented part of the county in the Oregon Legislature for 16 years.   “We were a good, strong Republican force then,” said Rockow, who is now […]

High water users in Redmond might pay more in the future as the City looks to incentivize conservation amid declining groundwater levels and rapid population growth.   The Redmond City Council began a discussion Monday about adopting a tiered water rate structure, which would apply increasingly higher rates to each portion of water used beyond a certain threshold.   Those exact thresholds still need to be hashed out […]

Two Democrats are in position to win seats for the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners after an initial tally of ballots Tuesday evening, while two other races appear to be headed to the general election in November.   Should those results hold, it could mark the dismantling of the board’s longtime Republican majority as it expands from three members to five in November.   That includes the likely upset of incumbent Deschutes County […]