Eric Flowers

Central Oregonians have an opportunity to weigh in on the future of the state's health care safety net this week in Bend. The forum, which is presented by the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Health Policy Board, is one of several community input meetings that are taking place across the state as public health care managers attempt to reinvent how the state delivers health service to its poorest residents. Policy makers want to hear from the public about the centerpiece of that initiative, a new state law that requires communities around Oregon to develop an integrated health care delivery system that will help low-income patients more effectively and efficiently navigate the labyrinth of modern health care. The law, which was passed with bi-partisan support, will create locally based “coordinated care organizations” that could result in significant savings for the Oregon Health Plan which provides health care to more than 640,000 low-income Oregonians.

Less than a year after wresting Bend's House Seat from Judy Stiegler and the Democratic Party, Rep. Jason Conger has a challenger looking to take the freshman republican legislator’s seat.
Late last week, former school board member and longtime Bend planning commission member Nathan Hovekamp announced that he intends to seek the democratic nomination next year. Hovekamp will first need to get through the May primary if he hopes to challenge Conger. While the local Democratic Party reportedly isn't planning to offer any pre-primary endorsements, Hovekamp is likely to have the support of the party and is the early frontrunner for the democratic nomination.

Skatepark controversy notwithstanding, the Miller's Landing project is moving apace and the Bend Park District wants to hear what you'd like to see at new riverfront park.
The district is holding a community meeting to solicit input on park design next Thursday, Oct. 13, 5-7:30 pm at the district offices, 799 Columbia (right across the river from the Old Mill).
The four-plus-acre park site is one of the park district's most recent land acquisitions and could be the cornerstone of a new riverfront park area that includes a whitewater play area at the Colorado Avenue dam. The district is currently studying the feasibility of retooling the historic dam to improve safety for river users, several of whom have been trapped in the spillway during the popular summer float season.

Some people take up golf, others start playing bridge or bird watching. When Luann Danforth and her husband retired, they bought a pair of used snowmobiles and started tearing up the winter trails and fresh stashes of Cascade powder around Central Oregon. The roar of a two-stroke engine is the soundtrack to their golden years.
The couple moved to Sisters from Portland five years ago and took up snowmobiling shortly thereafter when a friend introduced them to the sport. One of their weekly winter rituals happens every Wednesday when the couple makes the nearly hour long trek to Bend to meet up with a group of fellow snowmobile enthusiasts for a weekly ride out of Wanoga sno-park.

Last month, customers of Central Electric Cooperative, the Redmond-based rural electricity provider, received a letter from CEO Dave Markham with some surprising news. Despite a near record snow pack that left reservoirs overflowing and created a surplus of cheap hydropower, customers could expect a nearly eight-percent increase in their monthly bills come October when the coop's two-year contract with the federal Bonneville Power Agency expires.
The simple explanation: Too much of a good thing. In short, wrote Markham, a surplus of hydropower and an influx of new generation from wind farms had pushed down prices for power sales that help subsidize the CEC's rates.
While there are many factors in the rising cost of power, the rate hike, which was finalized last week by the federal government, highlights the difficulty of integrating wind power into the existing electrical grid and how the cost is trickling down to residential ratepayers.

At 83 years old and aided by a walker that he uses both as a podium and mobility aid, Earl Williams doesn't cut the most intimidating figure in a room. But the World War II veteran and former public accountant isn't one to back down from a fight. For years, Williams has been one of the most persistent advocates and critics of the Bend Area Transit, particularly as it relates to senior citizens. He's written letters and testified in front of the City Council in an effort to provide better access to his fellow senior citizens. So when managers at Bend Senior Center went after Williams' lunch, and that of dozens of other seniors, he wasn't about to hand over his tray without a fight.