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Jack Harvel

Jack is originally from Kansas City, Missouri and has been making his way west since graduating from the University of Missouri, working a year and a half in Northeast Colorado before moving to Bend in the Spring of 2021. When not reporting he’s either playing folk songs (poorly) or grand strategy video games, and checking out the different hiking trails in Central Oregon.

jharvel@gannett.com
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Thornburgh and its Opponents Appeal County Decision

County Commissioners heard from representatives from Thornburgh, its legal nemesis and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in a public hearing over water mitigation
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The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners heard two appeals to Thornburgh Resort’s denied fish and wildlife management plan at a public hearing on Feb. 1. The resort already started construction near Cline Buttes, but its decades-long legal struggle continues to shake up plans for the nearly 2,000-acre property. In December a hearing officer with the […]

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High Desert Duelists ▶ [With Video]

The jocks of the nerds, this group clashes steel once a week in a reconstruction of Middle Ages combat
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The earliest known blades are 500,000 years old, predating written history, the Ice Age and humanity itself. An unknown human ancestor carved the first blades out of a lava stone in what is now Kenya. Archeologists uncovered the blade in 2009, and it could signify a revolutionary shift in human cognition that archeologists previously believed […]

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School Nurse? Nope; School Clinic

Deschutes County is adding its sixth school-based medical center, allowing students to access routine medical care without a trip to the doctor
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Mosaic Medical, a nonprofit community health organization, is developing a new school-based health center at Mountain View High School. The medical provider already established clinics at Bend High School, Redmond High School and M.A. Lynch Elementary. That’s in addition to La Pine Community Health Center’s health center at Gilchrist School and St. Charles Health Systems’ […]

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Concerted Effort to DisPlay the Arts

A study commissioned by an arts and culture nonprofit recommends two new stages in Bend
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A recent study recommended that the Central Oregon Center for the Arts, a nonprofit with a mission to champion an inclusive, vibrant center for the arts, could build and support a facility with a 1,200-1,500-seat theater, green rooms, a small “black box” stage, rehearsal space and storage for instruments in Central Oregon. It’s the third effort […]

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Goals! Goals! Goals!

Following survey of Bendites, City Council prioritizes goals around housing, transportation and more
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The Bend City Council considered priorities for the next two years over two days of roundtable meetings January 23-24. The City sets priorities every two years once new city councilors are sworn in. The goals are informed by a community survey the City conducted in December, garnering 400 responses through phone calls and statistically significant […]

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Measure 110 Starts Off Poorly

An audit of the U.S.’s first attempt to decriminalize drugs highlights problems in data collection, collaboration and poorly defined roles
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Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan released an audit of Measure 110, the bill that decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs and funneled taxes on marijuana sales to treatment services, on Jan. 19. Auditors gave the program low marks, with one auditor saying they’d give a grade of a C and the other a […]

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Parking Minimums Abolished

New developments won’t be required to build parking spaces in Bend after the state adopted new planning rules
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On Jan. 18 the Bend City Council adopted a rule eliminating mandatory minimums for off-street parking at new developments. That’s after the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission adopted new planning rules in July. The OLCDC eliminated parking minimums to lower the cost of building new housing and to reduce reliance on cars for environmental […]

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Bend Funds Project Turnkey Shelter ▶ [With Video]

The Stepping Stone Shelter is opening up in February, allowing Shepherd’s House to use the Rainbow Inn for temporary sheltering
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On Jan. 18 the Bend City Council approved an agreement with NeighborImpact, an antipoverty nonprofit in Central Oregon, to fund the Stepping Stone Shelter. The City will pay the nonprofit $2.6 million to operate the shelter for three years with funds received through the American Rescue Plan Act. The shelter is one of 19 motels […]

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Glowing Up the Power Grid

Oregon’s climate goals will transform the way the state delivers energy to people’s homes
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Oregon set ambitious climate goals in June 2021, seeking to fully eliminate carbon emissions from the state’s electrical grid by 2040. It’s the fastest decarbonization timeline for a power grid in the United States. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality found electricity use contributes nearly 30% of emissions in the state, second only to transportation. […]

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Worrell Park and Rec?

Deschutes County didn’t bite on a proposal to designate Worrell Park as an area of special interest, but floated the idea of transferring the park to the park district
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Deschutes County Commissioners rejected a proposal to designate Worrell Park, a 1-acre downtown park, as an area of special interest. Last month Deschutes County Commissioners reversed a plan that would have redeveloped the park, chipping away at some of it, to increase the number of parking spaces in anticipation of a courthouse expansion. “Areas of […]

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