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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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Anti-Masking Protest Targets Redmond High Schoolers

Protestors are urging students to demand mask use be made optional, and to go on strike this Friday if the district doesn’t concede
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People’s Rights, an anti-mandate and anti-government conservative activist group, started a 10-day protest at the Nolan Town Center on Jan. 24 aimed at Redmond High School students. The protest is led by Deschutes County Commission candidate Scott Stuart, who gained notoriety locally after dressing as a Confederate soldier at Redmond’s Fourth of July parade in […]

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Cranston Approaches Bail Hearing

A timeline of events emerge in court documents for Ian Cranston’s bail hearing as he faces murder charges in the shooting of Barry Washington, Jr.
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Court documents filed Jan. 26 argue that Ian Cranston doesn’t meet the standards for a pretrial release as he awaits a November trial for the shooting of Barry Washington, Jr. Kevin Sali, Cranston’s attorney, filed a motion for release on bail on Dec. 30 and painted a different picture than that presented by prosecutors of […]

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Multiple Motels

The City purchased the Rainbow Motel and plans to convert it into temporary housing
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The Bend City Council authorized the purchase of the Rainbow Motel at its regular meeting Jan. 19, saying the property has potential as a temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness as well as longer-term goals. It’s the second motel the City is converting into a shelter after receiving $2.97 million in state grant funding to […]

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Too Woke to Reawake

A tour featuring prominent vaccine and election-skeptic speakers moves to Salem after community backlash
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What do a retired general who believes in QAnon, a self-proclaimed prophet and a convicted felon who served as an advisor to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign have in common? None will be in Redmond on April 1 and 2, as previously planned. The Reawaken America Tour booked two days in early April at the Deschutes […]

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Hospitality Jobs are Back

Deschutes County is employing more hospitality workers than it did pre-pandemic, according to newest monthly estimate
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The Oregon Employment Department reported that accommodation and food services are employing nearly as many people as they were pre-pandemic in seasonally adjusted models. Deschutes County added 2,140 jobs total in December, and unemployment dropped to 4.3%, just 1% above a record-setting 3.3% low before the pandemic. The leisure and hospitality sector is up from […]

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Child Care? Child, Where?

Cracks in Central Oregon’s child care market deepen as COVID causes several facilities to close
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Several of Central Oregon’s child care centers closed their doors as the region experiences record-high COVID-19 cases, causing parents to scramble to find alternative care. The latest surge is exacerbated by Central Oregon’s lack of available childcare. A 2019 study from Oregon State University found that only 20% of children in Deschutes County had access […]

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New Sunriver Station and Trails Funded

Deschutes County’s Transient Room Tax revenue funds tourist-y projects
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The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners spent a large sum of unallocated Transient Room Tax funding at its meeting Jan. 12, giving $600,000 to the Deschutes Trails Coalition for trail infrastructure and maintenance and $8 million towards a public safety building to house police and fire services in Sunriver. In Deschutes County about 30% of […]

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Testing, 1-2-3-4

The Biden Administration’s kicks off program to send home tests to anyone who asks
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All U.S. households could order four home COVID-19 tests straight from the U.S. Postal Service at Special.USPS.com starting January 18. The Biden administration ordered a billion tests to increase COVID-19 testing capacity, along with expanding free testing programs and attracting more pharmacies to participate in the federal pharmacy free testing program. People who order tests […]

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The Omicron Wave

Oregon reported its highest COVID case numbers of the pandemic, though hospitalizations and deaths lag behind the Delta surge
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The Oregon Health Authority reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Oregon over the past week as the more contagious but less severe Omicron variant spreads across the U.S. On January 10, OHA said over 18,000 people either tested or were presumed positive over the previous three days. About 700 Oregonians were in a hospital with […]

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Exercise in the Age of COVID

COVID completely shut down gyms at the start of the pandemic, but are any of the changes to gym culture permanent?
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During COVID-19’s initial spread in spring of 2020 gyms were one of the first things to close as the country sought to understand the novel virus. Gym owners at the time were anxious to open back up and worried about running afoul of government mandates. “I just basically sat at the front desk all day […]

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