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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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People’s Right to Publicly Comment

Members of People’s Rights took to a recent Redmond City Council meeting, prompting the meeting to pause after members invoked COVID-era restrictions
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The Redmond City Council meeting came to a halt during public comment March 28 as members of People’s Rights, a right-wing activist group, responded to accusations made during the previous week’s public comment section. About 50 members of the group showed up to the meeting to counter comments made at the previous meeting. At that […]

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Thornburgh Fish and Wildlife Plan Approved

The controversial resort is one step closer to becoming a reality
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Thornburgh Resort won a string of battles this week when the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners gave preliminary approvals for an updated fish and wildlife mitigation plan, and the Oregon Supreme Court declined three appeals filed by the resort’s longtime opponent Nunzie Gould. Thornburgh is the most litigated property in Central Oregon history, and since […]

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Bill Could Mandate Nurse Staffing

House Bill 2697 would establish patient-nurse ratios in health care settings, after an exodus of nurses
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Oregon could be the first state in the nation to regulate the nurse-to-patient staffing ratios for certain hospital settings. An Oregon Nurses Association survey in December found that half of all Oregon nurses reported caring for too many patients on most of their shifts, and only 1 percent reported that their unit is always staffed […]

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FreE-Bike

The City is offering a $2,000 rebate on e-bikes, and the application is open now
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The City of Bend is offering a $2,000 rebate for electric bicycles for 75 households in Bend. Applicants can’t make more than 80% of the median income, which is $50,350 a year an individual, $57,550 for a two-person household and $71,900 a year for a four-person household. The $2,000 should cover most of the cost […]

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Sen. Tim Knopp on Legislating TikTok

Oregon may prohibit state employees from using an app that I, personally, feel too old to use
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If passed, House Bill 3127 would compel state employees to delete apps associated with six foreign companies — five Chinese and one Russian. The list includes payment processors, telecommunication companies, cybersecurity firms, media conglomerates and — perhaps most notably — ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. Lawmakers have struggled to find common ground when legislating […]

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Park Safe

Deschutes County Commissioners are urging legislators to allow safe parking on more rural land after projects stall
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The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners is asking the members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly to rewrite sections of House Bill 2006. That’s the 2021 bill that compelled cities to approve homeless shelters if they met criteria around access to transportation, are deemed not to be a public safety threat and comply with building codes. […]

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Drought Times Four

Deschutes County is in a drought for the fourth year in a row, the longest in recorded history
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Gov. Tina Kotek declared a drought in Deschutes and Grant Counties in an executive order on March 24. The decision will allow state agencies to assist the counties, both of which are at least partially experiencing extreme drought, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System. Deschutes County’s driest year on record was 2021, and […]

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Leave No Man Behind ▶ [With Video]

A national organization with Bend leadership recovered a World War II veteran’s remains after more than 80 years at sea
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On Sept. 12, 1944, the combined United States Pacific Fleet and Third Fleet started bombarding the Imperial Japanese Army on the tiny island of Peleliu, one of the 300 islands that make up the Republic of Palau about 1,000 miles east of the Philippines. U.S. Navy Aviation Ordinanceman First Class Anthony Di Petta, 24, was […]

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Case Dismissed for Oregon Public Defenders?

An Oregon court could dismiss cases public defenders are too overworked to commit to, while over 900 people in Oregon’s court system are unrepresented
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On March 15 the executive director of Public Defender of Marion County, Shannon Williams, asked to withdraw from a case at the Marion County Circuit Court, saying the public defense agency had too many cases to adequately represent their clients, breaching the American Bar Association’s ethical standards. “When a public defender says to a judge, […]

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Oregon Bill Could Increase Narcan Access

An Oregon bill expanding access to naloxone could further empower Deschutes County’s harm reduction efforts
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An Oregon bill expanding access to the opioid overdose-reversing drug naloxone passed the Oregon House on March 6 and is awaiting approval by the Oregon Senate. HB 2385 allows public buildings to keep naloxone kits; currently, individuals can carry naloxone but organizations have to have a medical professional on staff to keep and administer a […]

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