Peter Madsen

Southern Deschutes County has a lot going for it: postage-stamp lots tucked into expanses of Lodgepole pine, lesser-glimpsed views of the Cascades and backroads to many lakes and access points along the Deschutes River. Its unincorporated areas, where about 18,000 people live, have also long suffered high levels of nitrate in the groundwater. The shallowness […]

Get smashed by a snowmobile driven by ski hill employee? That’s gross negligence — you’d have a liability lawsuit on your hands. Break your foot because a kettle bell slipped from your grip? That’s ordinary negligence — maybe the gym owner should have a glove policy — and you’re outta luck.  Outdoor recreation and fitness providers, along with volunteer organizations, will enjoy a heightened protection against liability lawsuits, once Gov. Tina Kotek signs Senate Bill 1517 into law.  Oregon lawmakers passed […]

Troubles at the company that owned LOGE Entrada in Bend are affecting its properties throughout the American West. Further reporting has borne out: LOGE Camps ousted its CEO for misrepresenting a real estate portfolio that is in “significant distress.” Then came a $9.4 million foreclosure lawsuit. A Montana staff has since been rendered jobless and […]

In the interest of cutting down on fossil fuel emissions and encouraging electrification, the Bend City Council approved a policy proposal on Feb. 18 that would add a scaled fee to the installation of natural gas equipment in residential homes. The fee, which the councilors will vote in April whether to implement, would be set […]

Most people agree that the restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic were a drag. Wearing facial coverings, social distancing and not hanging indoors with others were disruptive necessities in curbing the spread of the virus, which ultimately killed about 1.2 million Americans. Like elsewhere in the state, some Central Oregon businesses were slow in adopting then-Gov. […]

Lev Stryker, the co-owner of Cog Wild, recently stood under the tall stand of ponderosas in front of his bicycle guide company’s office at the LOGE Entrada motel campus, pointing out the perch of a great horned owl.  “There’s three of them in there,” Stryker said. “At night they hoot to each other.”  Stryker will […]

Alex Pretti loved bikepacking. He was also known in his South Minneapolis neighborhood as a friendly guy who enjoyed walking his dog, someone who greeted the folks who passed by. On Jan. 24, while filming U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and helping a shoved woman to her feet, Pretti was pepper-sprayed by ICE agents […]

Ian Cranston appeared virtually with his attorney on Jan. 28 at a hearing at Deschutes County Circuit Court, where Circuit Judge Beth Bagley set future dates for Cranston’s re-trial in the 2021 shooting death of Barry Washington Jr. A new 10-day in-person trial will begin on Oct. 20. A general trial readiness hearing will happen […]