Local News

The Bend City Council on Wednesday voted 4-2 to advance a proposal to add new fees for commercial property owners in the Bend Central District, with hopes revenue will prod a vision for redevelopment that’s seen a sluggish start.   The fees would provide money for anything from new lighting and landscaping, marketing and promotions, events, security, cleaning and infrastructure maintenance. […]

On Tuesday, May 12, Central Oregon Fire officials reported the Pine Mountain Fire is 100% contained at 2,589 acres. The fire will transition back to the local unit. A warning has been issued for anyone near the burn area. Burned landscapes present hazards that either did not exist prior to the fire or have been […]

Oregon State Police have violated state sanctuary law for years by intentionally allowing federal immigration authorities to query state residents’ data 1 million times each year, according to a lawsuit filed on May 5. The civil complaint, filed by the Rural Organizing Project in Multnomah County Circuit Court, says OSP must immediately stop sharing state […]

In February, when Oregon lawmakers were reworking the state’s budget in the face of massive looming federal cutbacks, a little-known state agency announced it had received a colossal federal grant—$689 million—to finally bring high-speed internet access to rural parts of the state. In an age of remote work, online shopping, and 24/7 connectivity, nearly 84,000 […]

The Oregon Health Care Association obtained a temporary restraining order May 1 that blocked the Oregon Department of Human Services from revealing the names of about 70,000 people who had applied to the agency for background checks in order to become caregivers. As OJP reported earlier, those applicants submitted their names and other information to […]

Community members who applauded Bend City Council for turning off Flock Safety’s AI-powered surveillance cameras at a Jan. 7 business meeting weren’t paranoid. Reporting by the Oregon Law Center has revealed that federal immigration officials — including those from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations — […]

For the second time since 2024, the committee tasked with choosing a new landfill site for Deschutes County is getting ready to make a final recommendation.   The County’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee went back to the drawing board last summer after property negotiations stalled over a 440-acre gravel mine called the “Moon Pit” 15 miles southeast of Bend. Now, the County is banking on a different site working out. Any further delays […]

Snowpack has mostly vanished from mid-elevation forests in Central Oregon, meaning logs, trees and shrubs are drying out earlier — one factor that could result in a boisterous wildfire season.   That was part of the report from a preseason wildfire briefing held Monday morning at the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District station in Sisters. Elected officials from Bend, Redmond and Sisters, along with state and local fire officials from departments in Redmond and the Sisters area, met at a […]