Local News

The price of everything has gotten more expensive over the past decade. That scene from “Arrested Development,” where clueless matriarch Lucille Bluth guesses the cost of a frozen banana at $10, is, sadly, more tragic than funny the closer inflation inches us toward that outlandish price tag.Adjusted for inflation, a $10 frozen banana in 2003 […]

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) gathered with local elected officials at Bend City Hall Monday afternoon to discuss wildfire response and preparedness as a smattering of large infernos continue to burn across Oregon.   After attending fire briefings in Warm Springs and Prineville Sunday and Monday, Wyden criticized the federal government’s response while praising the firefighters on the front lines.   “The so-called response by Washington, D.C., if […]

As fire crews continue getting the upper hand with the Bench Fire, burning four miles southwest of the Warm Springs community, it will be some time before the reservation is fully restored. The fire destroyed six tribal homes and five outbuildings. As of Aug. 6, it was 84% contained at 67,071 acres. The reservation is also dealing with a water shortage which was exacerbated by a 6-inch […]

Sixteen Democratic lawmakers want Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner to conduct what they say is a long overdue comprehensive audit of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund. In an Aug. 3 letter, the lawmakers told Steiner, a fellow Democrat, they are concerned about the fund’s overreliance on private equity to boost returns. “We believe this […]

The ongoing threat of a major earthquake affecting Oregonians who live west of the Cascades and a major maintenance backlog for Oregon prisons are fueling debate over how best the state should protect incarcerated people during dangerous seismic events.  The tension between some left-leaning prison rights advocates and state officials traces back to the ongoing […]

The plane crash west of Tumalo on Aug. 4 appears to have been a suicide, according to law enforcement officials. Authorities have identified Bend resident Steven Nicholas Charlton, 48, as the pilot of the 2025 Cirrus SR22T, which he took airborne at 1:34 pm from the Bend Municipal Airport, five hours before the crash law enforcement […]

It’s a challenging time to be a grape grower. Doug Maragas of Margaras Winery has been watching the fires and waiting to learn just how deep the impact will be. The Bench Fire, which is 67,238 acres and 84% contained as of Tuesday, burned up to the edge of one of the vineyards on land he’s leasing near the Pelton Dam. The grapes need to be tested to determine if they’ve been affected by the […]

A former British airliner once suited to carry 100 passengers now skims the Central Oregon High Desert carrying only two people: a pilot and an officer trying to decide where to send 27,000 pounds of reddish-pink slurry tumbling to the ground.  They are among the first to reach the fanning flames of the Bench Fire burning on the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs […]