Local News

A former Summit High School valedictorian and Storm soccer player is $100,000 richer, thanks to his field goal-kicking chops.  Otto Haar, who graduated from Summit in 2023 and is currently a junior at the University of Oregon, attended ESPN’s campus-hopping “College GameDay” broadcast at the Memorial Quad in Eugene on Nov. 22. As part of […]

Despite early forecasts of a punishing 2025 wildfire season, Oregon escaped relatively unscathed. The season started with an ominous blaze. In just a few days in June, the Rowena Fire, just west of The Dalles, destroyed 56 homes and 100 additional structures. By that measure, the Oregon Department of Forestry said, it was the one […]

Phil Knight has broken his own record for political spending. The 87-year-old Nike co-founder wrote a $3 million check to the Bring Balance to Salem PAC on Oct. 22, according to a new filing with the Oregon Secretary of State. Bring Balance was formed in 2021. The PAC spent nearly $5 million in 2022 and […]

Starting in 2026, at least five intersections in Redmond will be monitored by traffic enforcement cameras. These locations are: “Our number one complaint that we receive with the police department is always traffic complaints, traffic enforcement,” said Redmond Chief of Police Devin Lewis during a Nov. 18 Redmond City Council meeting. “It’s also our number […]

There’ve been claims of a Mr. Mander moving into Deschutes County – folks call him Gerry. He’s from Massachusetts originally, but with deep ties to the South, and recently got run out of Texas by a federal court.  Former Oregon Deputy Attorney General Pete Shepherd used reptilian imagery to describe the process of gerrymandering, where […]

A growing number of high school bonfire parties across Deschutes County are leading to serious safety concerns, prompting the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office to issue a public warning ahead of Thanksgiving Break. These informal gatherings have escalated into events marked by violence, criminal activity, and unsafe conditions that are putting young people at risk. These gatherings, […]

The Redmond City Council passed Ordinance No. 2025-21, which prohibits, except on July 4, “the use of any and all fireworks” within city limits. Mayor Ed Fitch approved it the same day on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Per Oregon state law, the term “fireworks” refers to “consumer fireworks, display fireworks, exempt fireworks, pyrotechnic articles, special effects; […]

The Oregon Department of Public Transportation has launched an online open house to offer the public the latest updates — and to solicit feedback — on the long-anticipated Hawthorne Crossing that will connect east and west Bend above Highway 97 and the railroad tracks.  The online open house, which debuted on Nov. 19 and is […]