Local News
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Ten Businesses can Apply to Connect Security Cameras with Bend Police

Applications are due August 3
by Libby Findling

The Bend Police Department has partnered with the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office to help Bend businesses tackle Organized Retail Theft. Made possible through the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission’s Grant Program, ten Bend retailers can apply for the grant will win a security system device known as FususCore. That connects up to four existing cameras […]

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Dark Sky Lighting Changes Could Be Coming to Rural Deschutes County

Planning commission seeks public input
Avatar photo by Sarah Isak-Goode

Deschutes County is taking steps to protect our night skies from light pollution and wants to hear what you think about it. The Deschutes County Planning Commission is hosting a public hearing this Thursday, July 10, to discuss some significant changes to rural lighting rules.  The big changes on the table The proposed updates are […]

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LISTEN: Bend Don’t Break: Katie Chipko 🎧

Executive Director of NatureConnect Central Oregon
by The Source Staff

In this episode of Bend Don’t Break, host Aaron Switzer sits down with Katie Chipko, Executive Director of NatureConnect Central Oregon. Since joining the organization in 2012, Katie has been a champion for outdoor access, working to build partnerships and create inclusive nature-based programs for youth and families. She and Aaron discuss the vital role […]

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Journalists at ‘The Bulletin’ Have Had Enough

Unionized reporters and photographers urge readers to cancel their subscriptions if owner Carpenter Media Group doesn’t forego layoffs, provide living wages
Avatar photo by Peter Madsen

Reporters and photographers at The Bulletin are mad as hell and aren’t going to take this anymore.  In a news release the Source obtained July 8, unionized staffers at The Bulletin detailed their ongoing struggles to convince Carpenter Media Group, which obtained the daily from when it purchased EO Media Group in October 2024, to […]

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BLM to Address Human-Caused Fires in La Pine Basin

Higher than Average Number of Fires in the Area Prompted Response
Avatar photo by Nic Moye

The Bureau of Land Management has announced the mobilization of a National Fire Prevention and Education Team to address human-caused fires in the La Pine Basin. It’s composed of fire prevention specialists from the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service.    Zach Ellinger, the team lead for the fire prevention team, told the […]

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When Wells Run Dry

Oregon cities have tight controls over water consumption. In rural areas, there’s little oversight on excessive consumption use.
Avatar photo by Sarah Isak-Goode

What happens above ground stays above ground, but below the surface, water doesn’t recognize fence lines. The aquifer beneath Deschutes County operates as a single, interconnected system where water use in one location directly affects availability throughout the region. Nearly 35,000 residents—approximately 16% of the county’s population—depend on private wells that tap into the same […]

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Source Warmup

Quick news for Central Oregon
by The Source Staff

BLM to Address Human-Caused Fires in La Pine Basin The Bureau of Land Management has announced the mobilization of a National Fire Prevention and Education Team to address human-caused fires in the La Pine Basin. It’s composed of fire prevention specialists from the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. The team will develop […]

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Decorated Marine Corps Veteran who’s Homeless, Braces for Change

Andrew Couture has lived in the forest east of Redmond for more than a decade
by David Dudley, ForJournalism Lab

Andrew Couture sat on a lawn chair, puffing a cigarette, as rain clouds swirled over “the dirt,” a growing encampment east of Redmond. Couture’s dog, Octavia, a 5-year-old pitbull, bull mastiff, lay in the powdered dust at Couture’s feet. The 57-year-old tilted his chin, gesturing toward a generator humming behind his fifth-wheel camper. “I can’t […]

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Fifteen+ New Wildfires Sparked by Lightning

The largest fire is 800 acres in Crook County
Avatar photo by Nic Moye

A lightning storm passed through Central Oregon Monday July 8 and ignited at least 15 new fires, most of them clustered east of Prineville. The largest one is the Willow Fire at 800 acres as of Wednesday, July 9. It’s burning in southeast Crook County about 20 miles north of Glass Butte on BLM land. The […]

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Interim Sheriff Candidates Speak of the Future of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office

Union-approved candidates shared their visions at a July 7 public forum
Avatar photo by Peter Madsen

Integrity. Transparency. Accountability.  Five candidates recommended by the union representing the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office employees spoke about their qualifications for the interim sheriff position at the Elks Lodge in Bend on July 7.   The mood was anything but contentious as the five candidates, selected by the Deschutes County Sheriff Employee’s Association, touched on themes […]

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