News

Oregon lawmakers are currently wrestling in Salem with federal cuts for health care and food assistance programs. At the same time, some legislators are also trying to expand retirement benefits for some public employees. Senate Bill 1569 would significantly boost benefits for juvenile court counselors, police fingerprint technicians, deputy attorneys general doing criminal work, and […]

Central Oregon is no exception to the issue of folks without permanent housing at any given time throughout the year. On a single night in January each year, the Point-in-Time Count takes place nationwide to count sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness. In Central Oregon, this takes place in La Pine, Sisters, Bend, Redmond, Madras, […]

I am the current face of homelessness in Bend and Central Oregon. I am 67 years old, highly educated and without a place to live. Thankfully, I found Shepherd’s House Ministries Lighthouse – a shelter for the homeless in Bend. Initially, it began as the 2nd Street Shelter as a low-barrier emergency shelter in June […]

Parents of Bend-La Pine Schools students, supported by local advocacy group Well Wired, have joined forces to express their collective concerns about the district’s implementation of educational technology, or “ed-tech.”  A statement, presented at the Tuesday, Feb. 10 school board meeting, asks the school board to “reduce screen time in schools and reevaluate the District’s […]

When first reached by the Source for a phone interview, newly hired Deschutes County Fair and Expo Director Jeff Curtis was in the process of having his car shipped from Alaska down to the lower 48. Once he and his vehicle arrive, plenty more logistics will be waiting for Curtis in Central Oregon. Curtis has […]

This month, Cascades East Transit resumed fare collection, which had been suspended on non-recreational routes since the spring of 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Operating fare-free had been possible because of federal relief funding, CET stated, but that money has long been in the rearview mirror. CET is operated by the Central Oregon […]

As Oregon public school leaders face reductions in state funding, they turn to their biggest expense to find cuts—about 85% of their budgets go to personnel. This time around, they have more staff to cut: Over the past five years, the number of full-time employees at the state’s 197 school districts has grown by nearly […]

According to the latest demographics, more than half the people living in Central Oregon are married. That still leaves a chunk potentially searching for a partner. Data shows 27% of the local population have never married; 13% are divorced and 5% are widowed. It’s a pretty equal split among the number of men and women […]

Dating is a special kind of hell in Central Oregon. The town is quite small and a good majority of the people are very sporty, active and outdoorsy. I mean, I like a hike as much as anyone else, but I guarantee you, the first time I snowboard or ski is the last time I […]