News

A Bend resident threatened to shoot and kill a man and the dog he was walking in northeast Bend on Wednesday evening. The suspect, arraigned this afternoon, is 50-year-old Joshua Lee Russell, who allegedly also swore to kill all the dogs in the neighborhood. He’s accused of shouting this threat numerous times before opening fire. […]

The City of Bend later this month plans to remove part of a center median on Greenwood Avenue between the U.S. Highway 97 underpass and 3rd Street, aiming to reduce vehicle backups on one of the City’s busiest east-west thoroughfares.   Construction will take place between Aug. 24 and Labor Day, the City announced Monday. The […]

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 […]