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Posted inLocal News

On Advice of FBI, Bend-La Pine Schools Removes Memorial at Silver Rail

Agents said taking down the memorial within one week of the shooting would be essential to possibly reclaiming the school as an educational facility
Avatar photo by Clayton Franke

Bend-La Pine Schools on Thursday packaged up a makeshift memorial to victims in last week’s Silver Rail Elementary shooting, after federal agents said leaving it any longer could make it harder to possibly reclaim the school as a place for instruction.   In the days following the Oct. 15 tragedy, which left three students and […]

Posted inNews

Marked Increase in Interest for Concealed Handgun Licenses, Sheriff’s Office Says

Since the Silver Rail tragedy, applications have doubled the number for the entire last quarter.
Avatar photo by Nicole Vulcan

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is seeing a marked increase in the number of people interested in getting a concealed handgun license, the office said Thursday. Since the Oct. 15 shootings at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, in which a father of two students entered the school and shot the assailant with a legally […]

Posted inLocal News

Bend-La Pine Students Return for First Classes Since Shooting; Silver Rail Remains Closed

Some parents are calling on the district to communicate plans for increased safety
Avatar photo by Clayton Franke

As the sun rose through tips of the pines in the west Bend trees Wednesday morning, a sound not heard in six days cut through the cold morning air: the babble of children pouring into school.   Those William E. Miller Elementary students — and thousands of others across Bend-La Pine Schools — returned to […]

Posted inLocal News

Teaching Assistant: “I Was Shot Before I Had Any Chance to Act.” 

Silver Rail shooting victim Becky Drury opens up about what happened in her classroom Oct. 15
Avatar photo by Nicole Vulcan

Becky Drury, the Silver Rail Elementary School educational assistant who suffered injuries in the October 15 shooting, is opening up about her memories of that fateful afternoon. Drury was one of two people rushed to the hospital immediately following the shooting, suffering gunshots to her left hand and right arm. In a statement Tuesday, Drury’s […]

Posted inTake Me Home

We Are Bend Strong

This column is usually about real estate. This week, it isn’t.
by Karen Malanga, Kristin Marshall and Jonny Malanga, Licensed brokers, RE/MAX Key Properties

This column is usually about real estate. This week, it isn’t. Like everyone in Bend, we have been heartbroken since learning of the tragic event at Silver Rail Elementary School. We don’t have the right words for what the children, teachers, families, first responders and community members are going through, and we won’t pretend to. […]

Posted inCommentary

On Tragedy and the Interconnectedness of Community

In the wake of the shootings at Silver Rail Elementary, a note from our editor in chief about this week’s print edition
Avatar photo by Nicole Vulcan

Since the horrific shootings at Silver Rail Elementary on October 15, I have written various versions of this Editor’s Note in my head. One lamented the mental exercises in futility we as Americans engage in, every time one of our babies dies in a school shooting. Another was an attempt to examine the yawning social […]

Posted inLocal News

What We Know Now: Uncovering Details About the Shooter’s Family

Shotgun owner and shooter’s mother is Shauntai May Nickerson; Griffin John, father, long out of the picture, has long rap sheet
Avatar photo by Peter Madsen

The mass shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School happened less than a week from the date of this writing.  Amid the maelstrom through which rumors swirled, verifiable facts, often confirmed by local law enforcement authorities and eyewitnesses, have been laid bare alongside anonymously sourced information.  National news outlets, including The New York Times, have identified […]

Posted inLocal News

Injured Silver Rail Shooting Victims Continue Recovery, Family Remembers Slain Child

Online donations for victims’ families have topped $1 million
Avatar photo by Clayton Franke

Six days after the shooting inside a special needs classroom at Silver Rail Elementary, recovery continued for the seven-year-old girl and 54-year-old staffer wounded in the tragedy.   Meanwhile, the community and families continued to mourn the dead, including a teacher working her “dream job” and a “vivacious” five-year-old — the youngest person ever killed […]

Posted inLocal News

A Show of Support from Central Oregon Media

Local news outlets are sharing this “Kindness Matters” poster — a nod to Silver Rail’s school slogan
Avatar photo by Nicole Vulcan

Media outlets in Central Oregon, including Central Oregon Daily, KTVZ, Bend Radio Group, KPOV, Horizon Communications, Oregon Public Broadcasting and the Source are banding together this week to share a message of support for the people affected by the tragedy at Silver Rail Elementary School Oct. 15. We created this poster and social media images […]

Posted inLocal News

As Bend Families Brace for Daunting Return to School, District Promises Close Look at Safety Measures

Bend-La Pine Schools are gearing up for students to return Wednesday — and for future conversations around safety
Avatar photo by Clayton Franke

Skyler Laughlin’s daughter’s desk sits next to a window near the front of the school at Lava Ridge Elementary in northeast Bend. When he toured the classroom earlier this year, he was excited about the prospect of his daughter getting more natural light to help her learning.   Now — days after a 16-year-old gunman […]

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