News

Oregon State Police have violated state sanctuary law for years by intentionally allowing federal immigration authorities to query state residents’ data 1 million times each year, according to a lawsuit filed on May 5. The civil complaint, filed by the Rural Organizing Project in Multnomah County Circuit Court, says OSP must immediately stop sharing state […]

In February, when Oregon lawmakers were reworking the state’s budget in the face of massive looming federal cutbacks, a little-known state agency announced it had received a colossal federal grant—$689 million—to finally bring high-speed internet access to rural parts of the state. In an age of remote work, online shopping, and 24/7 connectivity, nearly 84,000 […]

The Oregon Health Care Association obtained a temporary restraining order May 1 that blocked the Oregon Department of Human Services from revealing the names of about 70,000 people who had applied to the agency for background checks in order to become caregivers. As OJP reported earlier, those applicants submitted their names and other information to […]

Community members who applauded Bend City Council for turning off Flock Safety’s AI-powered surveillance cameras at a Jan. 7 business meeting weren’t paranoid. Reporting by the Oregon Law Center has revealed that federal immigration officials — including those from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations — […]

For the second time since 2024, the committee tasked with choosing a new landfill site for Deschutes County is getting ready to make a final recommendation.   The County’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee went back to the drawing board last summer after property negotiations stalled over a 440-acre gravel mine called the “Moon Pit” 15 miles southeast of Bend. Now, the County is banking on a different site working out. Any further delays […]

Snowpack has mostly vanished from mid-elevation forests in Central Oregon, meaning logs, trees and shrubs are drying out earlier — one factor that could result in a boisterous wildfire season.   That was part of the report from a preseason wildfire briefing held Monday morning at the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District station in Sisters. Elected officials from Bend, Redmond and Sisters, along with state and local fire officials from departments in Redmond and the Sisters area, met at a […]

Who says print media — particularly that which is independently owned — has gone the way of Crystal Pepsi, Zima and other relics of the late millennium? As you can glimpse on the new billboard on NE Revere Avenue near the Bend Parkway on-ramp — or, more conveniently, right here at bendsource.com, we’ve initiated a […]

The Redmond City Council took its first stab at curbing unruly e-bikes in parks by passing an ordinance April 28 banning “motorcycles” from City parks.  The new rule, which passed unanimously, defines motorcycles as an electric or motorized two-wheeled vehicle without pedals. Anyone who uses one in a Redmond park will now be subject to a Class B violation and a $250 fine.   City officials hope the ban will deter speeding e-bike riders that have spurred a […]