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Mt. Bachelor Opens New Skyliner Express

Mt. Bachelor announced the grand opening of its new Skyliner Express on Dec. 19. Mt. Bachelor celebrated the grand opening of the new Skyliner Express, its first ever high-speed 6-pack chairlift, on Dec. 19 with music, free burritos and custom Skyliner giveaways, including t-shirts, stickers, koozies and Deschutes Brewery discounts. The new lift is replacing a quad lift installed in 1989 and will increase uphill capacity and offer better reliability in inclement weather.

“From breaking ground in May, to opening the lift today, I have been endlessly impressed with the heroic team effort involved in this project,” said John Merriman, Mt. Bachelor’s general manager.

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Redmond Shepherd’s House Hosts its First Christmas Event

Shepherd’s House Ministries will host its first annual Christmas in Redmond event on Dec. 22 from 2pm to 4pm. The newly opened Redmond Center is inviting community members, local businesses and organizations to join in on the festivities. The festive event will bring the community together to enjoy Christmas caroling and a Holiday dinner.

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Sunriver Appoints New Fire Chief

The Sunriver Service District and Sunriver Fire Department welcomed its new Fire Chief, Bill Boos. The department held a swearing-in ceremony for Boos on Dec. 13. Chief Bill Boos has served in the department since August, after working as the Deputy Chief of Operation with Bend Fire and Rescue for 26 years. Boos also served as the President of the Oregon Fire Chiefs Association and still sits on the Board of Directors.

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2.5 degrees

— The increase in U.S. temperature overall observed from 2012 to 2022, from this week’s Natural World story on the recently updated plant hardiness zone map.

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“From my point of view, the Bend jazz scene has been really growing. It was such a small town 25 years ago, it definitely has grown.”

—Jazz musician Tom Freedman, in this week’s Gung Ho story.

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PacifiCorp Payouts

PacifiCorp will pay out hundreds of millions of dollars from a lawsuit over its alleged role in the Oregon wildfires of 2020, OPB reports. PacifiCorp announced in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday that it’s reached a settlement with 10 timber companies related to the Archie Creek Complex Fire in southern Oregon. The timber lawsuit alleged PacifiCorp’s employees ignored weather warnings from the National Weather Service on Labor Day weekend in 2020 and didn’t power down their equipment, as well as failing to trim hazard trees that have the potential to start fires. Only two weeks prior, the company paid $299 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Southern Oregon residents who lost their homes and property in the same fire.

Request for Special Session

Two Oregon lawmakers want the legislature to convene ahead of its scheduled February session to address what they say is an unfair taxation against heavy trucks. Rep. Anna Scharf (R-Amity) and Sen. Brian Boquist (R-Dallas) — who was among the legislators to participate in walkouts last session — filed a request for an emergency session on Dec. 13, which means all Oregon legislators will now have to vote on the emergency session. Boquist and Scharf allege that the disparate amount heavy trucks currently pay in road taxes, compared to light vehicles, is driving up the cost of goods, and that necessitates an emergency session.

This article appears in Source Weekly December 21, 2023.