COVID-19
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Tourism in the Time of COVID: Kevney Dugan, CEO of Visit Bend 🎧 [with podcast]

Where is the fine line between saving the economy and keeping the community safe?
Laurel Brauns

For this week’s “Bend Don’t Break” podcast, we talk with Kevney Dugan, CEO of Visit Bend, the destination marketing organization for the City. Dugan worked in the fly fishing industry before coming on as the group sales manager for the agency 10 years ago. He was then promoted to President, taking over for Doug LaPlaca. […]

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What We Lose When We Lose Live Music

Three local event organizers weigh in on the loss of community gatherings, and bringing people safely together again
Laurel Brauns

Reporting on COVID-19 has become a numbers game: How many cases? How many deaths? How many people unemployed? How many ventilators? How many hospital beds? But lost within these statistics are the emotional and social costs of forced isolation. Music events and festivals were the first on the chopping block when the COVID-19 pandemic began, […]

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Five Central Oregon Deaths Reported in a Single Day

Oregon Health Authority reports five more deaths, bringing state total to 303
Avatar photo Nicole Vulcan

Five more people in Central Oregon have died from COVID-19, the Oregon Health Authority reported Tuesday. Before mid-July, Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties had reported zero deaths from the virus. That spiked later in the month, after an outbreak at Mt. Bachelor Memory Care in Bend, where three residents died last week.   The deaths reported Tuesday include […]

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Three New COVID-19 Deaths in Central Oregon

The Oregon Health Authority reported the deaths early Friday, taking the total death toll in Central Oregon to five
Laurel Brauns

The Oregon Health Authority reported early Friday that two people from Deschutes County died from COVID-19. In addition, the first death in Jefferson County was reported by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs late Thursday night. In all, the OHA reported nine new COVID-19 deaths in the state Friday, raising Oregon’s total to 282. Among the […]

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Face Covering Distribution for Deschutes County

Deschutes County to distribute over 130,000 masks, hoping to prevent a second wave of shutdowns
Avatar photo Cayla Clark

In light of the statewide face covering mandate, Deschutes County announced that they will begin distributing close to 130,000 masks to local nonprofits, chambers and cities. The State of Oregon and Business Oregon provided the masks, and they are intended solely for public use. They’re disposable and reusable (if they are clean); however, they are […]

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It’s Time to Up Your Mask Fashion Game: Face Coverings Now Required Indoors in Oregon

Starting July 1, shopping unmasked is not an option.
Avatar photo Nicole Vulcan

Earlier this month, Gov. Kate Brown mandated the wearing of face coverings in public indoor spaces for eight Oregon counties. As of July 1, that mandate extends to all of Oregon—including people right here in Central Oregon. “I do not want to have to close down businesses again like other states are now doing,” Brown […]

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Phase Two Reopening… Already?

Movie theaters, pools, bowling alleys, summer camps and churches could reopen as soon as Friday
Laurel Brauns

The Deschutes Board of County Commissioners voted on Monday to send its Phase Two application to the State. Big changes like gatherings up to 100 people outside—and indoor gatherings of 50 people—may be enough to restore some summer traditions like BBQs and neighborhood Fourth of July parties. It also might save some weddings and family […]

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Rick Steber’s Giant Toilet Paper Emporium

Prineville author and shop owner, ready to move on, hosting parties in ‘open defiance’ of closures
Avatar photo Cayla Clark

COVID-19 has impacted the majority of Central Oregon businesses, and business owners are reacting in different ways. Some have yet to reopen; some have found themselves sneaking in customers for stealthy haircuts. And some, like Prineville’s Rick Steber, are changing the names of their businesses in order to stay essential. A prolific, self-published author, Steber […]

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Unmasked Questions

Exploring the great divide: to wear masks, or not to wear masks? A local disease ecologist weighs in
Avatar photo Cayla Clark

With the rise of COVID-19 came the rise of misinformation. Scientific facts became topics of debate. “One of my residents is heart broken that the country he fought for in WWII can’t manage to wear a mask for his safety.” One of the most controversial topics in the current climate is mask wearing: should we […]

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