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In this Issue of C.O. Local BUZZ…

🤔Local Trivia

🌄Bend, OR Weather

📅 Lots and LOTS of Events

🥃4th annual Oregon Whiskey Festival

🎉New Event Calendar! Central Oregon Local Live!

📰Local News - What’s a Happening?

📰DCSO Hosts Final Free Shred Event of 2024 at Terrebonne Elementary

🏫💲T-Mobile Grant Fuels Transformation of Madras Elementary Schoolyard into Community Park

🏘️1st of nearly 2,000 Stevens Ranch homes about to go up for sale

🚮Community Volunteers and BLM Team Up to Clean Jackpine Camp Near La Pine, Removing Tons of Trash

🗻Local effort to buy Mt. Bachelor planning Drake Park kickoff event; website launched

✅Local Vote

📰More noncitizens registered to vote may be found after DMV error, Deschutes Co. clerk says

Central Oregon Fire Info

Updates of Oregon Fires

🚧 Road Closures & Construction

🔥⛑️Fire & Rescue News

🚨 Crime News

🔥Redmond Police and Redmond Fire Investigating series of suspicious fires in Dry Canyon Park

📰 Community News

🐶😺Community Conversations: Veterinary Referral Center of Central Oregon helps pets and owners in need - KTVZ

 Got some news or know of news for our Community News Segment - share it with C.O. Local Buzz!

😁 MEME of the Day

🌆 On going Events

📲Sponsors & Partners

When did Oregon officially pass the law that allowed craft distilleries to sell directly to consumers?

A) 1985
B) 1990
C) 2002
D) 2015

👉Find The Answer in Tomorrow’s Newsletter👉

BEND

Events Sponsored By

Enjoy Bend Life Real Estate

What’s Up Central Oregon 

September 20th and 21st

It's time for the 4th annual Oregon Whiskey Festival!!

https://oregonwhiskeyfestival.com/

DCSO Hosts Final Free Shred Event of 2024 at Terrebonne Elementary

Terrebonne, OR - The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office (DCSO), in partnership with Republic Services, will offer its last free residential shred event of 2024 on Saturday, September 21, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Terrebonne Elementary School parking lot, located at 1199 B Ave. This event provides an opportunity for residents to securely dispose of personal documents and old American flags while also supporting the local community through food donations.

Residents are invited to bring up to four boxes of documents to be shredded free of charge. While paper clips and staples are accepted, plastic bags and three-ring binders cannot be processed. For those with more than four boxes, DCSO encourages contacting Republic Services at 541-352-2263 for additional disposal options.

In addition to document shredding, the event will accept various medications, including prescriptions, patches, ointments, over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, and pet medications. However, sharps, thermometers, inhalers, and other medical devices will not be accepted.

A new feature of the event is the proper disposal of old or tattered American flags. Attendees are welcome to bring their flags for respectful disposal.

Food donations will also be collected during the event, which will be directed to a local food bank, further enhancing the community spirit of the day.

For more information, visit the DCSO website under the Community/Public Notices tab or call 541-352-2263.

T-Mobile Grant Fuels Transformation of Madras Elementary Schoolyard into Community Park

MADRAS, OR – One of the nation’s largest cellphone and network providers is giving a boost to the effort to redesign and turn the Madras Elementary Schoolyard into an inviting, accessible park for the entire community to enjoy during non-school hours.

Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile announced late last week that Madras is among its latest 25 Hometown Grant recipients, who will each receive up to $50,000 in funding to kick-start local development projects that enhance and strengthen their communities. 

The company said the Madras grant will "help the Trust for Public Land transform the outdated 2.55-acre schoolyard at Madras Elementary School into an inviting accessible park, open to everyone outside of school hours, serving the community and the town’s multi-generational residents."

The Trust for Public Land expressed appreciation for the grant, saying in a statement that "TPL is thrilled to be closer than ever to transforming the Madras Community Schoolyard into a vibrant space for students and the broader community.

"At Trust for Public Land, we are committed to connecting everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors, with a focus on ensuring equitable access to green spaces where they are needed most. In partnership with the Jefferson County School District 509J and Madras Elementary School, we are working with students and community members to redesign their schoolyard in a way that reflects their needs and vision.

"We are excited to move forward, with plans to break ground in the spring of 2025 and look forward to continuing this journey and creating a space that will benefit the Madras community for generations to come!" the trust said.

1st of nearly 2,000 Stevens Ranch homes about to go up for sale

Colby Enebrad, Reporter

Three years after the land was approved for development by the City of Bend, the first of nearly 2,000 housing units in the Stevens Ranch master plan community are about to go up for sale.

"The master plan was adopted in 2021 and the first couple sub-divisions were submitted immediately thereafter. So, those are the ones where you see the homes currently built and the infrastructure currently underway," City of Bend Senior Planner Karen Swenson said. 

Swenson says there's more than 1,700 housing units proposed for the master plan, of which 650 are single-family homes.

Stevens Ranch, located in southeast Bend, is the largest master plan development in the city at 375 acres. It will include a commercial district, which will be the location of Bend's new library.

"Just in the last two weeks, it's gone from a cement slab to a two-story building and inching it's way up to a third-story building," library director with Deschutes Public Library Todd Dunkleberg said.

The Bend Central Library will be 9,500 square feet, more than doubling the size of the downtown location. This will make it the largest public library in Deschutes County. 

"Our goal was to have, one, a library that served as our central campus for the entire county. A challenge for us as finding enough property to fit the size of the library that we need to service the entire county," Dunkleberg said.

Those first homes are expected to hit the market in October, with the library being completed in April of 2026. 

VIDEO

Community Volunteers and BLM Team Up to Clean Jackpine Camp Near La Pine, Removing Tons of Trash

 La PINE, OR — This summer, the Darlene 3 and Jackpine fires near La Pine shone a spotlight on the negative effects of long-term overstays and illegal dumping on public lands. In response, community members approached the Bureau of Land Management with a request: Could they organize a group cleanup?

The newly formed Newberry Regional Partnership gathered nearly 60 volunteers and spent a Saturday in August removing hundreds of pounds of garbage from the BLM’s Jackpine Camp, located southwest of La Pine.

The group said they saw how frustrated people were with trash on the lands in their community, and they wanted to offer a way for residents to be part of a solution.

For the BLM, the project was an easy sell — with a big caveat.

The area around Jackpine Camp was well-known as a dumping area, RV "chop shop" and place of long-term overstays. The field office was already in the process of putting a contract out to bid on the same area, and they had identified a portion of the area as potentially containing human waste and asbestos.

If the volunteers were willing to stick to the open meadow, have hazmat-trained personnel on site, and provide hand-washing stations, the BLM said it would be a willing partner.

With that support, the Newberry Regional Partnership coordinated the cleanup with the BLM, the Public Land Stewards, the City of La Pine, Deschutes County, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, and the La Pine Rural Fire Protection District. Republic Services, a local trash and recycling company, offered staff and dumpsters for the event, and the La Pine Ace Hardware provided supplies.

"It was a perfect turn of events to partner on this," said Lisa Clark, BLM Deschutes field manager. “We were able to make the day more manageable for the fantastic group of volunteers and focus the upcoming contract on the hazardous materials and vehicles.”

In just a few hours, nearly 60 volunteers filled two 30-yard dumpsters, three 20-yard dumpsters and numerous privately owned trailers with debris. Republic Services provided individual dumpsters for trash, metal and tires, making disposal easier. The team worked tirelessly to remove hundreds of pounds of garbage, ranging from household trash to clothes to washing machines.

Although a team of yellow jackets decided to emerge and join the event, the watchful members of Public Land Stewards were able to identify the nest location and flag off areas of concern.

The event was topped off with a communal lunch - and a sense of accomplishment. Many volunteers expressed their desire to participate in future cleanup initiatives.

“We are incredibly grateful for the dedication and hard work of everyone involved in this cleanup,” said Kathy DeBone, community coordinator at the Newberry Regional Partnership. “The abandoned Jackpine Camp cleanup serves as a testament to the power of community collaboration and the importance of environmental stewardship.”

-BLM-

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

VIDEO

Local effort to buy Mt. Bachelor planning Drake Park kickoff event; website launched

The two men heading up an effort to secure local ownership for Mt. Bachelor has launched a website where people can learn more about the initiative and to donate.

The organizers are also planning a kickoff event at Drake Park in Bend on Oct. 12. More details are yet to be released.

Here is the full announcement from the organizers:

Dear Friends and Supporters,

As we wrap up Week 3 of our journey to bring Mount Bachelor into the hands of our community, We are filled with gratitude and excitement for how quickly we’re coming together. Every step of this process has been a true testament to the power of teamwork, and it's clear that our collective vision for this mountain is growing stronger by the day.

It could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but some Central Oregonians are exploring the possibility of buying the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort to put it back in local hands.

From the start, this initiative was never about one person or a small group—it's about all of us, and the incredible support we're seeing confirms that we are moving in the right direction. Volunteers, local businesses, and passionate community members have all played a role in pushing this project forward. The energy is contagious!

Highlights from Week 3:

• Our Growing Community Team: We’ve seen new faces join our volunteer teams, bringing fresh ideas, energy, and expertise. Each of you plays a crucial role, and it’s inspiring to watch everyone come together with a shared passion for the mountain we love.

• Collaborations on the Rise: Local businesses and organizations are stepping up to support us, offering resources, services, and donations. We’re proving that when the community bands together, anything is possible.  We;d like to give a special thanks to our partners at Sunriver Brewing and the Haven Co-working Reimagined.

• Website Progress: We’ve officially launched our new website! However, we are waiting for updates to be fully processed before it becomes generally available to everyone. In the meantime, you can access it directly at https://mtbachelorcommunity.com. If for some reason you don’t see it right away, give it an hour or two—it should be working consistently soon after it updates.

• Kickoff Event: We’re excited to invite you to our official Community Kickoff Event at Drake Park on October 12th! Mark your calendars and join us for a day of community, celebration, and excitement as we continue to build momentum for this incredible project. More details to come soon!

• Community Donations: We’re currently in the process of opening our corporate bank account, which will allow us to move forward with important steps like accepting donations and covering early expenses. To help with our startup costs, we will be launching a GoFundMe soon—stay tuned for details on how you can contribute!

Our team is proof that teamwork really does make the dream work. Every contribution, no matter how big or small, brings us closer to securing Mount Bachelor for our community. We couldn’t do this without you, and we’re just getting started!

How You Can Help:

• Spread the Word: Share our vision with friends, family, and neighbors. The more voices we have, the louder our message.

• Volunteer: We’re always looking for more hands on deck. Reach out if you’re interested in helping with events like the upcoming one on Oct. 12th.

• Support the Cause: If you haven’t yet, consider contributing to help us cover the costs of working with top-tier professional firms who will help ensure our success.

Thank you for being a part of this journey. Together, we’re not just imagining a better future for Mount Bachelor—we’re building it. Let’s keep the momentum going!

With gratitude,

Mount Bachelor Community Inc.

More noncitizens registered to vote may be found after DMV error, Deschutes Co. clerk says

Peyton Thomas, Reporter

Of the 306 noncitizens registered to vote in Oregon since 2021 through a Driver and Motor Vehicle Services error, 12 so far have been identified in Deschutes County, according to County Clerk Steve Dennison. 

None of them have cast ballots, Dennison said.

“We were notified last Friday from the secretary of state's office elections division that this error had occurred,” he said. “We are contacting those voters. We're sending them letters. We've inactivated their registrations. They will not be mailed the ballot.”

  Oregon Republicans ask Kotek to protect voter rolls after DMV registered noncitizens

Republican lawmakers in Oregon on Monday asked Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek to ensure the integrity of the state's voter rolls following reports that some 300 noncitizens have been mistakenly registered as voters since 2021.

The mistake stems from Oregon’s motor voter law, where U.S. citizens are automatically registered to vote after obtaining a driver's license. The state DMV says these noncitizens were accidentally mis-categorized and registered.

Around Central Oregon, 14 ineligible voters have been identified, with the other two in Jefferson County. But Dennison says clerks around the state could find others.

“We were notified this afternoon through the state elections division that there could be more records that we'll need to go through and review and take the same course of action on,” he said Monday.

After the error was announced, some local politicians quickly questioned the reliability of Oregon’s voter system.

Governor Kotek quickly defended that system in her own statement saying, “Oregon’s electoral system is one of the most secure, effective and accessible in the nation.”

It’s a system Dennison says he also believes in come November 2024 and future elections.

“I do trust in Motor Voter. I trust in the process that moves that data from the DMV," he said. "Unfortunately, this is humans doing work, humans keying in information, and clearly made a mistake.”

Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade says she’s calling on the state DMV to improve its processes and ensure this mistake doesn’t happen in the future.

VIDEO

Updates of Oregon Fires

Link to: Air Quality Index map

Another AQI Map

Link to: Northwest Large Fire Interactive Web Map

Redmond Police and Redmond Fire Investigating series of suspicious fires in Dry Canyon Park

Redmond, OR – The Redmond Police Department is currently investigating a series of fires that have been intentionally set in the Dry Canyon. The fires have been started during the nighttime hours of 9/5, 9/7, 9/10 and 9/13. The fires have been set at or near access points to the Dry Canyon Trail near SW Obsidian Avenue and SW Pumice Avenue.  

The fires were able to be extinguished quickly by the Redmond Fire Department, and the Redmond Police Department is actively searching for a male suspect. The attached photographs are from surveillance video on 9/13.  

If you have any information regarding this person, please call the Redmond Police Department through Dispatch at (541) 693-6911 

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