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In this Issue of C.O. Local BUZZ…

🤔Local Trivia

🌄Bend, OR Weather

📅 Lots and LOTS of Events

🎃HALLOWEEN BINGO!

 💖🫴3rd Annual A Night to Remember - Bowties & Boots - Fundraiser

🌕The High Desert Moonfest

📅Save The Date Section

❄️Snowflake Boutique -November 1st

 💓🧘‍♀️Meditation & Educational Event

🎉New Event Calendar! Central Oregon Local Live!

📰Local News - What’s a Happening?

📰 Warm Springs Tribes Kick Off Major Transmission Line Upgrade

📰🦫Bowman Museum hosting presentation on beaver recovery in Crooked River Watershed

🖼️New multi-artist gallery will enhance Sisters' arts scene

❎Local Vote

🏫What's at stake with $97.7 million Redmond School District bond on ballot?

📰Regional News

📰Oregon Lottery says Shari's owes it more than $900,000

Central Oregon Fire Info

Updates of Oregon Fires

🚧 Road Closures & Construction

🔥⛑️Fire & Rescue News

🚨Crime News

📰Firearm and Airsoft Gun Incidents at Bend Schools

💖🐶Pet of the Week

💖🐕Meet Sunny! from Rawley’s Project

📰 Community News

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

📲Sponsors & Partners

😁 MEME of the Day

🌆 On going Events Fun N Games in Central Oregon has LAUNCHED 🚀

Which Central Oregon town is said to have a haunted hotel, rumored to be home to ghostly activity?

A) Bend
B) Prineville
C) Sisters
D) Madras

Answer: A) Bend
Expanded Answer: The Lara House Lodge is a historic lodge that lies in Bend, Oregon. This historic residence is now a quaint bed and breakfast—and it is believed to be haunted! Guests staying here have reported a ghostly visitor to their rooms at night who has been known to move objects around and make unusual whispering noises. This little lodge has become a local legend, attracting thousands every year to stay within its walls, hoping to get a glimpse of something paranormal.

BEND

Events Sponsored By

Enjoy Bend Life Real Estate

What’s Up Central Oregon 

HALLOWEEN BINGO!

Wednesday October 23rd

Otto’s Landing Redmond - Benefiting Central Oregon Veterans Ranch

A Night to Remember

October 24th 6:00 - 9:00 PM

The High Desert Moonfest

The High Desert Moonfest is a Harvest to Heritage celebration. Falling at the end of October, this event celebrates an end to the modern farming season that has historically driven the Crook County economy since its founding. It will also focus on the indigenous roots of our area, ranching, farming, timber and more. There will be excursions, as well as a festival held in town to celebrate the rich history of Crook County.

 October 26th

12pm to 8 pm

Pioneer Park Prineville

Coming up - Save the Date

Snowflake Boutique

48th Annual Show!

The 48th Snowflake Boutique will be Friday, November 1st 1:00pm -8:00pm and Saturday, November 2nd 9:00am - 5:00pm at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in the South Sisters Building.  Admission is $4.00 per person, children under 12 are free.  This is the 48th year for an amazing holiday show that show cases local artists, crafters, food specialties for your shopping pleasure.  The Snowflake Boutique is unique as it is set up as a store/boutique to shop as long as you wish and pay once before you leave.  This is the best show to start your holiday shopping.  Post expense proceeds are donated to local Central Oregon charities.

November 16th

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Warm Springs Tribes Kick Off Major Transmission Line Upgrade

The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs hosted a kickoff event with key partners, including Portland General Electric and the U.S. Department of Energy, for the 98-mile Bethel-Round Butte Transmission Line upgrade. This project will increase the transmission capacity from 230 kV to 500 kV, taking about eight years to complete. The upgrade will unlock renewable energy projects and create job opportunities for the Tribes. The project also brings broadband access to rural areas and supports educational initiatives. A $250 million federal grant will help fund the effort, along with contributions from the Tribes and PGE.

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The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon is a federally-recognized, sovereign Indian tribe occupying the Warm Springs Reservation, which was reserved for its exclusive benefit by an 1855 Treaty with the United States. The Reservation stretches from the summit of the Cascade Mountains to the cliffs of the Deschutes River in Central Oregon.

Bowman Museum hosting presentation on beaver recovery in Crooked River Watershed

The Bowman Museum is hosting a presentation on the history of beavers in the Crooked River Watershed

The event will provide information on how beaver activities can enhance watershed resilience and the local efforts to support their recovery. The presentation, featuring Reese Mercer from the Western Beavers Cooperative and Lonny Carter of Bonnieview Ranch, will explore the history of beavers in the region and the collaborative efforts between landowners, conservation agencies, nonprofits and community volunteers to support beaver recovery. Attendees will gain insight into habitat restoration projects, conflict mitigation strategies and opportunities for beavers, sustainable land management and working lands.

Mercer will discuss the broader impacts of beavers on watershed health, including how beaver activities can mitigate drought, improve water quality and support diverse ecosystems. Carter, a local ranch manager, will share how he is continuing the vision of Dr. Neal “Doc” Dow and the Dow family to see the return of the beavers on their Bonnieview Ranch. In addition, Carter will share his experience balancing land management and ranching operations while fostering an environment that encourages the return of beavers

The event is free and open to the public. It will take place at 6 p.m., in the museum community room, on Wednesday, Nov. 6. For more information, please contact the Bowman Museum at 541-447-3715 or visit crookcountyhistorycenter.org.’

New multi-artist gallery will enhance Sisters' arts scene

Jim Cornelius

Sisters, OR - Brad Earl was in the midst of a successful 46-year career as an architect when his wife Dale McCullough encouraged him to take up painting. That was 26 years ago, when his daughter Sloane was young.

Sloane had already shown a knack for the visual arts.

"She's been a sketcher since she was two years old," Brad recalled.

He told his daughter, "OK, I'll paint if you paint."

Photo by Jim Cornelius

Sloane Earl, Dale McCullough, and Brad Earl are opening Flying Horse Gallery in Sisters this week.

Brad recalls that he has a photograph of himself painting his first piece - a portrait of a rower on Lake Placid - while Sloane is sitting at a Playskool table "covered in paint, painting away."

Twenty-six years later, and a continent away, Brad and Sloane Earl are both accomplished painters - with very different approaches and subject matter - and they are sharing a new gallery in Sisters.

Flying Horse Gallery, which showcases the work of both artists, in addition to a planned rotation of visiting artists, opens at 161 S. Elm St. in Sisters on Friday, October 25, with a party from 4 to 7 p.m., coinciding with the Sisters Arts Association 4th Friday Art Walk.

Brad's work focuses on paintings of unique buildings. He has a particular interest in vintage movie theaters, and has painted iconic - and nostalgic-buildings across the country. He's also depicted many of Sisters' landmark buildings in paintings that have proven very popular in local galleries and shows. He has a fascination with vintage typewriters, which feature frequently in his work.

Sloane's paintings have a fantastical bent, perhaps a product of an upbringing in a house in the Pennsylvania woods, an atmosphere that felt to her like a "faerie forest."

"I always grew up with magic around me - the belief that magic was real," she recalled. "I started drawing. I would draw creatures, fantasy creatures, so that actually led me to want to do creature design for the video game industry. That was like my dream."

Sloane ended up going into the business side of the video game industry. It's a profession that has sent her all over the world - and which now allows her to work remotely and live in Sisters.

In recent years, she has actively pursued her painting, enjoying success in shows and Renaissance Faires. She cites the legendary artist and illustrator of fantastical and adventure fiction, N.C. Wyeth, as her main inspiration.

The notion of father and daughter sharing a gallery is not new to the Earls.

"It's been our dream to have a gallery for as long as I can remember," Sloane said. "And now, we found the perfect space in this amazing art town..."

With both artists relocating to Sisters in recent years, and Brad becoming immersed in the local arts scene, the time seemed right to act. Brad's wife Dale made the key move, inquiring about potential space in the building on Elm Street. The timing was fortuitous, and Flying Horse Gallery was born.

The name and the Pegasus "winged horse" logo seek to evoke the lodestars of the Earls' artistic vision: fantasy, nostalgia, and whimsy. It was important to them that the gallery be located near Hood Avenue, which has become an "arts district" in Sisters.

The gallery is very spacious, and the Earls plan to share wall space with a rotating roster of visiting artists. They also plan to host art classes, activities, and community gatherings.

Dale noted that Sisters has been most welcoming to the family - as artists and now as business owners.

"Everyone is so friendly, and they embrace you right away," she said.

The artists are looking for ways to contribute to the community and are open to ideas from local folks for uses for the gallery space.

For more information, email [email protected], visit http://www.flyinghorsegallery.com or call 484-437-9711.

What's at stake with $97.7 million Redmond School District bond on ballot?

Steele Haugen, Reporter

Phase two of the Redmond School District bond measure (9-174) is on the November 5 ballot, with several projects needing to be funded from leaking pipes to security upgrades.

Superintendent Charan Cline said that by doing this bond in two phases and letting the first bond expire, the goal is to keep the money coming in without raising anyone's taxes.

"The number one issue with this bond is the potential failure of Redmond High School," said Cline. "We are very worried that sometime in the next five years, the piping system will be broken beyond our ability to fix it."

The big ticket item in the bond is fixing Redmond High School's HVAC system.

"We're patching it together all the time right now," Cline said. "If you talk to our students, you talk to our teachers here, we often have buckets in the hallway trying to catch the water leaking out of those pipes right now. We need to get these pipes fixed to make sure this building is viable into the future."

The first phase of the bond started in 2020 and ended this summer.

"By using a two-bond process, we raised the money we needed to do our repairs without raising people's taxes, and that's the important piece that went into this," Cline said. "It was a planned move to make sure that we could get the repairs done and get our buildings fixed over the long term without raising people's estimated taxes."

Property Owners in the district currently pay $2.26 per $1,000 of assessed value. If passed, the bill will authorize continuing the current tax for a year. For example, a homeowner in the Redmond School District with an assessed value of $226,000 would continue to pay $42.67 monthly or $512.04 per year.

The district said the buildings have outdated fire safety, electrical and security systems, asbestos and poor air quality. The current facilities at Redmond High School are too small and lack the space to grow programs such as Career and Technical Education, theater, band, choir and art.

"We've had such success here with what we're doing with kids and we need to build that out," Cline said. "Lay it out with a little more industry and it has enough room for the number of students we're actually putting in it."

The bond also includes an upgrade to the Tumalo Community School, which currently only serves students in grades K-5 and would become a K-8 school.

The entrance to Ridgeview High School would also be rebuilt for security reasons.

If the bond passes, the district says it will be around 18 months before people see any major construction. Work on new roofs and windows will be immediate, but large-scale projects will take time to plan out.

Oregon Lottery says Shari's owes it more than $900,000

Shari’s Café and Pies, which just closed all its restaurants in Oregon, owes the Oregon Lottery more than $900,000, the Lottery said Tuesday.

Shari’s patrons could play video lottery games at the restaurants, with equipment supplied by the Lottery.

Melanie Mesaros, spokeswoman for the Lottery, said Tuesday that Shari’s has an outstanding debt of $902,341.98 to the Lottery, and possibly more based on the time the video lottery games were played over the weekend.

"Each week, our retailers deposit money into an account for what’s called our 'draw' or the revenue that’s due to us for Video Lottery play," Mesaros said in an email. "When a retailer fails to pay their weekly electric fund transfer draw and the bank does not pay due to 'non sufficient funds' or NSF, they are required to pay us immediately or our equipment will be disabled."

Mesaros said the Lottery learned on Monday that Shari's had an NSF on Oct. 16 and was unable to pay or provide a bond. If it’s not paid, it could go to collections. 

Mesaros said the Lottery is in the process of removing all of its machines from Shari’s restaurants. The process started when it learned of restaurant locations closing over the past few weeks.

Updates of Oregon Fires

Link to: Air Quality Index map

Another AQI Map

Link to: Northwest Large Fire Interactive Web Map

Firearm and Airsoft Gun Incidents at Bend Schools

A 12-year-old student was arrested for bringing a loaded handgun to Pilot Butte Middle School, and the student's parent was cited for improper firearm storage, facing a fine up to $2,000.

Separately, a community tip confirmed a 17-year-old student at Bend Tech Academy brought an airsoft gun to school, though no credible threat was found. Both incidents are being handled according to the school district’s policies, with potential disciplinary actions. Police and school officials emphasized safety measures, while the Bend-La Pine Schools urged ongoing communication between staff, students, and parents.

Meet Sunny!

Meet Sunny! This sweet and sensitive soul is ready to find her forever home! This beautiful girl thrives with an active family that enjoys outdoor adventures—whether it's off-leash hikes, car rides, or playtime with canine friends, Sunny is always eager to join in. Sunny is wonderful with other dogs and is happiest in the company of a confident canine companion (or a few!). She loves being part of a stable pack, finding comfort as a loyal follower. Her perfect home will have an experienced pet parent who understands her gentle nature and can read her body language, providing the structure and routine she craves. After her exciting outings, Sunny enjoys winding down with quiet time on the couch, making her the ideal adventure buddy who also appreciates a peaceful home. Potty-trained and crate-trained, she’s already well-mannered and easy to live with. While she may take time to warm up to new people, Sunny’s trust is worth the wait—once you’ve earned it, her sweet kisses make your heart melt. Sunny has completed a Board & Train program with Wild Intentions and is currently being fostered by her trainer in Bend, OR. She is looking for a home without young children or too much hustle and bustle—just the right environment to let her flourish. Could you be the perfect match for this loving girl?

Adoption Fee: $499 This includes veterinarian wellness exam and certificate of good health, core vaccinations including: rabies vaccination (if over 4 months old), 3 rounds of DAPP (if old enough), Bordetella (kennel cough), deworming, flea/tick preventative, sterilization (spay/neuter), microchip and foster expenses. All dogs have been tested for heart worm, parvo, ehrlichia and anaplasmosis; some dogs have had recent bloodwork done. You also receive one free month of pet insurance through Trupanion and one free training session through Good Pup if you choose.

 https://www.therawleyproject.org/

Just Sayin’ 😎

Fun N Games in Central Oregon

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