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🏛️La Pine Mayor Tables Homelessness Collaboration Discussion, Deferring to Incoming Leadership Amid Rising Concerns

🏛️La Pine Mayor Tables Homelessness Collaboration Discussion, Deferring to Incoming Leadership Amid Rising Concerns

Issue #254

14 Nov

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In this Issue of C.O. Local BUZZ…

🤔Local Trivia T&TH

🌄Bend, OR Weather

📅 Lots and LOTS of Events

🖼️Fall & Art Show Sale - Dry Canyon Arts Association - Nov. 16th

🍲Think Wild Hosting a Wild Chili Cook-Off -November 16th

💓🧘‍♀️Meditation & Educational Event -November 16th

🎉New Event Calendar! Central Oregon Local Live!

📅Save The Date Section

🦃Who's Open for Dining on Thanksgiving? - By Eat Drink Bend

📰Local News - What’s a Happening?

🏛️Deschutes County to Consider District-Based Commissioner Seats in 2026 Ballot Initiative

🏛️Redmond City Council Weighs Fireworks Ban Amid Safety and Community Concerns

📰Public Defender Update

🏛️La Pine Mayor Tables Homelessness Collaboration Discussion, Deferring to Incoming Leadership Amid Rising Concerns

📰🗣️Prineville BLM opens public comment period on Redmond’s proposed wastewater treatment facility, wetland complex

📰Regional News

🚧 Road Closures & Construction

🔥⛑️Fire & Rescue News

🚨Crime News

📰 Community News

🧒Spaces still available for Thanksgiving week Kids Camp!

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 🚀

What type of volcano is Mount Bachelor?

A) Shield volcano
B) Stratovolcano
C) Cinder cone
D) Caldera

👉Find the Answer in Tomorrow’s Newsletter👉

BEND

SANTIAM PASS WEATHER

BLUE BOX PASS WEATHER

Upcoming Events

Events Sponsored By

Enjoy Bend Life Real Estate

What’s Up Central Oregon

November 16th

https://www.drycanyonarts.org/art-shows

Dry Canyon Arts Association Aims to Jumpstart Art Education...

On November 16-17, Dry Canyon Arts Association (DCAA) will host an art show and raffle at Redmond High School, aiming to fund their Jumpstart Art program, which seeks to bring art education to all elementary school children in Redmond. This initiative responds to local budget cuts that have left schools without art programs. DCAA has set a fundraising target of $80,000, with support sought from grants, local sponsors, and the art raffle. Raffle items include donated artwork, with all proceeds supporting art classes coordinated with school curriculums.

November 16th

For more information, to purchase tickets, or to sign up as a contestant, please visit thinkwildco.org/chili-cookoff.

Think Wild, Bend’s nonprofit wildlife center, is excited to announce the Get Wild Chili Cook-Off, a delicious, family-friendly fundraising event.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 16, 2024, and join us at Aspen Hall in Shevlin Park from 4-8pm for an evening of delicious chili, live music, raffles and more!

November 16th

Click Here For Classes & Events Schedule

Feel Free To Call Epic Energy Centers with Any Questions
(541)449-9829

Coming up - Save the Date

Bend Food News

by Eat Drink Bend

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but not all of us are looking forward to a day full of cooking. We've got some of the best places you can eat out, get takeout, or grab a ready-to-heat meal kit this Thanksgiving Day!

Who's Open for Dining on Thanksgiving?

Newbie Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge is just one of many restaurants serving up a fantastic prix fixe menu on Thanksgiving.

Got an upcoming event you want us to FEATURE?

Click here to let us know about your upcoming Event!

Deschutes County to Consider District-Based Commissioner Seats in 2026 Ballot Initiative

Deschutes County commissioners will pursue a ballot measure to establish districts for their positions. They heard options Wednesday to divide the county, costs, and timelines. The districting decision would be on the May 2026 ballot at the earliest. Commissioners took up the idea after voters appear to have approved the addition of two seats. Those would be at-large positions in the 2026 election.

Redmond City Council Weighs Fireworks Ban Amid Safety and Community Concerns

Redmond’s City Council continues to consider a possible ban on all consumer fireworks, following public testimony this week on the proposal. A number of people told Councilors fireworks pose a major fire risk, trigger PTSD in veterans and cause pets to run away. But others said they rely on the sale of fireworks every July to raise money for different organizations. The Mayor says theyâll make a decision in the next month or two.

Public Defender Update

The number of Deschutes County defendants waiting for a lawyer to be assigned to their case has been cut in half over the last month â¦ amid a statewide shortage of public defenders. District Attorney Steve Gunnels says 80 cases remain unassigned, but heâs pleased with the trend. Defendants who sit too long without representation could see their charges dropped, which Gunnels has said is unacceptable. Heâs hopeful the legislature will address the shortage in the upcoming session.

La Pine Mayor Tables Homelessness Collaboration Discussion, Deferring to Incoming Leadership Amid Rising Concerns

“The city, after speaking with all of the councilors, has come to the consensus that it really doesn't feel comfortable discussing the homeless collaboration at this time. We'd like to table this,” La Pine Mayor Daniel Richer told Deschutes County leaders at a joint meeting Wednesday evening.

In the surprising move at the opening of a scheduled joint meeting of county commissioners and city councilors, Richer told attendees, he would not be addressing the first agenda item, which was addressing homelessness solutions in the aftermath of the Darlene wildfires.

Instead, he said, based on consensus from other councilor members, he'd defer the issue to the new administration in January, headed by Mayor-elect Jeannine Earls, whom Richer lost to on Nov. 5.

County Commissioner Tony DeBone, a La Pine resident himself, did not go for Mayor Richer's deferral. He addressed the issue.

“The east side of town is where we had a big fire earlier this summer. Darlene 3, Darlene 1, 2 and 3," DeBone told us. "But the big picture right now is, we’re practicing doing some cleanups and figuring out the culture of what's going to happen around this area.”

In the aftermath of the devastating Darlene fires, local authorities and nonprofits are mobilizing efforts to address the rising homelessness crisis, because the fire was in an area occupied by the homeless.

Asked if he believed the fire started from a homeless camp, La Pine resident Casey Carhart said, “It certainly seems that way. The evidence, I mean, the videos that were posted online and where that fire was started, there are homeless camps right there, and it seems very likely - that's very close to home to all of us.”

Deschutes County sheriff's Sgt. Kyle Kalmbach said they are dedicated to working with other agencies to address where and how the homeless reside.

“Let's get on the same page and let's start talking about things we can do, instead of things we can't do," Kalmbach said. "And so I think, historically, we want to point a finger and possibly blame the federal government because it's BLM land or 'hey, this is on county land,' or how that looks, when the reality of it is, efforts are there."

The issue is clearly a hot topic in La Pine, and is expected to be addressed in 2025 with the new La Pine Mayor, Jeannine Earls, who defeated Richer 47-34%, according to Wednesday's updated election results.

Other topics up for discussion Wednesday evening ranged from county road conditions during the winter to working together on solid waste dumping related to code enforcement and city-county collaboration on community cleanup events.

Prineville BLM opens public comment period on Redmond’s proposed wastewater treatment facility, wetland complex

The Bureau of Land Management's Prineville District is seeking input on an environmental assessment that shares the details and potential effects of the City of Redmond’s proposal to acquire a 541.5-acre parcel of public land to accommodate expanding the city’s wastewater treatment facility and associated wetland complex.

The proposed acquisition was recently announced in the Federal Register, and the office is now accepting comments on the environmental analysis that the staff completed to demonstrate the potential impacts of expanding the city’s wastewater treatment facility, building the associated wetland complex, and developing other amenities, as well as the office’s finding of no significant impact (FONSI).

The 30-day public comment period starts Thursday and ends December 14.

Comments are most helpful if they do one of following: identify a different way to meet the purpose of the project, provide new information about the proposed actions or the analysis, point out a specific flaw in the analysis, suggest alternate methodologies and the reason(s) why they should be used, make factual corrections, or identify different sources of credible research, which, if used in the analysis, could result in different effects.

Comments may be submitted electronically through the BLM’s ePlanning website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022284/510, can be emailed to [email protected], or sent in hard copy to the address listed below. Those interested in submitting a comment over the phone can call Ferris Couture at (541) 416-6711.

Deschutes Field Office
Lisa M. Clark
3050 NE 3rd Street
Prineville, OR 97754

All comments, including personal identifying information, may be made publicly available. People can ask to withhold personal identifying information from public review; however, it cannot be guaranteed.

Project information, including the environmental assessment, can be accessed through the BLM's ePlanning website (link above). For additional information, please contact Ferris Couture, Planning and Environmental Coordinator, at the phone number above or by email at [email protected].

More information about the overall project from the City of Redmond can be found here: https://redmondwetlandscomplex.com/

Deschutes National Forest

Due to this week’s winter weather forecast, the Deschutes County Road Department will close Cascade Lakes Highway and Paulina Lake Road at 7 a.m. on Thursday, Nov.14, which is earlier than previously announced. The department had planned on a Nov.19 winter closure of the high-elevation forest roadways.

PORTLAND AVENUE ROAD CLOSURE BEGINS TUESDAY, NOV. 12

Starting Nov. 12, Stage 2 of the Awbrey Butte Waterline Improvement Project will bring rolling two-block closures to Portland Avenue, from NW 1st to NW 8th Street. Work will begin at NW 1st Street and move westward.

Traffic will be detoured to Newport Avenue (see map below). Local and emergency vehicle access will be maintained. Essential services such as EMS, garbage collection and mail delivery will continue uninterrupted. Please avoid parking in “No Parking Areas.”