Month: September 2025

Triton Notary

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)– A new business in Bend wants to be a place for the community to come together and make art.

‘Beat of my art’ is located just off of Norton avenue. They offer family painting sessions and home school art classes. It’s not just painting for kids. the space is open to everyone who wants to gather for art and music. They plan to offer homeschool classes, a place space for art and book clubs, and Zumbini

Owner, Shaey Anthony explains: “My place is very colorful and playful because I am colorful and young at heart. But this is a space for 0 to 99. So we will have Bible studies or whatever somebody wants in the community has asked me for. I will  work a way in for it. ”

Wednesdays and Fridays they have a drop-in open studio for 15 dollars, where you’ll get the supplies to make your own art. These session can be as hands-on or hands off as you want. You can get lessons and tips, or just make what you please.

Other upcoming events will include a “paint your partner’s portrait” date night and a “gals night” painting party.

You can find more info, or book a session at https://www.beatofmyart.net/

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Triton Notary

 BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)– A crucial scam alert for Oregon shoppers. Attorney General Dan Rayfield is warning about a rise in card skimmers on payment machines for EBT users. He says it’s especially prevalent in rural grocery and convenience stores. Rayfield added thieves target smaller retailers installing fake card. Readers that capture numbers and pins stealing benefits before users even notice. Here’s what you can do. Always check for loose or unusual attachments and look for broken security stickers before using your card. EBT users should change their PINs regularly, check their accounts often, and freeze their card when not in use.

News release:

Attorney General Rayfield Issues Consumer Alert: Scammers Targeting Oregonians with EBT Skimmers

AG Rayfield: “This is theft from Oregon families who can least afford it.”

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield today warned Oregonians about an uptick of scams involving card skimmers placed on payment machines at grocery and convenience stores across the state, especially in rural areas. These devices allow thieves to steal data from Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, which are used by thousands of Oregon families to access food and cash assistance.

“This is theft from Oregon families who can least afford it,” said Attorney General Rayfield. “Families rely on programs like SNAP to feed their kids, and those who depend on these benefits deserve dignity and security – not to be preyed on when they’re just trying to get by.”

Law enforcement has identified a traveling group targeting Oregon retailers, especially discount stores and small markets, by installing skimmers that capture card and PIN information. Once stolen, this information is used across the country to make fraudulent purchases, often draining families’ benefits before they realize what has happened. ODHS has seen a reported 50% increase in dollars stolen from EBT cards in the first half of September compared to July and August combined.

“We know that many individuals and families in Oregon rely on the food and cash assistance they receive through their EBT cards to meet their basic needs and to get enough healthy food for themselves and their families,” said Oregon Department of Human Services Director Fariborz Pakseresht. “We urge everyone with an EBT card to take action today to protect their benefits.”

While many retailers are taking increased measures to protect payment machines and consumers from skimmers – including installing security stickers or bars and/or regularly checking point-of-sale systems – these scammers are getting increasingly sophisticated.

How the scam works

Scammers place an overlay device on card readers or keypads, often at smaller retailers such as dollar stores or community markets.

These devices look nearly identical to real machines but secretly collect card numbers and PINs.

Stolen card data is then used in other states to purchase high-demand items like baby formula or resold goods

Warning signs

Check for unusual attachments before using your card to pay: If the card reader or keypad looks loose or misaligned, do not use it. Ask the cashier when the machine was last checked.

Look for tamper-evident seals: Some machines have yellow security stickers or bars—if they appear broken, crooked, or replaced, they may be compromised by a skimmer.

Be cautious of distractions: In some cases, scammers use tactics like stationing someone outside a store to divert attention.

What EBT cardholders should do

Only use the official ebtEDGE website and mobile app to view and manage your EBT card. ODHS cannot guarantee the safety of any other EBT management apps or websites.

Change your PIN regularly. This can help protect your account if someone does gain access to your card number. Here are the ways you can change your PIN number:

Call 888-997-4447;

Log into the ebtEDGE website

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John Carroll

We start out with a garden playground for the whole family, followed by a greenhouse filled with a potpourri of plants that make up the “jungle” in the yard.

Finally, we have a surprise sunflower plant that has mingled into the rest of the plants in the garden. When you have squirrels and birds “dropping off” some seeds, you might never know what will pop up.

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Tracee Tuesday

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Bend city councilors got a staff update Wednesday evening on the progress and challenges seen at the “Temporary Safe Stay Area” established at Juniper Ridge, which has a higher homeless population than expected – 231 at last count – making it even harder to solve the big question: What next?

There are hopeful signs, from more people receiving help and finding permanent housing elsewhere to quicker response when fires occur in the area of Juniper Ridge known to some as ‘Dirt World.’ 

Many of the homeless have found hope, help and some sense of safety, if not a new home elsewhere. But community members say it’s still a nuisance, a health concern, and dangerous.  

One of the main issues on the agenda addressed city staff recommendations as to how to clear and close the homeless camp no later than a late 2026 deadline set last fall by city and Deschutes County leaders.  

Here’s a bit of background:  

The Bend City Council and Deschutes County Board of Commissioners jointly adopted a resolution in 2024 establishing the temporary safe stay area (TSSA), which provides temporary overnight vehicle camping on publicly owned land in Juniper Ridge.  

But when the US Forest Service permanently shut down the China Hat homeless camp in May 2025, some of those people moved to the Juniper Ridge TSSA. A similar shift occurred when the city previously cleared out those living in RVs along Hunnell Road. 

Occupancy increased from an estimated 100 to more than 230 people.  

So far, out of a budgeted $1 million, the city has already spent half a million dollars on closing and cleaning up the approximately 800 acres of city-owned property at Juniper Ridge outside of the TSSA (east of the railroad tracks) and to maintaining the safe stay area.

Asked how it could look if a portion of the TSSA was temporarily extended beyond 2026 and what that would mean, Matt Stuart, Real Estate & Housing Director for the City of Bend, explained: 

“The costs involved with just being able to provide the hygiene stations, which include providing water, handwashing stations and bathrooms for porta potties for individuals, as well as trash and cleanup, so we can maintain the area in an effective manner. The cost also includes having a service provider continue to do case management, so trying to continue to find housing for those individuals.  And then those dollars are just around the overall management in hiring the security and other staff that are present to kind of keep things in order. So, we estimate that would be about half million to a million a year.” 

Here are the current challenges:  

Over population  

Enforcing rules  

Land management cost  

Housing/shelter options  

 City staff must also enforce the rules which include:  

All pets on leashes  

No creating new structures or roads, or camping in tents  

Failing to utilize hygiene stations   

No dumping  

To close the TSSA by November of 2026 staff recommends:  

Increase the land management budget by 500,000 dollars – adding to the existing budget of $1million, Totaling $1.5 million 

Adding full-time (40 hours a week) staff members to help manage the TSSA camp 

Creating more housing for the displaced.   

During the meeting, Bend City Council floated the idea of extending a portion of the TSSA past the 2026 deadline to give people more time to find housing.    

If the city were to go this route, it’s looking at a smaller version of a camp around 60-70 acres – accommodating just over a hundred people, which would cost the city a half million to a million dollars a year to maintain.  

The city recommends that the first phase of notifications of closure will begin in March of 2026. 

Bend City Councilors will meet with the Deschutes County Commissioners on September 29th, for an update and to present their recommendations from Wednesday night’s meeting. 

City of Bend PresentationDownload

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