Month: December 2025

KTVZ

(Update: Video Added)

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) — When community members interact with public safety professionals, they’re probably not thinking about the mental and physical wellness of the people who answer the call.

But the well-being of our public safety personnel is critical to ensuring excellent community service. First responders work in extremely stressful and dangerous conditions.

Multiple studies have shown they are at elevated risk for post-traumatic stress, suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression, cardiac issues, certain cancers, and more. These challenges can impact the ability to recruit and retain employees – a key concern during a nationwide shortage of public safety personnel.

To proactively address employee health challenges, Redmond Fire & Rescue said Wednesday it is excited to provide the Cordico confidential wellness app, offered by Lexipol, the leader in solutions that drive performance excellence in public safety.

Here’s the rest of the Redmond Fire announcement:

The app is available to RFR personnel and their families. It includes a wellness toolkit covering 60+ mental and physical health topics, such as fatigue, suicide prevention, and alcohol abuse, as well as mental health self-assessments, videos, and guides on yoga, mindfulness, nutrition, and more.

In addition, the app provides contact information for local therapists who specialize in and have experience working with first responders and connects users with chaplains from the Central Oregon Public Safety Chaplaincy group.

Personnel and their family members have confidential, 24/7 access to the app to ensure they have the resources they need in their most difficult moments, on or off duty.

“Redmond Fire & Rescue is proud to offer the Cordico wellness app and prioritize the health and well-being of our personnel, their families, and the community,” says Fire Chief Ryan Herrera. “Behind every firefighter and first responder is a family that shares the weight of this work, and we want to give our team and their families tools to cope, heal, and stay strong.”

Click here to follow the original article.

KTVZ

(Update: Video Added)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation and SELCO Community Credit Union said Wednesday they are now accepting submissions for the annual SELCO Pole Pedal Paddle Design Contest, which offers a chance to create the official design for the beloved multi-sport event’s 50th anniversary.

Each year, the community contest invites artists of all ages to submit designs to be used on T-shirts and posters for the SELCO Pole Pedal Paddle, which was first run in 1976 and continues to be one of the largest multi-sport events in the Northwest. 

Here’s the rest of the announcement and entry details:

Conceived by Jenny Sheldon to raise money for the Skyliners Ski Team’s uniforms, the Pole Pedal Paddle featured 12 teams and 16 individual competitors in its inaugural running.

Today, the race draws thousands of participants each year and has become a cherished tradition in Central Oregon and throughout the Pacific Northwest. The milestone 2026 SELCO Pole Pedal Paddle will take place on Saturday, May 16, with race registration opening Thursday, Jan. 15. 

“What makes the Pole Pedal Paddle special isn’t just the race, it’s the people who show up for it year after year,” said Kevin Perkey, executive director of MBSEF. “The design contest is our community’s chance to shape the identity of this milestone 50th anniversary. I’m looking forward to seeing artwork that captures the heart of the Pole Pedal Paddle and the pride Central Oregonians bring to it.” 

The submission window for designs closes Jan. 6, 2026. A committee of MBSEF staff and SELCO representatives will then select eight finalists along with two honorable mentions. Finalist designs will be displayed at selco.org/vote for public viewing, and all community members are encouraged to vote during the public voting window from Monday, Jan. 19 through Sunday, Jan. 25.  

The winning design will be selected by a combination of MBSEF staff, SELCO representatives, and public voters, with judging based on creativity, popularity, and suitability for print. The contest winner will receive $500 in prize money, a commemorative mug, and a variety of official SELCO Pole Pedal Paddle logo wear featuring their design. The winning artwork will be showcased on posters, apparel, prizes, and other promotional materials. 

The winning entry will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 27, on SELCO’s social media channels. 

To be considered for the contest, entries must: 

Be memorable, visible, eye-catching, and the original work of the submitting artist. 

Include the race name “SELCO Pole Pedal Paddle.”  

Include the year 2026, and “50th Anniversary.” 

Be digital, or if hand-drawn, easily transferable to a digital format (bold lines, solid shapes, and clear positive/negative space). 

Be suitable for the front of a T-shirt (12″ × 14″). 

Use no more than six colors. 

Be complete and ready for print. 

Optional (Encouraged) Guidelines: 

Represent each leg or sport of the race in a creative or unique way. 

Represent the unique location or environment of the race. 

Acknowledge the historic year—e.g., through retro elements or nods to the original T-shirt design. 

Designs must be submitted to events@mbsef.org as a high-resolution digital file—300 dpi—preferably in AI or EPS format. TIFF and PDF files will also be accepted.  

The selection committee reserves the right to adjust the designs selected as finalists and the winning design. The winning artist must be willing to work with the MBSEF race director to render a final form for production purposes. Once submitted, all entries become the property of MBSEF.  

For more information, visit pppbend.com, email events@mbsef.org, or call 541-388-0002. 

About Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation: 

The Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization that creates opportunities through competitive snow sports programs to support Central Oregon athletes in achieving their individual athletic, academic, and personal goals. Its vision is to impact the life of every athlete it serves positively. For more information on MBSEF and its programs, visit www.mbsef.org. 

About SELCO Community Credit Union 

Founded nearly 90 years ago by a group of fiscally minded teachers, Springfield-based SELCO Community Credit Union today serves more than 150,000 members as one of the largest and longest-standing Oregon-based credit unions. A not-for-profit, federally insured, member-driven financial cooperative with more than $2.8 billion in assets, SELCO provides its member-owners with exceptional rates and low fees on a full range of financial products and services, including banking, mortgages, personal and business loans, investments, and insurance. Membership is available to anyone who lives or works in one of the 27 Oregon or eight Washington counties SELCO serves. For more information or to become a member today, stop by one of SELCO’s 15 branches, visit selco.org, or call 800-445-4483. 

Click here to follow the original article.

KTVZ

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) – Two loggers – one from Bend – and a forest road builder have been chosen as Operators of The Year for their respective region of Oregon.

Three regional advisory committees to the Oregon Board of Forestry selected the trio earlier this fall. The recipients will be recognized in Salem at the January meeting of the Board.

The honorees are: 

Eastern Oregon—Boulder Ridge, LLC, headquartered in Bend

Southwest Oregon—Roseburg-based Weber Logging and Construction, Inc. 

Northwest Oregon—Quality Excavation, Inc., out of Seaside  

The award recognizes forest operators who, while harvesting timber or doing other forestry work, protect natural resources at a level that consistently meets or exceeds requirements of the Oregon Forest Practices Act . That law requires people to manage forests responsibly and protect streams and water quality, protect and enhance habitat, and reduce landslide risks. The law also requires landowners to replant forests after harvesting.  

Videos about each of the three Operators of the Year and five Merit Award winners, including Jeff Maben in Grant County and Staton Forestry for work done on the Gilchrist State Forest, can be viewed on the ODF website at https://www.oregon.gov/odf/Working/Pages/default.aspx 

Eastern Oregon 

Landowner Shanda Asset Management nominated for Operator of the Year Boulder Ridge’s work thinning nearly 2,000 acres of overcrowded ponderosa pine and white fir on the eastern slopes of the Cascades. The selection committee agreed the work was exemplary and chose the firm as this year’s top operator for Eastern Oregon.

“This harvest was a challenge because there wasn’t capacity at the one local mill to take all the harvested logs, so Boulder had to schedule 14 different trucks heading to Gilchrist, Sisters, Culver, Christmas Valley, and as far away as Roseburg,” said Aidan Myers, Director of Timber Operations for Shanda.

Besides reducing risk of catastrophic wildfire by reducing overcrowding, Myers also cited Boulder’s improving the health of the forest by carefully removing trees infested with dwarf mistletoe, which can kill or weaken trees, and which spreads more easily in crowded stands.

View a video of the company’s work at Eastern Oregon Operator of the Year for 2025, Winner – Boulder Ridge LLC – YouTube

Southwest Oregon 

Austin Weber and his company Weber Logging and Construction were chosen as Operator of the Year for the Southwest Oregon Region for successfully working under new Forest Practices Act rules requiring him to protect a half dozen stands of trees in especially steep areas at risk of landslides. Leaving trees in those stands served various purposes, including protecting soils from erosion and downstream water from sediments. Trees left standing would also be available when they eventually fell over to deliver woody debris for future fish habitat. To do so, Weber had to set up multiple yarding sites and haul logs up to landings on the side of the road above the harvest unit.

Michael Williams of Roseburg Forest Products, who nominated Weber, said he also protected a fish-bearing stream in the unit, avoiding damage to trees in the stream buffer. Williams noted that Weber has for almost 20 years consistently excelled at protecting natural resources while harvesting in some of the most challenging situations in the region.

View video about Weber’s work at Southwest Oregon Operator of the Year for 2025, Winner – Weber Logging and Construction

Northwest Oregon 

ODF Stewardship Foresters Craig Sorter and Bryce Rodgers co-nominated Quality Excavation for Operator of the Year for the Northwest Oregon Region. Sorter said, “Small culverts installed in the first half of the 20th century before current rules were in place often blocked fish passage, preventing fish from spawning in upstream habitat. When landowner Lewis and Clark Timberlands wanted to log a parcel in the Coast Range, they knew they would need to upgrade the road to allow hauling and replace the old culvert beneath it. So their timber management company Nuveen called on the highly experienced firm of Quality Excavation.” 

With an eye toward the future of the company, Quality Excavation’s founder Jay Bergeson entrusted the work of replacing the failing culvert on the North Fork of the Necanicum River in the Coast Range to his 28-year-old son Cole. Cole, who had been learning the business alongside his father from a young age, and a Quality Excavation crew, replaced the culvert with a massive new one. They then rebuilt the logging road over it to allow the landowner to harvest trees beyond that point.

Sorter said Quality Excavation had to divert the stream during the project through hundreds of yards of pipe, then dig out the old culvert, including old-growth logs that it had been placed atop. Cole then had to dig a new bed and place the larger, extra-long new culvert at an angle and level that would allow stream flow and fish passage through it. Then he anchored it in place with stone quarried on site, building the haul road back up to grade.

“Quality Excavation did an excellent job, even hiring a bobcat to lay a natural bed of rock in the pipe to make fish passage easier,” Sorter said. “No sediment got in the stream during the work and now fish are able to get to habitat upstream that was previously blocked.”

Watch a video about the company’s work at Northwest Oregon Operator of the Year for 2025, Winner – Quality Excavation, Inc. 

ODF Forest Resources Division Chief Josh Barnard said, “the selection committees worked very hard this year when choosing these honors, given the high quality of the nominees.” 

Barnard said nominees showed they could meet the challenge of working under new rules that came into effect this year. The updated Oregon Forest Practices Act rules provide more protection for forest resources, such as protecting trees and soil in especially steep areas at risk of sliding.  

“Many of the harvest sites this year had quite challenging terrain,” said Barnard. “The Operators of the Year showed extraordinary care and diligence to protect slopes and streams, reduce risk of catastrophic wildfire, and improve forest health to meet landowner objectives. We’re proud to recognize those efforts.” 

Merit Awards

Merit Awards were also given to five other companies. 

Eastern Oregon 

Forestry consultant Jeff Maben earned the Merit Award for his work with private landowners in and around Grant County, helping them improve forest health through removal of encroaching juniper and thinning of overcrowded ponderosa pine stands. His work increased water flow in local creeks, rejuvenated aspen groves, and reduced shade on mountain mahogany, an important source of winter browse for elk. It also reduced the risk of catastrophic wildfire.

Staton Forestry received the Merit Award for a thinning operation on the Gilchrist State Forest that included removing overcrowded lodgepole and ponderosa pine trees and brush to improve forest health by reducing drought stress among remaining trees while improving habitat for deer and elk. It also protected neighboring communities by lowering the risk of catastrophic wildfire.

Southwest Oregon 

Dave Wilkerson Logging, LLC, based in Eagle Point, Ore. won the Merit Award for stopping work a number of times during an especially wet spring to avoid rutting and soil damage. He was also commended for doing an excellent job of protecting young trees in the mixed-aged stand on the western slopes of the Cascades. He also fully protected a fish-bearing stream bordering the harvest unit.

Northwest Oregon 

Emerald Valley Thinning based in Philomath, Ore., earned the Merit Award for harvesting extremely steep slopes in the Coast Range using tethered logging and hand cutting to protect buffer trees along the Siuslaw River. They also succeeded in following new Forest Practice Act rules protecting trees in the harvest unit located in steep slope areas at risk of sliding.

Rick Dennis of RDL Northwest, headquartered in Lebanon, Ore., received the Merit Award for his careful planning of units to be harvested. Nominators cited how he employs multiple logging methods and different types of machinery on steep units and consistently protects stream buffers and soils from disturbance.

Oregon enacted the Forest Practices Act in 1971 as a national model for forest management laws. The law focuses on ensuring responsible forest operations and protecting natural resources in forestland. The Act has been updated many times based on new scientific information and values to create a balanced approach to natural resource management. 

Click here to follow the original article.