Author: KTVZ

Kelsey Merison

CROOKED RIVER RANCH, Ore. (KTVZ) — Next, a black bear was spotted in Crooked River Ranch on Tuesday.

The sighting was reported around 7:30 a.m. on SW Mare Place.

Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife have both been notified.

Officials are reminding people not to approach or bother the bear.

If you see it, you’re asked to immediately call non-emergency dispatch.

Click here to follow the original article.

Kelsey Merison

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A 15-year-old Bend boy was arrested Tuesday morning after police say he pointed what appeared to be a handgun at three teens during a dispute at a Bend apartment complex.

Bend Police responded to the Westside Village Apartments in the 1400 block of NW Albany Avenue around 1:39 a.m. Aug. 25 following reports of a dispute involving a gun.

According to police, the incident stemmed from a confrontation between a 17-year-old and the 15-year-old over social media.

Police said the 17-year-old was sitting in a car with friends outside the apartment building when the 15-year-old came out of his apartment and pointed a gun at each person in the group. The weapon was equipped with a laser sight.

Members of the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team responded to the scene. At about 7:38 a.m., officers called the teen out of his apartment, and he was detained without incident.

Officers then executed a search warrant at the apartment and found a realistic replica handgun with a laser sight, according to police.

The 15-year-old was transported to Deschutes County Juvenile Community Justice on suspicion of three counts of menacing.

The case remains under investigation by Bend Police.

Click here to follow the original article.

Kelsey Merison

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ore. (KTVZ) — Right now, most evacuation levels in Jefferson County have been lifted following the Rowe Creek Complex.

The only area still under an evacuation level is SE 19th and the southern half of NE 18th. Those areas remain at Level One — Be Ready.

All other evacuation levels and zones have been lifted.

Click here to follow the original article.

Kelsey Merison

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Bend Police Department has a reminder for motorists: School starts September 9th, which means more kids will be walking and riding bikes on our roads.

You’ll also see more school buses and vehicles dropping off and picking up students.

That means school zones will be active.

Officers are asking drivers to pay attention, slow down, and help keep kids safe this school year.

Click here to follow the original article.

Claire Elmer

(Update: adding video, information on program)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — For Pacific Power customers, the timing of electricity use could matter just as much as the amount of energy used.

The utility offers smart meters and a voluntary “Time of Use” rate plan designed to help customers better understand their energy habits — and potentially save money by shifting some electricity use to lower-cost hours.

The concept is simple: Electricity generally costs more when demand is high and less when fewer people are using it.

Customers enrolled in the Time of Use plan may be able to lower their bills by moving some everyday activities to off-peak hours. That could include using a dishwasher’s delay setting, putting lights on timers, or charging an electric vehicle when demand is lower.

Those changes could also benefit the broader electric grid. When many customers shift their energy use away from the busiest times of day, it can help reduce strain on the system and make better use of available power during periods of lower demand.

Smart meters provide customers with more detailed information about their electricity use, making it easier to see when energy consumption is highest and where changes could help reduce costs.

The program gives customers another way to manage their electric bills — not only by using less power, but also by being more strategic about when they use it.

According to Pacific Power, on-peak hours are between 5:00p.m. — 9:00p.m. and off-peak hours are between 6:00a.m. — 5:00p.m. and 9:00p.m. — 6:00a.m every day. Customers must be enrolled in the program to receive Time of Use pricing.

More information about Pacific Power’s Time of Use program is available at pacificpower.net/tou.

Click here to follow the original article.

Adrielle Hasara

Bend, ORE. (KTVZ) — A 15-year-old Bend resident was arrested early Tuesday morning after police said he pointed a realistic replica handgun with a laser sight at a group of teenagers outside an apartment building.

The teenager was taken into custody on suspicion of three counts of menacing.

The incident occurred around 1:39 a.m. at the Westside Village Apartments in the 1400 block of NW Albany Ave. According to Bend Police, the encounter stemmed from a confrontation between the 15-year-old suspect and a 17-year-old over social media.

The confrontation began when a 17-year-old victim was hanging out with friends in a car outside the suspect’s apartment building. The 15-year-old exited his apartment and pointed the replica weapon at each person in the group using a laser sight.

Members of the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team responded to the scene. At approximately 7:38 a.m., officers called the 15-year-old out of the apartment and he was detained without incident.

Officers executed a search warrant on the teen’s apartment and recovered a realistic replica handgun equipped with a laser sight. Police then transported the 15-year-old to Deschutes County Juvenile Community Justice on suspicion of three counts of menacing.

Click here to follow the original article.

Adrielle Hasara

Bend, ORE. (KTVZ) — Central Oregon Community College’s Small Business Development Center is accepting applications for its 2026-27 Small Business Management Program. The nine-month program is designed for established business owners looking to address challenges and develop strategies for growth.

The program combines business coaching, peer learning and real-world case studies with individual advising from center staff. Participants work on a strategic project for their business, culminating in a live pitch competition for a share of a $6,500 prize pool. Tuition is $1,499 per person.

To qualify, businesses must have been in operation for at least one year, submit monthly financial statements and be prepared to work on their business throughout the course. The curriculum uses a flipped-classroom model where participants analyze case studies from active businesses and work in small peer feedback groups.

Group meetings are scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon on the second Wednesday of each month from October 2026 through June 2027. Most sessions will take place at Citizens4Community’s The Hub in Sisters. The opening session and final pitch competition will be held on the college’s campus in Bend.

In addition to group sessions, participants will receive one hour of individual advising each month from Keith Sherrill, coordinator of the Small Business Management Program at Central Oregon Community College. Participants will also have access to advisers across the Small Business Development Center.

“Running a small business means making important decisions every day, often without the benefit of a team of people to work through them with,” Sherrill said. “This program gives owners the space to step away from the day-to-day, learn from other entrepreneurs and really dig into a challenge or opportunity within their own business. The goal is for participants to leave each session with something they can immediately put to work.”

Applications for the program are due Sept. 30, with acceptance decisions scheduled for Oct. 7. The program begins Oct. 14.

Click here to follow the original article.

Adrielle Hasara

Bend, ORE. (KTVZ) — The Bureau of Land Management’s Pumpkin Pi timber sale in western Oregon brought in nearly $10.6 million and will produce 23.5 million board feet of timber across 400 acres. The sale surpassed the federal agency’s previous record for the region by nearly 5.5 million board feet.

The auction was part of a larger series of timber sales across approximately 1,400 acres in western Oregon during August. In total, the agency sold more than 40 million board feet of timber, earning over $17 million. Officials estimate the August timber production will generate enough material to construct 2,500 single-family homes while supporting 550 jobs.

Revenue from timber harvested on Oregon and California lands is split between the U.S. Treasury and 18 western Oregon counties. Local government officials use these funds to build county facilities, fairgrounds, museums, libraries, schools and jails, as well as flood-control dams and reservoirs.

Steve Pearce serves as the director of the Bureau of Land Management. Pearce discussed the broader financial impact of the transaction on the surrounding region.

“This record-breaking timber sale is a major boon for western Oregon’s economy,” Pearce said. “Beyond the revenue shared with 18 counties, this sale will generate more than $70 million in local economic activity.”

Forestry programs in western Oregon are governed by the Oregon and California Revested Lands Sustained Yield Management Act of 1937. Additionally, under the Secure Rural Schools Act, revenue from public timber harvests helps fund emergency search and rescue operations, federal land restoration projects and local wildfire protection initiatives.

Pearce attributed the increased volume and revenue to public land policy changes.

“Under the Trump Administration, streamlined approvals and expanded tools for public land managers helped make record setting sales like this possible, strengthening America’s domestic lumber supply, supporting rural economies and reducing reliance on foreign sourced building materials,” Pearce said.

The BLM oversees 2.4 million acres of forest land in western Oregon. According to the agency, its forestry management operations focus on reducing wildfire risks, improving fish and wildlife habitats and lowering energy production costs.

Click here to follow the original article.

Adrielle Hasara

Bend, ORE. (KTVZ)— Little Woody Bend will host its annual beer festival and 5K this Saturday, Aug. 29, featuring an untimed race from The Commons through Drake Park and downtown with four craft beer stops along the way.

Click here to follow the original article.

Tracee Tuesday

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — As electric bikes and scooters become more common on Oregon streets, health officials are reporting a sharp rise in injuries, with doctors across the country warning that more children are ending up in emergency rooms after crashes.

According to the Oregon Health Authority, injuries involving e-bikes and e-scooters more than doubled statewide between 2021 and 2025 as use of the devices expanded. In 2025 alone, Oregon hospitals and emergency departments reported 509 e-scooter injuries.

The trend is raising concerns among medical experts, especially as children and teenagers increasingly ride electric-powered devices capable of reaching speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.

Unlike cars and motorcycles, there are no federal minimum age requirements for riding e-bikes or e-scooters. Safety advocates say that means many young riders may be using powerful devices before they have the experience or skills needed to operate them safely.

According to our NBC affiliate in Wisconsin, for one Wisconsin family, a seemingly harmless ride turned into a life-changing injury.

Jamie Cline said he bought his son Garrett an electric trike for his 12th birthday, believing it was safe because it had a top speed of about 15 miles per hour.

But while riding in his neighborhood, Garrett looked over his shoulder to check on a friend. When he turned back around, he crashed into a parked car.

“If you saw what happened to Garrett, you would understand,” Cline said. “The angle of the seat and the handlebars, if you were to impact something, your body is just going to pivot forward.”

The crash shattered Garrett’s right cheekbone and required three surgeries to reconstruct his face.

Doctors say stories like Garrett’s are becoming increasingly common.

New data show emergency room visits for e-bike and e-scooter injuries among children and teens have increased more than 600% over the past three years. Head and neck injuries are among the most frequently reported.

Dr. Nick Kuehnel, a pediatric emergency physician at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, said he now treats at least one child a day for e-bike or scooter-related injuries.

“We’re seeing severe head injuries with skull fractures and bleeds,” Kuehnel said. “We’re seeing injuries to the extremities, and we’re seeing internal injuries even to the organs inside.”

Kuehnel said the combination of high speeds, sudden acceleration and braking, distracted riding and inexperienced operators can create dangerous situations for young riders.

“I don’t think that parents truly know the severity of the injuries that we’re seeing with this,” he said.

As e-bikes and scooters continue to gain popularity in communities across Oregon, experts encourage parents to research age recommendations before purchasing one, discuss the risks with their children and make sure riders wear properly fitted helmets every time they ride.

For Garrett, now 15, recovery has meant getting back to the things many teenagers take for granted.

His father said he’s looking forward to seeing his son spend time with friends, make new memories and continue working toward a bright future.

Click here to follow the original article.