Bend, ORE. (KTVZ) — The Open Arts Center will host a free art gathering for adults from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, allowing participants to connect with local artists and create work in a community setting.
Click here to follow the original article.Bend, ORE. (KTVZ) — Students participating in extracurricular athletics will require sports physicals for the upcoming school year, according to a recent back-to-school reminder. These physicals, which can be requested from health care providers during annual wellness visits using the OSAA form, are mandatory for all student participants.
Click here to follow the original article.Bend, ORE. (KTVZ) — Redmond High School has received $5,000 in funding and is now in the running for a $1 million football field renovation through T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights competition. The school was randomly selected as a $5K Fridays sweepstakes winner.
The national contest features more than $8.4 million in total prizes for high schools located in communities with populations under 150,000. Five Oregon high schools have received $5,000 awards so far, bringing the total granted in the state to $25,000.
Redmond High School Head Football Coach Kyle Lavendar said local supporters recently rallied to help secure a new turf field for the Panthers. School officials hope additional funding will build on that momentum to upgrade locker room, weight room and storage facilities used by athletes across the school.
Four other Oregon high schools have also received $5,000 sweepstakes awards: Baker City High School in Baker City, Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis, Neah-Kah-Nie High School in Rockaway Beach and Perrydale High School in Amity.
The nationwide competition will award $25,000 each to 40 finalists and $250,000 each to four division champions before selecting the single grand prize winner.
So far, 50 high schools across Oregon have submitted applications for the contest.
Eligible high schools can apply online at FridayNight5GLights.com through Sept. 18. Community members will have opportunities to vote as the competition progresses, with the grand prize winner scheduled to be announced Nov. 12.
Click here to follow the original article.BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — New childcare options are coming to the OSU-Cascades campus this fall, following the closure of Bend’s Little Kits Early Learning Center.
NeighborImpact plans to open three Head Start classrooms at OSU-Cascades on September 8th, serving up to 33 children through state- and federally subsidized Head Start programs.
The new classrooms will include two toddler classrooms for children ages 1 to 3 and one preschool classroom for children ages 3 to 5.
New Childcare After Little Kits ClosureThe classrooms will occupy part of the space previously used by OSU-Cascades’ Little Kits program, which closed earlier this summer. The closure left families searching for new childcare options in a region already facing a shortage of available care.
In the spring, Oregon State University announced it would close its independent Little Kits program and lease the childcare space to local providers in an effort to expand childcare opportunities in Central Oregon.
NeighborImpact has signed the first lease. The organizations say they are also working to bring in another childcare provider to the building in the future.
“OSU-Cascades is committed to ensuring that the OSU childcare building serves its intended purpose of helping solve the childcare crisis in Central Oregon,” said Christine Pollard, interim chancellor and dean for OSU-Cascades.
Focus on Toddler CareNeighborImpact says the new partnership will help address one of the region’s biggest childcare gaps: care for children under age 3.
“This new partnership is one piece of the larger puzzle, providing a partial solution to families’ need for safe, affordable childcare in the region,” said Scott Cooper, NeighborImpact’s executive director.
NeighborImpact’s Head Start program currently serves 601 children in Bend, Redmond, Prineville and La Pine. The program provides early education along with nutrition, health screenings and family support.
Head Start is free for participating families who qualify. Eligibility can depend on several factors, including income, housing and utility costs, disability, family circumstances and available enrollment flexibility.
NeighborImpact says some families who previously used Little Kits may be able to access the limited Head Start openings, including some who may not qualify based on income alone, depending on program rules.
Enrollment UnderwayNeighborImpact is currently enrolling children and hiring staff ahead of the September 8th opening.
Families interested in Head Start can apply through NeighborImpact to determine whether they qualify for the program.
The organization says the new classrooms are part of a broader effort to increase access to safe, affordable childcare across Central Oregon.
Click here to follow the original article.REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Redmond High School is getting a $5,000 boost, and could be in line for a much bigger prize.
The Panthers were randomly selected as a $5K Fridays winner through T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights competition, which celebrates small-town football and community pride.
The school is now also competing for a $1 million football field transformation.
School officials say they hope additional funding could help upgrade locker rooms, the weight room, and storage areas.
The grand prize winner set to be announced November 12th.
Click here to follow the original article.REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Redmond Proficiency Academy has opened an expanded Forest Building in Downtown Redmond.
The new space adds six classrooms and nearly 9,000 square feet to the campus, nearly doubling RPA’s instructional space.
The historic building was transformed from a single-story structure into a two-story learning environment while school remained in session.
The project was funded through municipal bonds and is designed to support RPA’s personalized learning model.
The opening also marks a leadership change: After 18 years, Co-Founder Dr. Jon Bullock is stepping down as Executive Director. Dr. Amy Kappel will lead the school as its new Executive Director and CEO.
Click here to follow the original article.PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) — Prineville’s coming together this weekend for Faith & Blue, a community event focused on connection and fellowship.
The event takes place August 22nd and 23rd at Pioneer Park, with food, activities, and opportunities for community members to spend time together.
Organizers say the event’s about building relationships and celebrating the community.
Faith & Blue is open to the public, with organizers encouraging Prineville residents to come out and take part.
Click here to follow the original article.REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Come raise a pint, hang out with friends, and help support Redmond Youth Football!
On Thursday, August 20th from 5-8 p.m. at Wild Ride Brewing, enjoy a fun-filled Pint Night benefiting Redmond Youth Football.
For every pint sold, $1 will be donated to Redmond Youth Football. It’s an easy way to enjoy a great evening while helping local youth athletes.
There will also be Redmond Youth Football merchandise for sale, plus a raffle featuring awesome baskets put together by some of our generous sponsors. Come check them out, grab a pint, and you might even go home with a prize!
📍 Wild Ride Brewing332 SW 5th Street, Redmond, OR
Bring your friends and family and help make this a night to remember. Cheers to supporting our local athletes!
Click here to follow the original article.(Update: adding video, comments from Bend Privacy Alliance)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A local privacy group is inviting Central Oregonians to learn more about technology used to monitor public spaces, including automated license plate readers, artificial intelligence, and other surveillance systems.
The Bend Privacy Alliance will host a free community discussion, Surveillance in Our Community, Wednesday from 5:00 to 7:00p.m. at the Central Library in Bend.
The event is part of a National Week of Action Against ALPRs, focused on automated license plate readers.
Organizers say the discussion will examine how surveillance technology can track vehicles and potentially reveal information about people’s movements, relationships, and daily routines.
The event will also explore how artificial intelligence can be used to draw inferences from collected data.
Jonathan Westmoreland, an event organizer and member of the Bend Privacy Alliance, said education is a key goal.
“One of the key focuses right now is just to educate people about what systems there are out there, what may be coming, how AI can be used to infer things about citizens and their patterns of life, what things can be done to protect the people at the contract level and at the technical level, and how people that are concerned about this can get involved,” Westmoreland said.
The group also wants residents to consider who can access surveillance data, how long it is retained, where it can be shared, and what safeguards should be in place before new systems are purchased or expanded.
The event is open to everyone, regardless of political perspective or familiarity with the technology. Organizers simply ask you bring an open mind.
The Central Library is located at 61956 SE Santorini St, Bend, OR 97702. If you cannot attend in-person, the event will be live-streamed. Tickets can be purchased online through EventBrite.
Earlier Story — BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Bend Privacy Alliance is hosting a public community conversation about privacy, technology, and data collection Wednesday, August 19th, in Bend. The meeting will take place at the Central Library.
The event will focus on emerging and widely used technologies, including automated license plate readers, camera networks, facial recognition, and artificial intelligence.
Organizers say the goal of the meeting is to help community members understand what information these monitoring systems collect. Discussions will also examine how gathered data can be stored or shared, along with what safeguards are currently in place.
The event is free and open to the public. It will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Central Library.
Click here to follow the original article.BEND, Ore. — A Pacific Northwest pet retailer is calling on customers across the region to help pets and families affected by recent fires in Spokane-area communities.
Mud Bay is collecting donated pet food and supplies at its stores through Aug. 30, giving Central Oregonians and other customers a way to contribute directly to the relief effort.
Customers can purchase pet food or supplies at any Mud Bay location and donate the items in-store. Mud Bay says it will match customer-donated purchases up to $10,000.
The effort is designed to get needed pet supplies from communities across the Pacific Northwest to animal welfare organizations serving fire-affected areas around Spokane.
Spokane-based AFCO Distribution is helping coordinate transportation of the donated products to the affected region. The supplies will be delivered to animal welfare organizations serving those communities, including SpokAnimal.
For Central Oregonians who want to participate, the process is simple: purchase pet food or supplies at a local Mud Bay store and leave the donation with the store. The products will then be collected as part of the broader relief effort and transported to the Spokane area.
The campaign gives people hundreds of miles away from the affected communities an opportunity to help families caring for their pets as they deal with the impacts of the fires.
Mud Bay’s donation drive began Aug. 12 and continues through Aug. 30.
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