Author: KTVZ

Kelsey Merison

OREGON (KTVZ) — Oregon work zones experienced a five-year high in crashes in 2024 with 621 incidents reported, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). These crashes resulted in 14 lives lost and 36 serious injuries.

All individuals who suffered serious injuries or died in Oregon work zones in 2024 were drivers or their passengers. Each of these crashes was preventable, according to ODOT. National Work Zone Awareness Week, observed from April 20th-24th, encourages safe driving practices to protect both drivers and road workers.

Work zones are shared spaces where driver decisions significantly impact safety. Drivers are advised to pay attention, as distracted driving is a leading cause of work zone crashes. Reducing speed is crucial because work zone speed limits are lowered for everyone’s safety.

When encountering road workers, drivers should safely change lanes to give them space. If changing lanes is not possible, drivers must slow down. Planning ahead by visiting TripCheck.com for the latest closures, detours, and delays can help drivers navigate work zones and manage travel times.

Work zones extend beyond areas marked by orange barrels and lane closures. Any area where someone is working along the road is considered a work zone, requiring drivers to slow down and move over. This includes emergency responders assisting stranded or injured travelers, road maintenance workers fixing potholes or replacing signs, tow truck drivers aiding disabled vehicles, and utility workers ensuring essential services.

Work zones remain active even when no workers are visibly present. Fines for speeding and other unlawful behaviors are doubled in these designated areas.

Data from 2020 through 2024 shows an upward trend in work zone crashes, injuries, and deaths.

Click here to follow the original article.

KTVZ News Partners

SEATTLE, Wash. (KOMO) — A 70-year-old Washington woman is turning personal tragedy into an opportunity for connection by offering her extra Seattle Mariners season ticket to strangers.

Rhenda Strub, of Olympia, has found solace at the ballpark after the death of her son and now uses social media to find companions to join her for games.

Her first guest was 83-year-old Joan Staples-Morin, of Tacoma, who attended a game with Strub.

Strub’s journey began after her son, Wyatt, died in March 2023 at age 27 from muscular dystrophy. His death left her deeply grieving, finding it difficult to leave her home.

“When I lost him, I didn’t want to come out of my room,” Strub said.

She initially found peace watching Mariners games on television from her home, a practice she maintained for three years as baseball helped her heal.

“There’s no such thing as a bad day at the ballpark,” Strub said.

In March, on what would have been the third anniversary of her son’s death, Strub decided to embrace a new path. “On the third anniversary of his death, I gave myself a present to help bring me back into the world,” Strub said.

She purchased two season tickets just a few rows back from the first base line. Since her children and grandchildren are busy, and her husband dislikes crowds, Strub turned to social media to offer her second ticket for $71 a game.

Her post generated thousands of likes and hundreds of comments. Strub described the heartwarming response. “So many people said, ‘I need a grandma,’ ‘I want a grandma,’ ‘I’ll be your grandchild,’ and that just warms my heart,” Strub said. “I mean this is what I was hoping I would get when I bought myself the tickets.”

Strub expressed the strong bonds that form at the ballpark. “You make an instant connection with everyone around you. It’s like being with family all the time,” she said.

Click here to follow the original article.

Spencer Sacks

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Kolovita, a program of the nonprofit Art Sprouts, Inc., is presenting “Circle of Voices — Ukrainian Women’s Folklore Trio” at the Hanai Center.

The program features internationally recognized artists Inna Kovtun, Nadia Tarnawsky and Hanna Tishchenko performing a cappella polyphonic singing from Ukraine’s Polissya region. This event serves as a tribute to the cultural life of Polissya on the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster.

The “Circle of Voices” program offers an intimate experience shaped by presence and tradition, focusing on the preservation and sharing of vocal traditions passed through generations of women. The evening will begin with a pre-program reception featuring Polissya-inspired seasonal food and beverages, including nettle soup, pampushky, uzvar and seasonal sweets. Guests will also be welcomed with a traditional Ukrainian bread and salt ceremony, a gesture of hospitality, respect and shared presence.

The featured artists are ethnographer, researcher and folk singer Kovtun; folk singer and researcher Tarnawsky; and folk singer and folklorist Tishchenko. Their collective work is dedicated to preserving and sharing the vocal traditions of the Polissya region, carrying songs passed through generations of women. Kolovita’s event is part of its “Future Heritage” series, which is rooted in the rhythms of living tradition.

To get tickets and learn more click here

Click here to follow the original article.

Tracee Tuesday

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Young athletes across Central Oregon will have a chance to sharpen their skills and build confidence this weekend at the Oregon Lightning Youth Initiative Football and Cheer Camp.

The camp, set for Saturday at Caldera High School in Bend, is designed for kids from Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Bend. Organizers say the goal goes beyond sports fundamentals, focusing on teamwork, discipline, leadership and community connection.

Participants will receive hands-on instruction in both football and cheerleading, while also learning life skills that extend off the field.

“This is about more than just athletics,” organizers said. “We are creating opportunities for mentorship, encouragement and personal growth for local youth.”

Funds raised through the initiative help cover operational costs, including equipment, facility use, staffing and training materials. Organizers say that support allows them to keep the camp accessible while providing a safe and positive experience for participants.

The program aims to invest in Central Oregon youth by offering a structured environment where kids can develop confidence, build relationships and stay engaged in their communities.

The camp runs from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at Caldera High School, 60925 SE 15th St. in Bend.

Click here to follow the original article.

Tyson Beauchemin

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The interactive art exhibit “Seeds of Abundance” has been transformed by the public.

The exhibit, which was first reported on by KTVZ last month, features two distinct interactive elements. People were invited to contribute bits of nature, tying them together with string and sharing their thoughts on art, Central Oregon’s nature, and farming.

A second part of the exhibit involved a dark room where visitors placed white dots under a black light, further encouraging direct engagement with the artwork.

Guieu, a local artist, created “Seeds of Abundance” to foster community participation. She expressed great satisfaction with the public’s involvement.

“Because you are here. You participate, you bring your imagination and you bring your creativity to it makes them feel good as it should, because everyone is creative and we are going to need so much creativity in the times to come,” Guieu said.

Guieu was also pleased by the imaginative ways people engaged with the black-light room, noting that they took the art in new directions.

The “Seeds of Abundance” exhibit will be on display for one more week at the Scalehouse art gallery. Following its conclusion, Guieu is actively looking for a new venue or individual to continue hosting the main art piece. Ideally, it would be put somewhere indoors where people could continue to add to it.

Click here to follow the original article.

Tyson Beauchemin

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Mike and Logan Heagerty, a father-son inventor duo, have developed a new mobility chair called the “Lift Lite” here in Bend.

The chair uses leverage and body strength to help users sit and stand, without electric assistance.

The invention stems from Mike Heagerty’s personal experience several years ago. Mike fell ill, causing him to lose some strength and mobility. He found himself struggling to get in and out of chairs, yet he was determined to maintain his independence. He did not want an electric-assisted chair, fearing further loss of mobility. This personal challenge spurred the father and son to collaborate on creating a solution that relies on the user’s own body mechanics.

With minimal effort, the chair goes from a seated position to upright. There’s no motor or electrical component. While it is easy to sit and stand from, the chair encourages the user to build strength and balance.

Logan Heagerty, co-founder of Lift Lite, explained the chair’s target audience. “I mean, there are definitely all sorts of mobility products out there. This is for someone who wants to be a little bit of a maverick with their mobility,” Heagerty said. “They want to work differently. They want to move differently. This is someone that could go for another option but chooses speed, independence and confidence in their movement.”

Mike Heagerty recovered from his illness, but he recognized the broader need for a chair like the one they had designed. The pair initially developed several models of the chair. They then met with medical professionals to further refine the “Lift Lite” design. They are, however, proud that their chair was made out of their own necessity, and it is not a generic product designed for sale.

The “Lift Lite” chair is currently going into production. It will be available to the public soon. They encourage anyone interested in this alternative mobility solution to check in on their website for the latest information on Lift Lite.

Click here to follow the original article.

Barney Lerten

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Bend city councilors have approved this year’s street preservation projects that involve several streets slated for paving, chipseal and slurry seal contracts.

The city is preparing to do about $4.34 million worth of street preservation contract work this year that will improve about 77 lane miles around the city. That includes about 12.9 miles of paving, 26.7 miles of chipseal, 26 miles of slurry treatments, and 11.1 miles of micro paving.

This work is supported by Bend’s Transportation Fee.

The city says its “goal is to maintain and preserve streets with the most cost-effective treatment for the road condition, implementing the right treatment at the right time.”

Maintenance treatments for the 2026 construction season include:

Paving: Old asphalt is ground out and replaced, or a new layer of asphalt is paved on top of existing roadway. This process can take a couple of days.

Chip seals: Asphalt emulsion and rock are applied to the road. Rolling, short-term closures.

Slurry seal: A treatment typically for low-volume residential streets. One-day closures.

Micro paving: A cost-effective, quick treatment for high-volume streets. Night work.

An interactive version of project map can be found at the city’s Street Preservation page, linked below

With its own crews, separate from the contracted services, the city will also reconstruct the asphalt surface of about 1.5 miles of streets this year. With reconstruction, the existing roadway asphalt surface is removed and rebuilt. That work can take several days.

The city of Bend monitors the condition of roads to determine maintenance plans. That allows for the right treatment to be applied at the right time to save costs and extend the life of a road.

The worst roads need full reconstruction, which is exponentially more expensive than regular maintenance. The city says full roadway reconstruction is not an efficient use of maintenance funds and is likely to be paid for as part of a larger transportation construction project.

“The street preservation contracts are part of our continued maintenance efforts to extend the life of our transportation infrastructure with the most cost-effective treatments and available resources,” said Transportation and Mobility Department Director David Abbas.

“We have more than 900 lane miles of roads to maintain, and the cost of maintaining streets has increased considerably in recent years. Our operations and maintenance revenues, such as the Transportation Fee, will need to keep pace with cost and inflation increases in the future to improve our pavement conditions.”

To learn more about Bend’s street preservation practices, visit bendoregon.gov/streetpreservation.

To subscribe to weekly emails to plan your best route around road work and construction, visit bendoregon.gov/traffic for the weekly road and traffic report.

Click here to follow the original article.

Harley Coldiron

Do you want to be part of the solution to addressing the housing crisis in Central Oregon?

Central Oregon YIMBY, 1000 Friends of Oregon, and Central Oregon LandWatch are joining forces to tackle the housing crisis with a unique workshop and presentation. This interactive event will explore policy strategies and community advocacy, offering attendees a chance to learn, engage, and enjoy some free pizza.

Mark your calendars for 5:30-7:30 PM on April 21st at Open Space Event Studio to be part of the solution.

You are asked to RSVP if you plan to attend: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lets-talk-housing-solutions-tickets-1985959985778

Click here to follow the original article.

Kelsey Merison

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Think Wild has introduced two new wildlife ambassador animals, a western toad and a gopher snake, to help educate the community on wildlife and habitat conservation. These animals will participate in education and outreach programs across Central Oregon.

The ambassador animals, both native herpetofauna, will visit classrooms and community events to teach students and the public about native species and coexistence. Both animals were approved for the ambassador program by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife after being deemed non-releasable.

The western toad, named Timmy, had his name submitted and voted on by local students from Barnes Butte Elementary, Jefferson County 21st Century After School Program and Warm Springs K-eight Academy. Timmy arrived at Think Wild as a patient after being kept as a pet for about one year. He was deemed non-releasable due to habituation concerns, as wildlife accustomed to humans often lose critical survival behaviors needed in the wild. Timmy’s story serves as a reminder that keeping wild animals as pets is illegal and harmful to both animals and ecosystems.

Timmy with a cricket on his head. Credit: Think Wild / Sue Dougherty

Western toads (Anaxyrus boreas) are a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Oregon, facing threats from habitat loss, disease and changes to wetland and riparian ecosystems. Amphibians are particularly sensitive to environmental changes because they depend on both aquatic and terrestrial habitats throughout their lives. Timmy will serve as an ambassador for his species, highlighting the importance of wetlands, clean water and habitat connectivity.

The gopher snake was rescued from a construction site in Tumalo with significant trauma near the cloaca that required stitches. Isaiah Bagley Blessing, the gopher snake rescuer, brought the animal to Think Wild Wildlife Hospital. “While working in Tumalo , I stumbled upon an injured gopher snake. After a quick glance, I noticed the excavator accidentally moved concrete blankets and injured him pretty badly,” Blessing said. “After my girlfriend suggested taking him to Think Wild Wildlife Hospital, we brought the snake in with little hope, but against the odds, they survived. Seeing them pull through meant a lot to me, I’ve always had a deep love for animals, especially reptiles and I’ve always been the kind of person to rescue even the smallest creatures, from snakes to spiders.”

Gopher snake. Credit: Think Wild / Sue Dougherty

Due to the injury, the gopher snake cannot defecate independently and requires physical assistance from trained staff approximately once per week. An animal unable to perform essential biological functions on its own is not suitable for release. Blessing expressed gratitude for Think Wild’s efforts. “Thank you to all the people at Think Wild for taking him in and all the other conservation they do,” he commented.

Gopher snakes (Pituophis catenifer) are non-venomous and native to Central Oregon, playing a role in controlling rodent populations. They are often mistaken for rattlesnakes due to defensive behaviors such as flattening their head, hissing loudly and vibrating their tail. Despite this mimicry, gopher snakes are harmless to humans and are an important part of a balanced ecosystem.

These new animals will join Wild’s existing ambassador, Shar, a red-tailed hawk, in supporting the organization’s programs. They will help students and community members learn about native wildlife, habitat conservation and how everyday actions affect local ecosystems. Becca LiPuma, education manager at Think Wild, emphasized the animals’ role. “while these animals may be small, they represent a big opportunity to connect people with wildlife conservation in a fun and meaningful way. Our education programsss are about to be hoppin’,” LiPuma said.

Think Wild is inviting the community to submit name ideas for the gopher snake until April 24. Following the submission period, voting for the snake’s name will be open to the public.

Click here to follow the original article.