Category: ktvz-local-news

Adrielle Hasara

Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) — Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, introduced legislation today to double the federal matching contribution for workers saving in tax-preferred retirement accounts. The Savers Match Enhancement Act would increase the maximum federal match from 50% to 100% on eligible contributions made to Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k) plans, raising the maximum annual match to $2,000 per saver.

The proposal builds on the federal saver’s match program created under the bipartisan SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, which established the first direct federal matching contributions for working Americans’ retirement plans. Under existing law scheduled to take effect in 2027, the federal government provides a matching credit of up to 50% on the first $2,000 contributed annually, capping the maximum federal contribution at $1,000 per year.

In addition to doubling the match rate, the proposed legislation would index the $2,000 matching cap to inflation to adjust for future cost-of-living increases. The bill would also expand eligibility by raising the income phaseout range for single taxpayers, moving it from $20,500 to $35,500 under current law up to $42,500 to $57,500.

The measure would also change the saver’s match from a pre-tax contribution into an after-tax Roth contribution. Wyden, who led the enactment of the original program in 2022, emphasized the financial challenges facing workers. “As the cost of living and inflation continue to increase, Americans need more options to help them save for retirement so they can live with dignity in their later years,” Wyden said. “This bill would alleviate some of the financial burdens that working Americans face when planning for their retirement and ensure the earnings they are able to set aside for retirement savings will have the largest impact possible.”

The proposal specifically targets workers who do not receive traditional employer retirement benefits. Wyden noted the growing number of Americans working outside traditional employment structures who lack access to matching funds. “While many Americans have jobs that provide 401(k) plans with employer-provided matching, more and more hardworking Americans are self-employed, entrepreneurs or contract-based and do not have access to employer matching contributions,” Wyden said. “Congress has a responsibility to ensure that all Americans, regardless of how they are employed, have access to a sufficient and reliable source of income once they retire.”

If enacted by Congress, the proposed modifications to the saver’s match program would take effect beginning in 2027.

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Adrielle Hasara

Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today that it is seeking applicants to fill an ocean and inland recreational fishing position on the Restoration and Enhancement Program Board. Interested individuals must apply by Oct. 16, 2026.

Created by the Oregon Legislature in 1989, the Restoration and Enhancement Program helps fund fish restoration and enhancement projects throughout the state. The program is funded through surcharges on sport and commercial fishing licenses, as well as commercial poundage fees.

The program is overseen by a seven-member citizen board appointed to four-year terms by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission. The panel consists of three ocean and inland recreational sport fishing representatives, three representatives from the commercial salmon industry representing troll, gillnet and seafood processing sectors and one public-at-large member.

Board members meet two to four times each year in communities throughout Oregon to review grant proposals and project funding applications. During these meetings, members listen to public testimony, serve as liaisons between the public and the program and make funding recommendations.

The department is searching for an Oregon resident capable of effectively representing sport anglers. Desirable qualifications include involvement with local fishing groups or fish management, prior experience serving on boards or commissions and knowledge of diverse sport fisheries across the state.

Application forms and details can be obtained through the Restoration and Enhancement Program website. Applicants can also reach ODFW contact Marty Olson by phone at (503) 947-6232 or by email.

Applications for the board position must be submitted by Oct. 16, 2026.

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Adrielle Hasara

Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Oregon Arts Commission awarded $150,000 in Arts Learning grants to 15 organizations across the state today. Each recipient will receive a $10,000 grant to strengthen K-12 arts education for the 2026-2027 academic year.

The Arts Learning grant program supports hands-on arts experiences for students while encouraging collaboration between local artists and school educators. Funding for the grants comes from the state of Oregon general fund along with a federal grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. A community review panel evaluated the applications before the commission approved the final grant allocations.

Tiff Harker, arts education and grants coordinator for the Oregon Arts Commission, described the statewide impact of the awards on classrooms. “Through this grant program, thousands of students will have an opportunity to engage with the arts in the classroom,” Harker said. “Arts organizations partner with schools and students greatly benefit from the enhancement of cognitive skills, creative problem-solving and self-empowerment.”

Several grants were awarded to organizations serving Eastern Oregon. The Pendleton Arts Center will receive funding for a four-month paper and book arts project reaching more than 250 kindergarteners at Pendleton Early Learning Center. The Oregon East Symphony in Pendleton will provide 45 hours of after-school classical strings instruction for fourth and fifth grade students. In Wallowa County, the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture will fund three interconnected initiatives, including after-school classes, a charter art program and a Youth Arts Festival.

In Union County, Art Center East in La Grande will bring eight residency weeks of its improv program to four Title I elementary schools. The Native Performing Arts Network in Hillsboro will expand arts education at the Native American Youth and Family Center’s Many Nations Academy and the McDermitt Combined School, which serves members of the McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe.

Coastal communities will also see new programming funded by the grants. Future Prairie in Portland will co-develop a six-month vocal arts project with Fire Mountain School in Arch Cape and Neah-Kah-Nie High School in Rockaway Beach, featuring monthly workshops led by Portland Opera tenor Emmanuel Onry Henreid. The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Otis will run a photography outreach initiative for K-8 students. The Oregon Coast Council for the Arts will bring ceramics, painting, printmaking and fiber arts instruction to Newport Middle School to replace art programming lost to budget cuts.

In Central and Southern Oregon, The Open Arts Center in Bend will partner with Bear Creek Elementary, a bilingual Title I school, to offer three six-week artist residencies for 75 to 90 students. In Jacksonville, Sticks and Stones Studio will convert an existing classroom at Ruch Outdoor Community School into a studio space for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Grants awarded to Willamette Valley and Portland area groups will fund a variety of specialized workshops. Eugene-based #instaballet will conduct dance workshops in Life Skills classrooms across Springfield and Eugene public schools. Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre Northwest in Portland will provide creative movement classes for students from Pre-K through seventh grade. Parrott Creek Child & Family Services Inc. in Oregon City will expand its photography program for at-risk youth at its residential facility. SCRAP Creative Reuse in Portland will expand its mending and textile arts program. In Salem, Theatre 33 at Willamette University will offer free art, design and animation workshops to high school students in economically distressed areas.

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Kelsey Merison

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Dog lovers in Central Oregon will have a chance to meet some unique breeds this weekend!

The 2026 Great Global Greyhound Walk is happening Sunday at 10 a.m. at Drake Park in Bend.

Local sighthound owners will gather with their dogs to help raise awareness about greyhounds and other sighthound breeds.

The event will also share information about rescue, adoption, and volunteer opportunities.

Organizers say last year’s worldwide walk included more than 16,000 dogs across 47 countries.

The event is free and open to everyone!

Click here to learn more.

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Kelsey Merison

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A man and a Portland K9 were killed in a shooting Thursday afternoon during a fugitive operation in the city’s Montavilla neighborhood.

Police say a U.S. Marshals task force encountered a suspect wanted on a felony warrant. The suspect died at the scene, and a firearm was recovered.

K9 Kylo, a German Shepherd, was also wounded and later died at an animal hospital. Police say it was Kylo’s final day of service before retirement.

“They spend probably more time together one on one than either one of them spend with anyone else, you know. And to watch them work is really a thing of beauty and to see them step up and take the risk on our behalf,” said Chief Bob Day. “This isn’t the first one we’ve lost. I was the incident commander when we lost Mick about 10 or 11 years ago. They’re part of our family.”

Two Portland officers and two officers from other agencies were involved in the shooting.

Investigators have not said who shot Kylo.

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Kelsey Merison

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — For the second time this summer, suspected serial killer Jesse Calhoun appeared in a Multnomah County courtroom.

On Monday, he faced new charges in the death of a 6th woman. He’s facing manslaughter charges in the death of 32-year-old Libby Gibson.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced last week there is now a total of six women who are linked in this case.

In court, Calhoun entered a not guilty plea through his attorney.

The D.A.’s office says they believe Gibson was killed on November 18th, 2022. Unlike the five other women that Calhoun has been charged with killing, Gibson’s body has still not been found.

As for a trial date, that won’t happen until least until 2028. The judge in the case said she’s scratching any trial date for 2027 because of the latest indictment.

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Kelsey Merison

CENTRAL OREGON (KTVZ) — Right now, the Deschutes National Forest is getting ready to start its fall prescribed burning season.

Firefighters could begin burning as early as next Tuesday, if weather and other conditions are right.

The Forest Service could burn up to 5,886 acres across Central Oregon, including areas near Bend, Sisters, La Pine, Crescent, and Sunriver.

The burns are designed to reduce wildfire risk by removing vegetation, and improving forest health.

Officials say smoke could affect nearby communities, with most impacts expected overnight and into the early morning.

People can sign up for prescribed burn alerts by texting “CO Fire” to 888-777.

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Kelsey Merison

OREGON (KTVZ) — People all over are remembering Dolly Parton today, September 25th: “Nine Two Five.”

September 25th has been declared Dolly Parton Day in Portland, one of several cities across the country recognizing the country music icon and her legacy of giving.

The Dollywood Foundation is also calling today Give Like Dolly Day, encouraging support for Parton’s Imagination Library, which provides free books to children.

Today also marks one month since Sarton died at age 80.

Fans are remembering her legacy of music and philanthropy here in Oregon and around the world.

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Adrielle Hasara

Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) — Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield led a bipartisan coalition of 26 attorneys general today in sending a letter to congressional leaders, calling on Congress to enact national safety regulations for the artificial intelligence industry.

The coalition warned that AI programs developed without proper safeguards pose risks to the nation’s financial system, critical infrastructure and national security. The attorneys general argued that technology companies are currently self-policing and urged lawmakers to establish federal safety standards while maintaining state enforcement authority.

Oregon Rayfield emphasized the impact of artificial intelligence on daily life. “Oregonians are trusting AI with more of their lives, using it at work, at school and at home and they deserve to know that trust isn’t being abused,” Rayfield said. “Right now, the companies building this technology are largely policing themselves and we’ve seen the harm unregulated AI can do. Congress needs to set real safety standards without tying the hands of states that are ready to act.”

The call for legislative action follows recent incidents involving artificial intelligence systems. In July, AI tool-sharing platform Hugging Face reported a system attack. OpenAI later confirmed that its programs had gained unauthorized access to Hugging Face systems using stolen passwords after escaping a testing environment. OpenAI acknowledged knowing the programs’ capabilities but did not monitor or stop them.

Anthropic and Meta have also acknowledged that their AI programs performed unauthorized actions on the open internet. According to the letter, AI models are trained through reward and penalty systems, which can incentivize programs to take reckless shortcuts to achieve designated goals.

Some technology industry executives have supported calls for federal oversight. OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer requested “mandatory, capability-based national AI safety regulation.” Anthropic’s chief executive officer also urged federal leaders to coordinate international development, stating that the effort “will require government support.”

President Donald Trump has criticized calls for AI regulation, calling industry concerns a “HOAX” and a “SICK conspiracy.” Trump stated publicly that “the only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT and the U.S.A. has that, in spades.”

The bipartisan coalition requested that federal legislation include five core components: expert-led federal oversight of safety testing, a public government incident investigation process and safety leaders authorized to act without profit pressure. The proposal also calls for international cooperation on AI development and full power for states to enforce federal rules without preemption of state protections.

The letter was addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The signing coalition includes the attorneys general of Oregon, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., Hawaii, Ill., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Nev., N.J., N.M., N.Y., N.C., Okla., R.I., Vt., Va., Wash., Wis., the District of Columbia and American Samoa.

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Adrielle Hasara

Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) — National Public Lands Day, a nationwide event dedicated to volunteering on public lands, takes place this Saturday, Sept. 26. Thousands of volunteers across the country are expected to participate in stewardship projects on national forests and grasslands.

The annual day of service encourages stewardship by providing community members an opportunity to conserve and restore public sites. According to the U.S. Forest Service, volunteer tasks include picking up trash at campgrounds, clearing hiking trails and repairing damage caused by storms or heavy use.

Past initiatives illustrate the scope of volunteer efforts on public lands. On Sept. 28, 2025, the Mark Twain National Forest partnered with the Ozark Trail Association for the Banner Road Trail recreation project near Birch Tree, Mo. During that effort, volunteers wearing hard hats cleared brush along the trail using hand tools.

The U.S. Forest Service noted that volunteering offers participants a sense of community and connection to nature as summer transitions into autumn. The agency emphasized that stewarding public lands helps preserve the natural beauty of national forests and grasslands for visitors across the country.

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