Category: ktvz-local-news

Kelsey Merison

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A measles exposure has been confirmed at a Safeway in Portland, prompting health officials to warn the public of potential risks. The Oregon Health Authority and Multnomah County public health officials identified the grocery store at 2800 SE Hawthorne Blvd. as the site of the exposure.

The potential exposure occurred during specific time windows between March 26th and March 29th. The exposure windows occurred over four consecutive days. Potential exposures are linked to Thursday, March 26th, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday, March 27th, from 2 p.m. to midnight, Saturday, March 28th, from 2:20 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, March 29th, from 2 p.m. to midnight.

Health officials are urging anyone who visited the location during those times to contact their health care provider to determine their immunity based on vaccination records, age, or prior infection history.

For individuals who do not have a primary care provider, Multnomah County offers services at seven primary care clinics and nine student health centers. While the health centers are located at high schools, they are available to anyone between the ages of 5 and 18. Appointments can be scheduled by calling 503-988-5558.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Viral particles can remain suspended in the air for up to 2 hours after an infectious individual has left the area. Those infected are contagious for four days before a rash appears and for four days after the rash develops.

Symptoms of the virus generally begin 7-21 days after exposure. Early signs include a fever, cough, runny nose, and red eyes. A rash typically follows, starting on the face before spreading to the rest of the body. Common complications include ear infections, lung infections, and diarrhea, though swelling of the brain can occur in rare cases.

Health officials identified several high-risk groups, including children under age 5, adults more than 20, pregnant people, and those with weakened immune systems. In developed countries, the fatality rate for measles is between one and three deaths for every 1,000 cases.

Vaccination provides the highest level of protection against the virus. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective at preventing infection. Public health officials noted that the risk of severe disease is very low for those who are up to date on their vaccinations.

To prevent further community spread, individuals experiencing symptoms are asked to contact their medical provider or an urgent care center by telephone before arriving. This allows clinics to establish an entry plan that prevents exposing other patients in waiting rooms.

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Kelsey Merison

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — At Assistance League Bend, volunteers don’t just fill roles, they stretch beyond them.

“We do. I mean, that’s what you get with an all-volunteer organization,” said Lisa Sarmiento, the assistant treasurer. “Everybody’s pitching in, and maybe they’re out of their comfort zone. I’ve learned a ton about how to work on websites. I never expected to know how to do web anything.”

Assistance League Bend volunteers

That spirit of adaptability fuels a nonprofit that runs a wide array of programs serving Deschutes County and beyond. From youth-focused initiatives to outreach for seniors, volunteers power nearly every aspect of the organization.

Supporting Youth and Seniors

Most of the league’s programs are designed for students and youth, but volunteers say their impact extends across generations.

Senior-focused efforts from the nonprofit include providing free personal hygiene items to to seniors in 17 long-term memory care and assisted living facilities throughout Deschutes County.

Assistance League Bend’s Secret Santa

‘Senior Connections’ is another example, where detailed handmade cards, designed and created by members, are delivered year-round.

“When you’re in a facility, you’re so separated from the rest of society,” Sarmiento said. “We just want people to know that they’re not forgotten.”

Signature Programs Make a Difference

Among the organization’s most visible efforts is Cinderella’s Closet, chaired by Dianne Benson. The program offers a boutique-style experience where students can select formalwear at no cost.

“They can get shoes, handbags, jewelry, and just feel like a princess for the night,” Benson said.

Cinderella’s Closet

Another cornerstone program, Operation School Bell, serves roughly 2,700 children each year. Students are invited to shop for new clothing with a set budget, allowing them to choose items that reflect their personal style.

“We want kids to have fewer barriers to their education,” Sarmiento said. “We want them to feel confident and excited about going to school.”

Operation School Bell

In addition, Assistance League Bend provides emergency clothing to children entering or transitioning in the foster care system through a partnership with Every Child Central Oregon, another one of our 21 Cares for Kids partners.

Teaching Life Skills Through Cooking

Beyond clothing assistance, the nonprofit is also helping children build practical skills through ‘These Kids Are Cooking’, which is an after-school initiative led by retired educators.

These Kids Are Cooking

The program goes beyond basic nutrition education: teaching students how to plan meals, prepare ingredients, and cook independently.

“If you don’t know how to cut things or cook things, it doesn’t matter if you know what’s healthy,” Sarmiento said. “It’s taking kids from knowing to actually doing.”

Volunteers Find Purpose and Community

For many volunteers, the work offers both personal fulfillment and connection.

Lisa Sarmiento (left) and Dianne Benson (right) in Cinderella’s Closet

“I don’t have kids in my house anymore, they’re all grown and gone,” Sarmiento said. “This is a way for me to care for children, especially local kids that maybe need a little extra.”

Benson said the reward comes from seeing the impact firsthand.

“Seeing the kids when they come into Cinderella’s Closet or Operation School Bell, to see the looks on their faces when they can go ahead and just be like everyone else. It’s a wonderful, wonderful feeling,” Benson said.

Volunteers also build lasting friendships through their shared mission.

Assistance League Bend volunteers

“You get to meet different people, and you build friendships,” Benson added. “We’re all here for the same thing, to help our community.”

Fundraisers and Community Support

The nonprofit is currently inviting community members to get involved through donations, volunteering, and upcoming events.

One major fundraiser, the Dream Trip Raffle, offers travel prizes with $30 tickets. Proceeds help fund programs like Operation School Bell, with ticket sales closing April 15th and a drawing set for April 17th.

Another highly anticipated event, the Kitchen Kaleidoscope Home Tour, returns June 20th in Eagle Crest. The event features tours of local homes paired with culinary experiences from area chefs.

“You get to meet a local chef, sample some food,” Sarmiento said. “It’s just a fun day out!”

A Growing Need for Help

As the organization expands its reach, the need for volunteers continues to grow.

“We always need volunteers,” Sarmiento said. “Many hands make light work.”

From sewing chemotherapy hats to confidence through clothing, opportunities span a wide range of interests and skills.

“We kind of do it all,” Sarmiento said.

For Assistance League Bend, that all-hands-on-deck approach is exactly what keeps its mission moving forward.

Click here to learn more about Assistance League Bend.

To learn more about our 21 Cares for Kids partners, click here.

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Barney Lerten

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A Bend-area man charged along with his nephew with murder and conspiracy in the 2020 deaths of a couple at their northeast Bend home has pleaded guilty to reduced manslaughter charges and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. 

Kenneth Wayne Atkinson, now 61, and his nephew, Nathan Shane Detroit, now 35, were arrested on murder and conspiracy charges in October of 2021, more than a year after the August 2020 alleged murder-for-hire killings of Atkinson’s younger brother, Ray Atkinson Jr., 34, and his fiancé, Natasha “Tasha” Newby, 29.  

The couple’s bodies were found in the basement of their Northeast 12th Street home by a concerned friend and relative checking on their welfare. Then-District Attorney John Hummel said they died of blunt force trauma. 

Kenneth Atkinson, Nathan Shane Detroit II (Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office)

Court records show Atkinson filed a guilty petition on March 20 to two counts each of first-degree manslaughter and conspiracy to commit murder. Two murder charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal, and he was sentenced that day on the four Class A felonies by Deschutes County Circuit Judge Wells Ashby.

Detroit, who also pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy, is still scheduled for an eight-week jury trial that’s currently set to begin on June 15, although a two-day settlement conference in that case is scheduled for April 13-14, court records show. A similar settlement conference took place last May. 

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Nelson told KTVZ News on Thursday, “Our office cannot disclose specifics of negotiations, as the co-defendant’s case is still pending trial.”

“However,” Nelson added, “with this resolution, Mr. Atkinson has admitted guilt, waived all rights to appeal and will serve the full 25 years in prison. Finality was important to our office, and to the victims’ families.

“Should Mr. Atkinson survive his time in prison, he will be 82 years old if released,” the prosecutor said. 

The 2 victims in this case: Ray Atkinson (left), and Natasha Newby (right).

Court records filed since the killing quoted several witnesses who said Kenneth Atkinson had threatened the couple several times. The brothers had been in a dispute since their father’s death in 2019 over the house where Atkinson and Newby were living. There was no will, and the brothers were named co-executors of the $400,000 estate.

A judge in June 2022 set late 2023 and early 2024 trial dates for the two men, but further delays ensued.

Damian Lawson, 38, a Texas resident who called Kenneth Atkinson “Uncle Kenny,” told KTVZ News Thursday he was a “really good friend” of his parents and that they had been following the case “since day one.”

But he said he didn’t believe Atkinson had done what he was accused of – until learning of his recent guilty plea.

“I”m still blown away he pleaded guilty,” Lawson told us. “Until I found out and was told, I still had the belief that he was innocent.”

Lawson said around the time of the killings, Kenneth Atkinson moved to Nevada and came back to Central Oregon to help his father move.

He said he thought back to everything that happened around that time. The day after the alleged killings, Lawson said they’d picked him up for dinner and he sat with Lawson’s children in the car.

“To be sitting next to my kids — I’d have never thought it of him,” until he heard” Atkinson admitted to the killings.

Now, Lawson said, “I can’t say that I feel that enough justice has been done, honestly – it being true, what he did to his own brother. As much as I loved the guy growing up, after what he did, I can’t think of him the same any more. If the families feel that justice has been done for (the killings), I’m happy for them. I feel it should have gone to the death penalty.”

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Tyson Beauchemin

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Mountain View Roadhouse has opened its doors in East Bend, taking over the former location of “The Phoenix.” The new restaurant features a broad, roadhouse-style menu designed to serve families and large groups.

The establishment is one of the few restaurants in Bend to remain open past 9 p.m., serving its full dinner menu until midnight from Friday through Tuesday. The cuisine includes pizza and burgers alongside local salmon and trout.

The establishment is designed to accommodate families, sports teams, and other large gatherings. It occupies the space which previously housed “The Phoenix” in East Bend.

The menu features a variety of roadhouse-style options. In addition to standard fare like burgers, the restaurant serves locally sourced salmon and trout.

Michael Andrusco is the managing partner of Mountain View Roadhouse. He said the restaurant has already seen interest in several menu items following its initial opening phase.

“Oh, man, the pizzas. So we’ve we’ve had our soft opening. A lot of people were saying the pizzas are amazing. Our Brie plate is… just divine, I think is what one person said. But definitely the Salmons. Yeah,” Andrusco said.

The establishment is one of the few restaurants in Bend to remain open past 9 p.m., serving its full dinner menu until midnight from Friday through Tuesday.

The restaurant expects to have video poker machines installed near the bar area very soon.

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Barney Lerten

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) – As Easter approaches and families plan holiday gatherings, the Oregon Health Authority is urging people not to buy chicks, ducklings or other baby poultry as gifts.

Close contact with the cute and cuddly critters can make children ill from salmonella, which can sometimes be carried by chicks and the other Easter-themed animals, OHA said Thursday.

“Giving chicks and ducklings as gifts should be avoided,” said Emilio DeBess, DVM, public health veterinarian in the Acute and Communicable Disease Prevention Section at OHA’s Public Health Division.

Here’s the rest of their news release:

“Young children characteristically will hug and even sometimes kiss the animals and often may not wash their hands afterward,” DeBess added. “Handling live poultry can lead to Salmonella infection, which can be especially virulent in children younger than 5 because their immune systems are not fully developed.”

Salmonella infections cause salmonellosis, which can result in diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever lasting three to seven days. Anyone with compromised immune systems, the very young and older adults could become very ill and even die of the infection.

Since 2020, five outbreaks of illnesses caused by Salmonella bacteria from baby chicks have occurred in Oregon, affecting at least 55 cases of salmonellosis. About half of the cases were children younger than 18.

OHA offers the following tips:

Children younger than 5, older adults, or people with weak immune systems should not handle or touch chicks, ducklings or other live poultry, or rabbits.

Make a general rule that after kids touch any animal, they immediately wash their hands with soap and water.

If kids handle chicks, discourage them from nuzzling or kissing them.

Don’t eat or drink in an area where animals roam.

For a quick reminder, check out this video.

For more information about baby birds and salmonella, visit http://public.health.oregon.gov/DiseasesConditions/CommunicableDisease/Pages/FS-Baby-birds-and-Salmonella.aspx

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Tyson Beauchemin

MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Madras City Council is exploring new law enforcement models, including a possible contract with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. In a meeting on March 31st, officials reviewed the pros and cons of supplementing, or even replacing, their police force with the sheriff’s officers.

To this end, they consulted with former Deschutes County Undersheriff, and former interim Madras Police Chief Paul Garrison. Garrison is also acting as the city’s Interim Police Services Director.

However, Garrison cautioned the council against replacing their police force with sheriff’s officers. He highlighted the legal complexities that could be involved in a contract between the city.

During the meeting, Garrison also cited a study of more than 500 cities that terminated their agreements with sheriff’s offices.

“And, oftentimes municipalities now are canceling their contracts that they have the sheriff’s offices because, they’re dissatisfied with the level of service that they’re being provided,” Garrison said.

Council Member Lamar Yoder asked Garrison what he would do in the city’s current situation. Garrison said he would hire additional staff for the existing Madras Police Department rather than contracting out services.

The city of Madras has budgeted for 14 police officers, but currently employs only four or five.

This has created to a situation where Jefferson County Sheriffs respond to a majority of calls in Madras, especially major incidents and dangerous situations.

The council said they wanted to explore grants to hire additional officers.

In a meeting on April second, Jefferson County Sheriff Pollock suggested the city could use salary savings from unfilled police positions as a potential funding source for a drug enforcement program. Pollock noted that recruitment remains a challenge for all law enforcement agencies.

This comes amid a search for a new chief of police after the firing of former chief Tim Plummer in July 2025

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Barney Lerten

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Deschutes County reminded community members Thursday to watch out for email scams that try to steal personal or financial information. Some scams may appear to come from county email accounts and reference real permit numbers or application details.

These messages may request urgent payment, ask for bank account or Social Security numbers, or include suspicious links or attachments.

“Do not click links, open attachments, or share personal information in response to unexpected emails,” the county advised in a news release that continues below.

To stay safe, verify the sender’s email address and be cautious of messages that create a sense of urgency. Official communications from Deschutes County will only come from email addresses ending in @deschutes.org.

For more tips about phishing scams, visit www.cisa.gov/recognize-and-report-phishing.

If you believe you were the victim of a scam, call Deschutes County 911 non-emergency dispatch at 541-693-6911 or visit www.deschutes.org/911 to report a crime online.

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Barney Lerten

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Bend Police Department announced Thursday that it’s been awarded the 2025 Enforcement Agency of the Year by the Oregon DUII Multi-Disciplinary Training Task Force.  

In addition, Bend Police Officer Zachary Childers was named the 2025 DUII Officer of the Year. Officer Childers has been a Bend officer since 2017 and in law enforcement for more than a decade. He currently serves as a DUII/Aggressive Driving Enforcement Officer for the agency. 

The awards were presented at the 2026 Oregon DUII Multi-Disciplinary Conference. Mothers Against Drunk Driving also recognized Officer Childers with the honor of DUII Officer of the Year at the event.

In 2025, Bend Police arrested more than 550 people for DUI – and Officer Childers made 151 of those arrests. 

“His commitment to keeping our roads safe by finding and arresting impaired drivers makes a huge different in our community, and we are proud of his work and his award,” Bend Police Communications Manager Sheila Miller said in a news release that continues below:

DUII enforcement is a primary focus of the Bend Police Department. In addition to enforcement, however, the Department is committed to prevention as well.

In 2025, the department’s traffic team partnered with school resource officers to educate students on traffic safety, with hands-on exercises using goggles and pedal carts that help simulate driving and driving impaired. 

On New Year’s Eve, Bend Police staffed 10 additional patrol officers, focused in the downtown area, to make sure our community knew law enforcement was taking DUIIs seriously. The department also set up an education booth and provided free alcohol breath testing to nearly 200 members of the public. 

Last year, four of the city’s five fatal crashes in Bend involved impairment, Miller said. 

“That’s one of the reasons our department has increased staffing, training and the skillsets of members of our traffic reconstruction team,” she said. “Having an effective reconstruction team allows us to hold impaired drivers accountable when they harm others in the community.” 

Miller said, “The Bend Police Department will continue to prioritize keeping drunk and drug-impaired drivers off our roads. We encourage every member of our community to not get behind the wheel while impaired, so we can all work together to keep our roads safe for all users.” 

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Barney Lerten

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Governor Tina Kotek has appointed Ellen Waterston of Bend to a second term as Oregon’s poet laureate, Oregon Humanities announced Thursday.

A celebrated poet/writer, educator and speaker who founded the Writing Ranch and the Waterston Desert Writing Prize, Waterston will serve a second two-year term, ending in August 2028. 

Waterston is Oregon’s 11th poet laureate, first appointed to the role in 2024.  

“Ellen has embraced the role, visiting 23 of the state’s 36 counties in the past two years,” Kotek said. “In this time of division, both real and perceived, Ellen has been an effective ambassador in uniting Oregonians and reminding us of what we share. I look forward to seeing her continue to harness her artistry to build a stronger sense of community across Oregon.” 

In less than two years, Waterston has crisscrossed the state to present 84 poetry readings and workshops in 39 Oregon communities.  

“It’s a particular honor to be in this role at this time in our state and nation’s history,” Waterston said. “I’ve come to realize that my job is to showcase poetry in all its forms as a catalyst for mutual understanding.” 

At a recent appearance in Prineville, for example, a participant’s question about whether poetry is supposed to rhyme prompted a discussion about the poetic forms shaped by different cultures and places, including cowboy poetry.

“It developed into the most wonderful, robust conversation about all the different poetry forms, from sonnet to slam,” Waterston said. “It was one more instance of the delightful and unexpected interactions that result while traveling the state in the name of poetry.” 

In her second term, Waterston plans to pursue two complementary projects, in addition to continuing to deliver workshops and presentations.

The first, Poetry in Public Places (abbreviated P!PP), encourages communities in Oregon to display poems in unexpected locations, “from poetry walks to permanent art installations,” she explained. She will explore pathways for poets to engage public art in Oregon and will enlist the involvement of public and private construction and remodeling projects to do the same.

In the second project, she will share the podium wherever she goes with a young poet from that community. Writings from those poets will be included in an anthology of young Oregon poets, with the working title Meet Me on the Divide.

Waterston said, “The poems in this anthology will form a daisy chain north to south, and up and over the Cascades.”  

In April, which is National Poetry Month, Waterston is scheduled to appear at the Hood River Library on April 4; at Coos Bay Library on April 9; at Larkspur Community Center in Bend on April 21; at Rogue Writers Collective in Grants Pass on April 25; and at Western Oregon University in Monmouth on April 30.  

Later this year, Waterston will deliver a poem commissioned for the 100th anniversary of the Astoria Column in July, and in August will help welcome U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze for the opening of the Deschutes Public Library’s new Central Library.

For a complete schedule of Waterston’s upcoming appearances, visit writingranch.com or oregonhumanities.org/events. 

“It is truly an honor to meet with people all over the state,” Waterston said. “I am so very grateful to Governor Kotek for the opportunity to continue to share my love of poetry and place with Oregonians for a second term.” 

Much of Waterston’s award-winning poetry and prose is inspired by the remote reaches of southeastern Oregon’s outback.

Her five poetry titles include the just-released As Far as I Can Anthem, featuring poems largely written during her first term as Poet Laureate.

Others are I Am Madagascar, Between Desert Seasons, Vía Lactéa and Hotel Domilocos. Waterston is also the author of four literary nonfiction titles: her most recent are We Could Die Doing This: Dispatches on Ageing from Oregon’s Outback and Walking the High Desert: Encounters with Rural America Along the Oregon Desert Trail.  

In addition to her work as an author, Waterston founded the for-profit Writing Ranch, which offers retreats and workshops for established and emerging writers, and the Bend-based literary arts nonprofit The Nature of Words, which she directed for over a decade.

She subsequently founded the Waterston Desert Writing Prize, annually recognizing a nonfiction book proposal that examines the role of deserts in the human narrative, now a program of the High Desert Museum.

She also has taught creative writing at middle through graduate school levels and authored the original feasibility study for the OSU-Cascades Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing. 

Her work as an author and literary arts advocate was earlier recognized with an honorary Ph.D. in humane letters from OSU-Cascades and, in 2024, with both Literary Arts’ Stewart H. Holbrook Award at the Oregon Book Awards and Soapstone’s Bread and Roses Award.

“We celebrate Ellen Waterston for her work creating a vibrant literary life east of the Cascades,” wrote Soapstone. “She created unique and important events; focused attention on the literature of the High Desert, mentored numerous writers, while writing poetry and nonfiction works that have become an essential part of the literature of Oregon and the West.” 

Waterston received her BA from Harvard University and MA in archaeology from the University of Madagascar. She has three children and three grandchildren and resides in Bend.   

The Oregon Poet Laureate fosters the art of poetry, encourages literacy and learning, addresses central issues relating to humanities and heritage, and reflects on public life in Oregon. The program is funded by the Oregon Cultural Trust. 

Past Oregon Poets Laureate are: Edwin Charles Markham (1921-1940); Ben Hur Lampman (1951-1954); Ethel Romig Fuller (1957-1965); William Stafford (1974-1989); Lawson Inada (2006-2010); Paulann Petersen (2010-2014); Peter Sears (2014-2016); Elizabeth Woody (2016-2018); Kim Stafford (2018-2020); and Anis Mojgani (2020-2024). 

Waterston will begin her second term this August. To learn more about the Oregon Poet Laureate program, visit the Poet Laureate website.  

_________________ 

About the Oregon Cultural Trust 

Created in 2001 by the Oregon Legislature, the Oregon Cultural Trust serves as an ongoing funding engine for arts, heritage, and humanities. Funding comes through the Cultural Tax Credit, which empowers Oregonians to direct a portion of their state taxes to supporting cultural opportunities. Fifty-eight percent of donations go directly to grants for 45 County and Tribal Coalitions and qualified nonprofits, while 42 percent helps grow a permanent endowment. 

The Cultural Trust is part of Business Oregon in recognition of the vital role the arts, heritage and humanities play in supporting the economies, educational opportunities and vibrancy of communities throughout the state. Learn more at CulturalTrust.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 

About Oregon Humanities 

Oregon Humanities is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a partner of the Oregon Cultural Trust. Through its programs and publications—which include the Conversation Project, Consider This, Oregon Humanities magazine, the podcasts This Place and The Detour and grants that support public humanities programing across the state —Oregon Humanities connects Oregonians to ideas that change lives and transform communities. More information at oregonhumanities.org.  

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Barney Lerten

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Deschutes County is encouraging residents to get their homes ready for wildfire season and take advantage of the free yard debris drop-off events offered each year through the FireFree program.

The county noted that during a wildfire, most homes are lost when falling embers smolder and ignite dry, vulnerable areas around a house.

“Embers can travel several miles to land in fallen pine needles, leaves or other yard debris and start a fire close to home,” Thursday’s announcement said. “Residents can help lower that risk by clearing out flammable debris and maintaining defensible space around their homes.” 

To help make that work easier, FireFree offers free yard debris disposal at local collection sites across the county. The events begin Friday, May 1. but dates and hours vary by location.  

FireFree collection dates and locations:

Sunriver: Sunriver Compost Site

May 1-2  

8 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday and Saturday

18305 Cottonwood Road, Sunriver

Bend: Knott Landfill

May 15-May 24 (7 days/week)

7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

61050 SE 27th Street, Bend

La Pine: Southwest Transfer Station

June 5-13 (closed on Sunday)

8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Saturday

54580 Highway 97, La Pine

Redmond: Negus Transfer Station

June 5-13 (closed on Sunday)

8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Saturday

2400 NE Maple Way, Redmond

Sisters: Northwest Transfer Station

June 5-6 and June 10-13 

8 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday

68200 Fryrear Road, Sisters

What will be accepted (and what will not)

Accepted: grass clippings, brush, plant prunings, pine needles, pine cones, weeds, trimmings, branches, stumps or trees no larger than 12 inches in diameter. 

Not accepted: sod, dirt, rocks, lumber, metal, trash, or plastics of any kind (including plastic bags), and any stumps or trees larger than 12 inches in diameter. 

**Please remember to cover your loads when traveling to the collection site.**

For more information, call (541) 322-7129 or visit www.projectwildfire.org. 

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