Category: ktvz-local-news

Kelsey Merison

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A Central Oregon organization that has spent years providing essential items and support to families involved in child welfare is joining forces with NeighborImpact.

Every Child Central Oregon, also known as Marked for Love, is now part of NeighborImpact’s supportive services department. The partnership is intended to provide the program with additional resources and infrastructure as demand for its services continues to grow.

Every Child Central Oregon is one of KTVZ’s six incredible 21 Cares for Kids partners.

Melissa Lovemark, the supportive services director for NeighborImpact and founder of Every Child, said conversations between the organizations began in October 2025. At the time, Every Child Central Oregon was already partnering with NeighborImpact through its Diaper Bank program.

“We began conversations with NeighborImpact in October of 2025,” Lovemark said. “We were already partnering with them on Diaper Bank. And we just started talking about what else we could partner on. And it made really good sense.”

The partnership became official in May 2026.

Lovemark said Every Child Central Oregon began as a grassroots effort that operated out of her garage before growing substantially over nearly eight years.

As the organization expanded, more time and resources were being devoted to administrative and structural work needed to keep it running.

Lovemark said joining NeighborImpact will allow the program to focus more resources on serving families.

“This coming together with NeighborImpact really gives us the ability to run and to serve more people, to give infrastructure and staff to things that my tiny team was piecing out and trying to do,” she said.

Every Child Central Oregon will continue operating under its existing name and providing its community tangible support program, My Neighbor, to families involved in child welfare.

“We have more requests than ever. We have more items going out than ever,” Lovemark said.

Lovemark said even with the support of a larger organization, community support is still critical.

“I’d say at this moment, right now on our Every Child Central Oregon website, we have quite a few tangible needs items that kids and families are needing. So please go there,” she said. “Also, our Amazon Wishlist is up to date so you can buy things there. And those go directly to families and items that have been requested and continue to support us financially.”

The organization’s warehouse has also moved to the NeighborImpact campus in Redmond, bringing the operations under one roof.

Lovemark said the new structure will allow the program to grow while reducing some of the barriers the organization faced as a smaller nonprofit.

The partnership will also allow Lovemark to work within NeighborImpact’s supportive services department to explore additional ways to support families involved in child welfare.

Community support remains an important part of the program, Lovemark said. People can help by providing items requested by families through the Every Child Central Oregon website and its Amazon wish list. Financial contributions are also needed as demand for services continues to increase.

“Just because we joined a bigger hood doesn’t mean that the work doesn’t need support still,” Lovemark said. “It is, like I said, growing, and we still need the community in the same way we did before.”

The partnership is also bringing the organization back to its roots.

Lovemark said Every Child Central Oregon originally started under NeighborImpact, which served as its fiscal sponsor before the organization eventually became independent.

“And then we went out on our own and then kind of just came home,” Lovemark said.

Click here to learn more about Every Child Central Oregon.

Click here for the Tangible Needs list.

Click here for the Amazon Wishlist.

Click here to learn more about KTVZ’s 21 Cares for Kids partners.

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Spencer Sacks

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Former Bend Fire and Rescue Shift Battalion Chief Bob Madden reflected on his deployment to Ground Zero and the lasting impacts of the terror attacks as the nation marks 25 years since Sept. 11, 2001.

Madden was among the Central Oregon first responders deployed to New York City following the attack on the World Trade Center.

‘It was our Pearl Harbor’

Madden’s task force was activated in the days following the attacks, sending his team across the country to provide logistical support for crews working at Ground Zero.

The team was stationed at Firehouse 10, known as Ten House, located directly across the street from the World Trade Center site.

Madden recalled waking up on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, to news that American Airlines Flight 11 had struck the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. Eastern time. He spoke with his two sons before heading into work early alongside fellow firefighters who gathered around television screens.

“It was our Pearl Harbor,” Madden said. “So, you know, people my age will know exactly what they were doing at the moment. They found out just like my parents did Pearl Harbor.”

Watching the towers fall

As Madden arrived at the fire station, the South Tower collapsed 56 minutes after being struck. At 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, after burning for one hour and 42 minutes, the North Tower also collapsed, spreading dust and rubble across Lower Manhattan.

“I remember telling the boys, my two sons, that something bad happened, but you’re going to be okay,” Madden said. “And then shortly after I walked in, the South Tower collapsed. That was the second one hit, but the first one that collapsed.”

Madden added that as the towers fell, crew members realized the catastrophic scale of the loss, thinking of tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of first responders gone in an instant.

Central Oregon team called to help

Community members visited Bend fire stations in solidarity as first responders prepared for potential deployment. Madden admitted he was initially skeptical that federal or local officials in New York would need assistance from an Oregon crew, though his wife insisted their team would be called.

“And sure enough, our team got called,” Madden said.

He recalled his familiarity with Lower Manhattan, where his father had grown up in Brooklyn and where Madden had once posed for a photograph in front of the World Trade Center towers while they were under construction.

Inside Ten House

Upon arriving in New York, Madden’s assignment focused on logistical support to ensure ground crews had necessary supplies. His team set up a command post upstairs at Ten House, the home of Engine 10 and Ladder 10, which was among the first stations to respond when the towers were struck. Five firefighters from Ten House died during rescue operations.

“We walked through the locker room and the lockers of the guys that didn’t come home that day,” Madden said. “Their stuff was still there. Their lockers were open, their shoes were there and nobody had touched them.”

Health impacts continue decades later

More than 300 firefighters, 71 police officers and 60 other first responders died on Sept. 11, 2001. In the decades since, health complications related to Ground Zero exposure have affected thousands more. According to the World Trade Center Health Program, more than 154,000 people have enrolled in the program, including 95,000 first responders and workers who served at Ground Zero.

Several members of Madden’s task force have suffered long-term health consequences, including chronic lung issues and cancer. The team’s incident commander died a year ago after undergoing a lung transplant.

“I am worried. I’m still worried,” Madden said regarding his own health and that of his fellow responders. “Right now knock on wood I’m okay. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be in the future.”

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Kelsey Merison

SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) — A three-vehicle crash at the intersection of Highway 20 and Cloverdale Road yesterday resulted in one person being transported to the hospital in critical condition.

Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District crews witnessed the collision while conducting training outside Station 602. Firefighters immediately headed to the scene and reached the vehicles in approximately 30 seconds to assess the occupants.

After reaching the vehicles, firefighters identified one person with critical injuries and immediately began extrication and treatment. A Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District ambulance responded to transport the patient. Due to the severity of the person’s condition, a Cloverdale Fire paramedic and EMT joined the Sisters-Camp Sherman paramedic in the ambulance to provide additional care during transport to the hospital.

First responders evaluated a second patient at the scene who was not transported to the hospital. No other occupants involved in the collision required medical transport.

Several agencies assisted at the scene, including the Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District, Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District, Oregon State Police, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon Department of Transportation. The crash remains under investigation by law enforcement.

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Kelsey Merison

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Boneyard Pub announced today that its location on NE Division St. in Bend will close on October 11th, 2026. While the restaurant is shutting down, the original Boneyard Beer taproom at 37 NW Lake Place and the production brewery will remain open.

The announcement comes despite strong sales growth for the brewery side of the business. Founded in 2010 by Tony Lawrence, Boneyard Beer has seen sales rise 32.5% year to date, with its flagship RPM IPA volume sales up 42.8% in the Pacific Northwest.

Boneyard Beer founder Lawrence reflected on the decision to step away from the restaurant industry while continuing brewery operations. “The Boneyard Pub is a separate business from our tasting room and production brewery. Running a restaurant these days has had its challenges,” Lawrence said. “I am incredibly humbled and grateful to my team and the community for making Boneyard what it is today. The nature of how Boneyard was built was a sum of odd parts, literally parts from 13 different breweries and the same can be said about how we built our pub and tasting room. We are who we are because of our incredible team and the local community here in Bend and beyond. We’re going back to where it all started, at our Lake Place tasting room and brewery.”

Following the pub’s closure, the company is assisting displaced employees in finding work at Boneyard, Deschutes Brewery and other businesses in the local community. Customers with unused pub gift cards can redeem them at the Lake Place location through the end of 2026.

The pub on NE Division St. will maintain operations until its planned closure date on Oct. 11, 2026.

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Kelsey Merison

BURNS, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Bureau of Land Management has postponed a wild horse rescue operation on Riddle Mountain near Burns, following a temporary restraining order linked to ongoing litigation.

The gather operation was scheduled to begin September 9th to assist a wild horse herd facing severe food and water shortages.

The rescue effort was planned after a record dry winter and a wildfire season that consumed 70% of the herd management area. The intense heat from the fires destroyed local vegetation and altered soil structure, placing the herd’s health under immediate threat.

Don Rotell serves as the Burns District Manager for the Bureau of Land Management. He emphasized the agency’s responsibility to protect wild horse populations during extreme weather events.

“It’s our responsibility to manage and protect these herds,” Rotell said. “When fire and severe drought shrinks water sources and reduces forage, it’s the horses and other plants and animals that pay a price.”

Rotell warned that the court-ordered delay could disrupt the operational timeline required to safely gather the herd.

“We want healthy horses on healthy rangelands,” Rotell said. “Unfortunately, the practical implication of this delay is that it may not be possible to round up these horses before late fall storms make roads in the area impassable.”

The rescue operation was planned as part of the agency’s post-fire emergency stabilization and rehabilitation plan for the region. Without immediate stabilization after a wildfire destroys vegetation and alters soil structure, winter storms can wash away topsoil and allow invasive weeds to spread, causing ecological damage that can last for decades.

To help the land regenerate, the agency is resting the rangeland and prohibiting cattle grazing during the recovery period. Suspending cattle grazing is intended to relieve pressure on limited forage and water resources so the land can continue supporting the horse herd and other native wildlife.

The agency said its drive-trap gather operations are guided by the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program, which enforces handling standards that prioritize animal safety and well-being.

The Bureau of Land Management stated that it will provide further updates about the operation online.

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Kelsey Merison

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ore. (KTVZ) — Developing now, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has released its monthly report for August.

The sheriff’s office responded to 883 calls for service, including 104 in Culver, 50 in Metolius, and 37 in Crooked River Ranch.

Deputies made 138 traffic stops and issued 20 traffic citations.

The office also reported 89 cases taken, 29 in-custody arrests, and two criminal citations.

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Kelsey Merison

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Bend’s Summit High School has just obtained a new certification that could help them save lives.

Summit is now the first school in Oregon to be certified in Project ADAM, a national program focused on cardiac emergency preparedness.

Summit staff have been trained to respond quickly and effectively to sudden cardiac arrest and use a defibrillator in emergencies.

Now, the school can be ready for the moments where every second counts.

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Claire Elmer

(Update: adding comments from principal)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Bend Senior High School students began the new school year inside the newly completed first phase of the school’s campus replacement.

The voter-approved project brings open learning spaces, natural light, modern technology, and classrooms designed for their intended subjects—including new science facilities.

“These spaces are conducive to learning and are the learning environment that our staff and students deserve,” Principal Christopher Reese said. “In the old building, we were in science classrooms that were never designed to be science classrooms. Now, these science classrooms are better than I had in college.”

The design also incorporates details honoring Bend High’s history. The school traces its roots to 1904, when classes were held in a log cabin near what is now Drake Park.

That connection between generations is represented by what the school calls the “Long Blue Line.”

“Our current students are a part of that long blue line. Past generations are a part of that long blue line,” Reese said. “The long blue line also represents the future.”

Construction is far from finished. Phase Two will add new gymnasiums and an auditorium, but the work will create temporary challenges. Reese said the school expects to spend about a year without a gym and two years without an auditorium, requiring staff and students to find creative alternatives for athletics, assemblies, and other events.

“If all of this construction has taught me one thing, it’s patience, flexibility, and kindness,” Reese said. “We might have to change direction, and we’re okay with that.”

Reese said the school is keeping its focus on the completed campus, expected in about two years.

“When it’s all said and done, our community, our current students, and our staff are going to have something to behold,” Reese said.

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Claire Elmer

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Students are back in class this week, and the ongoing rebuild of Bend Senior High School is bringing new traffic patterns around the campus.

Students, staff, and visitors now enter and exit the school from Northeast Ninth Street. The change is expected to increase traffic along the roadway and has prompted an extension of the school zone.

Bend Police School Resource Officer John Horvath is urging drivers to plan ahead, remain alert, and allow extra time when traveling near the school.

“Remember just to go slow. Leave a little bit early. Give yourself a little more time,” Horvath said. “You don’t want to be driving quickly through school zones because it’s dangerous for the students. It’s dangerous for the drivers.”

Horvath said drivers should also expect increased traffic enforcement as the school year begins.

“There will be more officers out there looking to make sure that you are following the speed limits in the school zones,” he said.

The extended school zone on Northeast Ninth Street includes flashing lights that will operate when students are present. During those times, the speed limit is 20 mph.

Bend-La Pine Schools said students also helped develop safety messaging before the start of the school year to inform families about the new entrance and traffic changes.

Drivers are encouraged to watch for students walking or biking, avoid distractions, and follow all posted speed limits around the campus.

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Lance Campbell

A new community hub is taking shape in Redmond, bringing recreation and community resources together under one roof. Lance is reaching out to Redmond Area Park and Recreation District today for a look inside, what the new facility will offer and the latest timeline for opening. More tonight at 6PM on KTVZ News.

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