Oregon State Fire Marshal Nancy Orr announced Bend Fire Department's Deputy Chief Gary Marshall as the 2006 Golden Sparky Award winner during the May 19th Oregon Fire Service Meritorious Awards at the Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center in Portland. The Golden Sparky, first awarded in 1977, is the highest award given to the fire service personnel by the State Fire Marshal.  It honors outstanding achievement in fire prevention and fire safety. Marshall's innovative program FireFree! Get in ... [full story]

Motorists hoping to stretch their fuel dollars by boosting their vehicles' fuel efficiency should be wary of the promises of gas-saving additives, fuel-line devices and other supposed enhancers, AAA warns. With Idaho's current average price for regular grade gasoline just pennies short of the record price of $2.95 set last September, some motorists may be persuaded to experiment with one or more of the many fuel additives or devices that promise to dramatically improve a vehicle's ... [full story]

On Friday, May 26, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to celebrate improvements made to the summit road and parking area atop Newberry National Volcanic Monument's Lava Butte. Forest Service officials, project engineers and contractors attended the event along with the public. Improvements included widening the road using red cinder native to Central Oregon.  Red cinder roads are a historic feature of the region and are visiible on Bend's Pilot Butte and along the Cascade Lakes National Scenic ... [full story]

Cascade Bancorp (headquartered in Bend, Oregon) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bank of the Cascades, today announced that Patricia L. Moss, President and CEO of Cascade Bancorp and CEO of Bank of the Cascades, is a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year(R) 2006 Award in the Pacific Northwest. According to Ernst & Young, the awards program was designed to recognize outstanding entrepreneurs on a regional, national and global level who are building ... [full story]