The Black Crater fire is now 100 percent contained and the Maxwell fire is 95 percent contained.  Meanwhile, more than 100 additional fires have been reported around Central Oregon after the lightning storms on August 6. The 9,400-acre Black Crater fire burning southwest of Sisters that started on July 23 was fully contained as of Wednesday at 6 p.m.     Black Crater Fire is now 100 Percent Contained. Photos by Brent McGregor “Things are looking really good,” ... [full story]

The 15-year-old boy who drowned in the Deschutes River last Wednesday while playing on a rope swing has been identified as Kyle Riedel of Gresham. Riedel, who would have turned 16 next month, drowned on August 9 about 4:30 p.m.  He and five other teenagers visiting Sunriver, two boys and three girls ages 14-17, had been floating the Deschutes River between Sunriver and Benham Falls when they saw others playing on a rope swing and ... [full story]

A Prineville man is facing murder charges for the death of his four-year-old stepson.   Donnie Earl Asher, CCJ Photo Donnie Earl Asher, 26, pled not guilty during his arraignment on August 4.  “He is charged with murder and manslaughter in the first degree,” said Andrejs Eglitis, the chief deputy district attorney in Crook County. Asher was arrested after his wife brought her injured son, Nicholas Ray Jean Muldrow, to Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Prineville.  The child ... [full story]

A nice lady called to query one of the daughters about six potential baby-sitting dates. When I told her the daughter was not home, she asked if I would like to write the dates down. I probably seemed rude when I said no.  It’ s not that I wouldn’t take a message. It’s that I couldn’t take a message. I have forgotten how. I used to take phone messages all the time. Why I could ... [full story]

I had a combination "Ha, ha, serves you right/wow, that's too bad" moment a few years ago when I heard that Chris Hamill (aka 'Limahl'), former lead singer of '80s British band Kajagoogoo, was working at a London record store. This followed his failed solo singing career that he launched after Kajagoogoo's one big hit, "Too Shy," hit number one in the UK charts.It seems Limahl suffered from the same disease that most lead singers ... [full story]

From backyard barbecues and family reunions to graduations and weddings, summer is the season for making outdoor memories. But when autumn comes and the weather changes, those memories can start to fade. Instead of letting precious moments slip away, you can preserve them forever with a DVD camcorder, which combines the versatile capabilities of a camcorder with the unbeatable convenience of DVD media. Because these dream machines record directly on mini DVD media instead of using ... [full story]

Since teenagers first picked up joysticks and batted small blips of light back and forth on TV screens, parents have been shaking their heads and saying "You'll never make a living playing video games!" The booming computer graphics industry has proven them wrong, and simulation, an outgrowth of that industry, is poised to become the next hot career inspired by those old video games.  "Simulation focuses on a student's ability to combine science, mathematics and programming ... [full story]

An elderly woman in my community learned not too long ago that she needed dentures. She had enough money to pay for the new teeth, but she discovered that her funds, while technically hers, couldn't be touched. The bad guy in this pitiful case was an insurance company, which had capitalized on an ingenious way to make money off an easy mark. What the woman with the bad molars had bought was an equity indexed annuity. Promoters ... [full story]

Horizon Broadcasting Group has named Bill Baker as News Director for its Central Oregon cluster of radio stations. Baker has been heard on the nationally syndicated “Dairyline” radio program for the past 7 years, and also serves as its General Manager of Operations. “We are delighted to have a seasoned news professional like Bill joining our team,” said Keith Shipman, President & CEO of Horizon Broadcasting Group.  “Bill is a terrific reporter, producer and anchor ... [full story]

If Jesse James were alive today, he’d be working for America Online, the number one Internet mobster. The Wild West is alive and well in AOL land where the burly outlaw barges through saloon doors, pistols drawn, demanding more and more money, betraying the public trust under the guise of sweet promises. It’s a wonder that Internet users aren’t sitting at their computers with knives embedded in their backs, three letters etched onto the stainless ... [full story]