The Latino Community Association will host a free Workers Rights Forum and Fiesta de Independencia from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, September 16, at Bend's Community Center, 1036 NE Fifth Street in Bend, behind the Humane Society thrift store on Greenwood Avenue. The family-friendly fiesta--music, dancing, and food--will start at 8 p.m., immediately following a 5:30 p.m. forum that will provide Latino residents important information about immigration law, workers compensation, prevailing wage laws, benefits, construction ... [full story]

Permits to harvest matsutake mushrooms for commercial purposes went on sale September 11 for the Deschutes, Fremont-Winema, Umpqua and Willamette National Forests. The permit is valid on all four national forest until the season ends November 11.  It is required for anyone picking the mushrooms for commercial purposes. The types of individual matsutake commercial permits include: A minimum five-day permit for $35. Added days to the minimum five-day permit at $7/day. A 30-day half season ... [full story]

The Three Flags Campaign is an international traffic enforcement program and involves hundreds of law enforcement agencies in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.  Since October 1993, the campaign has sought to reduce the number of motor vehicle related deaths and injuries by increasing public awareness of laws regarding safety belt use and other traffic issues including driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) and speed. Oregon’s crash fatality and injury rates have dropped 46% and ... [full story]

A Haystack Reservoir campground on the Crooked River National Grassland was closed starting September 13, while a drinking water system is repaired. Haystack Campground is located on the reservoir’s east shore and is routinely closed for the winter.  It will reopen next April for the summer season with the new water system.  The 24-site fee campground has fire pits, tables and paved areas for tent or trailer camping. The reservoir’s West and South Shore Campgrounds will remain ... [full story]

Winners Receive Cash Prize, Featured at The Nature of Words Open Mike Event With the school year just getting underway, The Nature of Words, Central Oregon’s premier literary event, has extended the submission deadline for its Rising Star creative writing competition to September 30. The extended deadline will allow emerging writers more time to prepare and submit their entries. The competition is a new feature of the annual literary festival, scheduled for November 2 – ... [full story]

The economy of Prineville just became a little less dependent on imports of non-renewable fossil fuels. The Prineville Sawmill Company has chosen a wood-fueled “biomass” boiler to fire the kilns for its new lumber drying facility northwest of the city.   In recent decades lumber kiln drying facilities have typically opted to use natural gas fired boilers to heat their kilns.  But natural gas prices have risen dramatically since 2000 and biomass energy is becoming increasingly ... [full story]

It’s rare to find a teenager that truly has a grasp of what they want to be when they grow up.  Many talk of wanting to be a rock star or actor, but not Michael Tobey.  He always knew he was destined to be a chiropractor.   Dr. Michael Tobey says of his profession, "I like serving people. I think it's the greatest joy." As a young teen, he used to get headaches and nose bleeds.  His mother, who ... [full story]

General Election to be held November 7, 2006 Bend City Council Candidates:  Wednesday, October 11, 2006 5:15 p.m. Bend City Hall Council Chambers 710 NW Wall Street Position 5: Mark Capell and Derek K. Stevens Position 6: Clint A. Chick, William “Bill” Friedman and Wyvetta C. Wilson State Representative, 53rd District:   October 12, 2006 The following forums will be held from 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. at the County/State Building, 1300 NW Wall ... [full story]

The interagency group of fire managers, known as a Multi-Agency Coordinating (MAC) Group, is working diligently to minimize the number of additional large fires in the Pacific Northwest.  Currently, there is a high demand for firefighting resources.  The MAC Group is coordinating available resources to ensure they are strategically located, relocated, and utilized to support the number of ongoing, predicted and emerging fire incidents.  Within the Pacific Northwest, many firefighting agencies are losing seasonal and ... [full story]

Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth presented a heroism award on September 13 to Ron Rucker, a Redmond Air Center smokejumper squad leader who risked his life to save another smokejumper and a pilot caught in an airplane’s wreckage.   Ron Rucker received the "Chief's Award for Heroism and Emergency Response" Rucker was serving as an air tactical group supervisor on a twin-engine airplane used for directing firefighting resources on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest when it crashed on ... [full story]