Posted Today At 11:12am
BEND, OR — Bend Police are searching for a 75-year-old man who did not return from a Tuesday morning walk. James Wilson is visiting from Michigan and may not be familiar with the area. Authorities worry he may be experiencing a medical issue.
Wilson left the 600 block of SE Gleneden Place at about 7 a.m. Tuesday. He's white, about 5'6", bald and has a thin build. He was last seen wearing a green baseball cap, gray t-shirt (pictured) and gray running shorts.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact Non-emergency Dispatch at 541-693-6911.
UPDATE: Bend Police say Mr. Wilson was found safe at about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.
Posted Today At 9:22am
BEND, OR — Deschutes County Commissioners will hold another public hearing later this month on a destination resort’s request to open a psilocybin service center. The application for Juniper Preserve – formerly Pronghorn – was initially denied in April.
Associate County Planner Audrey Stuart told Commissioners Monday the proposed parking lot is too visible to nearby homes, “The hearings officer found that there are adjacent residences, so immediately to the south, and that there wasn’t sufficient screening.” She added, “There are some shrubs and landscaping proposed. But the hearings officer essentially said it wasn’t sufficient.” Under county code, parking for psilocybin centers must not be visible from neighboring residences.
There were also problems with line-of sight for a service driveway. And then, there’s the question of transportation, “This third issue area is the one that received quite a number of public comments and likely will be addressed in detail at the public hearing, and this is whether there is adequate transportation access,” Stuart told Commissioners. The federal government still considers Psilocybin, also known as psychedelic mushrooms, a Schedule I drug. Stuart notes, the only way to access Juniper Preserve is through an area overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. “The proposal requires transporting psilocybin across federal land; and the hearings officer found the transportation access is not sufficient because it requires the applicant to transport psilocybin across this right of way.”
Stuart says the county received more than 170 public comments on the application, many from people confused why the resort doesn’t need to change its master plan, “Back when the county adopted regulations for service centers for psilocybin, it was decided that within an existing destination resort, if you have an area that’s already approved for commercial use then you can establish a service center without modifying the conceptual master plan or final master plan.”
Deschutes County Commissioners will hear Juniper Preserve’s appeal on July 17th.
Posted Yesterday At 10:53am
BEND, OR — Friday’s Supreme Court decision upholding a ban on homeless camping in Grants Pass is sure to have implications around the state. But it may not be the effect many expected.
“We got clarity – not in the sense that it was a unanimous opinion, but the majority was I think fairly clear about what they were trying to say,” says Ian Leitheiser, an Assistant City Attorney for Bend. He tells KBND News the Justices determined the case known as Martin v. Boise imposed unrealistic restrictions on cities, like requiring individual assessments and tracking available shelter beds. “When Bend adopted its camping code a couple of years ago, it didn’t include some of those elements the court said aren’t really workable and things that going forward a city will necessarily have to consider. So, in that regard, I think Bend is in a fairly good place.”
In the ruling, the High Court says camping bans are not unconstitutional. Leitheiser notes, “It essentially says, ‘while we’re changing the judicial view of what the Eighth Amendment means, in terms of cruel and unusual punishment, with regard to people sleeping outside and are effectively setting aside Martin v. Boise and the lower court’s decision in the Grants Pass case. We’re not weighing in on other things that might govern how cities do this, including state laws.’”
Leitheiser helped write Bend’s code and says it was based on state law, which allows time, place and manner restrictions on public camping if they are “objectively reasonable.” He says, “Even though we have what is undeniably a big case from the Supreme Court, and a lot of people, a lot of cities across the country and especially in the west were waiting to hear what the court would do, it doesn’t change state law.” But, Leitheiser says, “An interesting question that may come out of this is not really, ‘what is Bend or another city going to do?’ But, ‘is the state legislature going to do anything differently?’”
He believes more cities will approve camping bans following Friday’s decision, “It can’t be a free-for-all. But we also have to acknowledge that there are people that don’t have any place to go and we need to work with that. And I say that because a lot of cities, in the run-up to the court’s decision in this case, seemed to be taking a position that they didn’t know what to do.”
Bend’s camping code took effect last year. Leitheiser says campers are rarely ticketed, but it’s not uncommon for belongings to be removed and stored for the owner to retrieve later.
State lawmakers also responded to Friday’s Supreme Court decision on homeless camping bans. The Democratic chairs of Oregon’s House and Senate Housing Committees released a joint statement saying their goal is to make sure Oregonains have access to safe and affordable housing. They went on to say the decision does nothing to solve Oregon’s housing and homelessness crisis. State House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich praised the ruling, saying cities can finally begin restoring community public spaces.
Posted Yesterday At 10:35am
CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF WARM SPRINGS — Governor Tina Kotek met with leaders of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, as part of her tour of Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribal nations.
Kotek attended last week’s ceremony designating Jefferson Greene as the newly elected Wasco Chief and toured the newly renovated Kah-Nee-Ta Resort, expected to open this summer.
She also met with the Tribal Council and toured the Pelton-Round Butte hydroelectric project, co-owned by the tribes. It’s the largest hydro project in the state.
Photos courtesy of the Governor's office.
Posted Yesterday At 9:52am
LA PINE, OR — Many of the state resources deployed to the Darlene 3 Fire have been released, and evacuation warnings in La Pine were reduced over the weekend. As of Monday morning, the fire remains 3,889 acres and containment has increased to 75%. But controversy is brewing in La Pine over the fire’s cause.
The Darlene 3 Fire started a week ago on Bureau of Land Management land, southeast of La Pine. At a community meeting Friday, the BLM’s Lisa Clark said investigators have determined it was human caused, “We haven’t had lightning in the area, so we can eliminate that. And our investigators are at the scene, working with evidence that they’ve collecting, working with interviews, working with the community to narrow that down, specifically.”
A social media video went viral late last week, purportedly showing the origin of the fire; flames surround a large, well-established campsite. Clark confirmed to KBND News the footage is from Darlene 3, but says investigators don’t yet know if that camper is responsible, “We actually do appreciate the presence of this video. We appreciate if anybody else has information that they can share with us about what they know or what they’ve heard in the community.”
Clark says, “We are aware of the location of the start of this fire. But knowing the location is only one part of a fire investigation.” She adds, “We do know that the fire is human caused. But even if we know the camp, we still don’t know the statistical reason for this fire. It could be any number of reasons: it could be somebody driving by, it could be campfire; there’s any number of reasons there and that’s what our investigators are taking a look at.” Clark says investigators remain in the area, “They’re coordinating with local, county, state and federal law enforcement officers to continue with the investigation. We can’t give a lot more information than that because it is still actively ongoing.”
Comments made by the public throughout Friday’s virtual meeting expressed anger and frustration with the possibility a homeless camp might be responsible for a fire that threatened hundreds of homes. Clark tells KBND News, “I know people are frustrated sometimes with the presence of long-term campers on public lands. But there are- nine out of 10 fires in the United States are started by humans, and long-term campers are not the sole reason.” She also notes camping and campfires were allowed in the area on the day the fire started.
Anyone with information about the Darlene 3 Fire is urged to call the Central Oregon Fire Information line at 541-316-7711.
Image taken from the Instagram video posted by user @tommy_thehun.
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