Silver Rail teacher's aide says she 'pretended to be dead' after being shot

BEND, Ore. -- The educational assistant at Silver Rail Elementary School who was injured in last week's attack issued a statement Wednesday, sharing her memories of the traumatic moments and how she tried to close the classroom door before she was shot "at close range."

Wednesday, Oct 21, 2026

Attorney General Rayfield backs challenge to 'unlawful, warrantless' immigration arrests

Wednesday, Oct 21, 2026

OSP Fish & Wildlife seek tips in Grant County elk poaching case

Saturday, Oct 17, 2026

Justice Department files complaints against St. Paul, Portland challenging mask ban, ID requirements for federal officers

Thursday, Oct 15, 2026

Redmond police arrest 4 Bend men in sex trafficking of minor female

REDMOND, Ore. - Redmond Police announced Thursday the arrest of four Bend men on rape and other charges involving a minor female who officers said was the victim of  human sex trafficking, also releasing their photos as they seek any other victims.

Thursday, Oct 15, 2026

Meet Matt Nelson, dual-role prosecutor of disturbing crimes

BEND, Ore. – When Matt Nelson was attending to Wilsonville High School, then Lewis & Clark Law School, he probably couldn’t have imagined where his law career would turn, and how he now prosecutes some of the most disturbing crimes you can imagine – not just locally, but at the federal level.

Thursday, Oct 15, 2026

Oregon DOJ's MyPaymentPortal.com currently unavailable

Wednesday, Oct 14, 2026

Wednesday, Sept. 30th is Orange Shirt Day

Monday, Sep 28, 2026

Powell Butte teen injured, cited for DUII after fiery Highway 97 crash

BEND, Ore. -- A fiery crash into a Highway 97 barrier north of Bend early Monday morning injured the driver, an 18-year-old Powell Butte resident who was taken to the hospital and cited on DUII, reckless driving and other charges.

Monday, Sep 21, 2026

Two indicted in counterfeit $100 bill scheme uncovered at Oregon Safeway stores

Friday, Sep 18, 2026

AG Rayfield sues to stop Trump administration rule punishing immigrants

Oregon Dept. of Justice releases · Sep 14, 2026, 11:39 AM

Tuesday, Sep 15, 2026

Attorney General Rayfield pushes FCC to stop phone companies from looking the other way on robocalls

Wednesday, Sep 9, 2026

Ex-cellphone store worker gets federal prison term for giving customers' info to criminals

LOS ANGELES – A former Oregon-based AT&T Store employee was sentenced Tuesday to 16 months in federal prison for selling his access to his employer’s network to a hacker by “SIM-swapping” customers – fraudulently reassigning customers’ cell phone numbers – so the hacker could take control of the victims’ bank accounts and steal their money, causing nearly $600,000 in intended losses.

Wednesday, Sep 9, 2026

AG Rayfield responds after federal government asks Supreme Court to lift block on USPS ballot rule

Friday, Sep 4, 2026

Seaside postmaster charged with distribution, possession of child sexual abuse material

Thursday, Aug 27, 2026

Oregon AG Rayfield moves to block 'Trump’s meddling in Oregon elections'

Thursday, Aug 27, 2026

Bend Police ticket 30, arrest 3 for using cellphones while driving

BEND, Ore. -- Last Friday, a Bend Police patrol team conducted a focused traffic enforcement detail at the corner of NE Third Street and Burnside Avenue. The officers were looking for people using their cellphones while driving.

Thursday, Aug 6, 2026

Umatilla County man sentenced in armed casino robbery

Wednesday, Aug 5, 2026

Salem police seize drugs and arrest 2 following traffic stop

Tuesday, Jul 28, 2026

Deputies searching for driver who critically injured cyclist, fled scene

Sunday, Jul 26, 2026

Bend man admits violent holdup of cannabis shop

EUGENE, Ore. -- A Bend man admitted in federal court Wednesday to a violent armed robbery at a local cannabis shop where his handgun jammed twice as he tried to shoot.Russell Ian Boggess, 43, pleaded guilty to charges of interference with commerce by robbery and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, federal prosecutors said.The charges follow a July 23, 2024 attack at Top Shelf Medicine, located on NE Greenwood Avenue near Pilot Butte.Federal prosecutors said Boggess entered the shop armed with a 9 mm handgun and attempted to fire it twice, but the weapon failed to discharge both times.When a store employee tried to call for help, Boggess hit the worker in the head with the firearm before running off with stolen cannabis.The getaway ended quickly when people outside the shop tackled Boggess and held him until Bend Police arrived to take the gun and make an arrest.The robbery charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to federal prosecutors.The firearm charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years and a maximum of life, which must be served consecutively to any other prison time.Boggess is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 7 in U.S. District Court in Eugene.The case was investigated by the FBI and the Bend Police Department, prosecutors said.

Thursday, Jul 9, 2026

The Curious Bendite: Just when was Bend's last bank robbery, anyway?

(Author’s note: I recently “semi-retired” from KTVZ in Bend, Oregon — but my ever-curious mind and storyteller’s heart will never stop looking for interesting stories to tell. This is the first in an occasional series of ‘The Curious Bendite’ articles that I hope you’ll find interesting and worth your time. BEND, Ore. — The last time someone robbed a bank in Bend, President Trump was in the midst of his first term in office, and the COVID pandemic was still a year away.On Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, a man later identified as Cory Dwight Homestead, then 40, of McMinnville, walked into the Umpqua Bank on South Highway 97 and demanded money. Police said he got away with an undisclosed amount of cash before officers arrived on the scene. No weapon was displayed and no one was injured.Less than four hours later, the Modoc County, California sheriff got a call from a Lake County, Oregon sheriff's deputy, seeking help in a vehicle pursuit that crossed from Lakeview into Northern California. The chase hit speeds of over 100 mph, and spike strips punctured the tires.A Dramatic ChaseThe robbery suspect kept going, driving the red Mercedes on wheel rims for several miles until veering off the road and overturning in a field about 230 miles south of Bend. Homestead, believed to be on methamphetamine, refused to get out of the car, delaying his arrest.That was Bend's most recent bank robbery, according to Bend Police Communications Manager Sheila Miller.The Big-Belly Bandit and Other HoldupsBend's most dramatic bank holdup in recent times came a week before Christmas of 2015, when a 72-year-old La Pine man walked into the Wells Fargo bank on Northeast Third Street, displayed several 'explosives' — later found to be fake — and demanded a large sum of money. A tense hostage drama ended 40 minutes later with Thomas Alden Henderson's surrender and arrest.There have been several other bank holdups in Bend — some unsolved, the most well-known the so-called 'Big-Belly Bandit,' a serial bank robber believed to have held up the downtown branch of Home Federal Bank three times and the south Bend Bank of the Cascades Branch twice — all over a two-year period between December 2011 and December 2013. Despite extensive police investigative efforts, no arrest was ever made.Why Bank Robberies Have DeclinedLegendary bank robber Willie Sutton was once quoted famously as saying he robbed banks 'because that's where the money is.' The seven-plus-year period with no Bend bank holdups reflects a dramatic drop nationwide: FBI data shows bank robberies have fallen by more than 80% since 1991, from about 9,400 holdups to fewer than 1,400 in 2023.Societal and technology trends are a big reason — there are fewer bank branches, less cash on hand, and better security technology. Other factors include harsher penalties and criminals' shift to easier and more successful cybercrimes.This is the first in an occasional series of 'The Curious Bendite' articles.

Friday, Jun 5, 2026

On a split vote, Oregon parole board denies release of Adam Thomas, last of the 'Redmond 5' in prison

BEND, Ore. — A quarter-century after five Redmond teens fatally shot and beat a Redmond woman when she arrived home, the last one still in prison — the victim's son — has lost his first bid for parole, as a state board found he had not yet fully come to terms with his role in the brutal crime.In one of the most notorious crimes in Central Oregon history, Barbara Thomas was beaten with wine bottles and shot by a 15-year-old after five teens trashed her home on the Old Bend-Redmond Highway on March 26, 2001, looking in vain for a missing set of car keys. The teens, who became known after their arrest as the 'Redmond 5,' then fled in the woman's car but were stopped and arrested at the Canadian border.The Crime and Its AftermathAdam Thomas, now 43 and one of the victim's two sons, was the oldest of the five charged teens, at 18, and the only one sentenced to life without parole as an adult. Ashley Summers, who at 15 was the youngest of the group, was one of the four granted early release in May of 2023 by the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision.The four juveniles at the time were released in 2023 under the terms of a commutation by Gov. Kate Brown, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a life sentence for violent juvenile offenders violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of 'cruel and unusual' punishment.The Parole Board's DecisionThe parole board denied Thomas's parole request on a split 2–1 vote after holding a 'murder review' hearing on April 22 at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. The board said Adam Thomas had not met the burden of proof outlined in state law and found that he 'is not likely to be rehabilitated within a reasonable period of time.' He can appeal that decision administratively, and/or again seek parole in two years.Progress Noted, But Concerns RemainThe board noted that since arriving in prison, Adam Thomas violated its rules four times between 2003 and 2016, but has had no disciplinary violations in the past decade. He has held several jobs during his prison term and obtained his GED.The board said it's clear Thomas 'is now committed to working on his rehabilitation,' but noted that he 'has a long history of self-hatred and shame regarding his brutal murder of his mother' and has not 'fully reckoned with how his emotions towards his mother were related to his brutal attack on her.'

Sunday, May 31, 2026