Claire Withycombe
The Bulletin
Bend, OR, United States
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Past articles by Claire:
Oregonians tell lawmakers what they really think about cap and trade
SALEM — A hay farmer, a high school student and a physicist each strode up to a modest hearing room table Tuesday evening to give lawmakers a piece of their → Read More
New ODOT director motivated to solve congestion
SALEM — Oregonians fuming over stalled freeway traffic have a sympathetic person in a powerful spot.Kris Strickler, a civil engineer who has spent the better part of his career in government service, is the new director of the state Department of Transportation — and a car commuter.“There’s probably nobody more motivated than me to try and solve the congestion problems,” he joked in a recent… → Read More
Two arrested in alleged burglary near Prineville
Two people were arrested after allegedly breaking into and stealing items from a summer home southeast of Prineville. → Read More
Bend man convicted in park sex abuse case
A 61-year-old Bend man was convicted Friday of sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl at a park in September 2014. → Read More
Man killed in head-on crash near Warm Springs
A Bend man was killed in a collision Sunday night on U.S. Highway 26 west of Warm Springs. → Read More
Man rescued from Three Creek Lake area
Deschutes County Search and Rescue rescued a 23-year-old Bend man who got lost while hiking in the area of the Metolius-Windigo trail north of Three Creek Lake Thursday evening. → Read More
Deschutes jury awards Sisters woman damages
A jury awarded a Sisters woman $93,000 in economic and noneconomic damages Thursday in connection with a January 2013 collision with a Deschutes County deputy sheriff’s vehicle. Jacqueline Fleming, 61, filed a lawsuit against the county in Deschutes County Circuit Court in December 2014, alleging that when the vehicle from the sheriff’s office collided with hers at a Sisters’ intersection, the… → Read More
Commission recommends dismissal of complaint against Deschutes judge
An anonymous complaint alleging Deschutes County Circuit Judge Walter “Randy” Miller misrepresented his educational credentials was not “proven by clear or convincing evidence,” the Oregon Commission on Judicial Fitness & Disability declared Tuesday. → Read More
Captain on leave led evidence audit for another department
One month before he was placed on paid administrative leave pending further investigation , Deschutes County Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Beard led an evidence audit at the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office. Beard, the head of the office’s detectives division, remains on paid leave after an internal audit in September found some funds used for investigative purposes may be missing, according to… → Read More
Documents point to reasons behind OLCC regional manager resignation
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s former Bend regional manager resigned during an investigation into allegations she misused a commission car, failed to report leave and fostered a hostile work environment by retaliating against an employee who filed a sexual harassment complaint and rubbing a subordinate’s back, commission records show. Katie Siefkes managed licensees and the OLCC’s staff… → Read More
A tale of two Doyles
Dave Doyle and his son, Andrew, would appear to share little other than their last name and the legal profession. But many in Deschutes County’s legal scene describe each using the same words — enthusiastic, hardworking and sincere. Get the two of them together, and it can be hard to get a word in edgewise between their constant ribbing or ignore their spritely mannerisms. “There’s a lot of… → Read More
Governor will fill opening on Deschutes County bench
Deschutes County Circuit Judge Roger DeHoog will be sworn in Monday as a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals, and it’s up to Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to choose someone to take his place → Read More
Wells Fargo robbery to go before grand jury next week
The case of a 72-year-old man accused of entering a Bend bank and with a loaded gun and claiming he had explosives will go before a grand jury Jan. 6, according to Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel. Thomas Alden Henderson, of La Pine, was initially charged with one count of second-degree attempted robbery in connection with the Dec. 18 incident, though the district attorney said he… → Read More
Madras couple plead not guilty in connection with child’s death
MADRAS — A Madras couple pleaded not guilty to multiple charges in connection with the death of one child and alleged mistreatment of another . Raine Austria, 25, and Garry Lee Vineyard, 20, were each charged Dec. 18 with murder by abuse, one count each of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, as well as three counts each of first-degree… → Read More
Warm Springs man indicted in alleged stabbing
A Warm Springs man was indicted last week for attempted murder for allegedly stabbing an acquaintance in Madras on Dec. 18, court records show. → Read More
Wells Fargo robbery to go before grand jury
The criminal case against a 72-year-old man police say walked into a northeast Bend bank earlier this month carrying a gun and claiming he had explosives will go before a grand jury today . Though the grand jury can indict him on more charges, Thomas Alden Henderson, of La Pine, faces one preliminary charge of second-degree attempted robbery in connection with the incident at the Wells Fargo on… → Read More
Woman sues Bend PD
A Tigard woman is suing the city of Bend and two Bend Police Department officers, alleging negligence, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress in connection with their response to a May confrontation outside a bar, court records show. Linda Barrow, 51, claims in a lawsuit filed Dec. 18 that Bend Police Officers Russell Skelton and Victor Umnitz didn’t recognize she had a… → Read More
NW Bend apartments were scene of Prohibition-era explosion
In 2015, the country responded to shootings involving police officers with civil discourse: protests were staged, federal investigations are underway and conversations about racial justice and police accountability continue in earnest. Ninety years ago, Central Oregonians responded with one thing: explosives. An explosion on March 8, 1926, at the Congress Apartments in northwest Bend was… → Read More
Bend nonprofit receives housing funding
The Oregon State Housing Council earlier this month awarded nearly $500,000 in grant money to a Bend nonprofit that plans to renovate a triplex to house participants in Deschutes County’s Family Drug Court Program. The $484,999 was awarded to Bend Recovery Home, a nonprofit incorporated last year to facilitate housing for people who are recovering from drug and alcohol addictions, said Paul… → Read More
Sunriver Fire Department report: low morale, labor issues
As criminal cases proceed against employees of the Sunriver Fire Department for allegedly accessing departmental emails illegally, two documents bring the department’s labor issues into slightly sharper focus: a February complaint filed with the state Bureau of Labor and Industries, and an outside consultant’s report citing an extreme morale problem with the department. In a December 2014 report… → Read More