Tyler Leeds
The Bulletin
Contact Tyler
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by Tyler:
Gas tax opponents take aim at voter pamphlet message
A Bend attorney hired to oppose a March gas tax ballot measure filed a petition with the Deschutes County clerk Tuesday arguing a phrase in the measure’s City Council-approved explanatory statement is misleading. In order to make inroads on $80 million of deferred street maintenance, the council voted in December to put a 5 cents-per-gallon gas tax to voters. A group of local fuel retailers… → Read More
Bend City Council hosts office hours
Bend’s City Hall hosted an experiment in democracy Tuesday afternoon as three city councilors met with constituents as part of a new office hours program. Before office hours, a program that started this month, the easiest way to address the council was to attend the visitors’ section at one of the two council meetings held each month. During such meetings, speakers are limited to three-minute… → Read More
City sells former Bulletin site
The city of Bend finalized a deal last week to sell a property it owns north of downtown. InnSight Hotel Management Group bought the 3.17-acre property across Wall Street from Pioneer Park for $2,113,158. The location was once the home of The Bulletin. The property was acquired by the city in 2005 for $4.78 million. In November, the city agreed to reduce the sale price by about $165,000. In a… → Read More
City sells former Bulletin site
The city of Bend finalized a deal last week to sell a property it owns north of downtown. InnSight Hotel Management Group bought the 3.17-acre property across Wall Street from Pioneer Park for $2,113,158. The location was once the home of The Bulletin. The property was acquired by the city in 2005 for $4.78 million. In November, the city agreed to reduce the sale price by about $165,000. In a… → Read More
Redmond Patriots understand anger of occupiers
REDMOND — Members of a local conservative political group affirmed their support Monday night for the motivation behind an illegal occupation of federal property in Harney County, though the group fell short of backing the armed tactics of the occupiers. About 40 people attended a meeting of the Redmond Patriots at the Highland Baptist Church, about 165 miles northwest of the Malheur National… → Read More
For area conservatives, Burns frustrations resonate
A number of Central Oregon’s most conservative political groups say they are sympathetic to the motives behind a militant occupation of federal property in Harney County, even if they don’t endorse the armed group’s tactics. That’s not to say preparing for armed encounters isn’t a concern of any local organization. The Central Oregon Constitutional Guard, which helped plan a march in Burns that… → Read More
Bend considers relaxing ADU rules
The Bend City Council on Wednesday discussed making it easier for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, as a means to increase affordable rental housing, though at least one councilor was skeptical of the plan. ADUs, often referred to as granny flats, can take the form of a backyard cottage or apartment atop a garage. They are currently allowed under Bend’s development code, but… → Read More
Bend may expand 14th Street paving project
The Bend City Council supported the possible expansion of a project to rehabilitate 14th Street using money left over from a $30 million bond. The city has about $4.4 million remaining from the bond, which voters approved in 2011. So far, the money has funded a number of projects, including rebuilding Reed Market Road and construction of multiple roundabouts. The city had planned to use leftover… → Read More
Bridge Creek mediation falls apart
As the city of Bend tests its new $30 million drinking water treatment plant in the foothills west of town, a lawsuit challenging the pipe feeding the plant is heading back to court after a mediation process between the litigants and city fell apart. Central Oregon LandWatch and WaterWatch of Oregon have since 2013 opposed the installation of a pipe that will divert water from Bridge Creek to… → Read More
Militants outside Burns make their case
BURNS — Thirty miles south of Burns, by way of the narrow, snowy Frenchglen Highway, militants corralled a mass of journalists Monday morning in a staging area until it was time for their leader, Ammon Bundy, to make his scheduled statement at 11 a.m. The journalists, gathered from outlets based across the world, clearly outnumbered the handful of armed men and women gathered a few hundred feet… → Read More
Central Oregon activists in Burns: Occupiers hijacked trust
BURNS — After Ammon Bundy jumped atop a snow bank in the Safeway parking lot in Burns on Saturday and revealed his plan, Redmond resident BJ Soper said he felt betrayed. Bundy, an anti-government activist whose family and allied militiamen have long been at loggerheads with the federal government over grazing rights, announced he was going to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a… → Read More
Snow clearing puts big dent in Bend budget
While the winter’s still young, the city of Bend has already spent more than half its seasonal budget for cleaning snow off streets. The main culprit was the blizzard Thanksgiving week, which left more than a foot of snow atop most of the city. David Abbas, the city’s streets and operations director, said that particular storm exceeded the city’s capacity to respond. As a result, the city called… → Read More
Murphy-Parrell intersection closed much of 2016
The intersection of Murphy and Parrell roads in southeast Bend will be closed for much of 2016 as the city of Bend builds a roundabout there and installs a sewer line. On Thursday, the city will hold an informational meeting about the closure from 4 to 7 p.m. at Jewell Elementary School, 20550 Murphy Road. Ryan Oster, a city engineer in charge of the project, said Wednesday the roundabout will… → Read More
Bend to begin licensing marijuana outlets
Aspiring recreational marijuana retailers will be able to submit applications to the city of Bend beginning Monday — a process city staffers are doing their best to keep orderly. When City Hall opens at 8 a.m. Monday, marijuana entrepreneurs will encounter a system similar to the way ticketing works at a meat counter, with numbers handed out to indicate who arrived in what order. The order… → Read More
Traffic on Arizona should improve next month
While the closing of the Colorado Avenue Bridge now seems like a faded memory, commuters still have reason to avoid the span — a city of Bend sewer project has tied up traffic where the bridge meets the river’s eastern bank, causing delays and irking some businesses. The city has closed one lane along Arizona Avenue, the name given to the eastbound route of Colorado Avenue east of the river. In… → Read More
City Club forums in new location
The City Club of Central Oregon will begin holding its forums at the Riverhouse Hotel & Convention Center. The Riverhouse is located at 2850 NW Rippling River Court in Bend. The City Club previously held forums at St. Charles-Bend in a room with a capacity of 224. The organization said in a press release the change of location will allow more people to attend. The cost for forums will increase… → Read More
Farewell Bend pedestrian bridge to be replaced
Plans to replace the pedestrian bridge spanning the Deschutes River at Farewell Bend Park were approved by the Bend Planning Commission at a meeting Monday night. The existing wooden bridge, which was originally built to serve the logging industry, is deteriorating, according to the Bend Park & Recreation District, which maintains the bridge and is proposing the replacement. The new structure… → Read More
Stolen city of Bend hose raises questions
A former employee of the J.L. Ward Co. said he was fired after protesting against orders to steal and disguise a city of Bend hose worth $560, according to a complaint filed with the state Bureau of Labor and Industries. Justin Fincher doesn’t dispute that he stole the hose and painted it so the Ward Co. could pass it off as its own, though he contends he did so only to avoid being fired. After → Read More
Bend population cracks 80,000 (again)
Claiming Bend’s population is 80,000 will no longer require rounding up. The city’s population was assessed at 81,310 this summer, based on data certified this month by Portland State University’s Population Research Center. In summer 2014, the city came in at 79,985, meaning even before PSU’s recent report, it wasn’t much of a stretch to tell a cosmopolitan cousin or big city college friend… → Read More
An end to the OSU-Cascades legal fight
The legal challenge to OSU-Cascades’ new campus on Bend’s west side is over, as the Oregon Supreme Court announced Thursday it had declined to consider an appeal filed by opponents of the school’s site. The court’s decision finishes off a legal saga that began in early 2014, when the opposition group Truth in Site formed over fears about the impact college students would have on traffic and… → Read More