News Stories Jul. 27, 2018

Wasco County residents living on a 17-mile stretch along the Deschutes River were ordered to immediately evacuate their homes Thursday due to a wildfire near Dufur. A Level 3 evacuation notice was issued for residents from Sherars Falls to Mack’s Canyon, the county sheriff’s office said around 7:55 p.m The sheriff’s office announced just before 6 p.m. that crews were responding to a fire in a field on Long Hollow Road. No injuries have been reported. The blaze was burning an estimated 6,300 acres, according to the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center’s last report.   The latest wildfire comes after the Substation fire burned nearly 80,000 acres of land in Wasco and Sherman counties after it began July 17. The fire is about fully contained as of Thursday.

Two commercial sturgeon setline fisheries have been set.  They are: now to 6 pm, Saturday, August 4th, in the John Day Pool and -6 am, Monday, August 6 to 6 pm, Saturday, August 18th, in the Bonneville Pool.

BEND, Ore. (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board says a pilot killed in a crash at a Central Oregon air show two summers ago used poor judgment and calculations when performing a low-altitude loop. The board’s report, obtained by The Bulletin newspaper, says biplane pilot Marcus Paine of Anchorage, Alaska, didn’t account for “high density altitude conditions,” which resulted in decreased engine power and a reduced rate the plane was able to climb in the air. Though Paine successfully completed the stunt the day before the crash, another pilot told investigators that Paine had described the maneuver as “sketchy” and a “complete crapshoot.” The biplane crashed at the airport in Madras. There was no evidence of mechanical failure.

(CNN) – Residents of the Northern California city of Redding fled their homes Friday morning as towering flames from an out-of-control wildfire swept into the western city limits and destroyed residences, authorities reported. The Carr Fire in Shasta County grew rapidly Thursday night, ravaging several small communities and jumping the Sacramento River before threatening the outskirts of Redding, a city of about 95,000 people around 120 miles south of the California-Oregon border, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, reported. The fire has destroyed at least 15 structures so far, but that number is expected to rise significantly Friday. One person died and three firefighters have been injured. The blaze has burned 28,763 acres and is only 6% contained, Cal Fire said. Firefighters face a difficult task with dry conditions and temperatures expected to reach 110 F on Friday. The mechanical failure of a vehicle is believed to have ignited the blaze on Monday, fire officials said.

The Violence Against Women Act is up for reauthorization this year and a new version of the bill expands tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians who have often gone unpunished for their crimes. Tribes will be able to prosecute stalking, sex trafficking and sexual violence under H.R.6545, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2018. They can also exercise authority over crimes against law enforcement and children if the bill becomes law. H.R.6545 also seeks to address a growing crisis by requiring the federal government, for the first time, to provide annual reports on the “known statistics” of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. It further directs the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health Service and other agencies to work together and come up with standard protocols to investigate such cases.