Joolz in downtown Bend has closed after 13 years. Find out more here.

Original article by KTVZ

A popular downtown Bend restaurant has closed its doors after more than 13 years. Owners were selling everything inside on Thursday.

Joolz served Middle Eastern and Lebanese-influenced food. It closed the location on Wall Street in June.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

The real estate market is changing in Oregon. See trends on home prices in Oregon’s top 10 counties here.

The last 12 months have been bumpy for Oregon’s residential real estate market. Mortgage rates have doubled and so has the number of Portland area homes for sale.

The inventory of active residential listings in the Portland area from September 2021, measured as 1.1 months, jumped to 2.2 months in September 2022, according to the latest Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) report.

Despite the increase, inventory of less than four months favors sellers and keeps prices high, say real estate experts.

While homes…

See a total lunar eclipse on Election Day in Oregon. Find out more here.

Those who are awake in the wee hours of Election Day this year will be treated to a blood red lunar eclipse – if the rain lets up long enough for Oregonians to see it.

The total lunar eclipse on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 8 will be the last one for nearly three years, according to NASA, as we reach the end of a cycle that saw one to two total lunar eclipses almost every year from 2018 to 2022, most recently in May.

Not all of those lunar eclipses have been visible in…

Recent storms in Oregon have pushed the Cedar Creek Fire to 55% containment. Find out more here.

Fire crews working the months old Cedar Creek Fire have caught a break with the help from a strong storm that’s blown into the Oregon.

Saturday’s fire update listed accumulating snow instead of more acres burned.

“With much lower temperatures, higher relative humidity, and considerable precipitation expected over the next few days, fire activity is expected to decrease substantially, with the possibility of 3 – 5 inches of snow in the fire area. However, some smoldering will continue in the fire area,” the update read.

Firefighters will work patrol and mop up, but scouts will evaluate the impact of high winds and precipitation…

A new renewable energy plant, and the first of its kind, is being commissioned in Lexington, OR. Learn more about it here.

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A renewable energy plant being commissioned in Oregon on Wednesday that combines solar power, wind power and massive batteries to store the energy generated there is the first utility-scale plant of its kind in North America.

The project, which will generate enough electricity to power a small city at maximum output, addresses a key challenge facing the utility industry as the U.S. transitions away from fossil fuels and increasingly turns to solar and wind farms for power. Wind and solar are clean sources of power, but utilities have been forced…

The current warming trend hasn’t yet spurred any major growth of the Cedar Creek Fire. Learn more here.

OAKRIDGE, Ore. (KTVZ) — So far, a warming and drying trend has not made for any major growth of the Cedar Creek Fire, which has topped 114,000 acres but has reached 20% containment, officials said Sunday.

Here’s Sunday’s update:

Cedar Creek Fire
September 25, 2022
Daily Update at 8:30 AM

Cedar Creek Fire Quick Facts

Size: 114,104 acres

Contained: 20%

Start Date: August 1, 2022

Origin: 15 miles east of Oakridge, Oregon

Cause: Lightning

Total personnel: 1,817

Resources: 44 engines, 28 crews, 68 heavy equipment, 9 helicopters

West Zone Operations: Overnight, the ridgelines and higher elevations areas (above 4,000 ft) experienced lower humidity and…

A new, baby North American river otter will make its debut Wednesday at the High Desert Museum. Find out more here.

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — High Desert Museum visitors will have their first official opportunity to see the new, baby North American river otter on Wednesday, when he joins two other otters full-time in the Autzen Otter Exhibit.

The museum will celebrate the addition of the male pup, now approximately 5 1/2 months old, at 2:30 pm. Visitors will be able to view the pup, who is yet to be named, as well as the other two male otters in the museum’s care, Brook and Pitch. Naturalists will be at an Otter Fodder Interpretation Station to share interesting scientific facts about…

The “Be More Like Millie Walk,” honoring Millie McGillivary, is on September 26th at Larkspur Community Center. Find out more here.

Be more like Millie.

Bend Park and Recreation District is planning a celebration for MillieMcGillivary — known to most simply as Millie — at Larkspur Community Center on September 26. The “Be More Like Millie Walk” starts at 11:00 a.m.

That would’ve been her 100th birthday.

Central Oregon Daily News brought you Millie’s story earlier this year after hearing about her walks around the track at the center, smiling and giving words of encouragement to others.

She passed away in June at the age of 99.

Those in attendance at the…

Two Bend roundabouts will have new art soon! Learn more here.

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Art in Public Places said Wednesday it has awarded two public art commissions for the sculpture designs that were recently on view for the Empire Avenue /Butler Market Road/27th Street roundabout and the Powers Road/Brookswood Boulevard roundabout.    

Michael Stutz will create his proposed sculpture Golden Squirrel’s Wondrous World for the Empire Avenue/Butler Market Road/27th Street roundabout.

The woven steel wheel connects the timber mills from Bend’s past, the rolling wheels of cars, and a hamster wheel — humorously representing the routine of daily life. Inside the wheel are silicon bronze strips in blue and green hues where the sunlight will sparkle through the openings.…

Deschutes County’s population has a grown nearly 29% since 2010. Read more here.

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Central Oregon’s counties have been three of the four fastest-growing in the state since 2010, with Deschutes County’s nearly 29% growth rate more than twice that of the Portland area, a state economist said Monday.

Here’s the report from Oregon Employment Department economist Jessica Nelson:

In 2021, Oregon’s population increased by 22,769 to 4,266,620. This marked growth of 0.5% over the year and growth of 11.4% since the 2010 Census, close to the rate of growth over the prior decade from 2000 to 2010 as well. Portland State University’s Population Research Center recently released more detailed information on why this population growth has…