Government

Alfalfa Fire District officials acknowledged Wednesday night they still do not have access to critical banking records needed to determine what happened to potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal grant funding, while new questions emerged over former Fire Chief Chad LaVallee's continuing role with the district more than two months after his resignation.

Former Alfalfa Fire District Chief Chad LaVallee has been traveling the country teaching firefighters while representing himself as having 16 years in the fire service, including experience in both career and volunteer departments and nine years as chief of a rural combination fire district.

The wife of Alfalfa Fire District Acting Board President Mark Laucks launched into a lengthy social media attack against critics of the embattled fire district this week, blaming residents raising concerns about its operations for the loss of emergency services and making several claims about Wednesday’s board meeting that do not appear to have actually happened.

Months after Oregon lawmakers approved $1 million for horse-racing facilities in Crook County, county officials still have not accepted the money and are now considering whether to ask the Legislature to change how the grant is awarded.

A company that supplied the Alfalfa Fire District with approximately $165,000 in new breathing equipment to protect firefighters says it has not been paid anything for the purchase more than half a year after the district publicly celebrated receiving the equipment that its former chief Chad LaVallee claimed was paid for through a federal FEMA grant.

Authorities are investigating an overnight burglary at Brasada Ranch after two people were reportedly caught attempting to steal alcoholic beverages from the resort's Ranch House early Wednesday morning.

The owner of The Wrangler in Prineville has been ordered by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries to pay a former employee nearly $8,000 in unpaid wages and penalties after state investigators determined the worker was given two paychecks that were returned for insufficient funds.

For 10 months, Service Employees International Union Local 503 has been trying to obtain names and other information about 70,000 Oregonians who applied for state background checks to work as caregivers.

One person was found dead after an RV caught fire late Tuesday night in Prineville, according to a statement from the Prineville Police Department.

Applications remain open for the 2026–27 Crook County College, a free educational program designed to give residents and others connected to the county a closer look at how local government operates.