Government

A legal fight that began over something as basic as the Alfalfa Fire District failing to make meeting minutes available within a reasonable time could end up answering a much bigger question for Oregonians.

Five current members of the Ochoco West Water & Sanitary Authority Board have entered stipulated final orders with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission over violations of Oregon’s Public Meetings Law, bringing at least part of a nearly year-long state investigation into the troubled special district to a close.

Crook County will host a multi-agency resource event later this month aimed at connecting residents impacted by recent wildfires with recovery assistance and services.

Crook County District Attorney Kari Hathorn has ordered the Crook County Vector Control District to release public records sought by the Prineville Review after finding the district failed to respond to the original request

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.