Local

A Crook County Circuit Court judge has entered a default judgment and injunction against the Ochoco West Water and Sanitary Authority (OWWSA), ordering the district to release public records after it failed to respond to a lawsuit filed last fall by the Prineville Review.

St. Charles Health System has awarded more than $143,000 in Community Benefit grants to 34 local organizations across Central Oregon, funding programs focused on basic needs, community connection, and reducing loneliness and social isolation.

The Crook County Board of Commissioners voted last week to temporarily shift responsibility for administering public records requests away from the county’s legal department and into county administration, adopting an interim structure while a comprehensive rewrite of the county’s public records policy is underway.

The Ochoco West Water and Sanitary Authority (OWWSA) continues to face allegations of violating Oregon’s public meetings laws, even as a formal investigation by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission (OGEC) remains underway into the district’s governance and transparency practices.

A newly ordered federal reorganization of wildfire response agencies — including the creation of a U.S. Wildland Fire Service — has been shared with Crook County officials,

The Alfalfa Fire District has now filed its long-overdue 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) with the Oregon Secretary of State, just days after reporting by the Prineville Review and KTVZ brought renewed attention to years of missing financial filings that had placed the district at risk of dissolution.

The Crook County School District is inviting students, families, staff, and community members to provide input on whether Interim Superintendent Dr. Joel Hoff should be appointed to the position permanently.

Newly-released state ethics documents show that a longtime former manager — and now board secretary and treasurer — of the Three Sisters Irrigation District engaged in a series of undisclosed conflicts of interest and prohibited uses of office

The Crook County Clerk’s Office is launching a new tool to help residents better monitor their property records and stay informed about recording activity tied to their land.

A Crook County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been placed on the District Attorney’s Tier 1 Brady List, the most severe designation under Brady disclosure standards, effectively barring him from being called as a witness in criminal cases prosecuted by the county.