Brooke Snavely

Bend

Features Reporter at KBNZ-TV (Bend, OR)

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centraloregondaily.com

Articles

Oregon Secretary of State tours Deschutes County's voting system ahead of May 20 election

1 day ago | centraloregondaily.com | Brooke Snavely

The May 20 Special District Election is underway. Voters are returning ballots by mail or in drop boxes, and election workers are gathering, verifying and beginning the process of counting them. Spring special elections typically aren’t as high profile as Fall general elections for president and congress, but there are issues that matter to local taxpayers on the ballot.
Miller's Landing Park river accessibility improvements

2 days ago | centraloregondaily.com | Brooke Snavely

BEND, Ore. -- Whether you just want to get your toes wet, go for a swim or launch a kayak, access to the Deschutes River is about to get a whole lot better in downtown Bend. Located just downstream from the Whitewater Park and across the river from McKay Park, Miller’s Landing Park is undergoing a transformation that invites park visitors to enjoy the river.
Crane Prairie gets permanent dock to boost early and late-season access

1 week ago | centraloregondaily.com | Brooke Snavely

CRANE PRAIRIE RESERVOIR, Ore. -- The Deschutes National Forest is installing a new, permanent boat dock at Crane Prairie Reservoir. It won't have to be pulled out in the fall and put it back in the spring, which means it will be here all the time for people who come early in the year and later. "These docks are designed with a bracket that goes from the dock frame to below the pontoon or the dock float.
He walked from Bend to Sunriver and back on his 60th birthday for causes he loves

1 week ago | centraloregondaily.com | Brooke Snavely

BEND, Ore. -- A Bend man celebrated his 60th birthday last week by walking 60,000 steps and not on a stair climber. Darrin Underwood walked from Bend to Sunriver and back again. In one day. “When I turned 50, I thought, ‘What can I do to mark that?’ That was a pretty big birthday. I was on a walk when I was thinking about it,” Underwood said. “I love going on long walks. When I was in California, everybody knew me from walking — walking here, walking to the store, walking everywhere.
La Pine HS logging sports team chops competition, takes 2nd at state

2 weeks ago | centraloregondaily.com | Brooke Snavely

LA PINE, Ore. -- The forestry sports team from La Pine High School finished second as a team at the Future Natural Resource Leaders state convention, a logging competition in Corvallis. One La Pine student claimed the overall top finish. Events include:Cross cut bucking: The old fashioned two man whipsaw way of cutting a treeChoker setting: A necessary step in affixing a cable to a log so it can be pulled and loaded for a trip to a mill.
'Loved to death' no more: Priest Hole upgrades protect river, welcome visitors

2 weeks ago | centraloregondaily.com | Brooke Snavely

PRINEVILLE, Ore. -- A project to upgrade a primitive campground and day-use area on the John Day River is complete and now open to the public. The last time we visited the Priest Hole Recreation Site east of Prineville, the dirt road was rough and riddled with potholes filled with muck. Now, there's a newly graded gravel road that loops around the site. Guardrails line the road, preventing people from four-wheeling down the embankment and out onto a gravel bar in the riverbed.
Campfire ban on BLM land near La Pine starting Thursday amid wildfire concerns

2 weeks ago | centraloregondaily.com | Brooke Snavely

LA PINE, Ore. -- New fire restrictions take effect Thursday on Bureau of Land Management lands near La Pine. This in response to last summer's Darlene 3 and Jack Pine fires that forced evacuations of half the town. "I have never seen this community on Level 2 and 3 evacuation for the entire east side of the highway. It was pretty scary," said Kathy DeBone, Newberry Regional Partnership Community Coordinator.
Why is China Hat Road closed? A look at the Cabin Butte wildfire mitigation project

2 weeks ago | centraloregondaily.com | Brooke Snavely

This article was initially published on Feb. 12, 2025. We have updated it and re-shared it now that the China Hat area has been officially closed. BEND, Ore. -- Forty square miles of Forest Service land south of Bend is now closed to the public for at least a year for a massive forest restoration project. The closure will restrict hiking, biking, horseback riding, target shooting, off-roading and camping in an area conveniently close to town.
1 fish, 2 fish, $164,000 fish? How Oregon anglers are cashing in on pikeminnow

3 weeks ago | centraloregondaily.com | Brooke Snavely

THE DALLES, Ore. -- For fishermen and fisherwomen who like the idea of getting paid to catch fish, get your boat and head to the Columbia River. It’s called the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program. Pikeminnow eat baby salmon and steelhead and you can get paid to catch them. On the first day of the season, one angler checked in 79 fish worth $582 at the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program check station at The Dalles boat basin.
14-year-old from Sisters maps Metolius River wolves with trail cameras

3 weeks ago | centraloregondaily.com | Brooke Snavely

SISTERS, Ore. -- Oregon's annual wolf report was published last week, documenting the ongoing presence of a pack of wolves in the Metolius River basin. The wolves are near Camp Sherman, on Green Ridge and around Black Butte. It's something to keep in mind when you are out there camping, fishing and hiking. Helping document the wolves' movements is a 14-year-old boy from Sisters who developed an interest in tracking predators at a young age. “Wolf tracking is very difficult. It requires a lot of time.