Deschutes County

Deschutes County's May 19 Primary Election is now certified. The final election results are now online. You can find them at deschutescounty.gov/electionresults.

Our weekly road report is live. Check out the link to learn more about the following projects. https://bit.ly/42Nd15H

Projects administered by Deschutes County:

🚧 Slurry Seal (Redmond Area)
🚧 Tumalo Reservoir Road improvement (Bend area)
🚧 Chip Seal (Redmond Area)

Projects administered by other agencies:

⚠️ Deschutes County Driver Feedback Signs (ODOT)
⚠️ U.S. 97: Terrebonne (ODOT)
⚠️ Redmond Wetlands Complex (City of Redmond)
⚠️ China Hat Road & FS Road 1815 closure (U.S. Forest Service)

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📷: Excavation underway on Tumalo Reservoir Road

Deschutes County is accepting applications for the 2026 County College program. The deadline to apply is Friday, July 10.

County College is a free, 10-week program that gives community members a behind-the-scenes look at county government. Participants meet with County staff, learn how local services work, and tour facilities like Deschutes 9-1-1, Knott Landfill, the elections office and the road department.

This year, classes will be held on Tuesdays, from 4 to 6:30 p.m., beginning Aug. 25 and continuing through Oct. 27.

Applicants must either live in Deschutes County or own a business or work full-time in the county. Applicants are required to pass a background check before being accepted into the program. Space is limited, and not everyone is admitted.

To apply, visit deschutescounty.gov/countycollege.

Join Deschutes County Commissioner Phil Chang for Coffee with a Commissioner on June 16 from 10 a.m. to noon at Tumalo Coffeehouse, located at 19855 4th St. in Tumalo.

This informal event is an opportunity to ask questions, share ideas and discuss issues that matter to you and your community.

There is no agenda or presentation, just conversation. We hope to see you there.

On Wednesday, June 10, the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing to consider the proposed County Fee Schedule for fiscal year 2027. Community members are invited to attend and share feedback in person or online.

The fee schedule lists the costs for county permits and services, helping individuals, businesses and organizations follow county regulations and plan project budgets. The fees cover a wide range of services, including accessing public records, renting Deschutes County Fair & Expo facilities, getting a food handler’s license, and applying for building permits in unincorporated areas the county. The County reviews the fee schedule every year and makes updates where necessary. Changes to this year’s schedule are reflected in the FY 2027 proposed budget.

The public hearing will take place during the Board’s Wednesday, June 10 meeting at 9 a.m. in the Barnes Sawyer conference room of the Deschutes Services Building, 1300 NW Wall St., Bend.

The meeting agenda and virtual log in information can be found at deschutescounty.gov/meetings.

Our weekly road report is live. Check out the link to learn more about the following projects. https://bit.ly/42Nd15H

Projects administered by Deschutes County:

🚧 S Century Drive/Huntington Road intersection improvement (La Pine Area)
🚧 Tumalo Reservoir Road improvement (Bend area)
🚧 Chip Seal (Redmond Area)

Projects administered by other agencies:

⚠️ Deschutes County Driver Feedback Signs (ODOT)
⚠️ U.S. 97: Terrebonne (ODOT)
⚠️ Redmond Wetlands Complex (City of Redmond)
⚠️ China Hat Road & FS Road 1815 closure (U.S. Forest Service)

Want Road Department updates in your inbox? Sign up here: https://bit.ly/48KdE3G

📷: New roundabout at S Century Drive/Huntington Road

Redmond, La Pine and Sisters, you're on the clock! Your FireFree collection days start today, June 5. The events run through Saturday, June 13.

Residents can drop off yard debris for free during open hours at these locations:

La Pine: Southwest Transfer Station
June 5-13 (closed on Sunday)
8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Saturday
54580 Highway 97, La Pine

Redmond: Negus Transfer Station
June 5-13 (closed on Sunday)
8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Saturday
2400 NE Maple Way, Redmond

Sisters: Northwest Transfer Station
June 5-6 and June 10-13
8 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday
68200 Fryrear Road, Sisters

The FireFree program encourages residents to get ready for wildfire season by clearing dry leaves, pine needles, branches and other flammable yard debris from around their homes. During a wildfire, embers can travel miles and ignite dry material near a house. Clearing that debris and making a defensible space around a home can help lower that risk.

What will be accepted (and what will not)

Accepted: grass clippings, brush, plant prunings, pine needles, pine cones, weeds, trimmings, branches, stumps or trees no larger than 12 inches in diameter.

Not accepted: sod, dirt, rocks, lumber, metal, trash, or plastics of any kind (including plastic bags), and any stumps or trees larger than 12 inches in diameter.

**Please remember to cover your loads when traveling to the collection site.**

For more information, call 541-322-7129 or visit projectwildfire.org.

The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners, the Public Health Advisory Board and the Behavioral Health Advisory Board are pleased to announce this year’s Health Hero Award winners.

The 2026 Individual Health Hero Award winner for Public Health is Dr. Randy Jacobs. The winner for Behavioral Health is Lindsey Overstreet.

Dr. Jacobs served as the volunteer medical director for Shepherd’s House Ministries since 2016, helping countless community members until he retired this year. His nominator wrote that he deserves the award because of “his selfless service to help increase the health and well-being of members of our community who often go without medical care.”

Licensed clinical social worker Lindsey Overstreet is the Pediatric Behavioral Health Manager at Mosaic Community Health. She has played a key role in developing and expanding school-based substance use services for youth in Central Oregon. Her nominator wrote that she is deserves the recognition because “her work has strengthened the behavioral health system for rural youth and ensured more young people can access the care they need close to home.”

The 2026 Organization Health Hero Award winner for Public Health is Bend Ophthalmology. The winner for Behavioral Health is Shepherd’s House Ministries.

Bend Ophthalmology partners with Volunteers in Medicine to provide specialty eye care to patients who would otherwise have little to no access to it. The organization’s nominator wrote that “for many of our patients, this is the difference between progressive vision loss and being able to continue working, driving, and living independently.”

Shepherd’s House Ministries provides services to people experiencing homelessness in Central Oregon. The organization’s nominator wrote that they frequently interact with Shepherd’s House staff and that “their genuine care and respect of the at-risk population they serve is exemplary. They provide vital services while maintaining boundaries for a safe environment.”

Deschutes County presents Health Hero Awards each year to recognize individuals and organizations for enriching the mental, physical, spiritual and social well-being of people in our community. In years past, the Public Health Advisory Board presented one award to an individual and one to an organization. This year, the board partnered with the Behavioral Health Advisory Board to honor four Health Heroes.

The Health Hero Awards were presented on Tuesday, June 2 at Ponderosa Park in Bend.

Mosaic Community Health
Shepherd's House Ministries

Our weekly road report is live. Check out the link to learn more about the following projects. https://bit.ly/42Nd15H

Projects administered by Deschutes County:

🚧 Tumalo Reservoir Road improvement (Bend area)
🚧 Chip Seal (Redmond Area)

Projects administered by other agencies:

⚠️ Deschutes County Driver Feedback Signs (ODOT)
⚠️ U.S. 97: Terrebonne (ODOT)
⚠️ Redmond Wetlands Complex (City of Redmond)
⚠️ China Hat Road & FS Road 1815 closure (U.S. Forest Service)

Want Road Department updates in your inbox? Sign up here: https://bit.ly/48KdE3G

📷: Guardrail installation on the Tumalo Reservoir Road improvement project.

Lee Klemp walks to work most mornings through downtown Bend, passing familiar faces before settling into a world of maps, data and problem-solving that quietly powers much of Deschutes County behind the scenes.

As an IT Applications Analyst II, Klemp helps support the County’s Geographic Information Systems, better known as GIS. It’s the technology behind interactive maps, emergency dashboards, election drop box locators and tools departments use every day to make decisions and share information with the public.

“It’s like Google Maps on steroids,” Klemp said with a laugh, explaining how he describes GIS to friends.

Klemp has spent more than 20 years working in GIS, but his path into geography wasn’t exactly planned. While attending community college in Illinois, he was unsure what direction to take until one geography professor changed everything.

“Just his energy and passion for it and the storytelling behind it made it really interesting,” Klemp said. “I went and met with him afterward and asked, ‘What can I do with geography?’ He pulled out these old black-and-white pamphlets and told me about this thing called GIS. I looked into it, and I got into it.”

That curiosity eventually brought him to Oregon and, later, Deschutes County in 2019. Since then, he’s helped support tools many residents rely on without ever realizing the amount of work behind them. From the County’s emergency management dashboard during wildfire season to DIAL and road mapping systems, Klemp and the GIS team help connect data to real-world decisions.

“It helps people look at their data, make decisions from that data and answer questions,” he said.

Outside of work, Klemp trades digital maps for real-world exploration. He enjoys biking, hiking, snowboarding and road trips across the Northwest, often using maps to discover new places before heading out in his 1986 Ford Econoline camper van named Penny. (pictured)

“A lot of times I’ll look at a map and try to find places I think might be neat to go, and then I’ll go explore those,” Klemp said.

At home, one large vintage world map hangs on the wall, but there are plenty more tucked away nearby, reminders that even in a world driven by smartphones and navigation apps, maps still tell stories.

And for Klemp, they always will.