ADVISORY: Vote For Your Northwest Bat In The Bat Beauty Contest, This Sunday (Photo)Bureau of Land Management Ore. & Wash. - 10/23/26 11:08 AM
When: Sunday, October 24, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT
Where: BLM Bat Week webpage
Who: Ryan GosWING, an Oregon pallid bat
MEDFORD, Ore. – It's bat-ck! The Bureau of Land Management is hosting its annual Bat Beauty Contest with a brand new group of stunning contestants.
On Sunday, Oct. 24, Oregon’s own Ryan GosWING will go head-to-head with Dolly BATton, Miss Montana, in the first round. Visit the BLM’s webpage to learn more about Bat Week and vote for Ryan GosWING.
If he makes it through the first round, he’ll represent the Pacific Northwest in the Final Four on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Oregon bats have taken home the crown in the last three contests! Most recently, Hoary Potter was named the winner.
Help us take home a four-peat by voting for this year's Oregon bat when the contest begins on Oct. 24. Make sure you're following Bureau of Land Management so you don't miss your chance to vote!
See the attached media advisory from the BLM for more details.
-BLM-
The BLM manages about 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.
Bend Police Dept. - 10/21/26 1:33 PM
Oct. 21 Silver Rail Elementary School Shooting Update
UPDATE: The Bend Police Department has confirmed that the firearm used in Thursday's shooting was purchased legally. We are not sharing further information about the firearm at this time.
The Bend Police Department continues its investigation into last Thursday's tragic incident at Silver Rail Elementary School.
This morning, dozens of officers were waiting at each of our Bend public schools to welcome students back to their classrooms. They'll be there again at the end of the day. You'll likely see an increase in police presence in and around our schools over the coming days and weeks. That's because we want students and staff to feel as comfortable as they can during a difficult, emotional time.
Our Department will continue working with the Bend-La Pine Schools as they assess safety protocols and operations in their schools.
Bend Police detectives continue this complex investigation. They have served search warrants at the shooting suspect's home, as well as on his electronic devices and his social media accounts on a variety of platforms. That work continues, and it takes time.
Our detectives continue to investigate details surrounding the firearm used in this incident.
There are still a lot of pieces to this case that we are unable to share at this time, and we appreciate your patience as we ensure the integrity of the investigation. It is important to our Department that we do this right.
Bend Police Dept. - 10/19/26 2:26 PM
Oct. 19: Bend Police Provide Update on Silver Rail Elementary School Shooting
The Bend Police Department continues to focus our efforts on the horrific Silver Rail Elementary School shooting that took place on Thursday, Oct. 15. Our investigators, the Tri-County Major Incident Team and many other members of our team here continue to work tirelessly on this case.
We know our community still has a lot of questions, and we appreciate your patience as we conduct a thorough investigation. To that end, at this time we are not sharing additional information about the suspect, the weapon used or other details that are part of that active investigation. When we have news to share on the investigative front, we will share it.
There is a lot of misinformation out there right now. We encourage our community to get their information from trusted sources, namely the Bend-La Pine Schools and the Bend Police Department.
Sometimes, as investigations progress, new information comes out that may be different from what we initially knew and shared. For example, we have received questions from members of the media and the public about how many people were in the classroom where the shooting occurred. Our investigators have confirmed that there were a total of four adults and five children in the classroom at the time of the incident.
This afternoon, our Department expects to complete its investigative work at the school building, and will turn over the building to the school district. The investigation will continue, but evidence collection at the school will have been completed at that time.
The FBI Victim Services Division is currently helping families collect belongings that were left behind in the unaffected parts of Silver Rail Elementary. Over the weekend, the victim advocates completed this process for staff members. We appreciate you giving families and staff the space to grieve as they take part in this process, which is not taking place at the elementary school.
As most children return to Bend-La Pine Schools on Wednesday, we know you want to know what that’s going to look like. Our team is working with the safety team at Bend-La Pine Schools to ensure you see our officers in and around school campuses on Wednesday and for the foreseeable future.
Please take care of yourselves. Remember that there are many resources available.
- The City of Bend has collected a list of helpful resources: https://bendoregon.gov/community-support-resources/
- Deschutes County Behavioral Health has a list of upcoming opportunities for community support: https://www.deschutescounty.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/339
- The Oregon Department of Emergency Management has created a page with details of community support available as well: https://apps.oregon.gov/oregon-newsroom/OR/OEM/Posts/Post/Support-Bend