C&M Circus Brings Big-Top Fun to Crooked River Ranch on May 26

Central Oregon Community College's new 24,000-square-foot Madras facility — officially celebrated with a ribbon-cutting last month — is already enrolling students in nursing and medical assistant programs alongside a child care center open to the broader Jefferson County community.

The Madras Municipal Airport will receive $102,769 in federal funding to begin replacing its aging Automated Weather Observing System — a safety-critical tool relied on by pilots flying in and out of Jefferson County.

A two-year partnership between Energy Trust of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs has completed more than 40 energy upgrade projects, saving thousands of dollars annually while improving conditions at key community buildings.

Route 21, launched May 5, gives residents of the reservation's most remote communities their first-ever public transit link — reaching Simnasho, Kah-Nee-Ta Resort, and Madras on a 50-mile loop.

Campfires are now banned on most Central Oregon federal public lands as fire danger reaches 'high' — and Jefferson County's open burn ban has been in place since early May.