Masks off, and a look at what pet owners can do in an emergency after the end of 24-hour services in Bend in this week's podcast.

BEND DON’T BREAK -- Gwenn Wysling has been the Executive Director of Bethlehem Inn, a non-profit providing shelter and aid to the homeless population in Central Oregon for over a decade. On April 27 it was announced that the organization would be given a grant through Project Turnkey to convert the Greenway Motel in Redmond into temporary housing for people experiencing homelessness.

Bethlehem Inn has experience converting hotels into shelters, as they did with their Bend location in 2007. Listen to learn more about the challenges facing homeless people in Central Oregon and how it is being addressed.

A pending end to COVID risk levels in Oregon, changes for how Bend spends tourism money and a gun storage bill passes in the OR legislature, all in this week's podcast.

In this week’s podcast, we look at La Niña’s deficit of rainfall and what results this will have on the wildfire system, and talk about a golf course that’s being sold to make room for new housing.

Deschutes County is among 15 counties that will be moving back into Extreme Risk, permanent restaurant parklets in the downtown area, and the Bend Farmers Market opens on Wednesday. We take a look at going back to Extreme Risk, parklet details, and a COVID-friendly farmers market.

The Environmental Center's annual Earth Day Fair & Parade is getting a COVID-19 remake, including a virtual parade and interactive storytime for younger participants. Find out more details in this week’s podcast.

A new bill being introduced would provide funds to create mobile mental health crisis intervention teams, and Luke Wirkkala walks free after being acquitted of murder charges. More details in this week’s podcast.

While eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine is expanding in Deschutes County, the state itself is behind in percentage of the population that has received at least one shot. There has also been a push for equity in vaccinating Latino Oregonians. Find out more in this week's podcast.

A local coffee shop has been fined $27,470 for violating COVID-19 standards, preregistration for the COVID vaccine is available via a new website, and Central Cascades Wilderness day use and overnight permits are allowed to be reserved beginning April 6th.

Details of a Bend man being charged with three counts of second-degree murder, and a retrial for an over-eight-year-old murder case.