
Kathryn Styer Martínez
Kathryn Styer Martínez is a reporter for OPB covering Bend and Central Oregon. She is an award-winning, nationally recognized journalist and has worked in local news for KQED, Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper The Press Democrat, and Minnesota Public Radio News as a Toni Randolph Fellow where her reporting won an award from the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association.
She was a production assistant with Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, where she worked on award-winning and Peabody-nominated projects Mississippi Goddam and the Covid Tracking Project as well as the award-winning After Ayotzinapa series. She helped produce and contributed reporting to Buried Secrets, a series by ICT senior correspondent Mary Annette Pember and Reveal about Indian boarding schools.
She got her start as an intern at KPFA News in the San Francisco Bay Area where she lived for 20 years before relocating to Oregon. She is a graduate of San Francisco State University and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
Latest Stories

City of Bend ends informal deal with property manager over short-term rentals
Bend cleans up short-term rental code language with ordinance ending informal deal with Meredith Lodging, a vacation rental property management company in Oregon and California.

Bend considers historic housing style, increased ADUs and relaxed restrictions to help housing crunch
At the prodding of a local architect, the Central Oregon city is on track to approve the row houses, single-family detached townhomes.

Amid uncertainty under Trump, Central Oregon’s Latino nonprofit secures a place for la gente to call home
In Bend, the Latino Community Association purchased the building they were renting and working out of for the last four years. The real estate purchase in Bend's competitive and pricey market brings the nonprofit stability and a chance to celebrate.

BLM closes 40 acres near Bend due to unsanctioned camping
Starting June 1 the area will be closed to all users including hiking, driving, mountain biking and dispersed camping.
Deschutes County approves RV rentals amid Central Oregon housing shortage
Deschutes County opts in to Oregon law that allows recreational vehicles to be used as rental dwellings on some rural lands.

Deschutes County starts process to select landfill site all over again
After negotiations fizzled, Deschutes County reconvenes group to recommend places where new landfill could be built.
From chicharrónes to ramen, ethnic grocers take root in an increasingly diverse Central Oregon
Grocery stores that cater to communities of color are expanding in cities like Bend and Madras, reflecting the region’s growing diversity and increasing demand for culturally specific foods and products.
Homeless evictions move ahead on Central Oregon federal forest
National homeless advocates say the evictions show the Trump administration’s ineffective approach to a widespread housing crisis.

Advocates ask courts to slow Forest Service project that would remove houseless campers near Bend
A lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service seeks to stall the camp removal, citing the needs of disabled people and the need for a more thorough environmental assessment.
Central Oregon celebrates Dark Sky Week
Advocates push for darker skies in Central Oregon, hoping to address Bend's "sky glow" or ambient light pollution.