BEND, OR -- A widespread outage knocked out power for an area of Bend stretching from downtown to Tumalo, Thursday morning. The outage impacted more than 18,000 Pacific Power customers, starting at 8:40 a.m.

By 9:50 a.m., the utility reported power for around 13,000 customers was back on, and restoration for the rest is estimated by noon. Initial reports set the estimated restoration time at 2 p.m. and the Deschutes County Circuit Court announced it would remain closed until that time. 

Bend-La Pine Schools says the outage affected a number of schools, including Amity Creek Magnet, Highland Elementary, Juniper Elementary, Ponderosa Elementary and Pilot Butte Middle School. District officials say safety system are functioning and the schools remain open. By 10:40 a.m., the district said power at all but Amity Creek and Highland had been restored. The downtown Bend Library closed for the day.

According to Pacific Power, the outage is "due to loss of transmission."

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.