First COVID-19 Death; Outbreak at Local Nursing Home
Deschutes County reports first COVID-related death, new cases on the rise
The Source Weekly Update 7/15/20 🎧
In this week’s Source Weekly update we’re focusing on water: we explore the struggles of farmers in Jefferson County during a drought year and the importance of the North American Beaver to our water system. Finally we’ll finish with a summery of the best movies, shows and books of 2020 (so far). All in this…
No Farms Without Water
Driving north on Highway 97 toward Madras, fields of carrot seed and alfalfa stretch out toward the horizon. The farmers that work this land rely on a century-old irrigation system that’s starting to dry up. This summer, like last, the majority of the region’s 400 farmers will be forced to leave some land fallow because…
Get It Together, Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown tightens restrictions in hopes of slowing the spread of COVID-19.
Face Covering Distribution for Deschutes County
In light of the statewide face covering mandate, Deschutes County announced that they will begin distributing close to 130,000 masks to local nonprofits, chambers and cities. The State of Oregon and Business Oregon provided the masks, and they are intended solely for public use. They’re disposable and reusable (if they are clean); however, they are…
Pearl’s Puzzle – Week of July 6
Download the PDF here:
![Environmental Watchdog: Central Oregon LandWatch Executive Director Ben Gordon 🎧 [with podcast]](https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/bend-don_t-break-promo-slider.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
Environmental Watchdog: Central Oregon LandWatch Executive Director Ben Gordon 🎧 [with podcast]
For this week’s “Bend Don’t Break” podcast, we talk with Ben Gordon, the head of Central Oregon LandWatch, a local environmental nonprofit. COLW has been working behind the scenes for decades to mitigate the effects of urban development and wasteful water use. Gordon started as the new executive director of Central Oregon LandWatch on June…
Oregon Voters to Consider Psilocybin Therapy, Drug Decriminalization this Fall
Two groundbreaking drug-related ballot measures may put Oregon on the map for drug decriminalization and psychedelic therapy this fall. The group behind the Oregon Psilocybin Therapy Ballot Measure (IP 34) announced July 8 that it had collected enough signatures to qualify for the November 2020 ballot. The campaign turned in 164,782 signatures, successfully overcoming the…
![Mt. Bachelor zip line is an exhilarating ride ▶ [with video]](https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/outside1.1-75a9571a6a324c42.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
Mt. Bachelor zip line is an exhilarating ride ▶ [with video]
Standing at the lip of a ski run at the start of the season, about to plunge downward, always elicits a little tug in my belly. What if I forget how to do it? I think… but I never do, and I’m soon happily whisking downward on the snow. WATCH: Taking a private zip line…
May the Source Be With You
Hey everybody! Remember that time we were in the middle of a pandemic and it got politicized but instead of our president trying to bridge the gap between us, he gave a speech at Mt. Rushmore comparing Black Lives Matter protesters to fascists and Nazis? Me, too. I’m super ready to wake up now. Once…
Farm-Grown Music
Local musicians looking to spark their creativity and hang with other artists for inspiration might look to this weekend as a great opportunity to expand their craft. Pete Karsounes and Eric Leadbetter, two gems of Bend’s music scene, will host a songwriters camp at Rareloom Farm and Garden starting Friday. Located in Tumalo, Rareloom Farm…
Contingencies in a Real Estate Purchase Agreement
A contingency in real estate is best explained as a clause in a contract where a specific condition or criteria that must be met in order to continue the forward movement to the next step in the contract. In real estate, a contingency is defined as a condition that must be met by either the buyer…
Wail Watching & Resting Shy Face
Wail Watching My roommate just found out her ex-fiance is terminally ill and is likely to pass away soon. Though they had a weird relationship, I can tell she’s taking it pretty hard. I really want to be supportive, but I honestly don’t know what to do or say around a grieving person. I’m worried…
The Slow Boat to Recovery
During the Great Recession, some believed tourism in Bend rescued the local economy. Travelers poured money into Central Oregon’s restaurants and coffeeshops, millhouses were transformed into profitable vacation rentals and national sports events attracted first-time visitors. Some visitors decided to relocate to the area, which reinvigorated the real estate market and construction industry. “As far…
Kaycee Anseth Legacy Foundation Launches
On March 16, the Bend community lost artist and activist Kaycee Anseth. The longtime Bend artist left a beautiful part of herself in the form of her prolific and expansive works, which often involved large collages with themes of nature made from discarded fashion magazines. Anseth’s work often spoke of the magic of the natural…
For the Locals
Summer is finally here! Unfortunately, this year we get “Summer 2020 Edition,” which can only mean one thing: nothing is normal, and traveling away from home is in something of a gray area. (As much as Central Oregonians love to count out-of-state license plates, we can’t really condemn Californians and Washingtonians as the spawn of…
Munching While Masking
Since July 1, Oregonians across the state have been required to wear masks when inside public buildings—but with some of those public spaces being places we go to eat and drink, the rules can get pretty confusing. Take the mask off too early and risk being publicly shamed by a zealous mask-wearer. Wear it while…
Bringing the N-A Game
Non-alcoholic beer drinkers resigned to drinking lagers and light beers, check it out: Deschutes Brewery is going dark for you. On July 8, Bend’s oldest craft brewery released a non-alcoholic Irish Stout—offering a style of N-A beer that, while not unique among the non-alcoholic beer options out there in the world, is not a style…
Source Suggests These Books
We’re only halfway through 2020, but “Desert Notebooks” is a strong contender for my best book of the year. Author Ben Ehrenreich offers a profound and lyrical meditation on history, nature, myth, and our changing concepts of time against the backdrop of our ongoing political upheaval and a climate crisis that isn’t going away. If…
Free Will Astrology—Week of July 9
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian author Mary McCarthy provides you with a challenge you’ll be wise to relish during the rest of 2020. She writes, “Everyone continues to be interested in the quest for the self, but what you feel when you’re older is that you really must make the self.” McCarthy implies that this…
Letters to the Editor – Week of July 9
Editor’s note: When we set out to do this week’s cover story on the effects of a slower tourism season on Central Oregon’s economy, we started with the assumption that there would be fewer tourists here for the summer than we’ve seen in other years. Imagine our surprise when we saw that hotels and short-term…
Plant-Based Bites
Local restaurants cater to a variety of dietary restrictions and lifestyle choices, so even those with limited diets never have limited options. This week, we’re rounding up five vegan meals that many—no matter how meat-obsessed—can enjoy. Lively Up Yourself, a vegan food cart named after a well-known Bob Marley song, serves up comfort food, including…
Invasion of the Giant Bee Snatchers
The Xerces Society, one of the leading worldwide insect conservation organizations, put on a four-hour Bumble Bee Atlas webinar a couple of weeks back. Right in the middle of it, the presenter, Professor Rich Hatfield, paused in his recitation on bumblebees and placed the illustration at right of the Asian giant wasp on the screen,…
Bend-La Pine Schools Plans to Go Hybrid This Fall
Bend-La Pine Schools elementary students will go back to school full time next fall, while middle and high school students will split their time between the classroom and online learning from home, according to a July 1 letter sent to parents from Lora Nordquist, Bend-La Pine Schools interim superintendent. Nordquist has named the new system…
Mask and You Shall Receive
As of July 1, Gov. Kate Brown mandated face covering in all public, indoor settings in Oregon. The statewide requirement spurned opposition and appreciation; some refused to comply, others grasped the public safety implications. Brown put off mandating masks during Phase One reopening in Central Oregon and some other Oregon counties May 15, remaining optimistic…
Wearing a Mask Shouldn’t Be This Controversial
What a world we are living in. Following Gov. Kate Brown’s announcement last week that face coverings would be required in all indoor public places in the state, it appears most people are complying. Suddenly, grocery aisles are not populated by half the people wearing masks and the other not; suddenly, the vast majority of…
