Are you our new editor?
When I graduated from college more than 20 years ago, I made a beeline from Vermont to San Francisco with a dream of becoming a writer. I was an English major, with a head full of Chaucer, Milton, and Shakespeare (chocolate milkshake, we called it), but very little sense about what working for a newspaper or…
Interview: Melissa Etheridge talks LGBT equality, marijuana, and spirituality
We caught up with Melissa Etheridge while she was staying in Niagra Falls in preparation for a performance at the Artpark Festival in Lewiston, New York, to talk about the changing landscape for LGBT equality, the future of legal weed, and the role her spirituality plays in her music. She performs at the Athletic Club…
Friday Mixtape: The Marriage & Equality Supermix
Friday Mixtape
OPINION: Bulletin editorial ignores the facts about transgender youth
Editor’s note: Earlier this week, the Bulletin published an editorial urging the Oregon Health Evidence Review Commission or the state legislature to change the age of medical consent for treatments related to gender transition. Jenn Burleton, executive director of Portland-based TransActive Gender Center (which provides advocacy and support for families with transgender and gender non-conforming children), says that…
Feasting on Fiber
It started inconspicuously in 1975: Jean Wells Keenan simply hung a dozen quilts made by her students outside her shop on one Saturday in July. Over the years, though, a few more quilters showed up, and then a few more, and so on, until nearly every square inch of the small town of Sisters was…
Twelve Years Strong
Gary Bonacker prefers the term “cancer thriver” to “cancer survivor.” “The second you are diagnosed with cancer you are a survivor until the day you die,” says Bonacker, who, along with his wife Sue, owns Sunnyside Sports. “A lot of people think being a survivor means you have beaten cancer.” Diagnosed with brain cancer in…
Our Picks 7/8-7/15
friday 10 A Light in the Wilderness WORDS—It’s easy to look down on Confederate flag-wavers, but Oregon’s hands aren’t clean when it comes to race. Central Oregon author Jane Kirkpatrick’s novel draws inspiration from the true story of a free African-American woman who sees Oregon as a slavery-free utopia, until she learns about a law…
Smells Like Hippie Spirit
There is a certain amount of debate about how the word “hippie” came about, and who coined the term. But hey, who owns a word anyway? While working as a journalist in San Francisco, I was consistently told that long-time San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen had first penned the title in the mid-60s for…
Beards Not Optional
Looking at the impressive lineup for the Wildwood Music Festival and Campout July 17-19, you might think, those who don’t have facial hair, need not apply. That, and: That’s some mean roots, folk, and blues. Festival organizer Katie Kendall says that this year will be their biggest yet, and it has grown every year since…
Noodle Reboot
About two years ago, the popular downtown noodle shop Soba closed its doors. There were rumors that the place would reopen again, sometime. And then, with little fanfare, that “sometime” arrived earlier this summer as Soba re-opened in a downtown storefront a few doors down and across the street from its previous location, the space…
It’s Hot, Let’s Drink
July may be Oregon Craft Beer Month, but given the painfully hot weather around the region lately, Bendites can be forgiven for wishing this month passes as quickly as possible. But, like it does for many of life’s other annoyances, beer provides a solution. Summer seasonals are all over the bars and shelves right now,…
Listening and Wondering
Although the pounding forces of nature forged the Oregon Coast thousands of years ago and volcanic explosions—and implosions—left their distinct marks on the landscape with a series of mountain ranges (and craters and lava tubes) throughout the state, over the course of just one single year seven spots in Oregon have been singled out as…
In Hot Water
Over the Fourth of July weekend, Steve Pribyl was hiking along the lower Deschutes River between Rattlesnake Rapid and Moody when a distressing sight caught his eye. The retired Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife fisheries biologist and Deschutes River Alliance board member found about 13 dead or distressed sockeye salmon in shallow waters, says…
A Flower Childhood
The term “hippie” often brings to mind an image of flowing blonde locks adorned with flowers, VW buses adorned with flowers, and polyester bellbottoms adorned with, yes, more flowers. But for Alice Finer, who grew up in an urban hippie commune in the 1970s, the hippie generation is defined by an earnest desire to create…
Go Here 7/8-7/15
There are plenty of better ways to get out of the sweltering temperatures than the air-conditioned cineplex. (Although Ant Man does look pretty good.) James Jaggard, general manager of Wanderlust Tours, has some suggestions for absorbing knowledge instead of UV rays. No sunblock is required! Cave Tours The number one suggestion from Jaggard is to…
Side Notes 7/8-7/15
The lengthy process to redefine the City’s boundaries just took another step forward. The Urban Growth Boundary Steering Committee recently approved three options for Bend’s future footprint to be evaluated in more detail. The proposed scenarios came out of research and deliberations by City staff, consultants, and the UGB Technical Advisory Committee. The steering committee…
A Joan Didion Soundtrack
The geographic distance between Berkeley and Bakersfield, California is 276.4 miles. For David Lowery, it’s also a stretch of land influential enough to the sound of his band that Cracker recently released a two-CD set entitled Berkeley to Bakersfield. The first CD crackles with guitar-driven alt-rock like the jangly “Beautiful” and the stomper “Life In…
Source Suggests 7/8-7/15
John Mayall Band The English blues singer, guitarist, organist, and songwriter’s career spans more than 50 years. His last release, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers—Live in 1967, features a familiar lineup in his band The Bluesbreakers—Peter Green, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood; all founding members of Fleetwood Mac. While the Bluesbreakers didn’t last long, Mayall’s career continues…
Letters 6/30-7/7
IN REPLY TO “THIS USED TO BE MY PLAYGROUND” (7/1) To call Troy Park “iconic” is just hubris. It’s a patch of grass barely the size of a football field (if that). As the article states, public entities had plenty of opportunity to purchase this land. They didn’t. Iconic would more aptly describe Drake Park.…
Smoke Signals 7/8-7/15
Now that recreational weed is legal in Oregon, one major concern is whether employees can be fired from their jobs for cannabis use. Just last month the Colorado Supreme Court cleared things up with its opinion in the Coats vs. Dish Network case. Coats sued Dish Network for firing him on the basis of his…
Art Watch 7/8-7/15
One of the best smorgasbords of art in Central Oregon is hosted this weekend at Bank of the Cascades’ Summer Festival, with 150 booths and artists. There are wood carvings, water colors, and fine outdoor wildlife photography, like Dan Ester’s collection of crisp photos of osprey with fish in their talons set against the blue…
A Step Back To Find a Way Forward
When we interviewed candidates for Bend Park & Recreation District (BPRD) Board in May, then-sitting Chair Dan Fishkin told us that he would support waiving “system development charges” (SDCs), a fee that housing developers pay toward Park District (and City) projects, if the rest of the Board approved the idea. At the time, the idea…
