20 Years on the ‘Front Lines of Joy’
In 2005, when musician, promoter and then-agent Gabe Johnson moved to Bend, our city, now nearing 110,000 people, was a town of around 67,000. As the population began to explode and the building cranes began to hover in the sky, Johnson also found a music scene in need of a lift. Johnson is a lifelong…
After Silver Rail, Community Asks, How Many School Resource Officers — and Deputies — Are Enough? UPDATED
The topic of school resource police officers was a hot one at an Oct. 21 Bend City Council meeting, the first since the mass shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School less than a week before. The Bend Police Department presently provides Bend-La Pine Schools with five school resource officers and a supervising sergeant, each of…
A Place to Honor the Dead
When the news broke Oct. 15 about the deadly shootings at Silver Rail Elementary School, community organizer Greg Delgado was in the middle of a crafting session, preparing items for an upcoming Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, event at The Open Arts Center. As the reports came in, so, too, did…
Mental Health Services Deserve Greater Funding (and Oversight)
If we have not gone through this directly, we’ve seen it on the news enough times to know how it goes. Innocent victims die in a place of learning. The public is outraged and heartbroken. Parents call for more safety measures; students walk out of class to do something — anything — to display their…
Why Bend is Worth the Price Tag
Bend isn’t cheap. With median home prices hovering around $725,000, living here requires a significant financial commitment. But what if the value of living here isn’t measured solely by the square footage of your home, but by everything waiting just outside your front door? From world-class outdoor recreation to an increasingly impressive dining scene, Bend…
Local Couple Transforms Yard Into a Spooky, Haunted Attraction Each Halloween
Tucked away in a quiet Southwest Bend neighborhood, don’t be surprised to see throngs of trick-or-treaters, and plenty of adults, too, stopping for an extended visit on Brianne Place. On Halloween night, Kevin Tucker and Lara Matheny transform their yard and garage into a spooky walk-through experience that’s family-friendly and draws people from far and…
Bend’s Silver Rail Shooter Was Chronically Absent. Then He Disappeared.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek spent a Saturday morning in October 2025 at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, helping make phone calls to hundreds of families in Bend-La Pine Schools to encourage and celebrate good attendance. On the call list were students who had gone from being chronically absent to regularly attending school. Meanwhile, one sophomore…
Celebrate Halloween Night with an Exploration of Fantasies and Fears
Dragons, masked assassins, vampires, witches, dark elves and myriad other fantasy beings will be stirring at Redmond’s High Desert Music Hall on Friday, Oct. 30 as the Bend Burlesque Company and Pangaea Guild Hall team up for a night of “Fears & Fantasies,” an immersive dark-fantasy experience. This isn’t the usual Halloween party. The 8pm…
M’s Bakery Opening Second Location
A beloved Central Oregon bakery is expanding beyond its original Old Mill location. M’s Bakery is opening a second location in the Cascade Village Shopping Center, set to open in January, owner Macy Davis told the Source. The bakery location will be adjacent to World Market, in the former Starbucks location, and will be grab-and-go…
Underseen Halloween
Listen, I would never try and tell you what to watch, but don’t you sometimes feel stuck in a rut, watching the same old spooky movies every Halloween, year after year? I get it, I really do; we’re wired to take comfort in repetition. It’s the exact same reason some of us are currently on…
Reuben Egg Rolls, Irish Stew and a Perfect Pint
Have you ever walked into a restaurant and immediately known you’d be back? I mean, before tasting the food, sampling the cocktails or just chilling for an hour or three. Walking into The Emerald Loop, I realized that not only would I be back, but that I was a little sad I didn’t live across…
Local Students Stage Mass Walkout Against Gun Violence
-Update: This story was updated at 4pm Oct. 27, adding details about four tickets issued to drivers around the protest. Approximately 300 young adults filled the four corners of Wall Street and Newport Avenue Monday afternoon, while many more in vehicles circled the downtown core, hanging out car windows, standing in truck beds, screaming and…
Awakening Your Inner Hero: We Shall Overcome
From darkness into Light. What does hope really mean? None of us in Bend, Oregon, can believe what happened in our beautiful hometown at midday, Oct. 15. A mass killing in Silver Rail Elementary School. We’re still in shock, and we’ve all been blessed by the rapid responses of many of our heroic citizens who…
La Mota Owner Looking at La Prision
As a longtime cannabis user, I will admit that cannabis can impact one’s memory. Many stoners have uttered a variation of the phrase, “Wait, what was I just saying/looking for/doing?” Thankfully, this is a temporary occurrence, and it’s rare that any of the misplaced intentions are a hanging matter. So while everyone deserves a pass…
Hundreds Turn Out for Megan Lambert’s Memorial Service at Caldera High School
Approximately 600 people congregated at Caldera High School on Saturday, Oct. 24 to celebrate the life of Megan Lambert, 25, a Silver Rail Elementary School teacher who was shot and killed along with three students on Thursday, Oct. 15 at Silver Rail. The Caldera auditorium was packed Saturday afternoon with attendees, including people from R.A.D.…
A First-Timer’s Guide to Mushroom Foraging
We meet for a second date. Since dating in Central Oregon immediately requires a shared seasonal outdoor activity — such as snowshoeing, hiking, or boating — we decide to go camping. Hiking beside an undisclosed river near an equally undisclosed campground (see — I’ve already learned the first rule of Fight Club, err, Forage Club…
Local Law Enforcement Confiscates 69 Guns While Executing Search Warrant
Central Oregon law enforcement seized 69 firearms, many of them “ghost guns” bearing no serial numbers, from a Deschutes River Woods home on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The suspected gun manufacturer wasn’t at the house and isn’t believed to be in the area. At approximately 6 pm on Wednesday, officers with Central Oregon Drug Enforcement and…
‘I’m Just a Carpenter from Bend’: Father Who Killed Silver Rail School Shooter Grapples With the Aftermath
Kaylub Giamanco woke up and got his kids ready for school that Thursday like it was any other day. The family made breakfast and packed lunches. He and his wife spent a little extra time dressing up their two girls because Oct. 15 was picture day at Silver Rail Elementary. Giamanco dropped the girls off…
NAMI Hosts Special Event for Silver Rail Parents and Guardians
A special therapeutic processing group is happening on Sunday, Oct. 25 for parents and guardians of Silver Rail Elementary School students, in the wake of the Oct. 15 school shooting that left five people dead, including a teacher and three students. The National Alliance on Mental Illness Central Oregon branch is hosting the event for…
Letters to the Editor, Week of Oct. 29, 2026
Endorsement of Lauren Connally I am very disappointed that TSW endorsed Lauren Connally instead of Amy Sabbadini.Looking at who endorsed Ms. Connally, including Patty Adair, Tony DeBone, Chris Piper, Keith Rockow and Phil Henderson, I question the choice. With Republicans trying to gerrymander Deschutes County for this race, and a neo-Republican agenda I find troubling,…
District Asks Families to Complete Survey on Return to School for Silver Rail Community
Bend-La Pine Schools is asking families and staff to share their thoughts about what a return to learning for Silver Rail Elementary School students could look like. On Thursday, Bend-La Pine Schools issued an update about its return-to-school process for the school community that was rocked by a deadly shooting that killed three students and…
“Never Experienced a Family Assistance Center Like This.”
Local businesses and other organizations banded together recently to quickly establish a temporary assistance center for families and staff affected by the Silver Rail Elementary School shooting on Oct. 15. Officials at Wednesday night’s Bend City Council meeting described how several local entities swiftly collaborated to create a “phenomenal” space in Bend at which Silver…
On Advice of FBI, Bend-La Pine Schools Removes Memorial at Silver Rail
Bend-La Pine Schools on Thursday packaged up a makeshift memorial to victims in last week’s Silver Rail Elementary shooting, after federal agents said leaving it any longer could make it harder to possibly reclaim the school as a place for instruction. In the days following the Oct. 15 tragedy, which left three students and…
Marked Increase in Interest for Concealed Handgun Licenses, Sheriff’s Office Says
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is seeing a marked increase in the number of people interested in getting a concealed handgun license, the office said Thursday. Since the Oct. 15 shootings at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, in which a father of two students entered the school and shot the assailant with a legally…
Bend-La Pine Students Return for First Classes Since Shooting; Silver Rail Remains Closed
As the sun rose through tips of the pines in the west Bend trees Wednesday morning, a sound not heard in six days cut through the cold morning air: the babble of children pouring into school. Those William E. Miller Elementary students — and thousands of others across Bend-La Pine Schools — returned to…
Redmond High School a Finalist in T-Mobile Sweepstakes
Erika Selberg and Kyle Lavender have been making lots of phone calls and sending lots of emails. Why? They want people to vote, but not for political candidates. Rather, they’re hoping people will quickly vote, daily, through Sunday, Oct 25 to support Redmond High School in its bid to win $1 million in the 2026…
Teaching Assistant: “I Was Shot Before I Had Any Chance to Act.”
Becky Drury, the Silver Rail Elementary School educational assistant who suffered injuries in the October 15 shooting, is opening up about her memories of that fateful afternoon. Drury was one of two people rushed to the hospital immediately following the shooting, suffering gunshots to her left hand and right arm. In a statement Tuesday, Drury’s…
