Community members who applauded Bend City Council for turning off Flock Safety’s AI-powered surveillance cameras at a Jan. 7 business meeting weren’t paranoid. Reporting by the Oregon Law Center has revealed that federal immigration officials — including those from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations — […]
Federal Immigration Officials Made 279 Queries into Bend’s Flock Safety Data in its First Three Weeks
Posted inFilm
Streep, Hathaway, Blunt and Tucci: Still a Perfect Combo
As someone who has dressed like a color blind retiree since childhood, I know next to nothing about couture, modern fashion, or why one designer brand outranks another. Watching “The Devil Wears Prada” all the way back in the year of our lord 2006, I knew the film really wasn’t “for me,” yet I still […]
Posted inOutside Features
Flag Football Offers Sports Pathway for Young Women Across Central Oregon
It’s a perfect night for football. The air is crisp and cool as the sun sets and the lights come on at Mountain View High School’s varsity football field. There’s a cross-town rivalry being battled out as the Cougars face off against the Summit High School Storm. However, this isn’t your typical football game. There […]
Posted inCulture
Free Will Astrology, Week of May 7
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): When lightning from a cloud hits sand or soil, the current travels down into the ground. It melts material along its path and forms tubular, branching glass structures that can penetrate deep below the surface. I believe that metaphorically similar phenomena will soon happen in your life, Taurus. Sudden insights or […]
Posted inLocal News
Deschutes County to Choose New Landfill Site — Again — as Deadline Looms
For the second time since 2024, the committee tasked with choosing a new landfill site for Deschutes County is getting ready to make a final recommendation. The County’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee went back to the drawing board last summer after property negotiations stalled over a 440-acre gravel mine called the “Moon Pit” 15 miles southeast of Bend. Now, the County is banking on a different site working out. Any further delays […]
Posted inLocal News
Dry Forests, Warming Weather Signal Early Start to Central Oregon Wildfire Season
Snowpack has mostly vanished from mid-elevation forests in Central Oregon, meaning logs, trees and shrubs are drying out earlier — one factor that could result in a boisterous wildfire season. That was part of the report from a preseason wildfire briefing held Monday morning at the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District station in Sisters. Elected officials from Bend, Redmond and Sisters, along with state and local fire officials from departments in Redmond and the Sisters area, met at a […]
Posted inPodcasts
LISTEN: The Lunchbucket Podcast, Ellie 🎧
In this episode of The Lunchbucket Podcast, Ellie shares what it’s like to be a Dutch Bros barista. The training she went through, the details involved in making all those specialty caffeinated drinks, and how it feels to interact with customers for hours at a time. Plus, she talks about her favorite lunchtime eats, Bo’s Bagels […]
Posted inOpinion
A Library — Any Library — in Bend Couldn’t Come Too Soon
In just a few short days, the Deschutes Public Library’s new Central Library will open on the east side of Bend. For those who have gone by during the many months it’s stood there under construction, the 100,000-square-foot space is certainly hard to miss. We are excited about it, but right now we’re also still […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Indulging in Tasty Treats
The Secret Waffle Society has reopened at a new location. Jared Rasic reviewed the food truck back in November, calling it a delicious study in dichotomies. You may have seen it when it was parked downtown at the corner of Greenwood and Bond, but their lease was up at the end of November. They’re now […]
Posted inCulture Features
Pages of Possibility: A Student Writing Showcase
Students at Central Oregon Community College have revived a literary tradition that hasn’t been around for nearly four decades. The Thread, featuring student poetry, prose and art is an online journal curated and edited by students in the Advanced Creative Writing: Publishing class. Associate Professor Eileen Sather, who teaches the class, says COCC had similar […]