PB: Still the Burger KingPilot Butte Drive-In
916 NE Greenwood Ave. Come for the food, stay for the unintentionally Rockford Files cool retro décor.
PB: Still the Burger KingPilot Butte Drive-In
916 NE Greenwood Ave. Come for the food, stay for the unintentionally Rockford Files cool retro décor.
Call it a Hail Mary pass, but a last-minute legislative maneuver has rekindled the possibility of a deal to preserve Skyline Forest in exchange for some limited development on the 33,000-acre tree farm just west of Bend.
Under the proposed legislation, which is expected to be introduced this week by Rep. Brian Clem (D-Salem), Fidelity National Timber Resources would be able to build up to 137 housing units on 200 acres southwest of Sisters. Another 2,300 adjacent acres would be placed in a conservation easement buffer. Most importantly, Fidelity, in exchange, would be required to sell the vast majority of the forest to the Deschutes Basin Land Trust, which has already set aside more than $1 million for a purchase.
The proposal represents a marked decrease in the overall development footprint on Skyline, where developer Fidelity had initially pitched 1,000 homes on 3,000 acres in exchange for a direct transfer of the remaining forest land- roughly 30,000 acres-to the Land Trust. But that deal, while well received by the Land Trust, never got any traction with the public after Fidelity entered into negotiations with the state of Oregon on a complicated development-land exchange deal (The company owns some 270,000 acres of land in Oregon that it acquired from Crown Pacific out of bankruptcy).The deal also drew fire from some environmentalists who didn't like the idea of 1,000 homes in the forest outside of Sisters, a town which itself only relatively recently surpassed 1,000 residents.
When you fall on hard times, it's always tempting to look for someone other than yourself - your financial adviser, your banker, the brother-in-law who told you to put all your money in GM stock - to blame the fall on. Now that Bend's downtown is hurting, the search for scapegoats is on. The latest candidate: panhandlers.
The Bend City Council has asked City Attorney Mary Winters to look into legal ways that the city can deal with the perceived panhandling problem. This came in response to a complaint from a local merchant who thought people standing out on the sidewalk asking for money could be hurting business.
Some councilors agreed with her, including Tom Greene, who was quoted as saying, "I've had a lot of people say it makes them uncomfortable to go downtown."
Suck on this, swine!The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting far from you, civilization, and other swine, hoarding water and Ramen Noodles, hoping Brad Pitt arrives soon (with Angelina) so they may build the prettier, more humanitarian yet sexy society we all deserve, on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly.
Empty Soccer Stadiums, Facemasks, 12 Monkeys…
Pity the pigs, forever linked to the contagious flu that utterly destroyed mankind in late April 2009. Better yet, blame the Mexicans, who we've been scapegoating so well and so long for taking the jobs we suddenly want and ingesting our pollution. Our finest export since Agent Orange, Corporate Agra has really pulled a doozy this time (note: Monsanto did not approve this column) as the death toll is climbing into the hundreds (though 3,000 die each day from Malaria); Mexico City resembles the set of 28 Days Later, schools are closed till early May, and New York is now an incubator for the rage virus. Adding insult to injury, a major earthquake struck near Acapulco on Monday, then a look-alike of Air Force One buzzed New York Harbor (see below). On a conspiracy-related note: How convenient is it that an exotic and rapidly mutating virus is said to be spreading, just as GM announces it will close factories for over a month and kill Pontiac, Pakistan is about to fall to the Taliban (nukes included), the Jets draft another dud while my Bills took two solid Oregonians, and Ashton Kutcher keeps getting in the news for Twittering? Ask yourself, are these mere coincidences or divine intervention?
The Bucket brings a wild fish to hand in the high desert. You don't have to be a wader-clad and sleep-deprived steelhead
fisherman to know that there is something missing in the waters of our
once-teeming Northwest rivers, but it doesn't hurt.
Steelhead, the
iconic fish that once proliferated in rivers from the Oregon coast to
the interior of Idaho, are becoming fewer and fewer every year. Even as
groups like the Deschutes Basin Land Trust and Confederated Tribes work
to restore salmon and steelhead runs on the Upper Deschutes Basin,
populations of native fish across the region are falling and in some
cases dwindling to the brink of extinction. While hatcheries continue
to churn out fish for sport and commercial fisherman, recent studies
have confirmed what anybody who has felt the arm-jolting take of a wild
fish on a swung fly already knew - hatchery fish are a sub-par species
that make a poor substitute for their wild brethren.
In Mike Epstein's bashing of the Jesus basher, Steve Humphrey, he asserts that St. Augustine argued God allowed Rome to become a great nation and did the same for the U.S. Neither Epstein or Augustine nor anyone else can prove this. It is merely Augustine's and Epstein's belief that this is so, not empirical fact. Therefore to call Humphrey "stupid" and "uneducated" is to open Epstein himself to the charge that he is also "stupid" and perhaps brainwashed as well by religious dogma that has no basis in fact.
"Easter" celebrations, really festivals honoring Spring, existed in many forms and civilizations long before the alleged existence of Jesus Christ. Mr. Epstein exposes his "stupidity" in asserting that the Constitution and Bill of Rights are "god-driven." The word "God" does not appear in the Constitution. The Pledge of Allegiance" did not contain the word "God" in it until conservatives in Congress during the Eisenhower administration changed it. As a kid in school in the late '40s and early '50s I learned the old Pledge that ended, "one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all." God was not mentioned.
Hey there to all you fellow riders out there, roadies, mounties and commuters.
How about a biker coalition that patrols the roadways and the mountain biking trails? The purpose? We all get flats, have mishaps and need support - even medical aid. Out on the trails, such as Phil's Trail, a coalition would be wonderful with the millions of people coming from every planet around the universe to bike in Bend since this is the best place in the world to bike! (ha,ha…NOT) There are bike coalitions in northern California for a reason, mainly the population of riders being large. There are a lot of riders on the trails and a biker coalition would help educate riders on the right of way, friendliness, littering etc.
I would like to send a tune of gratitude for a couple of un-sung heroes of our community. They will be moving on to new ventures and a life near Ashland. Richard Ziff and Helene Bisnaire are the owners and creators of "Of The Earth."
They are taking a break after many years of building and developing one of the world's first organic clothing and fabric businesses. I remember when they came to town and immediately took a leadership role in supporting causes, charities, and fashion events through their OTE Foundation. Although they did little of their business in Bend directly, they came in with open hearts to make their contribution to our community and town.
I'm one of those reflexive anti-war guys, the type with one answer for everything. Stop the war. Bring the troops home from Iraq. Right now. Bring'em home from Afghanistan, too, and if you ask me, it's high time that the US ends its brutal occupation of North America, as well. When confronted with the notion that the immediate departure of all US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan could lead to chaos, I'll respond that whatever happens next couldn't be any worse than if we remain. What if the various sides in Iraq start going at it? Doesn't America bear some responsibility? 'Yes,' I say, but the single solution is to bring home all troops.
Wake up seven days a week with the Cascades Reader. Get local news, event information, podcasts, discounts and more. Sign up now!
We'll send a verification code to %EMAIL%.
Get the best of The Source - Bend, Oregon directly in your email inbox.
Sending to:
