The Source Weekly requested public records about the largest residential and commercial users in Bend and Redmond. While this picture is still incomplete, it reveals important info about municipal water usage. We aim to shed light on disparate realities in Central Oregon: while some farmers are struggling to make it through the season amid severe […]
Hanna Merzbach
Posted inNews
Water Woes for Farmers
Drought and river conservation measures have left Central Oregon farmers with less water — though some are harder hit than others.
On a sunny June day, Chris Casad sat on his tractor transplanting onions. Central Oregon had been seeing a wet season, but when he dug down a couple of inches, parts of his 360 acres of land in Madras were still bone dry: the weeks of rain had barely made a dent. […]
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The Well’s Run Dry
With the ongoing drought, growing population and piping of canals, Central Oregonians are increasingly seeing their wells go dry. Many may be out of luck.
It was early June when Mari V. went to do a load of laundry one morning and found the machine had no water. Then, she turned on the faucet — again, no water. Mari, who owns and lives at a horse farm near Tumalo, typically relies on a 545-feet-deep well to give her horses water […]
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Turning Saltwater into Freshwater
OSU-Cascades professor Bahman Abbasi leads research to bring desalination systems to the masses, along with efforts to decontaminate fracking wastewater and process the brines for lithium-ion batteries
On a planet where 70% of the area is covered by water, only 3% of that is fresh water—and only a small fraction of that is available for drinking. More than 884 million people don’t have access to drinking water, and that number is only expected to grow as the planet warms. But what if […]
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Fight Against Light
Outdoor lights obscure dark skies, waste energy and throw off the rhythms of all types of life. Here’s what advocates are doing to protect Central Oregon’s vast dark skies.
Amid a shield of darkness, under a sea of glittering stars at Sunriver’s observatory, children gaze at Saturn for the first time. Visitors peer through telescopes at the moon’s miles-long craters and marvel at the wonders of the Milky Way. But, as visitors look to the north, a cloud of orange sky glows over Bend, […]
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New Political Maps for Central Oregon
With Bend’s population boom, Central Oregon was in the center of the drama over where to put the state’s new congressional seat
Hours before a deadline on the night of Sept. 27, Oregon became the first state to redraw its congressional maps for the next decade, following a boycott by House Republicans and last-minute negotiations. The process was especially contentious as Oregon gained its first additional congressional seat in 40 years—and with Bend’s population boom, Central Oregon […]
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides
A Guide to Outdoor Yoga this Summer
Whether you want to flow next to the river or stretch out with a beer, Bend has an outdoor yoga class for you
Many of Bend’s yoga studios are leaving the Zoom screens behind and opening yoga spaces for practice. But for people who still don’t want to be confined indoors, Bend will have a bounty of outdoor yoga options throughout the summer. Here are five Bend studios offering outdoor yoga classes this summer season. The Yoga Lab […]
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“A Piece of the Puzzle”
A Redmond hotel will soon become the city’s first year-round shelter thanks to funding from
Project Turnkey, the statewide initiative to convert hotel and motels into housing
Amid rising housing costs and stagnant wages, Central Oregon’s homeless population is growing, and shelter beds are in short supply. But, this June, at least 25 shelter beds will be added to the mix, as Bend-based nonprofit Bethlehem Inn uses state funding to convert a motel in Redmond. On April 27, Bethlehem Inn received a […]
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Drawing the Lines
State lawmakers are drawing new maps for the State House and Senate, as well as U.S. Congressional Districts. What will this mean for Central Oregon?
Against the backdrop of Census data delays and a packed legislative session, Oregon lawmakers are embarking on the once-a-decade process of “redistricting,” in which they redraw the lines for state House and Senate districts, along with the U.S. Congressional Districts based on shifts in population. In order to evenly distribute the population, each Oregon Senate […]
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides
Redmond Prepares for Future of Weed
Dispensaries are still barred in Redmond, but if federal legalization happens, some local businesses want to be ready
Marijuana dispensaries are still illegal in the City of Redmond, but that could change. The federal government is making moves toward decriminalizing marijuana, and Redmond is drafting policies in preparation. Although recreational marijuana became legal in Oregon in 2015, a Redmond ordinance passed in 1989 prohibits businesses from getting business licenses in the city if […]