Laurel Brauns
Posted inNews

Oregon is Burning, and the Fires Are Zero Percent Contained

Officials warn Oregonians to be prepped to evacuate—and to be ready for significant loss of life and property in the coming days
Avatar photo Nicole Vulcan and Laurel Brauns

Damage from this week’s wildfires across Oregon could be the largest loss of life and property ever seen from fires. So far, the many fires—some which have combined to become one mega-fire—are 0% contained. The cities of Detroit, Vida, Talent and Phoenix have been “substantially destroyed.” Officials have high hopes for tomorrow, when the winds […]

Posted inNews

State of the Central Oregon Unions

In honor of Labor Day, a short history of the local labor movement and the challenges facing workers in the time of COVID-19
by Laurel Brauns

Central Oregon is home to dozens of chapters of different union groups, from local education associations for teachers, to a St. Charles Health System chapter of the Oregon Nurses’ Association. The Source checked in with local union leaders to find out what they’re working on in the age of the coronavirus. The year 2020 has […]

Posted inNews

Private Parking Coming to Old Bend

City creates new permit-only parking district pilot program for areas around Drake Park
by Laurel Brauns

The Bend City Council moved forward Sept. 2 with an ordinance to create a restricted parking district in a small section of the Old Bend neighborhood. The City is going ahead with a pilot program that gives Old Bend residents a private parking district through the end of 2021, and fines others who park while […]

Posted inNews

Listen: One Superintendent’s Fight to Get Kids Back in the Classroom 🎧

Stefanie Garber is the superintendent of Culver School District: Twice she’s asked the state for an exception to its restrictions on in-person classes, citing high poverty rates in her district
Laurel Brauns

For this week’s “Bend Don’t Break” podcast we talk with Stefanie Garber, the superintendent and elementary school principal for the Culver School District. Garber recently wrote a letter to Gov. Kate Brown arguing that local communities and school boards should decide when to open schools in their own districts. She asked that the state eliminate […]

Posted inNews

Learning Pods Fill the Gap

Parents struggle to find in-person educational opportunities as schools go 100% online
Laurel Brauns

As families grapple with the reality of online education for all ages in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, some are starting learning pods, while others compete to make the cut into recreational and nonprofit programs. Shannon Sbarra runs Volcano Veggies along with her husband, Jimmy. It’s more than a full-time job, and she’s also […]

Posted inNews

Listen: Inside Look at Public Transit with Tammy Baney 🎧

The executive director of the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, Tammy Baney, explains the barriers to more public transit in Central Oregon
Laurel Brauns

For this week’s Bend Don’t Break podcast we speak with Tammy Baney, the executive director of the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council. COIC is a group of representatives from each city and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs who work together on economic development, housing and job training. Most notably, COIC oversees Cascades East Transit, the […]

Posted inNews

White Bus Driver Puts Black Passenger in a Chokehold ▶ [with video]

The passenger’s offense? Not wearing shoes, DA says
Laurel Brauns

On Thursday, Aug. 20, a bus driver in Bend put a Black passenger in a chokehold until he lost consciousness. The cause? Because the passenger was not wearing shoes. Twenty-five-year-old Bend resident Dorian Zane Allstot had gotten kicked off the bus at Hawthorne Station once before because he had no shoes. He came back a […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Pot and POC

New programs providing seed money for marijuana startups are popping up around the country. Could Bend follow?
Laurel Brauns

New programs in Portland, and other progressive cities across the U.S., offer grants and loans to new cannabis businesses owned by people of color. Historically, arrests and convictions for pot-related crimes have disproportionally affected BIPOC communities. Some believe investing in Black-owned cannabis business is one way to right the wrongs of decades of discrimination and […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

From Illegal to Essential

As marijuana sales continue to break records, a local cannabis startup cashes in big with online sales
Laurel Brauns

At the beginning of the pandemic, the threat of police-state lockdown orders loomed large on the horizon: Weeks before the initial outbreak in Oregon, China and Italy forced people inside for weeks with threats of arrests and even jail time. Some Americans raced to the store to stock up on toilet paper, groceries and medications. […]

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