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Nicole Vulcan

Nicole Vulcan became Editor of the Source in 2016 and was promoted to Editor in Chief in 2024, managing the Editorial Board and the news team's many investigative projects. She's also at work on her debut book of journalistic non-fiction, titled "Self Medication," which traces Oregon's drug decriminalization efforts in the 21st Century, and tells a parallel tale of her own family’s losses from fentanyl addiction in the age of Measure 110. With all of that on her plate, send snacks. Catch up with the adventures at her book's Substack, called Self Medication.

nicole@bendsource.com
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Neighborhoods: Boyd Acres: Great Views and an Easy Lifestyle

Proximity to shopping and awesome mountain vistas
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While some others squabble over coveted west-side neighborhoods, we’ll let you in on a little secret: Some of the best views in all of Bend aren’t found on the west side—they’re found in Boyd Acres, the northeast-most neighborhood in the city. Largely consisting of homes built within the past 20 years, many homes’ builders attempt […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Neighborhoods: Bend’s Highlight Reel—Old Bend and River West

Living in the center of town puts residents at the heart of it all
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The neighborhoods of Old Bend and River West contain a highlight reel of sorts of what people who don’t live in Bend come to the city to do—floating the river, cruising the Old Mill, sipping beer at the OG breweries and grabbing an Ocean Roll from the OG Sparrow Bakery. Comprised largely of historic homes, […]

Posted inNews

Midtown Rising ▶ [With Video]

With Bend’s “Zoom Town” status and its ongoing population boom, its scene needed room to grow. Enter Midtown, rising slowly but surely—and with a vision
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Some call it The Moat. Others, The Tracks. Others have less-flattering names for the act of moving from west Bend to east, doing so via only the handful of arterials that cross the city, over or under its railroad bridges, and under the Bend Parkway. Whatever you call it, the reasons to cross that moat […]

Posted inFood & Drink

Riff Taproom Becomes Stoller Wine Bar

Stoller Wine Bar will feature over 40 wines
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After several months of teaming up in the same space, Riff Cold Brewed announced this month that it would be officially handing over its taproom in Bend’s Box Factory to Stoller Wine. In November, Riff announced that it would be sharing its space on Arizona Avenue, offering a pop-up tasting room for the Willamette Valley […]

Posted inNews

Cannabis: The State of the Industry

While other industries lag, cannabis jobs grew by 32% last year
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With unemployment numbers still high and so many businesses continuing to struggle due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the bright spots in the economy over the past year has been in cannabis. This week, cannabis marketplace Leafly released its fifth-annual jobs report, which shows just how much the industry has grown […]

Posted inFood & Drink

Portland’s Killer Burger Coming to Bend

Known for inventive burgers and “classic” burgers, all of them come with fries and are topped with bacon and delicious sauces
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For the past two years, Portland’s Killer Burger has been the winner of “Portland’s Best Burger” in the readers’ poll for Willamette Week—similar to the Source’s Best of Central Oregon poll. Soon, Central Oregonians will be able to enjoy some of those popular burgers right here in Bend. The Killer Burger franchise announced this week […]

Posted inCulture

Zombies Attack Bend! ▶ [With Video]

A new virtual reality arena opens on Bend’s east side
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It’s my first time at Zero Latency, the virtual reality arena that recently opened on Third Street in Bend. I’m terrible at first, but over the course of the first 15-minute game in the arena, I get better at knowing where the zombies—my height and making creepy noises all the while—are coming from.

Posted inFood & Drink

Sparrow Bakery Launches Campaign to Support Struggling Restaurants

Order out two more times a week; help local businesses get through this
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Who doesn’t love takeout? So how about we do it two times more a week? Restaurants in Deschutes County got some relief this week when the governor announced a relaxation of guidelines—but they’re still expected to struggle for quite some time, due to the extended closures. “As widely documented throughout the pandemic, food service and […]

Posted inNews

Deschutes County to Move Out of Extreme Risk

10 counties move to a lower-risk category from Extreme; Crook and Jefferson counties remain in Extreme risk
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Ten of Oregon’s counties—including Deschutes County and those in the Portland metro area—will move into a lower-risk COVID risk category starting Feb. 12, Gov. Kate Brown announced Tuesday. Deschutes County will move to High Risk, which allows restaurants to open at 25% capacity indoors, among other relaxed restrictions. Under Extreme Risk, only outdoor dining was […]

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