The back room of the clubhouse at the Sisters Rodeo grounds is filled with about a dozen men and women, all wearing blue jeans and work boots; volunteers who run the Sisters Rodeo. They are debating whether there is more drinking at the annual Sisters Quilt Festival or the Sisters Rodeo. “Definitely the quilt,” announces […]
Phil Busse
Phil Busse has done his tour of duty with alt-weeklies, starting in 1992 right after graduation from Middlebury College as the first environmental beat reporter for San Francisco Weekly. After a brief detour through the University of Oregon School of Law, Phil returned to writing as the first Managing Editor for Portland Mercury. In 2006, he started the Media Institute for Social Change in Portland, through which he continues to host a summer program teaching college students to produce documentaries.
Until he was 25 or so, Phil thought that he would be a spy, and took scuba lessons to prepare, and learned to drive a motorcycle and an 18-wheeler. Perhaps, then, it is unsurprising that his favorite holiday is the Fourth of July (he loves blowing stuff up). He feels at home with Joseph Conrad's fictional characters.
Editor’s Note: In this week’s issue
As the population in Central Oregon continues a steady march upwards and with visual reminders all over townโlike the housing projects popping up along the southern reaches of townโthere has been a certain amount of chatter over whether growth is good. Part of that discussion is, of course, that growth brings change and competitionโcompetition for […]
And then he told them to go back to California!
When a local guy saw a father at Tumalo Falls allowing his two children to carve their names into a hand railing, he asked them to stop. They didn’t. He took a picture, posted to Facebook and now, with 52,000 shares the Forest Service is hunting down the family. KGW has a more complete […]
Their honeymoon cut short by an earthquake, they decided to stay and help.
Submitted by Madeline Bokowa We stood there high up in the Himalayas, rigid, almost frozen in space, as a boulder the size of house, dropped from the sky and ricocheted its way down the path in front of us. โRUN!โ My partner Chadd yelled, as he grabbed my arm and pulled us away from underneath […]
Editor’s Note: In this week’s issue
Three years ago, my Norwegian grandmother Bernice turned 100 years old. Leading up to her birthday, I spent a number of evenings interviewing her, and asking questions about her childhood and about growing up on a Wisconsin farm before there was electricity and phones and cars. But what struck me most was her answer to […]
Bend Park and Rec: Foster Fell
What three things do you most hope to accomplish if elected? 1. Re-prioritize Bend Park and Recreation District (BPRD) planning and spending to more closely meet the needs of the taxpayers who support it. BPRD’s own polling shows support for neighborhood parks and a new swim and rec center as paramount needs. I think we, for […]
Bend Park and Rec: Brady Fuller
What three things do you most hope to accomplish if elected? If elected, I hope to work with other Board members to rapidly determine a multi-year waiver of SDCs for affordable housing and match that loss in revenue with a reduction in the District’s ambitions for new facilities. Second, I hope to advocate for improved […]
Where The Candidates Roam
On Monday evening, the three candidates for the Director position for the Bend Park and Recreation District (BPRD) gathered at the Deschutes County Building, and on May 6, a second debate will be hosted at Deschutes Brewery Public House. No wonder all the interest: Serving on the Board of Directors for BPRD is a critical […]
Three is The Magic Number
We are sitting outside at Crow’s Feet Commons, and I’m talking with Tyler Martin and Lion Lovechild, two members from NRG Tribe, an up-and-coming hip-hop trio from Redmond. They are telling me about auras, and about how the third member of their group was drawn to them because of one of their indigo auras. No, […]
Film Events 4/29-5/6
Metropolitan Opera: Cavalleria Rusticana/Paliacci Encore Yeah, it’s that good, there’s an encore. Like a three and half hour encore! Amazingly, this opera—although now roundly considered a classic—was the equivalent of a 19th century open-mic, as a music publisher and pimp invited a bunch of young Italian composers (who had yet to produce anything) to submit […]

