Richard Sitts

Richard Sitts grew up in the midwest, mostly in Kansas. After earning a journalism degree from Kansas State University, he worked in various capacities at newspapers in Kansas, New York, New Mexico, California and Colorado, before arriving in Bend several years ago. Highlights included working as a bureau reporter covering the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Ariz., copy editing and writing stories for the Albuquerque Tribune, and serving as editor for a group of four weekly newspapers in central California. Once, between journalism jobs in Houston, he worked as the assistant stage manager at an old school, burlesque dinner theater. The second show every night, the dancers performed topless, as he moved curtains and props, and operated the dry ice fog machine.
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Kitten Season is Nearly Here!

Volunteer foster homes are always in demand
by Richard Sitts

The kittens are coming… This ominous fact rings true when kitten season rolls around, running from mid-spring to early fall. Or, as Lynne Ouchida, director of Community Partnerships for the Humane Society of Central Oregon, puts it, “from Easter to Halloween.” That’s a lot of kittens and they all deserve loving homes. That’s where volunteer […]

Posted inMusic

Deck the Halls with These Holiday Jams

Albums to add to your yuletide collection, courtesy of rock'n'roll DJ, “Ricky Lee”
by Richard Sitts

Back in the late 1980s, when the compact disc format was just blowing up, I started collecting Christmas CDs. I now have close to 70, along with a handful of vinyl albums. So, I consider myself somewhat qualified to recommend some of my favorites, in no particular order. These musical offerings are also good for […]

Posted inBest Of Central Oregon

Best Solar Company

Sunlight Solar
by Richard Sitts

Sunlight Solar is the original grid-tied solar company in Central Oregon, according to president/founder Paul Israel. (Grid-tied means a solar energy setup that maintains a connection to the electricity grid.) Sunlight Solar sells, designs and installs everything in-house, with its 17 employees. The company must be doing something right, as Source Weekly readers voted it […]

Posted inBest Of Central Oregon

Best Florist

Donner Flower Shop
by Richard Sitts

Donner Flower Shop is the perennial winner of Best Florist in the Source Weekly’s annual readers’ poll, but no one, especially owner Tanja Rodgers, takes that for granted. During a recent mid-week visit to the bustling shop, workers were intently focused on their individual flowery tasks, pausing only long enough to look up with a […]

Posted inCulture

Hello, Kitty!

Love, play and nuzzles are on the menu at Bend’s first cat café
by Richard Sitts

The last thing my wife said to me before I left to go visit the Playful Paws Cat Café was, “Don’t bring a cat home.” Don’t get it wrong, we are both cat people, even though we’ve been “empty nesters” since the first week of February, when we had to say goodbye to our 19-year-old […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Final Farewell

It’s never a good time to say goodbye forever to our beloved pets
by Richard Sitts

Over New Year’s Eve weekend, our 21-year-old boy cat, Gallup, had pretty much stopped eating and was having trouble getting around on his own. By Sunday night, wife Floy and I knew it was time. I emailed the vet office and Dr. Byron Maas at Bend Veterinary Clinic had us come in on Monday morning. […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Rescue. Refuge. Rehome.

A local program brings low-cost spay and neuter services and a refuge for the pets of people in crisis
by Richard Sitts

Amanda Wheeler is the Chief Wagologist, founder and executive director of The Rawley Project, a relatively new nonprofit in Central Oregon offering services for animals in need. We chatted with its founder for this issue of Central Oregon Pets. Source Weekly: What are the Rawley Project and Fixbend, and what is the mission of each? […]

Posted inCulture

KPOV Gifted with Historic Donation

Music lover leaves a legacy at community radio station
by Richard Sitts

Christmas has come early for Central Oregon’s community radio station, KPOV 88.9 FM, in the form of a monetary donation that far exceeds many folks’ most optimistic dreams. KPOV staff, DJs, volunteers and board members gathered Oct. 27 in the station’s cozy downtown studio to accept the gift from the estate of the late Marjo […]

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