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.
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Service to Community

This Veteran’s Day, one local family shows what it means to serve, through the Eagle Scouts, the U.S. military and more
Avatar photo Richard Sitts

F or this family, the practice of service to community runs strong. Three generations of volunteering and giving back came together in Bend this past weekend. The occasion was the Eagle Scout Court of Honor for Jesse Fishkin, 17, a member of local Boy Scout Troop 25 and a senior at Summit High School. Jessie […]

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Source Spotlight: The Summit of Rugby

Summit Kuehn, co-founder of Central Oregon’s Timberwolves Rugby Club
Avatar photo Richard Sitts

O n a chilly afternoon in Riverbend Park, with a cold wind blowing off the Deschutes River, Summit Kuehn is so bundled up that her pink-dyed hair is barely visible. She’s taking a short break from coaching the Timberwolves Rugby Football Club to chat up a visitor about her passion for the sport. She gushes […]

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Source Spotlight: Mike Ficher

Host of “The Ultimate Oldies Show,” KPOV Radio
Avatar photo Richard Sitts

A s a young adult living in the San Francisco Bay Area in the ’80s, KPOV radio host Mike Ficher got to learn all the rock ‘n’ roll dances: the Hand Jive, the Twist, the Stroll, the Bristol Stomp, the Watusi, the Hully Gully and the Madison, to name a few. Eventually, he became one […]

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John Reed

Brewing Champion
Avatar photo Richard Sitts

“I like a beer and pizza and to have a good time. Drinking beer is a social enterprise, and making it can be one, also.” A mong the beers that have graced Bend’s Growler Guys fill station is Machine Gun Maggie, an IPA clocking in at about 10 percent ABV. That heavyweight beer is the […]

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Debbi Wise

Victim Advocate
Avatar photo Richard Sitts

A workplace injury with a meat cutter led Debbi Wise to her vocation as a victim advocate for Deschutes County — a position in which she has excelled for more than 20 years. After sustaining the injury at Wagner’s in Redmond, she underwent a placement test that landed her in the county’s victims’ assistance program […]

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Source Spotlight: Michael LaLonde

Deschutes Brewery CEO
Avatar photo Richard Sitts

I t’s the biggest single project we’ve ever done as a company, so we’re putting a lot of planning and thought into it, making sure we do it right. — Michael LaLonde Just before Michael LaLonde’s interview for the position of chief financial officer at Deschutes Brewery 12 and a half years ago, he pulled […]

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Source Spotlight: Kolby Kirk

The Hike Guy
Avatar photo Richard Sitts

“I don’t like getting somewhere. I like being somewhere. I don’t consider hiking a sport like some people do. Hiking has a style.” For Kolby Kirk, it’s not about the destination or goal; it’s about the journey itself and everything that you can see and experience along the way. Kirk is all about taking the […]

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Source Spotlight: Geoff Frank

Owner of Tumalo Creek Kayak & Canoe
Avatar photo Richard Sitts

It’s one of those phrases that many have defiantly declared, sarcastically uttered, or just merely wished were true: “Living the dream.” For Geoff Frank, owner/operator of Tumalo Creek Kayak & Canoe, it appears to simply be a fact—though he was reluctant to concede it during our interview. We sat down early on a Friday afternoon […]

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Source Spotlight: Dr. John Letovsky

Medical director, Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades
Avatar photo Richard Sitts

When Dr. John Letovsky goes to work, he says it’s like “Christmas every day.” Letovsky, who previously had a private practice in Eugene, is about a month into his new position as the medical director for Bend’s Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades—but it was during his time in private practice that he became […]

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Source Spotlight: Gena Goodman-Campbell

Oregon Natural Desert Association public lands coordinator
Avatar photo Richard Sitts

This land is your land. And the more people who talk about it, the better. That’s the distinct message that Gena Goodman-Campbell, the public lands coordinator for the Oregon Natural Desert Association, works to share. A native Portlander, Goodman-Campbell moved to Bend 11 years ago after earning a degree at Colorado College. She’s been with […]

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