Source Weekly, Author at The Source - Bend, Oregon

Gene Whisnant Rolls With the Banks

The fact of facing foreclosure while the banks stand on the side and watch.

Source WeeklyFebruary 15, 2012January 30, 2025

In the foreclosure game, they call it the “spin cycle.” The name is apt: Just like the spin cycle of a washing machine wrings water out of laundry, the foreclosure spin cycle wrings the last drops of cash out of the hapless borrower who gets caught in it.
A homeowner gets trapped in the spin cycle when he's facing foreclosure and tries to renegotiate his mortgage to avoid it. Even while he's dealing in good faith and making payments regularly, the bank continues to move ahead with foreclosure – and worst of all, the homeowner doesn't even know it. By the time the bank gets through spinning him he's lost thousands of dollars – and the house.

Music

Listen Up!: The unofficial WinterFest listening guide

All the bands that will appear at this year’s WinterFest.

Source WeeklyFebruary 15, 2012January 4, 2023

Larry and His Flask: Given'er Every time
In recent years, LAHF has transformed from a fun, but rough-around-the-edges local band, to a sharp and polished group, complete with multi-part harmonies and fast banjo picking. What was once a loose pack of half-drunken screaming lunatics, is now a tight collection of half-drunken lunatics.
Credit some of that polish to LAHF's time on the 2011 Vans Warped Tour. The percussion-powered string band also honed its sound and style touring with Celtic punk lords, Dropkick Murphys, icons in the larger post-punk world.
After WinterFest, the close-knit crew is spending the spring touring the Midwest. Catch the local boys now, for cheap. You won't be disappointed by a group that always answers the call of the crowd.

Food & Drink

La Magie Bakery: Bringing magic to Bend

La Magie Bakery opens in what was the old space for the Bond Street Market and serving a list of French pastries.

Source WeeklyFebruary 15, 2012May 25, 2025

As the previous home of the Bond Street Market, 949 NW Bond St., was known as a great spot to pick up such delicacies as Twinkies, a pack of Marlboro Lights, or a 40 of PBR.
But no longer.
With the opening of La Magie Bakery in the spot on Jan. 30, owner Di Long has transformed the space into a European-inspired bakery and lunch spot decked with lavender and Granny Smith apple-colored walls.
Magazine displays have been replaced with bistro tables adorned with Peruvian Lilies and arrangements of bamboo. Huge picture windows welcome in the sunshine, and the upstairs offers a secluded spot for a reflective cup of coffee.

Food & Drink

Cascade Lakes Project X

Cascade Lakes releases its latest seasonal ale called Project X.

Source WeeklyFebruary 15, 2012January 4, 2023

The latest seasonal release from Cascade Lakes is a smooth-drinking pale ale that will temporarily replace the Pine Marten Pale Ale. Soon available in six packs, Project X is a classic Northwest pale, that uses a blend of two-row, crisp, Munich and cara grains to create a well-rounded beer that puts as much emphasis on its malt profile as it does on hops.

Special Issues & Guides

‘I’m Not A Nurse’: Lack of formal training didn't deter this Bend native

Local hero, Lavonna Redman created a school dedicated to children with special needs and is the founder of Angel Notion.

Source WeeklyFebruary 9, 2012March 16, 2024

Angel Notion, the solitary medical resource for underprivileged families in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, exists because one Bendite decided to make a difference.
“Twenty years ago I was living in Bend, and I had an opportunity to vacation to Playa, and the first time I put my feet in the sand, I felt like it was home,” said Angel Notion Founder, Lavonna Redman. “I moved my family down here within six weeks.”
She held many posts in the tourist, Caribbean community, including hotel owner and restaurateur, before concentrating her efforts on humanitarian work.
“After a few years, there was something I needed to do for the people,” she explained. “So I started a school for special needs children.”

Special Issues & Guides

There When You Need Them: Commitment binds local search and rescue volunteers

Local heroes of search and rescue help a man who fell onto a ledge at Smith Rock.

Source WeeklyFebruary 9, 2012June 9, 2025

Last November, a climber attempting The Wambat Route in Smith Rock State Park lost his hold and fell hard to a ledge below. Luckily for the climber, the Deschutes County Search and Rescue Mountain Rescue Unit was training at Smith Rock that day. They moved into action and immediately initiated the rescue.
“He fell onto a ledge, which is a tricky rescue,” said Richard Adler, team member since 2007. “This was the first time we were able to perform a ground-up rescue. It worked perfectly.”
Adler is one of 118 volunteers on the Deschutes County Search and Rescue crew who devotes hundreds of hours to training and rescue missions all in the name of keeping Central Oregonians safe.

Opinion

Losing Our Religion

The relationship between the United States and religion.

Source WeeklyFebruary 8, 2012June 3, 2025

The fact is: this nation was never a Christian nation to begin with (thankfully). Our Constitution and our Declaration are godless documents that protect us from religion, but also give people the freedom to worship as they choose. However, that doesn't give people the freedom to push it in our schools, our politics, or force their silly belief systems on us.
Religion is a personal choice. It is not the law; it is not anything other than someone choosing to follow that system. I have no issue with people that want to keep it to themselves.
It has, however, destroyed countries, families, and caused wars, spread hate, discrimination, and intolerance for full equality. And, quite frankly, people are tired of that. We are progressing and finding out that you do not need religion to be moral, ethical, or live a good/happy life. And guess what? It’s all going to be OK!

Opinion

345

The Family Kitchen serves a large amount of meals to the locals.

Source WeeklyFebruary 8, 2012January 4, 2023

That's how many meals that the local nonprofit Family Kitchen provided last Friday, a record for the local charity meal provider. Read about how the organization has stepped to meet the community's growing demand for its service in this week's news feature, “A Singular Purpose” Pg.

Opinion

Wyden Grounds the Choppers

Wyden gets Senate to pass a bill stopping helicopter tours above Crater Lake.

Source WeeklyFebruary 8, 2012January 20, 2024

Helicopters have their place, but the sky over Crater Lake isn't one of them. Thanks to Ron Wyden, their racket won't be disturbing the serenity of Oregon's only national park – at least not for a while.
Back in 2009, a Bend-based company called Leading Edge Aviation proposed to run as many as 300 helicopter tours a year over the rim of the lake. Company officials said the helicopters would stay far away from the visitor center, would fly at least 1,000 feet above the lake and cause minimal disruption – “an RV on the rim road would generate more noise,” one of them claimed.

Music

PCP Returns to Bend: Get high with the Portland Cello Project, not the recreational dissociative drug

The Portland Cello Project showing at Summit High School that is sure to please the crowd.

Source WeeklyFebruary 8, 2012May 12, 2025

If you plan on showing up at Summit High School with your mother, you might warn her that Portland Cello Project is better known for its tour with Buckethead than its arrangements of Beethoven. They don't perform in black. They don't print programs. They won't offer you an intermission. And they have been known to grind on their cellos while performing Salt-n-Pepa's, “Push it.”
Perhaps best known for their rendition of Kanye West’s and Rihanna's “All of the Lights,” this string ensemble's repertoire is vast, genre-bending and clearly unorthodox; there is no style they won't play.
“The main philosophy when I'm making a set for any performance is to make it varied, and confuse the audience as much as possible,” explains ensemble leader Douglas Jenkins.

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