As noted in this week's Boot former councilor and now state Sen. Chris Telfer (R) stuck around city hall just long enough to orchestrate the installation of her hand picked mayor, Kathie Eckman. After Eckman won on a "party line" vote over Mark Capell, Telfer packed her bags for Salem leaving the council to fill the two years remaining on her term.
And if the mayoral contest was any kind of litmus test, expect a divided council to narrowly appoint another person with strong ties to, or at least support from, the Bend Good Ol' Boys Club (i.e. the builders, realtors and Chamber lobby).
Upfront's money is on Don Leonard, a former planning commissioner who ran unsuccessfully in November against Jim Clinton. Leonard subsequently filed for the position opened by the sudden death of councilor and former mayor Bill Friedman. The council ultimately filled that seat with Jodie Barram, another planning commission vet, who lost a close contest to Jeff Eager in November.
As of Tuesday morning - roughly 24 hours before the filing deadline - the city had received eight applications for the open seat, including one from Leonard.
City Recorder Patty Stell said councilors would select their top three or four candidates and bring them in for interviews Wednesday, Jan. 21 at city hall. The council plans to make a selection that night following the interviews. The councilor will be sworn in at the first meeting in February.
Seeking Super Woman
You don't have to be mayor, a city councilor, or a bank CEO to be considered for the Source's Woman of the Year award. But we are looking for folks to nominate local ladies that demolish stereotypes and embody Bend's lifestyle, balancing things like family, careers, charity work, and powder hounding. If you think you know somebody who fits that bill and would like to nominate them as the Woman of the Year, let us know. You can email nominations to [email protected].
The Beacon
In other housekeeping matters, contributor Nathan Sheldon launched a new winter recreation blog, The Beacon, on our site. An avid snowboarder and backcountry bum, Sheldon is filing regular reports from slopes of Bachelor and other secret stashes around Central Oregon. Check out pics and video from Nathan's most recent exploits at www.tsweekly.com/thebeacon. Upfront recommends that you don't miss Nathan's First Street Rapids river boarding video.
Badlands Bill
Upfront was pleased to see that Oregon's revamped U.S. Senate delegation isn't wasting anytime with the Badlands Wilderness bill, which has been included in the Omnibus Public Lands Bill that the Democratically controlled Congress pushed through for an upcoming vote over the objection of some Republicans who, until now, have been able to hold up progress on the bill with procedural road blocks. The Oregon Natural Desert Association said in a recent press release that it expects a vote on the bill as soon as this week, which would clear the way for formal wilderness protections in the Badlands, as well as the Spring Basin area in the John Day basin, the Mt. Hood area, the Soda Springs region in southwest Oregon, and the Copper Salmon region of the Siskiyou National Forest. In all, the bill would protect almost 200 million acres of public lands in nine states including, California, Oregon, Idaho and Utah. It would protect another 1,000 river miles through Wild and Scenic designations in Oregon, Idaho, California, Wyoming, Arizona and Massachusetts.
Many of the wilderness bills included in the omnibus package - 160 in total - have previously been blocked by Nebraska Sen. Tom Coburn, whose repeated obstructions earned him the nickname "Dr. No" in Congress and led observers to dub the public lands package pushed through over his objections as the "Tomnibus" bill.
Obligatory Sex Item
This week's "Angel: High school honor student by day, Hollywood hooker by night Award" goes to Natalie Dylan.
A 22-year-old San Diego area graduate student, Dylan has been selling her "virginity" publicly and getting plenty of takers. According to the Daily Telegraph, the high bid for Dylan, a brunette with a degree in Women's Studies, has hit $3.7 million.
Dylan has defended herself against critics who accuse her of being, well, a whore, by saying she needs the money for tuition. Dylan points out that this is a capitalist society and that there's nothing wrong with selling her virginity to a total stranger - hell people are doing nearly the same thing everyday all over the Internet, right?
Dylan has posted photos of herself, including some obligatory fan-blown glamour shots for would be "bidders."
While the FDA has yet to come up with a reliable virgin certification program, Dylan has offered to take a lie detector test to prove her chasteness. She plans to facilitate the transaction at the famed Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Nevada where her sister works. Shocker.
