Like they did last January, local rock and roll geniuses Empty Space Orchestra will be taking over the Silver Moon Brewing Co. every Saturday night for an entire month.
Chevy Pham is exhausted.
The stay-at-home mother of three stays on the move all day, shuttles kids to and fro, helps with homework, cooks meals, works around the house, volunteers in the community and tries to find a moment to connect with her husband who works full time.
Because time is precious and energy is finite, Pham didn't investigate why, back in 2007, her kindergartener wasn't selected from a pool of applicants, all of whom were vying for the few remaining spots at Amity Creek, a popular downtown magnet school.
In Bend, there are four magnet schools that serve elementary students, three of which are located west of 3rd Street. To determine who can attend the popular schools, the district uses a hybrid attendance policy that combines traditional neighborhood school boundaries and an at-large lottery system open to everyone in the district. Recently, though, that system has come under fire from parents like Pham and Amity's own principal who believe it serves to enhance, rather than mitigate, the district's existing economic segregation, limiting educational options for students.
The engineering firm heading up Bend's controversial surface water upgrade is already cashing on in its lucrative contract with the city.
According to the city's financial records, it has already cut a pair of checks to Omaha-based HDR, Inc. totaling more than a $1 million for design work on the project that will replace the city's aging surface water system. All told, the city expects to spend more than $68 million on the project that also includes a new federally mandated treatment system and a potentially lucrative hydropower plant.
However, the project has come under fire from a broad coalition of critics, including almost half a dozen former mayors.
On Monday night, opponents packed the Bend Planning Commission meeting in an effort to lobby the city's planning commissioners to omit the project from the city's official public works planning documents. Moey Newbold, who is helping to coordinate some of the organized opposition through Central Oregon Landwatch, a Bend-based environmental group, estimated that roughly 75 people showed up at city hall to listen and testify.
Gavin McMichael, one of Bend’s most prolific and high-profile restaurateurs, has filed for bankruptcy.
It’s not clear what the implications are for McMichael’s remaining restaurant holdings, including his flagship Blacksmith restaurant and the former Marz Bistro, which McMichael rebranded as Gatsby’s Brassiere Bar.
Australia is a great travel destination. One of those iconic countries you just have to see.
For the past two ski seasons, the gods of snow and cold temperatures have blessed Mt. Bachelor with the needed white stuff to open the mountain in time for the Thanksgiving weekend.
Opposed to the SWIP? Join your neighbors at a Public Hearing held by the Bend Planning Commission today at 5:30pm.
WHAT: Citizens speak out against Tumalo Creek Water Project at Public Hearing held by the Bend Planning Commission.
WHEN: Monday, November 14th 5:30pm WHERE: City Council Chambers, City Hall, 710 NW Wall St.
From Paul Dewey, Exec. Director at Central Oregon LandWatch:
“What we are trying to get the Planning Commission to do is drop the Surface Water Project from the Water Public Facilities Plan. In the alternative, we want them to delay a decision on the Water PFP until at least January (to give more time for the City Council to pull back on the project). If the Planning Commission and Council move ahead with the Water PFP, then LandWatch will appeal it to LUBA, beginning the legal fight.”
Yay! more mountain biking, zip-lining and frisbee golfing!
The ski world got another boost this month.
Obama recently signed the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011, which permits year-long recreation opportunities on U.S. Forest Service ski areas. The bill promises to boost local economies while continuing to uphold the environmental safeguards already in place. It amends a 1986 act that allowed only alpine and nordic skiing on the USFS lands.
Even though the climbing community can widely be referred to as a dirty group of mostly white people who seem to have more time than they know what to do with, we seem to have one thing down – passion. Climbers: Where passion crawls along the fine line of obsession and we find ourselves jobless, eating honey packets outside of our car-hotel.
Are we driven by progression, passion, or perpetual self-deprecation? Wait…Let’s back pedal here. Something I see far too little of in this world is passion, which to me is one of the true keys to happiness. A recent observation in a COCC class showed that over half of the students seemed offended by the simple question of “do you have a passion”. What is a seemingly preposterous assumption to my fellow classmates is the lifeblood that I thrive off of to remain happy. This alone suggesting there will only ever be a fair few that I can really understand. These are the people I can build off of and how with simple relationship building we become better people from simply being a part of each others’ lives.
Over the last couple of months I’ve clued BENT readers in on the amazingly creative sounds of the art group NewVillager, the rebirth of former Roma Di Luna singer Channy Casselle as Polica, and now I’ve got some great music from you from the land down under. Gotye’s third studio album, Making Mirrors came out this past August and features tracks saturated in a variety of influences.
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