Local News

In a corner of Brian Jones' bedroom there's a wooden trunk overflowing with LPs, many of which were recorded decades before the 22-year-old was even born. Iconic album covers, each 12 inches by 12 inches, cover one wall of the room. Jones is thumbing through his collection of more than 300 records (ranging from a comprehensive Beatles section to a wealth of semi-rare blues albums) in his Seattle apartment and is trying to tell me why these pieces of vinyl are so important to him.

"The presentation of the album is what got me excited. The visual
aspect of it - opening up the insert, holding it in your hand," Jones
says. "I think the process of actually shuffling through and pulling it
out and looking at the record, not just scrolling on a computer, is
what attracts me to vinyl."

Last week, Redmond Mayor Alan Unger announced that he will be running
for a spot on the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners. Unger, a
Democrat who has served as Redmond's mayor since 2001, will be seeking
the seat currently held by Republican Mike Daly.

Unger, a lifelong
resident of Oregon, was actually born in the city of which he is now
mayor. Before taking the city's top office, he served on the Redmond
Area Planning Commission and was then elected to the Redmond City
Council.

Still Burnin’?

Just two months ago, it looked like the Bend City Council was moving
full speed ahead to ban all open burning within city limits in an
effort to clean up the city's air, but now it appears that a complete
ban on burning yard waste and other debris isn't in the cards.
At
last week's meeting, the council discussed an ordinance that would ban
open burning, except during two days in November - a divergence from
earlier indications that the city might ban all forms of burning. By
the end of the discussion, however, the council decided by way of a
four-to-three vote to amend the proposed ordinance to allow burning
during the two-day November period, but only on parcels of land two
acres or larger with a Fire Department-issued permit. The council has
not approved the ordinance, but will revisit the item at future
meetings.

The venerable Inn of the Seventh Mountain on the road to Mt. Bachelor has been through a lot in its 35-year life, and it shows. The dark wood siding on its condos is weathered and deteriorating. Roofs leak. Uninsulated water pipes freeze.