Local News

The glamorous world of cooking oil recycling. "Sorry about the mess," Libby Rodgers says as she hoists herself into her big dark blue Ford pick-up. "I basically work out of my truck." Rodgers nods toward the back seat, which is piled high with paperwork, folders and business equipment, "Back there's my office." The truck rumbles into life as Rodgers turns the key in the ignition and we pull out of the airplane hangar-sized building that houses Rodger's fledgling business - Lookout Mountain Biofuels. Rodgers is on her way to collect waste vegetable oil from local Prineville restaurants that she will refine into biodiesel to run everything from the truck she's driving to area farming equipment.
 
Rodgers, a Crook County native, began the process of building her own
refinery about one and-a-half years ago. She began refining waste
vegetable oil for her own personal use about three years ago. Rodgers
will soon begin refining the waste oil she collects for commercial sale
to area ranchers and farmers along with a few individuals who will use
it to power their vehicles. Rodgers is young, petite and blonde and
works full-time as an outdoor guide.
 She also coaches the local high school's girls' soccer team. During her
lunch hours and before and after work hours, Libby collects barrels of
waste oil which can weigh anywhere from 250 to 500 pounds, and brings
them back to her facility to later begin the refining process.
 "I really have always had an interest in renewable energy, fuel
sustainability and being subsistent," says Rodgers. "I also want to
give back to my community because it's the community I grew up in and
they gave a lot to me," she adds later.
 

You've just arrived at work, interested in coffee more than conversation, and a coworker enters, setting her purse down – BOOM! A gun explodes, bullet flies, nearly hitting you - Where are you? The sheriff's office, where everyone is armed? A rural factory where busting-off a few rounds after work isn't uncommon? No, you're a nurse at St. Charles Medical Center and this actually happened a little over one month ago. No one was injured and the incident went unpublicized, but the nurse with the concealed handgun is no longer employed at the hospital. Everyone knows why.
She brought a ballistic umbrella in case of rain.

A solitary moment.As a rule, backcountry skiers don't tend to make a lot of noise. Aside
from the occasional powder whoop, they tend to tread pretty lightly.
The
same principle holds true away from the slopes where backcountry
enthusiasts tend to keep a low political profile. But a new proposal
from a group of backcountry skiers is causing a stir in the outdoor
recreation community and could shake up the way the Forest Service
manages one of the most popular winter recreation zones near Bend.
What
some backcountry users want - there is no formal backcountry skiers
group in Central Oregon - is for the Forest Service to re-draw
snowmobile boundaries around Tumalo Mountain, moving the sleds entirely
off the butte.
Backcountry skiers are accustomed to working for
their turns, but this is a different kind of uphill battle that pits
backcountry skiers against well organized motorized users and their
supporters, which include, somewhat surprisingly, a number of cross
country skiers who benefit from the snowmobilers grooming efforts.
Skiers are also up against a historical "anything-goes" attitude about
winter recreation from the Forest Service, which much prefers "shared"
recreation opportunities for all user groups than to shut out one group
entirely, as would be the case on Tumalo.