Cover Stories
2018 Best Of Central Oregon
Here it is, Central Oregon: The issue many of you wait all year to swoop up off newsstands region-wide. Inside you’ll see the many businesses and individuals who are soaring above the rest and taking home top honors in our 2018 Best of Central Oregon readers’ poll. Thousands of people voted either online or with…
The grief that does not speak
Imagine you’re 70 years old. Or 80. Maybe your spouse has just passed away from chronic illness, leaving you with mountains of medical debt on a remote property in the outskirts of Crook County. Many of your friends have passed away, and without any of your children nearby to help with daily chores or grocery…
Franklin Tunnel Revival?
Riding your bike through trash, puddles of human waste and avoiding the occasional napper can make the route to downtown through the Franklin Avenue underpass a little less than pleasant. But if groups including the Bend Central District, Central Oregon LandWatch and local businesses have their way, the tunnel could end up a gem for…
Fire Update
According to the National Interagency Fire Center’s Predictive Services map, the month of August could be scary in regard to wildfires. The map shows the entire state of Oregon as above normal for significant wildland fire potential—in fact, the map shows most of the Pacific Northwest as above normal, including most of Montana. There are…
Time Running out to Submit Signatures for County Gun Measure
Supporters of a Deschutes County initiative petition to forbid enforcement of gun regulations have until Aug. 8 to submit 4,144 verified signatures if they want their measure to appear on the November ballot. Jerrad Robison, the chief petitioner behind the Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance said that he has not tallied how many signatures he and…
Buehler Calls on Leaders to Step Down
On Aug. 1, gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler (R-Bend) called upon Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem) and House Speaker Tina Kotek, (D-Portland) to step down in the wake of an official complaint the two Democrats mishandled sexual harassment complaints at the Capitol. “Accountability and change begins with the people in charge who failed to prevent, failed…
Cop deemed legally justified in shooting
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel issued his decision on Aug. 1 regarding the June 26, 2018 shooting of Timothy Bret Bontrager by Bend Police Department officer Timothy Williams. Hummel determined that Williams’ decision to shoot Bontrager was legally justified, so he did not initiate criminal charges against the officer. You can read Hummel’s full…
Don’t Text and Drive
On July 26 the City of Bend Police sent out officers to conduct an enhanced distracted driving detail, aimed at educating the driving public on cell phone usage. The goal: to reduce the number of incidents caused by distracted driving and the use of cell phones. I rode shotgun with Sgt. Eric Hagen of Bend…
Seize The Meh and Give Pizza A Chance
I’m a 31-year-old guy who got really hurt after a relationship ended a few years back. Now I just don’t date women whom I’ll ever really care about because I don’t ever want to feel how I felt when my previous relationship ended. My friends say I’m being a coward and missing out, but, hey,…
Chefs Leave Mega Yachts to Open Downtown Cafe
What happens when two chefs travel the world on mega yachts then decide to plant roots in Bend? They open a restaurant and express their international travel through food. Jaclyn Perez and Betsy McDonald started the Lemon Tree, a breakfast and lunch cafe located downtown on Franklin Avenue in the previous Bend Burger Company location.…
I’ve Got the Blues
Have you heard about the new music festival in Sisters? No, we’re not talking about the always amazing Sisters Folk Festival, which takes place in September, but rather the new Sisters Rhythm & Brews Festival. The new festival, organized by Joe and Jenn Rambo, puts rhythm and blues at the forefront of the musical soundscape…
Hot Sun, Cold Beer
It’s that time of year once again. Temps stick around in the nineties for what seems like forever, the sun beats down like a jackhammer, and the city of Bend temporarily forgets that it’s actually pretty chilly here most of the time. It’ll all be forgotten about come late September, no doubt, by which time…
Pole Creek
Bend has an iconic landscape, which includes the volcanic monuments known as the Three Sisters. North, Middle and South Sister—also referred to as Faith, Hope and Charity—fill our western horizon and are seemingly within arms reach. Access points to the Three Sisters are sparse, however, as they lie in the designated Three Sisters Wilderness area.…
Small Victories
Sneaking unrelated legislation into a seemingly simple bill is nothing new. Legislators use this time-honored tradition to sweeten deals, and pass legislation that wouldn’t pass on its own Sometimes this tactic is used for the nefarious reason of getting something that is unpalatable or difficult passed undercover. In the case of one of the latest…
Free Will Astrology—Week of August 2
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Sometimes, I feel the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there’s no room for the present at all.” A character named Julia says that in Evelyn Waugh’s novel *Brideshead Revisited*. I bring it to your attention as an inspiring irritant, as a prod to get you…
Impossibly Entertaining
I really want to know when Tom Cruise became the white Jackie Chan. He’s always tried to do as many of his own stunts as he could—training to be a race car driver for “Days of Thunder” or how to expertly handle a motorcycle in “Mission Impossible 2.” Even knowing that he didn’t die shooting these…
Letters to the Editor
Nothing Idle about idling Idling in traffic is one thing. Idling without actually going anywhere is another. More and more in Bend, I see people sitting in their running cars, doodling around on their phones (or in one case, filing her nails). In winter it’s for the heater, and now as it gets increasingly hotter,…
MoviePass Struggles to Live
We all knew MoviePass was too good to be true, right? As someone who goes to see at least two theatrical movies a week, paying $10 a month to see one movie a day is my dream come true. I was a subscriber to MoviePass back in 2016 when it was $30 a month and…
Should We Legalize All Drugs? Discuss
Having just celebrated the third anniversary of cannabis legalization in Oregon, it’s safe to say it has been a success. While its had a negative impact on the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP), and 28,975 licensed growers have depressed prices—and the lack of social consumption spaces and events is mind boggling—the numerous benefits still outweigh…
The Source Suggests
Pick Your Line The Snake. The Salmon. The Rogue. The Colorado. The Tuolumne. For any whitewater enthusiast, these names are like catnip. For that different breed of folk who make their living running these rivers, they’re the Holy Grail of Western whitewater. Local guide Dick Linford and his former guide partner at ECHO, Bob Volpert,…
Bend May Be A Retirement Destination
As the baby boomer generation ages, Oregon’s retirement age population is growing faster than the U.S. average. According to a recent report, the senior population for Deschutes County has increased by 53 percent since 2010 while the overall population growth has been 18.5 percent for the same period. Most of the state growth is not…
Dessert Bar Opens at Foxtail
Move over breakfast and lunch, Foxtail Bakeshop & Kitchen is open Friday and Saturday evenings for its dessert bar. The nighttime menu will include an interpretation of an ice cream sundae, cake and pie by the slice, two to three unique plated desserts and a few savory dishes. The bar includes coffee drinks, a selection…
“Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow” Book Signing and Run
Central Oregon athletes, we’ve found the book for you, “Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow: Quick-Fix Recipes for Hangry Athletes.” The cookbook will hit the shelves Aug. 14, but you can get your copy and join a one to three mile fun run and book signing with FootZone Bend. It’s an opportunity to run with…
Day Trips Without Cars
There are so many sights to see near Bend, you don’t even have to drive. This week ditch the car and grab your bike, take a shuttle or use your two feet and the Cascades East Transit to take an adventure. Oh, shift! Why drive? There are plenty of places to escape on two wheels…
Universal Language
Oakland-based world music masters Beats Antique have built a career on blending sounds from cultures spanning the globe. The band once played a show in front of the Great Pyramids, and no, we’re not talking about the Luxor in Las Vegas. They’ve traveled the globe in search of new and interesting sounds, speaking the universal…
Memories and Excitement
Certain bands epitomize a specific genre—defining a sound for their generation and laying the ground work for those who come next. The Pixies sit on that throne at the groundbreaking beginning of alternative rock—paving the way for grunge and the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam. If you have a special place in your heart…
Of Kings and Queens
I moved to Bend in the summer of 2003, the very same month an attack on a gay man outside The Grove on Bond Street shook this community, and myself, in the process. I had grown up in a very liberal part of the world—in high school, the next town over from mine was even named…
Enjoy Protect Respect
Standing amid 150 volunteers below the Riverbend Park shelter, Kolleen Miller details the evolution of the 22nd annual Deschutes River Clean-Up, hosted by the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council. As the Education Director for the UDWC, Miller has led this seasonal effort for 16 years. “Originally, the purpose of the cleanup was to address post logging…
Artwatch: Brandon Walsh
At first glance at the cover art this week, you may notice right off that the portraits of legendary country musician Willie Nelson doesn’t have the typical images you might regularly see: weed, guitars, American flag bandanas. Instead, this portrait—created by Bend artist Brandon Walsh—tells a little different story, one more personal and inspired by…
