Cover Story
The Money Issue 2020
THE MONEY ISSUE Tips, tricks and info about handling and making money in 2020. Wealth inequality Bend is in the top 12% of wealth inequality nationwide. We unpack why. By Laurel Brauns Starting the Savings Habit Little tweaks to add to your piggy bank. By Nicole Vulcan Gig Economy The pros & cons of “gigging”…
Yes, We Are Getting a Lot of Robocalls
Spam calls range from a mild annoyance to criminal scams. And these calls may be getting worse. Today, technology has made it possible for companies to call thousands of people at the same time. While cell phone users have become more spam-savvy—blocking numbers and ignoring calls with out-of-state area codes—robocall technicians have upped their game.…
Source Weekly Update Podcast 1/16/20
A new space for artists in Bend, profiling a men’s mental health advocate and the effort to get a Central Oregon-focused hemp documentary off the ground, all in this week’s podcast.
Fundraiser for Bias Crime Victim Takes Off
A fundraiser aimed at offering support for a Redmond woman allegedly attacked because of her ethnic background nearly met its goal in a single day. The 70-year-old owner of the Hub Motel in Redmond was beaten and strangled on New Year’s Eve, according to a press release from Redmond Police. Cops arrested James David Lamb of…
City Council Moves Forward with Transportation Bond
The Bend City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to move forward on a transportation bond measure. The Council will finalize the language for the ballot at its Feb. 5 meeting. The motion directs the City Attorney’s office to draft the language for the bond measure that would fund $180 million in capital transportation projects. Once the…
Event will help the newly created Oregon Conservation & Recreation Fund get off the ground
In 2019, the Oregon Legislature passed a historic bill aimed at proactively restoring and protecting the state’s natural living resources. HB 2829—signed by Gov. Kate Brown in July—established the Oregon Conservation & Recreation Fund, which sets up a funding process that doesn’t rely only on hunting and fishing fees collected in the state. But in…
Talons Show & Loathe Actually
Talons Show Women are so mean. I’m the new girl at work, having started my job two weeks ago. Yesterday, I had a date after work, so I wore my date outfit to the office. It wasn’t scandalous, but it was a little sexier than my usual workwear. I was in a bathroom stall, and…
Financial Summit
David Rosell is a writer, traveler, financial planner and retirement “architect” who runs a boutique wealth management firm in downtown Bend, serving 100 clients from all over the U.S. He started his first business at 15, began saving for retirement (in lieu of buying a new car) at the age of 19 and has lived…
Creative Side Hustles
Finding a passion can sometimes lead to finding a career—if you’re lucky. It seems like the American dream: follow your bliss and the rest will follow. Lauren Stewart, who works as a prep cook at Spork, has felt that exact magic since moving to Bend from Virginia three years ago with her husband. While she…
Bleak House
The first horror movie that comes out every year is always pretty bad. “The Bye Bye Man,” “Underworld: Blood Wars,” “The Forest” and “The Devil Inside” are just a few of the January dumping ground flicks we’ve been exposed to over the last few years—none of which were even really worthy of a theatrical release…
Food Trends in 2020
This past decade has graced us with kombucha, avocado toast, probiotics and a plethora of plant-based proteins—but these are the exciting food trends we can look forward to in the year ahead. Peanut butter is old news. In fact, even plain old almond butter will no longer cut it. Oh, hello there, watermelon seed butter.…
2020 Real Estate Market Forecast
A new month, new year and new decade is upon us. Resolutions have been made, goals have been set and the excitement for the adventures of 2020 abound. What lies ahead for the real estate market in 2020? While there is no proverbial “crystal ball” swirling with the answers of what’s to come, there are some…
Chill Axe
This year, I resolve to broaden my search for review-worthy beers. I’ll be striving to bring more regional beer reviews from outside of Bend. To start the new year and the beginning of winter, I took a trip to Three Creeks Brewing. I hadn’t been to the brewery in probably three or four years, and…
2020 for 4/2020
As we enter the new year, there’s no shortage of predictions for the cannabis industry. Having just wrapped up a tumultuous year which saw a bloodbath of job and financial losses in both the U.S. and Canada, a cavalcade of reports, articles and blog pieces predict what we can expect in 2020. Aside from the…
Starting theSavings Habit
You’ve likely heard some of the doom and gloom: 40% of Americans don’t have $400 cash on hand to pay for an emergency expense, says the Federal Reserve. In 2019, 69% of respondents in a GoBankingRates poll reported having less than $1,000 in a savings account, compared with 58% in 2018. Many average Americans are…
The Next Gig Thing
The ways in which people spend their money has changed drastically over the past decade. Mobile phones have become instantaneous portals to whatever services we need, whatever products we want, whatever food we crave. Uber, Lyft, UberEats, AirBnB, DoorDash… anything we desire is (literally) at our fingertips. Those who cater to those needs are members…
Free Will Astrology—Week of January 9
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Let’s get 2020 started with a proper send-off. According to my reading of the astrological omens, the coming months will bring you opportunities to achieve a host of liberations. Among the things from which you could be at least partially emancipated: stale old suffering; shrunken expectations; people who don’t appreciate you…
Will Play For Less
“Everything is free now, that’s what they say; everything I’ve ever done, gotta give it away. Someone hit the big score, they figured it out; that we’re gonna do it anyway, even if it doesn’t pay.” -Gillian Welch, “Everything is Free” from “Time (The Revelator)” Patrick Pearsall is a local bass player who, for the…
Letters to the Editor
Editor’s note: A few months ago, our team was doing a vision session about the special issues we wanted to tackle in 2020. It surprised me to hear the words, “We should do a money issue” tumbling out of my mouth. We’re a local paper and not a business or finance magazine, after all—so why…
Beyond Campfire Cooking
When I think of ‘camping’ and ‘cooking,’ I imagine an Igloo full of hot dogs, frozen burger patties, and, for special occasions, a carton of eggs and bagged hash browns. The pros at Tumalo Creek Kayak & Canoe have spent their fair share of cooking on riverbanks and remote forest locales, mastering the art of…
More Tacos, Please
If there’s one thing that Bend loves more than craft beer and working remotely, it’s tacos. With that being said, there’s yet another source for traditional and unique street tacos. Vida y Tacos, which translates to “life and tacos,” offers up traditional Mexican fare including cochinita, al pastor and tinga chicken tacos. But it’s the…
Those Good Ol’ OMSI Days
In the mid-1950s I was working with Bob Couch cutting lodgepole on the west side of Newberry. One morning I fired up the old corn-binder, checked the tie-downs and was out on the logging road in minutes. When I pulled onto the main paved road, I’d be on my way to Hwy. 97 and then…
Poverty With a View?
Since the Great Recession and Occupy Wall Street, economists and left-leaning politicians have been calling out “the 1%,” the small number of people in the U.S. that hold most of the wealth. French economist Thomas Piketty wrote that not since the Gilded Age of the 1920s—immediately preceding the Great Depression—have the American people experienced such…
Data is King, but Cash Works, Too
Editor Nicole Vulcan is penning this week’s editorial under her name, rather than being a work of our editorial board, due to her personal tie to the subject matter. This week, we’re putting out our first Money Issue aimed at giving people some food for thought about handling finances in the new decade. Imagine our…
Youth Sports, Upgraded
When it comes to sports, there’s a lot going on for Bend youth. Peruse the Bend Park & Recreation District’s Playbook and you’ll see a diversity of programs—but beyond BPRD’s numerous parks, sport fields and facilities, other organizations such as Bend Endurance Academy, Bend Hoops and Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation are also building toward…
Shining Through the Static
One of the most exciting acts rising out of Portland right now is Weezy Ford—the dreamy rock project of Louisa Ford, who happens to be the younger sister of fellow Portland-based musician Sallie Ford. Rounding out Weezy Ford’s musical endeavors as collaborators are Mark Robertson on bass and Dustin Dybvig on drums, who serve as…
