Legal weed coming to a dispensary near you October 1
It’s official. Legal weed limbo will end on October 1, when the medical marijuana dispensaries will be permitted to sell some cannabis products. Gov. Kate Brown quietly signed the bill into law on Monday, according to the Oregon Legislative record. Her office has not yet released a statement about the signing. Currently, it is legal…
What’s Making the Bend Elks So Hot?
As the season moves into its final stretch, with only two weeks remaining before the playoffs, the Bend Elks have already clinched the division title, with nine fewer losses than the second place team, division rivals Corvallis Knights. In fact, the team is so strong this year that they have nearly as many wins as…
Go Here 7/22-7/29
This week, the Cascade Cycling Classic—the longest consecutively-held stage race in America—is hosted on five different days here in Central Oregon. A winner of multiple state championships in California and Nevada, seven Master’s National Championships, and two Master’s World Championships, Julie Cutts knows the course well—and two years ago moved to what she calls “the…
It’s Not a Schumer!
Here’s a fun drinking game to play while watching, oh, ANY romantic comedy: Take a sip whenever you see (1) a girl reporter in the big city, who, despite working in print media, you never see actually working (or, okay, crying because her freelance check is late), (2) shots of the New York City skyline…
Crime Story
If nothing else, The Connection looks gorgeous—set in Marseille in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and shot on 35mm, it’s a movie that revels in its time and place, with Laurent Tangy’s sun-dappled cinematography rolling in dusky yellows, browns, and blues. And when those visuals are paired up with a few select songs from…
A Love Note to Thomas Lauderdale
Thomas Lauderdale is busy. He texts me from the road. Then he texts from Columbus, Ohio. “Just finishing a month-long tour,” he lets me know. I call him back, but his voicemail is full. I text and let him know that I’ll call him the next day, just after lunch so that we can talk…
As In Vegan Heaven . . .
Sierrah Umhauer is all smiles when she steps out of her food cart. Wood paneled and with a small stained glass window embedded in the door, the small cart looks like something from the Enchanted Forest. Youthful, Umhauer begins talking immediately, introducing her dog that stands a few feet away, out of the sun in…
Setting Trends and Influencing People
“We curate music by soliciting a large group of friends, experts, and bloggers who create their favorite lists of bands,” explains Zale Schoenborn, founder and executive producer for Pickathon, the three-day event that, over the past decade, has emerged as the alpha-summer concert in Oregon—in part because of the music selection, and in another part…
Logsdon Brings the Funk
It’s hard to tell the story of beer in Oregon without mentioning Dave Logsdon multiple times. He’s authentically oldschool, co-founding Full Sail Brewing Co. back in 1987, and serving as its first full-time brewer. Before that, he founded Wyeast Laboratories, eminent makers of yeast cultures for the industry, and a name every homebrewer in North…
Smoke Signals 7/22-7/29
Starting October 1, dispensaries may be able to sell some recreational marijuana products to people without Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) cards (a bill to allow just that passed the House|Senate|is awaiting the Governor’s signature). But some dispensary staffers are encouraging recreational users to get medical cards anyway, arguing that with a 20 percent sales…
Art Watch 7/22-7/29
The oil painting “Rising Above the High Desert” is a grand testimony to the contrasts in the Central Oregon landscape; a wide painting that stretches a panoramic view, the horizon is a field toasted golden, yet spiked with green trees here and there. The heat almost glows from the painting. But then there is the…
Source Suggests 7/22-7/29
Filthy Still Filthy Still brings their folk-punk-bluegrass to Bend for a sweat-inducing evening of head banging, jig dancing, and hard rocking. For fans of Hank 3, Larry and His Flask, and the always attractive stand up bass, Filthy Still has a sound that inspires good-spirited whiskey drinking and sweaty bouncing. Prepare for a good night…
Really Good Luck
April Richardson is damned funny. She has been bitingly funny on Chelsea Lately, matched wits with the best on @Midnight, and has the delightful podcast, Go Bayside, which focuses on her watching an episode of “Saved By The Bell” every week with comedians like Scott Aukerman, Paul F. Tompkins, the dearly departed Harris Wittels, Moshe…
Water, Water, Everywhere!
Last Saturday, Reese Collins, a 19-year old student from COCC, reached the end of his first pass at the annual wakeboarding competition on Lake Billy Chinook. The conditions were ideal—barely any wind stirring up waves; “glass,” in waterskier and wakeboarder-speak. Collins had already landed a “tantrum”—essentially a back roll—and the boat swung back for his…
The Newest Water Sport: Flyboarding!
As October 21, 2015 approaches—the exact date Marty McFly programmed into Doc Brown’s time traveling DeLorean in Back To the Future II—there has been a certain buzz about what has and hasn’t come to fruition in the perceived future, and a certain amount of bellyaching that the hoverboard promised in that movie has yet to…
Session’s Out for Summer
Freshman Rep. Knute Buehler (R-Bend) just wrapped up an ambitious first session in the Oregon House. He sponsored a bevy of bills, resulting in some bold, bipartisan legislation. We sat down with Buehler to talk about the issues he championed and the challenges he faced. These are some of the highlights from that interview. On…
Chance Meeting Builds a Bridge To Kenya
Arriving in Oregon from Kenya—his first time in America—just three days before our interview in early July, Jackson Mwanzia looks like any other tourist in Bend. He is sitting at Jackson’s Corner, drinking tea, wearing a light baseball hat; rectangular eyeglasses rest on his broad nose. “I am from Kenya,” he announces, standing up to…
Side Notes 7/22-7/29
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet Monday, July 27, to adopt sage-grouse management rules that would cement what are now mere recommendations. The proposal would require developments such as aggregate mining, wind, solar, and geothermal energy plants to engage in mitigation efforts. New rules are also being proposed by the Oregon Land Conservation…
Letters 7/14-7/21
LIGHTS OUT, SAVE BIRDS Every spring and fall an extraordinary migration passes through our city, mostly unseen. Millions of birds fly overhead navigating, with great precision, using the starlight, landmarks, and the earth’s magnetic field. Many are songbirds such as warblers, thrushes, tanangers, and sparrows. Their journey is long and hard, but they continue on,…
The Fight for Troy Field Shouldn’t Be Over
The Death and Life of Great American Cities should be required reading for every city councilor and city planner in the Community Development Department. Written in 1961 by Jane Jacobs, it is a touchstone for planners who believe in preserving public space. An architecture writer, Jacob had no formal training—and did not hold a college…
