No Minor Infraction: Bend Businesses Fail Liquor Sales Test
More than half of the Bend business that were checked failed a recent minor alcohol sales sting operation conducted by Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC.) Only six out of 14 business that OLCC visited successfully ID’d a minor at the time of purchase, according to the agency, which conducted the compliance check on Feb 24.
Destiny Brings Tenacious D to Bend This Summer
The booking of Tenacious D at Les Schwab Amphitheater really rounds out the Memorial day weekend. Now we’ve got The Shins on Friday, May 25; Tenacious D on Saturday, May 26 and Beck on Sunday, May 27.
999 People of Central Oregon
What does a travel photographer do when he is not on the road? Well.
City to Address 3rd St. Flooding
City of Bend staff have scheduled a public meeting next week to discuss the potential impact of a planned closure of the 3rd Street underpass on residents and area businesses. The city has looked at three potential alternatives to address persistent flooding at the 3rd Street underpass near Wilson.
Wicks Wins Windy Mountain Bike Season Opener
Living up to his nickname, “Wicknasty,” Barry Wicks wins again. Barry Wicks, longtime pro mountain biker, cyclocross racer (who won SSCX worlds in 2009, see above) and all around nice guy has been a Bend resident for barely a month and he’s already posted a “W” for Central Oregon.
Nothing’s Happening
There’s something I really appreciate about people who are stoked to climb in less than optimal conditions. In theory, my favorite climbing partners are the ones throwing in a backwards fist pump or two while quickdraws slam to the beat of a violent metal soundtrack below.
Tart is closing! Hola! is opening! Things are happening!
Holy S are things happening with restaurants downtown! Sit down, ‘cause you’re going to need to focus for all this. First, Tart will close its doors this weekend on the corner of Bond Street and Minnesota Avenue.
Barrio opens for business
Barrio Restaurant and Tapas Bar opened for lunch today to a crowd of folks happy to try new things or get their fix of old faves from the restaurant’s precursors, food carts El Sancho and Soupcon, which used to sit on the corner next to Blacksmith Restaurant. The owners of the carts, Steven Draheim and…
Free Cappuccinos at Lone Pine, Right Now!
Seriously. To celebrate their three-year anniversary, the kind folks at Lone Pine Coffee Roasters are serving up free cappuccinos all day.
Support ESO’s Lindsey Elias: Vote in the 2012 Hit Like a Girl contest
If you love Empty Space Orchestra and killer female musicians help support their drummer, Bend’s own Lindsey Elias, in the national Hit like a Girl contest. The competition showcases rockin’ chick drummers and their talents.
Feel That? Your precinct may have shifted…
Thousands of Deschutes County voters will soon learn that they will be casting a vote in a different precinct in local elections and may have a different representative in Salem thanks to last year’s redistricting legislation. More 39,000 residents either switched precincts or moved House and Senate districts.
Good Bridge, Bad Bridge
A front-page January article in the Bend Bulletin discussed two proposals for a footbridge to be constructed below the First Street Rapids as an important connection in Bend's Deschutes River Trail system. Planning proponents have provided two options called Alternative A and Alternative B.
Equal Access at the Schools?
I was very surprised to learn that right wing religious groups are legally proselytizing to children in trailers located next to the public schools. Of course they want to spread their religious bile while the children are young enough to not have fully developed critical thinking ability.
The GOP's Bogus Foreclosure Negotiations
It's not often that we see Rep. Gene Whisnant (R-Sunriver) poke up his head in Salem other than to stump for the most provincial and honorary pieces of legislation. This is not a legislator who's ever been accused of having too much vision. But like a rock chuck sensing spring, Whisnant popped up a few…
Touching the Void: Sensory deprivation tank entrepreneurs find there's plenty of interest in nothing
After the door closes, it's not the darkness, but the quiet that strikes me – that and the fact that I'm totally naked, floating on a bed of Epsom salt in a contraption that looks like what would emerge if my bathtub impregnated my washing machine. I'd rather be in a slope-side hot tub -…
Swashbuckling Good Times: Gypsy pirate polka band, Diego's Umbrella, is back with more pop and polish
In the fall of 2010, Diego's Umbrella played a show in Bend and then promptly wrecked the group's old van while heading south out of town on a “semi-infested” Highway 97. They love playing in Bend so much, they're back for more – this time at Player's and in a “nice big Ford from 2003,”…
Slicker For Prez: Oh, wait, he already is president of the National Barbeque Association
I have to admit, I've never been to Texas or Memphis. And meat hasn't made it onto the list of things I've smoked. As far as barbecuing goes, I am still only a back-seat griller– gently coaching medium rare from a lawn chair, without any secret recipes of my own. But after a couple of…
Dogfish Head: World Wide Stout
When this beer burst on the microbrewing scene in 1999, it was the strongest beer around. Though other beers have since topped World Wide Stout's current 18 percent alcohol marker – including Dogfish Head's 120 minute IPA, which clocked in at 21 percent several years ago – this 70 IBU stout is still one of…
Sum of the Hole: Gone's disparate parts don't add up to a coherent film
It's difficult to be too hard on Gone because everyone seems to be trying really hard. The problem is that every aspect of the film is at war with itself. The PG-13 rating neuters it and keeps it from being as twisted as it should have been; the script loses so much focus in the…
High Flows and Ice Woes; Kayakers enjoy surging waters in town, Ice Crit race leader experiences heartbreak
George Cocores is an adapter. While plenty of us sat around bitching about the lack of snow and inoperable lifts at Mt. Bachelor, Cocores was getting his. The experienced 49-year-old kayaker has been taking advantage of unusually high flows on the Deschutes River as it runs through town. He's already matched his goal of 50…
Cool Whychus River Re-route Video
Cool time lapse videos provided by Deschutes Land Trust showing how crews used 10,000 cubic cards of dirt, rock and debris to restore Whychus Creek (formerly Squaw Creek) to its original flood plain channel through Camp Polk meadow. The event which occurred on Tuesday is the culmination of 15 years of collaborative restoration work that…
From the Cage to the Sage: Captive bobcats didn't always have it so easy
The High Desert Museum’s painful loss of their premier live exhibit, Ochoco the bobcat, triggered memories that go back to the ’50s when I first became involved with rehabilitating wildlife. The year was 1955 or 56, when I met a de-clawed bobcat of the same disposition as Ochoco being kept in horrifying conditions at a…
