Bend’s New High School Location Announced
Following the passage of a $268.3 million bond measure this May, the Bend-La Pine School District is on track to build a new high school and a new elementary school in Bend—helping to address the continued growth and overcrowding at local schools. According to a Nov. 15 press release, the Bend-La Pine Schools Director of…
Bend Weather Emergency Declaration Allows for More Temporary Shelter Space
Bend City Manager Eric King signed a weather emergency declaration Oct. 30, effective Nov. 3. The declaration paves the way for “approved alternative shelter facilities” to offer places for people to sleep when the weather is expected to be below 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and when other shelter facilities in Bend are at capacity. According to…
Investing in infill is a better effort than more SDCs
L ast week at the Bend City Council meeting, Councilor Bill Moseley floated the idea of an additional targeted system development charge, aimed at developers building in the areas inside the new Urban Growth Boundary expansion that will need new infrastructure, including roads. The city is in need of funds to develop many of the…
A Book Ripe for The Trash Bin: A Review of Weed, Inc.
I receive books to review on the regular—mostly of the “cultivation/cooking with” variety. Rarely do I receive any that can charitably be deemed “prohibitionist” literature for review consideration, as its producers must surely recognize the chance of success of converting me is on par with bringing Westboro Baptist signup sheets to a gay pride parade.…
Into the Light
Y ou’ve likely seen or at least heard of Scott McDougall, as the Portland artist frequently visits Bend. This fall, you can catch him touring in support of his latest album, “Reaching for Some Light.” Most of the time, when you read a story in a paper such as this, you get the story, but…
NeighborImpact: Helping People Achieve Homeownership
O f all the nonprofits in town, the work of NeighborImpact has impressed me the most in how they impact so many local residents with regard to housing and shelter. I have encountered several first-time homebuyers who received education and assistance from NeighborImpact’s programs, enabling them to experience homeownership. These buyers are my favorite to…
Nonprofit Champion: Milagros Aparicio
A desk full of administrative paperwork. A line forming in the foyer, 10 minutes before opening. That describes a typical Tuesday for Milagros Aparicio, who gets her three children off to school and then prepares to see clients on behalf of the Latino Community Association at its Bend office. Aparicio believes, “By working at the…
Give Guide 2017
Some say there’s a “season of giving.” Some say the needs of our community are so great that no one season can encompass them all. Wherever you land on that argument, the pages to come will give you many great ideas about where to put your dollars—and your time, in the spirit of giving to…
Advice: Romancing The Grindstone
Romancing The Grindstone I’m a 32-year-old woman with a really intense job that I love. I work long hours and I often work weekends, too — by choice. I don’t want kids, but I’d love to have a relationship. I just worry that guys will want more of me timewise and energywise than I can…
Free Will Astrology: Week of Nov 8
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Remember the time, all those years ago, when the angels appeared to you on the playground and showed you how and why to kiss the sky? I predict that a comparable visitation will arrive soon. And do you recall the dreamy sequence in adolescence when you first plumbed the sublime mysteries…
Order ‘Em Early, Pass ‘Em Off as Your Own?
I s pie popular at your holiday table? In lots of American households it’s part of a long tradition. Pie was brought to the U.S. by English settlers, familiar with meat pies, including the mashed potato-topped Shepherd’s pie. Early settlers were presented with new seasonal ingredients, such as berries and fruits, so sweet pies became…
Nonprofit Champion: Jill Mahler
E veryone from experienced broadcasters to rookie podcasters will tell you: Radio’s a lot more complex than it might appear. There’s endless hard work going on behind the scenes. The fact that you don’t notice all the moving pieces while listening to KPOV, Bend’s community radio station, is a testament to Jill Mahler’s expertise. “My…
Picks of the Week: Nov 8-15
See all these events listed below for more info. Thursday 11/09 Civil War Rally and Auction AUCTION Ducks? Beavers? Show your colors and rally for your team while raising money for the Boys & Girls Club of Bend youth programs. Enjoy a gourmet tailgating menu and bid on over 150 auction items from a referee…
Nonprofit Champion: Krayna Castlebaum
F ourteen years ago this December, Krayna Castlebaum began a poetic journey in Bend. Gathering at The Women’s Resource Center, Castlebaum curated an evening of hand-selected seasonal poems shared out loud. “It was exhilarating,” Castlebaum remembers fondly. It was an evening that has launched many more that Castlebaum has appropriately named “Poetic Journeys.” Castlebaum, a…
Letter of the Week
In Response to, “Tower Tussle: A cell tower planned for Trinity Episcopal Church ignites debate on the risks of radiation near a school.” (06/07) Verizon Wireless withdrew their application for this project on October 31, 2017. They installed some new antennas a few blocks to the north, on the roof at City Hall instead. —…
Source Spotlight: Helping Vulnerable Vets
T he words on the marquee outside Central Oregon Veterans Outreach pretty much say it all: NEED CANNED FOOD TENTS TARPS PROPANE COLD WEATHER GEAR. COVO is ramping up for its busiest time of year—the winter months—when veterans and others are most in need. At COVO, no one is turned away, and as Executive Officer…
Little Bites: It’s Official: Humm Kombucha to Build East Coast Facility
Humm Kombucha is expanding and bringing a 100,000-square-foot facility and approximately 50 jobs to the City of Roanoke, Va. Co-founders Michelle Mitchell and Jamie Danek said they chose Roanoke because it “is filled with genuinely good people. The residents love Roanoke, have so much pride in where they live and many simply wouldn’t live anywhere…
Kim Brannock
Kim Brannock was running along the Deschutes River Trail on an October afternoon in 2013 when she saw them: fish. Hundreds of dead and dying fish, in a side channel of the Deschutes. She couldn’t stand by and do nothing, so she organized a bucket brigade to move the remaining fish to the main channel.…
Little Bites: Meet the Author and Get Your High-Proof PDX Book Signed
K aren Locke, the author of “High-Proof PDX: A Spirited Guide to Portland’s Craft Distilling Scene” (the book includes Central Oregon distilleries), is coming to Bend for a book signing. Entry to the event is $10 and includes small plate appetizers and tastings from local distillers Cascade Alchemy, Crater Lake Spirits, Wild Roots and Oregon…
Nonprofit Champion: Kathy Deggendorfer
K athy Deggendorfer is a resident of Sisters, where she and her husband, Frank, and daughter, Erin settled in 1994, so, as Kathy puts it, “Erin could play basketball at Sisters High School and keep her horse at home.” That was the beginning, but very shortly, the reason the Deggendorfers remained in Sisters went beyond…
Joining the Club
I t’s Saturday afternoon and the largest craft-beer bottle share event in Bend is underway off Century Drive. The attendees number in the three-figures, and it seems like they’ve all brought their big guns—heavy stouts, delicate sours and selections from beer-nerd favorites such as Tired Hands, Monkish and Scratch. It’s enough good fermentation to make…
Nonprofit Champion: Jesse Roberts
W ith its mission statement about “building community through music and art,” Rise Up International has been a part of the Central Oregon nonprofit scene since 2005. Rise Up and its volunteers have crossed into documentary filmmaking, providing ukuleles for local youth in schools and an Art Ambassador program with projects in 20 countries. Jesse…
Goldilocks: A “Just Right” Solution
O n Nov. 10, a new one-year, pilot program aimed to reduce drug conviction and theft rates rolls out in Deschutes County, spearheaded by the District Attorney’s office. Goldilocks—named so for finding the “just right” approach to solving drug crime— is a three-tier program intended to soften penalties for drug offenders meeting certain criteria, reduce…
Nonprofit Champion: Ann Richardson
A fter this summer’s smoke and fires, you may have been wondering how the cancellation of this year’s Sister Folk Festival affects the organization’s wider community efforts. For Managing Director Ann Richardson, the outlook still looks bright for the festival—as well as the community outreach programs that help the children of Sisters and Central Oregon.…
Ragnarock You Like a Hurricane
A t this point, Marvel Studios can do no wrong. Even if they were barely selling any comic books, the filmmaking side of the corporate mega-giant would keep them chugging away for decades to come. It bears repeating that a huge reason why these movies continue to be successful, not only critically, but commercially, is…
OSU-Cascades Moves Forward with Expansion, Seeks Public Input
O n Oct. 23, the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners voted to sell the demolition landfill on Bend’s Century Drive to Oregon State University-Cascades, for a cost of $1. The OSU Board of Trustees approved the purchase Oct. 20. The purchase allows OSU-Cascades to officially incorporate the 72-acre landfill, closed since 1993, into its Long…
