Source Weekly Update 9/9/21
Will a managed houseless camp work at the proposed new site between two schools in Bend? And with COVID cases at their highest level ever, officials think they’re seeing them peak. All that in this week’s podcast. Source Weekly – Bend, Oregon · Source Weekly Update podcast 9/9/21
Record High COVID Cases In Oregon
Oregon COVID cases and hospitalizations are exceeding pandemic highs. Only 57 of Oregon’s 883 ICU beds are available when this story went to print. “The delta variant continues to ravage communities across Oregon, our hospitals are scrambling to avoid being overtopped by record numbers of COVID-19 patients,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon State Health Officer, in a video for…
Source Weekly Update 9/1/21
In this week’s podcast, a look at the policies the schools in Redmond and Bend will adhere to in the era of COVID-19. Source Weekly – Bend, Oregon · Source Weekly Update 9/1/21
The Beer Issue 2021
We heart beer all year long. Once a year, we devote an issue to it, too. Check out some of the latest in Brewvana below. If You’re New Here: Bend Breweries – Despite the Bend Ale Trail, some breweries are still below the radar Brew and Other Boozy News – Some of the latest happenings in Brewvana…
Sampling Bend’s Best Beers
In the Source Weekly’s Best Of 2021 edition, Central Oregonians ranked their favorite beers in five categories: Dark, hazy, light, IPA and seasonal. Being relatively new to the area, I decided to try all the winners and runners up I could find to get a better understanding of the local beer scene. Being relatively new…
Little Woody Open to Masked, Vaxed and Negative Gnomes
Ever since 2009, The Little Woody has celebrated Central Oregon breweries and, more specifically, the beers aged in wooden casks that they produce. Every year except for last year, of course. But, for those who’ve been vaccinated or can show proof of a negative Coronavirus test result from the previous 48 hours—and aware that masks…
Skunky Beer for Boarders
Raw. Hop-forward. And built for pow-days. That’s what compilation wintertime masterpiece Skunk Ape India Red Ale is all about. Locally crafted by hometown hero Boneyard Beer and the Pacific Northwest’s pinnacle of snowboard companies, Lib Tech, out of Washington, the frothy thriller was born in Bend in 2011. To celebrate Skunk Ape’s 10th anniversary, this is…
Letters to the Editor 9/2/21
Editor’s note: Long, long ago, before my time as editor of this fine publication, some smart minds saw the writing on the wall and knew that Bend was fast becoming a micro-brew darling. Boom, our beer column was born. Where we once called the column “Micro,” the proliferation of the term “craft” to signify everything…
Inside Bend's New High School
Bend-La Pine Schools’ Caldera High School on Bend’s south side is the first new high school to open in the district in two decades. Ninth and 10th graders will occupy the school in the first year, with one grade level added in the two subsequent years. The school includes 60 new classrooms and a 600-seat…
The Grand Ol’ Provocateurs
“It’s nice to see someone at these things that doesn’t have gray hair,” a man tells me as I wait in line to enter the Deschutes Republicans’ Aug. 25 fundraiser, headlined by Raheem Kassam and Natalie Winters of the right-wing news website, the National Pulse. A quick scan of the room affirms what the man…
Noticias en Español
COVID tomó de sorpresa a las escuelas, cuando por primera vez llego al país en el 2020. La falta de pruebas disponibles de COVID y de medios de enseñanza digitales dieron como resultado cuarentenas innumerables, confusión entre los padres de familia y estudiantes y la entrada en vigor de las prácticas de protección contra COVID,…
Water Use: It’s Time to Think Differently About How Central Oregon Grows and Develops
One doesn’t need to look far to see the effects the extreme drought is having on our region. With irrigation water scarce, farmers around Madras have this year let their fields go unplanted. The Three Sisters are looking pitifully bald as the glaciers retreat. Fish and wildlife officials across the West—from Idaho to Montana to…
If You’re New Here: Bend Breweries
Some breweries and certain beers are completely engrained in the Bendite lifestyle. Even if you arrived in town today, you’ve assuredly enjoyed a Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA or a Black Butte Porter (which make up a sizeable chunk of the brewery’s roughly quarter-million-barrel annual production. Likewise, its new subsidiary, Boneyard Brewing, enjoys a reputation for…
Brew and Other Boozy News
OLCC: Don’t call it “Control” The governing body managing booze and buds in Oregon has been busy throughout the pandemic, first by allowing restaurants and bars to do takeaway drinks in a temporary, COVID-era rule, and later by changing its name from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission—you know,…
Customs Check
Many good entrepreneurial stories begin with something rebellious. This is true for how the original pili nut company came to fruition, too. Jason Thomas, owner and founder of Pili Hunters, the first sprouted pili nut company in the U.S., divulged, “I literally snuck $100 worth of pili nuts back through customs in my backpack and…
Vax Card Culture
Attending a concert at the Les Schwab Amphitheater already comes with a few more rules than in years past: Bags only of a certain size, and passing through a metal-detecting wand, to name a few. And this week, yet another requirement: showing proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative COVID test. Central Oregon’s largest…
Deep Sea Diver is Ready to Hit The Road
On her 11th birthday, Jessica Dobson’s aunt gifted her with an electric guitar. Her life from there was split into a new chapter. Now? She’s one of the most exciting guitar players to watch today—along with being an absolutely brilliant vocalist. “It’s like there was a time before I played guitar and then a time…
Bobcat Business
Way back in the mid-’50s I was living in the old George A. Jones house in Bend located on Dean and Lily Hollinshead’s place. My great pal and superb helper in punishing raptor killers, Oregon State Police Officer Avon Mayfield, called me and asked if I would go with him to collect a bobcat held…
Pivoting in the Sporting Events Biz
You can’t toss a rock in Central Oregon without landing on a business severely impacted by COVID over the past 18 months. One who knows this story quite well is Chad Sperry, CEO of Breakaway Promotions, a family-run business based in Redmond. In a typical year, Sperry organizes loads of running and cycling events, including the…
The Sunken City
Is there a word for when every element of a movie on its own seems like it should work but, when taken as a whole, the elements make for an experience that is hugely underwhelming and crappy? “Craptacular” is too dismissive and “Ridumbculous” doesn’t really get the point across, so I’m going to go with…
Sparrow Bakery to Close Original Location
Beloved bakery and maker of the well-known Ocean Roll, Sparrow Bakery, announced this week that it would close its original location on Scott Street in early September. The business will retain its retail location in Northwest Crossing, its owners announced Aug. 30. They cited personnel issues as a main driver of the closure. “Hiring and…
Bye, Bye, Birdies
Birdies Café, a neighborhood gathering spot on the west side of Bend near Central Oregon Community College, has closed its doors for good. After five years in business, the café’s ownership posted a message on its Facebook page August 26, announcing the closure. “We will miss all our wonderful customers whom we have gotten to…
Drop-In Dodgeball
Patches O’Houlihan’s advice of “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball,” doesn’t necessarily jive at the Bend dodgeball tournament, but his five Ds of dodgeball does! “Dodge, duck, dip, dive… and dodge,” expresses all you need to know in order to wreck it at the Drop-In Dodgeball event hosted at The…
Got Jointly?
How much cannabis do you use? Some take mad pride in how much they consume, from “one-hit-and-quit-it” lightweights, to “Even-Wu-Tang-said ‘enough'” World Heavyweight canna-champions. The amount consumed for some is irrelevant, for others a source of pride, or a topic poised to start arguments within partnerships (“Do you really need to smoke another joint?” If…
Home Pricing Strategies
The housing market has been on fire. With the exception of the “COVID speed bump” which slowed sales during the initial quarantine in late March of 2020, momentum picked up the pace again in May of 2020 and is just now showing signs of slowing. At the beginning of 2021, the housing inventory was incredibly…
Disappear Pressure & Tales From The Decrypted
Disappear Pressure I recently met this guy, and we’ve spent the entire past week together. Unfortunately, he’s moving across the country—tomorrow. He asked whether I’d be open to dating after he moved. I panicked and said no—I’m really not looking for long-distance—but now that he’s leaving, I’m sad, and I’m worried I’ve made a mistake.…
Free Will Astrology—Week of September 2
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “I often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all,” wrote Virgo author Jean Rhys (1890–1979). I don’t think you will be agitated by those questions during the next eight weeks, Virgo. In fact, I suspect you…
