Letters to the Editor 04/24/2025
We Need This Music. Now, more than ever, we need it. Want to connect with your fellow citizens? Music. Want to escape the dreadful news happening in our country and the world? Music. The element of “fun” is something we all need in our daily lives. Music is just that… FUN! And here in Bend…
Rookie of the Year: Hawkeye & Huckleberry
Maybe it’s like a rocket ship landing in a placid Cascades lake — or perhaps more appropriately, like a clatter of hooves in a mud puddle, but it’s hard to overstate the gusto with which Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge splashed down on Bend this year. With a massive bar and dining room — done to…
Foodie Crawl Raises Money for the Food Bank
Ten restaurants in Bend are participating in this year’s foodie crawl. The event on Sunday, April 27 raises money for NeighborImpact. It’s described as a pub crawl meets a progressive dinner event. Starting at 2pm, guests can sample bite-sized hors d’oeuvres at each location along with a drink, then head to the next location at…
Restaurant of the Year: Rancher Butcher Chef
If there’s any sign that an establishment is earning the love of local crowds, among the most brightly lit might be the rapid opening of a second place, with a name that hints to the first. Over the past year, the Rancher Butcher Chef brand — known commonly by its initials, RBC, did just that…
Icon of the Sage: The Greater Sage-Grouse
It’s an early spring morning, pre-dawn. The air is still, not a breath of wind stirs the sagebrush. The waning moon is a bright sliver in the eastern sky, but soon to be obscured by the dawn’s early light. The thermometer reads 25 degrees Fahrenheit but it feels colder in the morning darkness. I’ve been…
First-ever Event Helps Local Families Understand Autism in Early Childhood
Hundreds of families in Central Oregon have children under the age of 5 with autism. Parents, grandparents, and other caregivers from more than 30 of those families attended a free event on April 17 at the Alyce Hatch Center in Bend to learn more about autism in early childhood and related resources and services. Perhaps…
The Psychedelic Frontier
In an age where reality often feels closer to science fiction, Dr. Sabrina Hadeed’s “How to Survive a Cultpocalypse: A Psychonaut’s Guide to the Spiritual Galaxy” emerges as a beacon of awareness. With humor as her vessel and wisdom as her compass, Dr. Hadeed navigates the reader through the tumultuous waters of spiritual communities and…
Deschutes County Leases Land for Supportive Housing
Deschutes County voted to lease land in east Redmond for a 75-unit permanent supportive housing project, known as Mt. View Community Village. Redmond nonprofit, Mountain View Community Development, which runs a safe parking program in Redmond and Bend, will lease the land to provide housing for those experiencing homelessness and individuals on fixed incomes. The…
High Stakes
When people who write about movies for a living come across a piece of cinema that feels monumental, there is always a list of specific words that get used to describe it. Words like “visionary,” “electrifying,” “exhilarating,” “transcendent,” and “breathtaking” get thrown around with abandon (by myself included) to describe much lesser films than Ryan…
Young Musicians Strike Up a Spring Concert
The Central Oregon Youth Orchestra is presenting its spring concert at the Tower Theatre in downtown Bend in May. The music will feature the full orchestra, wind ensemble and concert orchestra directed by Dr. Travis Allen, Debbie Harrington, Jonathan Moore and Ryan Zwahlen. Allen is COYO’s executive director and an accomplished cellist performing with the…
Restaurant Closures Reflect Broader Trends, But Local Dining Scene Holds Strong
The local closings of restaurants such as Cracker Barrel and Shari’s might lead one to think that Bend is a microcosm of what’s been happening with restaurants across the country, especially casual dining chains. But as those of us who live here know, Bend is its own macrocosm in so many ways, typically incomparable to…
Go Small and Go Home…
It’s not new that home prices, especially in Bend and surrounding areas, are becoming more and more difficult for the “average” income earner to afford. Nurses, teachers and many other working professionals are finding it harder to become homeowners. In fact, the new average age for first time homeownership in the U.S. is now 38.…
Why We Celebrate Indie Bookstores
More than any other time in Roundabout Books’ eight-year history, our customers are asking us to match the prices of books they see on Amazon. It may surprise you that I am heartened by these requests, as I think it is a sign of greater general awareness of the damage monopolistic companies like Amazon have…
Source Warmup
Driver Crashes into Sheriff’s Office Gate A Bend man drove through the entrance gate at the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office on April 19, crashing into a block wall. A sergeant discovered the crash around 10:45pm, after noticing damage to the vehicle entrance gate. The sergeant found a black truck in the parking lot, with music…
Poetry Contest Winners
ADULT WINNERS First Place Apex Science class was only good for proving the same hypotheses. We learned about X and Y chromosomes, the Earth in relation to the solar system. How girls were girls and boys were boys and all the planets revolved around the same sun. We sliced open slimy…
A Lesson I’ll Never Forget
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” —John F. Kennedy Have you heard of the Central Oregon Partnership?” my friend Jim Lussier began, as soon as we sat down, he sipping a latte, me a hot chocolate. It was late…
Rookie Food Cart of the Year: Cotto
This is not a (fire) drill. But the team behind Cotto does, surprisingly, have the fire marshal to thank for the situation they currently find themselves in. It’s no secret that The Podski’s Mikel Lomsky likes to collect Bend’s finest at his centrally located, Old Bend gathering place for carts and locals, and Cotto has…
Burgerville, USA
While Bend is slowly morphing into a foodie town with more diverse regions of cuisine to sample, it’s hard to shake off its Beer Town USA roots completely. As we finally get options like Dominican, Oaxacan, Dutch/Indonesian fusion, Korean and maybe even some quality Ethiopian one day, we’re still shrugging off decades of being a…
Community Bike Rides for youth and adults
It’s time to pull that bicycle from your garage and hop in the saddle. Don’t worry if you aren’t sure which direction to ride. Blazin Saddles bike shop is partnering with Sisters Park & Recreation District for a series of community rides. Anyone can join. The idea is to meet new people with similar interests…
Food Cart of the Year: Tacos Pihuamo
Tacos Pihuamo is a Mexican food truck situated off of southeast Third Street, just north of Reed Market Road. While the location is somewhat obscure, the food and the service offered at the truck has earned it a reputation as the best food truck in Bend and, according to many, the best tacos in Bend.…
Horoscope Week of April 24, 2025
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You can’t see or hold the wind, though you can feel its force and observe its effects. It scatters some seeds far and wide, dispersing them to grow in unexpected places. When harnessed by turbines, the wind is a renewable energy source. It can be utilized to pump water and fuel…
