Cover Stories
Multiple Motels
The Bend City Council authorized the purchase of the Rainbow Motel at its regular meeting Jan. 19, saying the property has potential as a temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness as well as longer-term goals. It’s the second motel the City is converting into a shelter after receiving $2.97 million in state grant funding to…
8 Big Ways You Can Help Our Waters
The ocean is big – really, really big.* It’s so “vastly hugely mind-bogglingly” big you may not think it needs your help. But consider the daily global degradation from pesticides, detergents, sewage, plastic (33 billion tons of it annually), oil spills and dumping. On top of that, add how warming seas are causing habitat destruction…
Winter Nature Nights: Learn About the Natural World from the Comfort of Home
By about the end of January, many Central Oregonians start dreaming about warmer temperatures, longer days and the arrival of spring and more time outdoors. But alas, as most of us know, spring won’t be here until June—OK, maybe May—so we have to dream about spring while making it through the rest of winter that…
Cranston Approaches Bail Hearing
Court documents filed Jan. 26 argue that Ian Cranston doesn’t meet the standards for a pretrial release as he awaits a November trial for the shooting of Barry Washington, Jr. Kevin Sali, Cranston’s attorney, filed a motion for release on bail on Dec. 30 and painted a different picture than that presented by prosecutors of…
Letters to the Editor 1/27/22
Editor’s note: We made it to the end of January—so congrats, all you Dry January participants: your month of temperance is nearly at an end. I tried, then stopped trying because Omicron. Now I’m trying again. Also, where did January go?! For those who, like me, have escaped Omicron’s clutches, I suspect the month flew…
Too Woke to Reawake
What do a retired general who believes in QAnon, a self-proclaimed prophet and a convicted felon who served as an advisor to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign have in common? None will be in Redmond on April 1 and 2, as previously planned. The Reawaken America Tour booked two days in early April at the Deschutes…
Hospitality Jobs are Back
The Oregon Employment Department reported that accommodation and food services are employing nearly as many people as they were pre-pandemic in seasonally adjusted models. Deschutes County added 2,140 jobs total in December, and unemployment dropped to 4.3%, just 1% above a record-setting 3.3% low before the pandemic. The leisure and hospitality sector is up from…
Noticias en Español
A finales de 2021, Vámonos Outside—la organización local sin fines de lucro que tiene la misión de unir, involucrar e inspirar a la comunidad y a las familias Latinx/as a participar en actividades al aire libre—anunció que había contratado un nuevo coordinador del programa, Wesley Heredia, para ayudar a conectarse con la comunidad y para continuar…
Local Businesses are Paying Workers More. But Don’t Worry, They’ll Pass It On
Whether you’re an employer who’s been tasked with filling all those vacant jobs recently or you’re a consumer who’s been inconvenienced by business closures and delays, most of us have been affected by the pandemic’s Great Resignation in one way or another. Labor advocates have been pretty clear about why it’s happening and how to…
Spud Bisque
Congee is a pan-Asian dish beloved wherever rice is grown. It goes by other names, and comes in many different flavors, but the core principle never changes. Cook the rice into a starchy cloud, flavored with the likes of ginger, chives and hoisin sauce. Eat it when comfort food is called for. Nothing against rice,…
A Fresh Fish Market for NWX
A new fish market and seafood cafe held its grand opening at The Grove in Northwest Crossing in Bend this month. Sebastian’s Seafood & Specialty Market offers a full-service seafood case as well as ready-to-eat seafood and sushi, along with a seafood cafe menu that includes Firecracker Calamari, Fish and Chips, a Lobster Roll and other…
A Cold Plunge into the Deschutes
Every year around the globe large groups of people gather around extremely cold bodies of water dressed in polar bear costumes, swimsuits or other wacky outfits and dunk their entire body in. The U.S. specifically has been partaking in this yearly event since 1904. Bend’s next frozen celebration is happening on Feb. 5 at Riverbend…
May the Source Be With You
I can’t believe I’m here for another January edition of May the Source Be With You. I’ve now been writing on and off for the Source Weekly since 2010, which makes me feel simultaneously incredibly old and profoundly lucky at the same time. To pay my bills as a writer is a dream come true and…
Hemp, the Next Great COVID Fighter?
A new weapon to fight COVID-19 may have been uncovered by researchers at Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University this month. Richard van Breemen, a professor at OSU’s College of Pharmacy and the Linus Pauling Institute, released a study published Jan. 10 in the “Journal of Natural Products,” which demonstrates how certain hemp…
Source Material
Happy new year, everybody! I’m glad to be writing the first Source Material of 2022 because the year in music has started off pretty well so far. But to begin, I have to shout out something that was born last year—which would be the absolutely fantastic soundtrack from the movie “Encanto.” At the beginning of…
Golf Communities in Central Oregon:
From stunning scenic vistas to sparkling rivers and streams, Central Oregon is a golf mecca for residents and visitors alike. No wonder so many people who visit the area decide to move here, or to buy a second home! With over 300 days of sunshine each year, golfers can enjoy the sport year-round at one…
Buddy Odor
Buddy Odor I’m a woman in my mid-20s. In the last year, I’ve noticed that a number of my core friends have begun to exhibit traits and values that I don’t really identify with. I do my best to show up for them, but when I go through a hard time, they don’t seem all…
The Third Act: Indoor Sports
Remember “Tuesdays with Morrie?” Published in 1997, it recounted conversations between Morris (Morrie) Schwartz, nearly 80 and approaching the end stage of A.L.S., and Mitch Albom, a former student of Professor Schwartz’s at Brandeis University. The book sold an astounding 15 million copies! Why? Rachel Syme, the author of “Pearl Hunting” in the Jan. 3…
Free Will Astrology—Week of January 27
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Since the iconoclastic planet Uranus is a chief symbol for the Aquarian tribe, you people are more likely to be dissenters and mavericks and questioners than all the other signs. That doesn’t mean your departures from orthodoxy are always successful or popular. Sometimes you meet resistance from the status quo. Having…
