May the Source Be With You
It’s been hot outside, but it’s also raining a lot with thunderstorms and massive lightning attacks happening all willy nilly. It has become downright unpredictable around here in Central Oregon and I’m here for it. I like having to check the weather before walking out into the world; it makes me feel like I’m living…
Prioritizing People Over Cars Won’t Happen Overnight, But It’s Worth the Effort
It’s an actual scene readers may easily imagine: Two families come to visit Bend during the busy July 4 weekend, a gaggle of bikes in tow, planning to ride the Deschutes River Trail. They load up their kids and snacks and gear and begin to plan a cycling route from the place they’re staying on…
Jason Mraz Knows Love Songs
“Well, you done-done me in, you bet I felt it. I tried to be chill but…” There’s no shame in admitting the lyrics to “I’m Yours” instantly fill your head all these years later. For one, it happens to be the most streamed song by a solo artist from 2000-2009. Second, it still lives in…
Mac ‘n Cheese Primavera
It translates to “Spring Pasta” from Italian, so forgive me for assuming Pasta Primavera is a classic springtime Italian dish. But while Primavera sounds classy, it turns out Pasta Primavera was invented in Nova Scotia during the summer of 1975. The bottom line is we can prepare cheesy noodles with vegetables any time of year,…
Cal-Reggae Veterans
When guitarists/singers Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald started Slightly Stoopid in 1994, they were out front of a second generation of bands that wanted to build on the reggae-rock sound that was starting to take hold thanks to the success of groups like Sublime, 311 and to a lesser extent, No Doubt. Now some 28…
Shine a Little Light
I am not a preacher, a rabbi, a monk or any officially designated spiritual leader. I am a counselor, leadership trainer, writer and ultimately, a teacher—a teacher of the things I believe are most important and too often least addressed. Topics about intimacy, creating inner and outer peace, how to truly listen and accepting how cool…
Noticias en Español
El 2 de julio, el senador Ron Wyden visitó la clínica de Planned Parenthood de Bend, la clínica donde se ofrecen servicios de aborto, localizada más al este de Oregon y en la primera línea con relación al enfoque por estados ante las leyes de aborto. La clínica de Bend espera un flujo de pacientes…
Wild Ride’s Wild Ride
When Redmond’s Wild Ride Brewing was an unnamed project in the planning stage—it opened in 2014—one of the five original co-owners remarked that the process itself was “a wild ride” and the concept stuck. Eight years and one global pandemic later, the ride now flows into Prineville. In addition to the original 20-barrel system, the…
What’s Really Happening with Mortgage Rates?
A topic that’s on most people’s minds today: mortgage rates. That’s understandable. Since fall 2021, we have seen mortgage rates increase significantly. The trend affects homeowners, would-be homeowners and the greater financial and real estate markets. So, why the seemingly sudden rise in rates? While there are many factors that affect rates, the number one item…
Book Talk
So many powerful books were written during the height of the pandemic by the finest women authors on the planet—books that are just getting released across 2021 and 2022, making for some very powerful and multi-layered novels…most of which have nothing to do with COVID whatsoever. Here are three novels from women writers that I’ve…
The Well’s Run Dry
It was early June when Mari V. went to do a load of laundry one morning and found the machine had no water. Then, she turned on the faucet — again, no water. Mari, who owns and lives at a horse farm near Tumalo, typically relies on a 545-feet-deep well to give her horses water…
Oregon Mountain Bike Race
Who needs sleep when you have adrenaline pumping through the veins and a trail guided by moonlight while competing in a mountain bike race? If staying up all night and riding a bike on dirt trails sounds like your kind of thing then the 2022 Oregon 24/12 mountain bike relay race is right up your…
Horoscope Week of July 7, 2022
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Your memory is SUBSTANTIAL. Your sensitivity is MONUMENTAL. Your urge to nurture is DEEP. Your complexity is EPIC. Your feelings are BOTTOMLESS. Your imagination is PRODIGIOUS. Because of all these aptitudes and capacities, you are TOO MUCH for some people. Not everyone can handle your intricate and sometimes puzzling BEAUTY. But…
Letters to the Editor 07/07/2022
Corrections: Last week’s Smoke Signals column about synthetic marijuana regulations stated incorrectly that CBN and delta 8 are extracted from CBD. Instead, they are synthesized from CBD. In addition, the new OLCC regulations that go into effect after July 1, 2023, were described inaccurately. Synthetic cannabinoids sold in licensed dispensaries will not require full FDA…
Locavore Program Encourages Helping Out at Area Farms
You may have heard of the Willing Workers on Organic Farms, or WWOOF program that invites people to work and stay on organic farms around the world—but did you know there’s also a local version that gives a boost to local farms and lets locals get to know them? Central Oregon Locavore’s program, Willing Workers…
Oh, the Poor Old Porcupine
Our poor old porcupines have been in man’s gun sights since the first pioneer deemed it a pest. The porcupine is, unfortunately, a tree-eating mammal and Man’s greed said, “That thing has gotta go!” That attitude about porcupines only got worse the more we cut up trees for houses, killed beavers for coats and hats,…
Wyden Visits Bend Planned Parenthood
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden visited Bend’s Planned Parenthood clinic on July 2, Oregon’s easternmost abortion clinic and on the front lines of the now state-by-state approach to abortion laws. The Bend clinic is expecting an influx of out-of-state patients, including those from neighboring Idaho, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Casey v.…
The Fourth and Fire
Fourth of July is firefighters’ busiest night of the year thanks to fires started by fireworks, injuries from fireworks and an increase in drunk driving. In Central Oregon it’s a heightened problem with a majority of Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson Counties facing varying levels of drought. Fearing sparks, the Bend City Council voted to permanently…
Monkeypox in Oregon
Monkeypox, a viral disease that causes fever, headaches and rashes, has been discovered in Oregon. The Oregon Health Authority reported its first known case in mid-June, and on July 1 Lane County reported two presumed cases of monkeypox. Lane County Public Health spokesperson Jason Davis told KOIN he’s expecting a few more cases in the…
Exploring the Upper Deschutes River
For those looking for a different stretch of the Deschutes River to float this summer, instead of the “tube to tube” section through the Old Mill District, there are numerous flatwater options to float your boat. Here are several options to explore reaches of the designated Wild and Scenic Upper Deschutes River, as well as…
