Cover Stories
Two Key DIY Projects You Can Do to Spruce Up Your Living Space
Painting interiors, deep-cleaning carpets, scrubbing windows a power washing outer surfaces are just a few steps you can take to make your home sparkle. But if you’re looking to freshen up your living space and improve your home’s curb appeal, while also potentially raising its value, there are two easily tackled do-it-yourself projects to consider.…
Create a Fire-Resistant Yard to Protect Your Home
The City of Bend is considering updating codes to require defensible space buffer zones around homes. The idea is to remove fuel sources near structures which can stop flames from advancing. There are three different zones around a home to consider when creating a defensible space: immediate, intermediate and extended. The National Fire Protection Association…
Unzipped Hearts
As I get older, the more I realize that great, unconventional romances might be the most rewarding genre for me in my growth as a human being. A remarkable romance not only makes you swoon over the possibilities of love in this crazy world, but also allows you to see into the lives of people…
What’s New in the Food World
Bistro Colette Flights Wine Bar is now Bistro Colette. Chef/Owner Jeremy Buck has created a menu with appetizers such as Pissaladière (a puff pastry with caramelized onions, olives and anchovies), ratatouille, smoked crab dip and fried calamari; charcuterie with choices that include chicken liver pate, rabbit roulade with truffle sauce and country pork terrine with…
Free Will Astrology, Week April 2
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Now is an excellent time to decide your favorite color is amaranth (a vivid red-violet), or sinopia (earthy red-orange), or viridian (cool blue-green, darker than jade). You might also conclude that your favorite aroma is agarwood (deep, smoky, resin-soaked wood), or heliotrope (cherry-almond vanilla), or petrichor (wet soil after a rain).…
Longtime Incumbent, Credentialed Challenger Clash in Deschutes County Commissioner Position 1 Race
Tony DeBone was first elected to the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners in 2010. He won again in 2014, and again in 2018 and 2022. Now, as he seeks a fifth term, he faces an aggressive and well-funded challenge. Jamie Collins, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and founder of a climate consulting firm, has more than doubled DeBone’s campaign donations,…
Letters to the Editor, Week of April 2
Amy Sabbadini for County Commissioner I am asking readers to vote for Amy Sabbadini in the upcoming County Commissioner election. Now more than ever, it is imperative to have logical, science-minded leaders who will embrace evidence-based practices. We need leaders to support the behavioral and public health programs that are critical resources for our community.…
Cannabis Discrimination
Oregon’s Adult Use Cannabis program is 10 years old, and those of us who work within it thought by now we would have – more – than we do. Things like social cannabis consumption spaces, cannabis tourism packages, and events on par with the many beer, wine, cider, and spirits festivals Oregon hosts. Such options…
Petersen Rock Garden Receives Some TLC
The passion Rasmus Petersen felt as he began creating the Petersen Rock Garden in 1935 remains alive to this day in both the caretakers of the property and the visitors who flood the grounds daily. Petersen lovingly built the ornate rock sculptures over four acres on his rural property between Bend and Redmond, first sourcing…
In This Game of Us vs. Them, ‘Them’ is Now Married Women
This past weekend, people gathered in Bend, Redmond and other cities around Central Oregon for yet another No Kings demonstration against the Trump administration. By the way we figure it, if the protests keep happening, the numbers only stand to grow. So much of the proposed legislation being proposed by the federal government is about…
Embattled Winery Proposal North of Bend Gets Deschutes County Approval
After a four-year dispute, owners of a 5-acre vineyard just north of Bend finally have Deschutes County’s approval to open a wine tasting and production facility. Still, neighbors in opposition say the fight is far from over. The Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners tentatively approved the application March 25, pending a final decision in the coming weeks. The board greenlit the proposal amid some neighbors’ fears the winery would pollute well water and bring…
Deschutes County Courthouse Expansion on Track with August Completion Date
Two new courtrooms at the Deschutes County Circuit Court are nearly finished. And the overall completion of the new justice facility in downtown Bend is on track to meet its final completion date in August. County facilities officials presented the monthly update on the courthouse expansion project at the Board of County Commissioners meeting March…
The Buyer’s Market Playbook
From 2020 to 2022—what many now refer to as the “COVID-era” market—buying a home in Central Oregon often felt like a race against the clock. Multiple offers, homes selling in days, and buyers waiving contingencies became the norm. While there are still segments of today’s market that can feel that way—particularly well-priced homes under $600,000—the…
April First Friday & Easter Events
First Fridays are a monthly tradition in downtown Bend, Redmond and the Old Mill District. The Art & Wine Walk in the Old Mill kicks off at 3pm on April 3 so you can stop there first. In Downtown Bend and Redmond, festivities start at 5pm. While there are dozens of stores and galleries to…
Living in the Light Tour
Tommy Emmanuel is not kind to his guitars. The Grammy-winning Australian musician beats out rhythms on their soundboards, scrapes the top of them with pliers, and sands off finishes so he has yet another surface to punish. On average, Emmanuel’s guitars survive five years of this before they become unplayable. Sometimes that happens onstage, at…
Imani Winds X Andy Akiho: BeLoud, BeLoved, BeLonging
Central Oregon’s music scene takes a bold, resonant step forward this spring as a new performing arts series presented by OSU-Cascades and the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts —known as PRAx— continues a new performance series at the Tower Theatre. The April 12 concert, BeLoud, BeLoved, BeLonging, brings together the Grammy-winning Imani…
Above the Old Mill, Argentina Finds a Foothold
Perched just above the hum of the Old Mill, Los Andes Sports Bar and Cafe feels a little like a secret you want to pass along before it gets out. Open since November 2025 in the former Tradesmen Coffee and Tap House space on SW Upper Terrace Drive, this Argentine-inspired hangout asks you to do…
Love and Democracy
I’m nervous. Although my messages almost always focus on love in one way or another, and love can be one of the touchiest topics we can discuss, this message potentially adds an even touchier topic, politics. Politics and Love. You’d be nervous, too. To be completely open, politics is not a topic I know much…
Redmond May Ban Throttle-Powered E-bikes from City Parks
The City of Redmond may be the latest government body to clamp down on e-bikes, with new regulations stirred by a stream of complaints over speeders in City parks. The City Council launched a survey March 24 asking the public whether throttle-propelled bicycles should be banned from City parks. Results of the two-week survey will inform an April discussion that could lead to new rules in place by summer. But questions remain about…
