Find Your Fun Outside
It’s that time of the year again! Outrun the mosquitoes at Tumalo Falls as you hike to Happy Valley, run the Burma Road Trail, soak up some rays paddleboarding on Three Creek Lake and hike Black Butte, starting from the bottom of the trail. Those are just a few favorite activities to kick off summer!…
Free Will Astrology, Week of July 2, 2026
CANCER (June 21-July 22): There are phases when the cosmic energies and I urge you to put others first—even tend to their pain before you tend to your own. But this isn’t one of those times. Right now, sacrificing yourself for the sake of others would obstruct the flow of righteous grace into your life.…
Small Pocket, Big Taste
Every morning, a warm and inviting aroma comes from the center of the Village in Sunriver, where Hot Lava Bakery is serving up delicious pastries, coffee drinks and blended smoothies to locals and tourists. Along with an extensive breakfast and lunch menu, Hot Lava Bakery makes custom cakes and cupcakes for events and special occasions.…
A Small Batch Sourdough Kitchen Launches in Bend
Jessica Natvig recently moved across the country from Marco Island, Florida, to Bend with her dehydrated sourdough starter in tow. She and her husband are from Oregon. They have a busy household with three sons, ages 7, 4 and 6 weeks, but still manage to operate a small batch sourdough kitchen called Lady Sourdough out…
Foam Sweet Foam: Why Cold Foam is Floating to the Top This Summer
If there is one thing that seems to be crowning every iced drink in Bend this summer, it’s cold foam. From cold brew and iced lattes to colorful fruit teas and energy drinks, cold foam has become the fluffy finishing touch that coffee shops and tea houses cannot seem to stop pouring. What started as…
BOO is Bend’s Best-Kept Secret
If you’ve walked around Old Mill or Riverbend in the summer months, you’ve probably seen the 40-foot canoes hauling up to the Healy bridge and back again. Or perhaps you’ve heard the calls of “hut” and “ho” from the riverbank and wondered who was out on the river yelling. Somehow, despite their unavoidable size and…
Bend Adventurer to Tackle Arctic Expedition
Imagine dangling upside down, 200 feet in the air, unexpectedly caught in the device that’s supposed to be helping you rappel down the mountain. That’d be enough to make most people panic. Not Jeska Clark. “This sounds so silly, but my hair was hanging down — I had longer hair then — and it got…
New Japanese/French Inspired Bakery Opening in Downtown Bend
The owner of the Pika Pika, Vivienne Mariotti, is expanding her business next door into the former Red Chair Art Gallery space on the corner of NW Bond Street and Oregon Avenue to open a cafe. “Our vision for the adjacent space is to create an elevated Japanese and French-inspired pastry concept that focuses on handcrafted…
To Infinity and Beyond
I’ll be perfectly honest with you right now. The hardest I’ve ever cried in a movie theater was at the end of “Toy Story 3.” Rewatching it to prepare for the release of “Toy Story 5,” I figured it wouldn’t wreck me as badly as it did 16 years ago. I thought I was an…
Base Camp: Bend’s West Side Is Getting a Food Truck Destination Unlike Any Other
By mid-July, a corner of Bend’s west side near Powder House Ski & Patio is going to look a lot different. Where a narrow lot once sat largely underused, a 7,000-square-foot building has risen — barn wood walls, 40-foot ceilings, a 50-foot belly bar and a rooftop garden perched atop repurposed shipping containers. Welcome to…
The Great, the Terrible and the In-Between
Every July, I like to look back at the first half of the year to take the temperature of our current cinematic landscape. By this time last year, we already had the dizzying peaks of “Sinners” and “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” and the subterranean lows of “Jurassic Park: Rebirth” and “Snow White.” Will 2026…
Sarah McLachlan: Better Broken Tour
For nearly a decade, Sarah McLachlan took a break from making music and instead was busy fundraising for the not-for-profit Sarah McLachlan School of Music, which provides free music education and mentorship to underserved children and youth facing barriers to music education access in three Canadian cities. Along with being a mom of two teenage…
Welcome to Gamblertown
Wind whips through the dry field as large plumes of dust flee spinning tires. The combination of wind and the sound of screaming two-stroke motors sets the ambience for the 2026 OG Gambler 500 weekend. What started out as a 13-person bachelor party in the Oregon woods has grown into the sweeping event that…
Expanding the Story
When the High Desert Museum opened in 1982, founder Don Kerr had a lofty vision for the destination he’d long dreamed of. The campus nestled in the forest south of Bend would create experiences to inspire awe, curiosity and wonder in visitors, which would in turn stimulate learning and stewardship about the unique high desert…
Prineville Wants More Out of Its Next Data Center Deal
The matte grey siding of Meta’s largest running data center campus in the U.S. is visible from the window of the Wild Rooster Bar and Grill, which opened six months ago in Prineville. Outside on the patio, a group of data center employees chew on sandwiches and toss cornhole bags. Inside, the bartender says her husband just got hired, too. But it’s no use asking about it. The workers are sworn…
Bend’s Golf Real Estate Holds Its Ground
Bend has always attracted people chasing a certain kind of life. It is the kind of place where the landscape sets the terms and people arrange their lives around it. Golf belongs here for exactly that reason, and the market is paying attention: participation has grown 41 percent nationally over the past six years, now…
Extremely Ordinary Miracles
Relax. I know my title, EXTREMELY ORDINARY MIRACLES, is a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron, a paradox, an incongruity. I know what a miracle is. Trust me for a few more minutes. Some common definitions of miracle are: an event caused by a deity that suspends the ordinary course of nature or a highly improbable,…
Tedeschi Trucks Band: The Future Soul Tour
There is a saying that goes, “Many hands make for light work.” It’s certainly the case with the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a 12-piece that’s been driven by the marital tandem of Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks dating back to the band’s Grammy Award-winning 2011 debut “Revelator.” Since then, the rock and soul-fueled outfit has not…
O.A.R. — Three Decades Tour
Chris Culos was looking at a list of 40-something songs that O.A.R. was getting ready to play as the hard-touring Maryland rock band was set to start yet another run of shows. That list included hits like “Love and Memories,” “Lay Down” and “Shattered (Turn The Car Around),” some of the band’s earliest songs like “That…
Lawyers, Guns and Ganja: It’s Complicated
Americans love their firearms, and I do mean love. The Pew Research Center estimates about one third of Americans – 107 million – personally own a firearm, and four in 10 live in a household with a firearm. Over 70% say they do so for protection, while about a third say it’s for hunting or…
As Costs Climb, City Leaders Made the Right Choice to Back Off Transportation Fee
Take a look at what you were paying for electricity, water or other bills just a handful of years ago and you’re sure to get a shock. Costs for all of these services have skyrocketed since the pandemic years, and for low- and middle-income people, that’s meant making choices between everyday indulgences and paying the…
Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Says It Search-and-Rescued $1 Million in Projected Savings
Deschutes County Interim Sheriff Rupert says he’s projected to save taxpayers $1 million in the coming fiscal year. Yet some of these cost-cutting measures run the risk of financial pitfalls down the road. Deschutes County Commissioners approved the $72.16 million budget for the Sheriff’s Office on June 17, which is about 16% of the County’s…
Divorce Is a Rite of Passage. Why Don’t We Treat It Like One?
We know how to recognize a rite of passage. We throw baby showers for new parents. We celebrate graduations. We hold weddings. We mark retirements. Across cultures and throughout history, communities have created rituals to acknowledge life’s major transitions and to support people through them. These moments are recognized not simply because something happened, but…
A Close Look at Bend PD’s Updated Policy on Automated License Plate Reader Technology
The Bend Police Department has made good on its intention to shore up its internal policy on automated license plate reader technology with Senate Bill 1516. As more law enforcement agencies adopt surveillance technologies, both government leaders and the public are calling for more scrutiny and oversight. Part of that scrutiny involves who gets access…
Artist Showcase Celebrates Sisters Quilt Week
Thousands of visitors are expected to flock to Sisters for Quilt Week July 7-10 and the annual Outdoor Quilt Show on July 11. The Sisters gallery store, Makin’ it Local which showcases paintings, photography, fine crafts, jewelry, ceramics and other artwork, is hosting four artist receptions and unveiling new artwork created especially for Quilt Week.…
Letters to the Editor, Week of July 2
A movie for the times A few nights ago, I went to see the movie, “Pressure.” I like history. I have always found it interesting to compare and contrast the past with the present. I believe there is much to learn there. I have read about the landing of Normandy many times and have seen…
Only Brothers Can Sing These Types of Bluesy Americana Harmonies
The Deltaz, a brother duo hailing originally from Southern California, bring a unique sound to bluesy Americana. They have been performing together since they were teenagers. Often donning their overalls and Vaquero style flat-brimmed hats, they have a perfect uniform for their one-of-a-kind genre. The Deltaz will be at the Midtown Ballroom on July 28. Growing up.…
Deschutes County to Clear Dozens of Homeless Camps for CORE3 Emergency Center
An emergency training center nearly 10 years in the making is on the verge of starting construction in east Redmond, but not before local agencies move dozens of homeless people living in tents and trailers. Deschutes County staff are drafting agreements to pave the way for CORE3, a planned training facility for police officers and firefighters that will double as a coordination center in emergencies. The agreements would let the County lease the undeveloped…
Six Oregon Cities, Including Bend, Have Some of the Highest Rates of Alcohol-Induced Death in the Nation for People 65+
Six Oregon metro areas have some of the highest rates of alcohol-induced death in the nation for people 65 and older, according to a recent industry study. Roseburg (second), Eugene-Springfield (fourth) and Medford (fifth) are among the top five nationally. Salem (ninth), Bend (11th) and the Portland metro area (15th) fill out the ranks with…
The Head and The Heart
In 2022, The Head and The Heart released its melancholic opus, “Every Shade of Blue,” a 16-track “collection of songs that celebrates the beautiful mess that we were during this time of transformation,” the band wrote on Instagram. The opening notes of the title song introduced the exquisite complexity that characterized the album as a…
Wolf Coexistence: Compromise & Rethinking
Wolves have certainly been in the news lately! Multiple confirmed sightings of gray wolves have already been recorded this year in La Pine, Sunriver and even Bend. Many people are giddy with the idea of wolves in our nearby forest ecosystems. Yet, some people are fearful and feel this is too close to home. Education…
Here Come The Mummies
For a quarter century, a band of 5,000-year-old, bandage-wrapped undead have prowled America with their “terrifying funk from beyond the grave.” Sometimes sharing the stage with the likes of Parliament-Funkadelic, Al Green, Mavis Staples and Cheap Trick, other times appearing at massive festivals and often, headlining at clubs, theaters and festivals, Here Come The Mummies…
Protecting Our River that Fish, Plants and Wildlife Need to Thrive
Each year, the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council organizes volunteers to clean out the river and riverbanks at six different sites. Last year, about 300 volunteers removed approximately 2,500 pounds of garbage and invasive weeds. The Watershed Council’s Education and Development Director Kolleen Yake says the popularity of the river is taking a toll. “There’s been…
