the Source September 24, 2026

Sept 23 - Sept 30 / Vol. 30 / No. 39

Cover Story

Musings on Central Oregon Style

Fall requires a reset โ€” a shift from the smoky-hot days of summer, where sundresses and flowing fabrics abound โ€” to the warm, cozy, wind-ready garb of cooler days. For our Fall Arts and Style feature, we polled three Central Oregonians who spend their days making wearable goods to share their thoughts about their workโ€ฆ

Vote Melanie Kebler for Mayor of Bend โ–ถ with video

Imagine youโ€™re applying for a job. You submit your resume; you get the interview. During said interview, you extol the values of listening and having good information to inform you as you go about your work; only, as the interview goes on, it becomes clear that you have neither listened nor gathered much information โ€”โ€ฆ

Warm Gadget Reclaims the Stage

On Sept. 29, beloved local band Warm Gadget (joined by Austin Williams) will appear for its first live performance in eight years, opening for bands Julien-K and NITE at the Domino Room. Up until this show, the bandโ€™s members, Tim Vester and Colten Williams, have been taking a hiatus from live performances, choosing to dedicateโ€ฆ

Vote Ed Fitch for Redmond Mayor

Redmondโ€™s mayoral race is a matchup between incumbent Ed Fitch and fellow City Councilor Jay Patrick โ€” a contest that means both have plenty of experience, and plenty of votes, from which to analyze their leadership. (Another person, Charles Webster Baer, is also in the running, but we did not consider him a viable candidateโ€ฆ

Fall Arts and Style 2026

It’s officially fall, and with the cooler temps and the slower pace, we’re placing special focus on local people and events that get your creative juices flowing. Check out the stories and interviews from our Fall Arts and Style edition. View all 2026 Fall Arts & Style stories Musings on Central Oregon Style Fall Festiveโ€ฆ

Schrรถdingerโ€™s Cinema

I donโ€™t think I could ever survive as one of those social media film pundits who make a living dropping smooth-brained hot takes on movies they havenโ€™t seen. As someone who has spent the last 20 years mostly paying their bills by watching and writing about cinema and pop culture in general, when I imagineโ€ฆ

Fall Festive Events Around Central Oregon

Sunset Migration: Selected Paintings and Collages by Katie Dunbar A visual conversation about movement, plastics and color, this exhibition by local artist Katie Dunbar runs through Wednesday, Sept. 30 at Deschutes Brewery, and features select paintings and collages in the breweryโ€™s downstairs dining room. The Sunset Migration series portrays intimate and global situations of environmentalโ€ฆ

Our Picks for Sisters Folk Festivalย ย 

The town of Sisters transforms into a musical wonderland Sept. 25-27 as the 29th annual Sisters Folk Festival, featuring more than 30 artists and acts from around the globe, will entertain on seven stages across the downtown area. Thereโ€™ll also be a KidZone for youngsters, artist-led workshops and a community celebration.  The festival lineup isโ€ฆ

Compassion, ‘Tone and Tenor’

Since Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Bethany Flint resigned in late July, six candidates have launched campaign committees in hopes of filling that Position 3 seat. (One has since declined to run; another was not qualified.) Several of the candidates the Source spoke with said that many constituents, when hearing about the upcoming judge race, echoedโ€ฆ

The Psychedelic Frontier: Set and Setting is Part of the Medicine

Q: Facilitators always talk about “set and setting” like it’s gospel, but is there any actual science behind it? A: People who’ve held this work have always known it, and it was never unique to psychedelics โ€” set (mindset) and setting (place and surroundings) matter in any threshold experience: ceremony, grief, birth, initiation. What’s newโ€ฆ

An Essential Guide to Fall Books

Like any passionate book lover with a teetering TBR pile threatening to not just swallow your nightstand whole, but obliterate any measure of equal division of bedroom floor space, itโ€™s time to think about what to buy next. The fall book season is upon us, so grab your book bestie and head to the nearestโ€ฆ

Local Artists Open Their Studios to the Publicย 

Central Oregonians will have a chance to peek behind the veil of artistic process on Saturday, Sept. 26 and Sunday, Sept. 27 at the third annual Bend Artistsโ€™ Studio Tour. Itโ€™s a free, family-friendly, self-guided event, running from 11am-4pm both days, put on by SageBrushers Art Society.  At each studio on the tour, the artistsโ€ฆ

Get Involved: National Public Lands Day

National Public Lands Day takes on a great significance this year due to the Trump administrationโ€™s assault on public lands, endangered species and wild environments, and the release of several executive orders set to derail environmental legislation. Though this national day includes a variety of activities for volunteers to engage in โ€“ from trash cleanupsโ€ฆ

Letters to the Editor, Week of Sept. 24

Our Mad Man We have a mad man in the White House โ€” mad on power, greed and grievance. He’s dismantling our federal government. He’s rebuilding Washington, D.C., in his image. He’s waging war without our consent. He’s ruining our economy and our financial system. He has the audacity to claim ownership of other countriesโ€ฆ

Local Golfer Defies Belief with Holes-In-One on Consecutive Days

Not much shocks Bevan Nicolaisen when it comes to golf. However, on the morning of Sept. 11, he โ€œnearly swerved off the roadโ€ after receiving a shocking text message while on his way to Bend Golf Club, where heโ€™s the membership director.  His friend and club member, Craig Biss, 74, had aced a hole thatโ€ฆ

A Little Bit of Italy

Here is a hill I am prepared to die on: Over the last decade, Central Oregon has quietly stepped into the spotlight as a burgeoning destination for foodies across the country. Weโ€™ve long been a mecca for tourists from around the world looking for jaw-dropping outdoor recreation, but our food scene will have just asโ€ฆ

Boneyard Closing Its Pub, Going Back to ‘Where It All Started’

In 2010, Tony Lawrence amassed the detritus of other breweries’ equipment, collecting enough beer-gear to launch what would be known as Boneyard Beer. The name was a nod to the stitched-together equipment โ€” the “boneyard” of other beer-makers’ stuff. The brewery operated in that punk-rock style for over a decade and a half, pouring beersโ€ฆ


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