Live/Work Program
U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schulz has recently spoken about a planned Operations Service Center for Central Oregon. This is actually an amazing potential project for those in need of work to help assist for a noble cause. To aid with the conservation of our National Monument Lands. From a place of subsistence live/work program. A “win/win” so to speak.
As an advocate locally, this is much of what I have previously studied, with a degree in Environmental Policies from Rutgers University. I would be thrilled to tie this together with negotations around a needed restitution settlement; for those wronged by a poor economy and corrupted financial dealings of the past 10 years.
Some other examples of our entry-level program could include cleaning up trash (many folks were cleaning up bottles and cans anyway); salvaging/repairing old appliances or vehicles, collecting and hauling materials for recycling and waste management. This could get into caring for animals in need, gardening and landscaping, and some already experienced on forest work crews. Let’s get to work!
—Steven K. Mitchell
Rodenticide is Inhumane
Rodenticide has been a major topic in Bend due to the recent reports of raptors possibly killed by rodenticide. Personally, I’ve seen bait boxes at gas stations, local restaurants, and even resorts in wilderness areas. The environmental effects of rodenticides are bad enough, but people don’t seem to realize how much suffering it causes individual animals as well.
I intern at wildlife rehab center Think Wild, and often manage patient intakes. One from 2025 stands out: a bushy-tailed woodrat who was found dragging himself along the ground in a parking lot, attempting to hide under cars. The rescuer who brought him in was crying, distressed by his obvious pain.
After the intake, I stayed to watch the woodrat’s exam. His fur was a warm, dusky grey with white on his small paws and belly. He had a round, charismatic face with long whiskers splayed about his head like a halo. True to his name, his tail was exceptionally fluffy.
He was non-responsive, limp as a doll in the wildlife technician’s hands. Periodically, he would seize, back twisting and all four limbs stiffening. The tech suspected rodenticide poisoning. Suspected being the key word, because rodenticide poisoning can only be confirmed with expensive postmortem tests. Notably, treatment cannot occur unless the type of rodenticide used is known.
Ultimately, the tech determined that the kindest thing we could do for this animal was to euthanize, allowing him a more humane end of life than the one he was already suffering.
—Meta Babb
A Tribute to Silver Moon’s Outgoing Owners
When James Watts, Matt Barrett and local investor Kevin Cox became owners of Silver Moon Brewing in June 2013, they took over an already established pub known for award-winning beer.
They shared a love of good pub-style brewing and continued that tradition. They expanded and updated the facility and helped Silver Moon become known not only for its beer, but also as a popular entertainment venue with many loyal customers.
They also contributed to Bend becoming well known as a beer town with many successful independent breweries.
It was not always an easy business. Competition increased, profit margins became smaller, and COVID was especially hard on pubs, breweries and entertainment businesses. They continued through those difficult years and accepted less personal return in order to help keep the business going for employees and loyal patrons.
In the end, they also sold their ownership shares at a reduced return to recognize the dedicated effort of an employee who had given much to the operation of Silver Moon and who became the sole shareholder and CEO.
They are now leaving ownership of the land and building and have offered the property for sale with continued Silver Moon business occupancy and leadership.
James Watts, Matt Barrett and Kevin Cox deserve recognition for helping preserve and improve Silver Moon through 13 important years and for contributing to the brewing tradition that helped make Bend a premier beer town.
—Tim Lester
Bend is not the center of Central Oregon.
RE: What Does $500,000 Buy You in Central Oregon, Take Me Home 9/3
I was very interested in reading your recent article examining what $500,000 can provide as far as real estate in Central Oregon. As a proud Redmond resident, I was interested in learning the difference in our market compared to those around us. But your article quickly turned sour with positioning the non-Bend communities relative to Bend itself. You might be surprised to learn that Bend is not the center of our universe. I would be happy to speak of the place I call home that features a sweet downtown with just enough variety of local food and beverage businesses, live music venues that I can walk or ride by bike to without waiting in long lines, solitude and low light pollution, a dry canyon that welcomes all types of users, neighbors that have lived here for generations and new ones that have just arrived, as well as the most conveniently accessible hardware stores I have ever experienced (a huge boon for me personally). For now, we aren’t susceptible to the throngs of tourists that clog Bend’s streets and overtake places that locals enjoy, and we’re still building multi-family and affordable housing to ensure more folks who want to live here can live here. Nothing about my family’s choice to live in Redmond centered on a “20+ minute drive to Bend.” In fact, we dread that commute because it simply takes too much time to return home to the neighborhood that we love.
Thank you,
— Jamie Hampton
Letter of the Week:
In interviewing candidates for the Redmond City Council this week, I understood again how much the Hub City truly is that. With the airport, the Core3 project and the fair and expo complex all in Redmond, the city carries water for much of Central Oregon. Thanks for putting that in perspective, Jamie! Come on in for your Letter of the Week gift card.
—Nicole Vulcan
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
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