It might be a sign that the economy is turning around when new restaurants start popping up. Proving that Bend can never have enough Mexican food options, earlier this month, Super Burrito cut the ribbon on its third restaurant, located on Highway 20 in the former home of A&W on Auto Row. Owner Patty Moreno, who worked at her father's downtown shop for years, jumped on the opportunity to expand the family business by opening an eastside location with her husband, Gama. The Morenos will serve up the same delicious breakfast burritos, tacos, supreme burritos and Mexican specialties as the downtown and Redmond locations, as well as margaritas and other traditional libations. The new joint will also feature a drive-thru window for when you need your carne asada on the quick. Open 8am-8pm. 2100 Highway 20.
Little Bites: New Chow in Town: Burritos, Indian comfort food and an expanded menu at Jackson's Corner
Tax Facts You Won't Hear at a Tea Party
As you wrestle with your 1040s, 1099s, W2s, Schedule C’s and other income tax impedimenta, the Oregon Center for Public Policy offers a few facts that should comfort you – and probably will surprise you, especially if you get your information from Glenn Beck and Lars Larson.
Surprise No.
Harvestman: Trinity
Harvestman
Trinity ★★★★ 1/2
If you look up a summary of the Italian horror film, H2Odio, on Wikipedia or IMDB, it's pretty clear that something is being lost in translation from Italian to English. But then listen to Harvestman's Trinity – the album that serves as the soundtrack for H2Odio. Though it doesn't specifically tell you what happens in the film (Trinity is entirely instrumental), you can gather a lot about the movie from the music.
The Ghost Writer
“I should be scared,” she [Sarah] said. “I'm dead. I've never been dead before. And I'm not scared.”
Mary Sojourner's new novel, Going Through Ghosts, is a storytelling triumph. This should come as no surprise from this seasoned author, who is also a popular writing workshop facilitator and former commentator for NPR. Published by University of Nevada Press, Going Through Ghosts is a novel about transformation, both in a physical and a spiritual sense.
It's hard not to fall in love with such expertly fleshed-out characters like Maggie Foltz, a veteran cocktail waitress earning her unrewarding living in the Mojave Desert in Southern Nevada, her new friend Sarah, a Native American who works at the same casino and Jesse, a disturbed three-tour Vietnam vet.
One Man's Trash: Turning discarded materials into works of art
Customers stopping into Pakit Liquidators this past weekend, hoping to quietly pick up a replacement door handle or storm window, got a surprise. Giant metal and, well, trash sculptures were displayed along Pakit's lawn and a purple hearse topped with a black ambulance siren welcomed customers and visitors. Inside Pakit, the near-eastside liquidator and all purpose secondhand/junk store, people of all ages and artistic abilities picked through piles of Pakit's inventory. But instead of a storm window, they were looking to find the perfect “finger” for a garbage gargoyle, or a wrench that best suggested a trumpet player's forearm.
Our Picks for 4/14 – 4/22: Northwest Crossing Bend Spring Festival, Jukebot!, Curtis Salgado, Andre Nickatina and more
Barn Party and Community Dinner
friday 16
Did you know that this was the Week of the Young Child? Well, now you do, so round up your young 'uns and get them to this event that features children's music from Victor Johnson and the Kinderqueen Kathryn Claire. The biggest draw may be the free dinner as well as other kids' activities. Begins at 4pm, Hollinshead Barn, 1235 NE Jones Rd.
Northwest Crossing Bend Spring Festival
friday 16 – sunday 18
Even though “spring” may be a relative term in Bend, a few more hours of daylight and a couple more degrees of warmth are good enough excuses to have a weekend-long party in Northwest Crossing. Original art, food, wine and beer, dance performances and music from acts such as Catie Curtis, Sagebrush Rock and Reed Thomas Lawrence will keep Northwest Crossing buzzing all weekend. Apr 16 6-8pm, Apr 17 11am-10pm, Apr 18 11am-4pm. Northwest Crossing.
Taken for a Ride: New Skyliner bike rules, furlough days and more
After months of wrangling with residents and cyclists, the Deschutes County Commission is prepared to tighten the rules governing recreational cycling on Skyliners Road. On Wednesday the commission was scheduled to vote on an “emergency” ordinance requiring bikers to ride single file on Skyliners where neighbors have complained that cyclists are clogging the narrow road.
The commission has already tightened the reins on races by limiting the number of road events on Skyliners and forcing those that have been grandfathered to go through an application process with a fee that requires event planners to show they cannot reasonably relocate. The move to crack down on recreation riders is likely to provoke a backlash from cycle-happy Bend, particularly given the popularity of the Skyliners Road ride west of town. The county's own bike and pedestrian advisory board refused to endorse the move to restrict cyclists, saying that it sends the wrong message about sharing the road (as required by law). Rather than make the road safer, additional restrictions could make the road more dangerous by extending passing zones in practice, it wrote.
The Bald Eagle Paradox: When the recovery of one species endangers another
All it takes to wreak havoc in a colony of common murres is one bald eagle. Gulls spot the eagle from a distance and sound the alarm, and the murres nesting on the cliff bob their heads nervously. As the big raptor swoops down, the stocky black-and-white seabirds flee, leaving their eggs and chicks behind. Gulls and crows then quickly move in and gobble as many as they can. “It is heart-stopping,” says Roy Lowe, U.S. Fish and Wildlife project leader for the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Over the last 15 years, he's witnessed an ever-growing number of bald eagle raids on seabird colonies.
COBA Goes Panhandling Again
The City of Bend needs to crack down harder on panhandlers. Those guys from the Central Oregon Builders Association hanging around City Hall with cardboard signs and tin cups are getting really annoying.
COBA has been begging for handouts from the city at least since the summer of 2008, when it persuaded the city council to give builders a nine-month deferral on having to pay their SDCs (Systems Development Charges, or fees assessed on new developments to help defray some of the costs of growth, such as improvements to streets, sewers and water systems).
Running on Empty: The GOP's long retreat, Polish aviation disasters, and who's your Master?
The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from an interstate rest area bathroom, making friends on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly.
Officially Out of Ideas
As Obama continues his contemporary version of Sherman's March – passing health care reform, hosting the biggest summit on nuclear weapons since, well, ever (only our “special friend” Israel didn't RSVP), visiting more countries than any president in our history (all in one year), slashing and burning any fiscal responsibility, and soon to pick his 2nd Supreme Court Justice – the Republicans continue their retreat to the sea. So sorry is the state of the GOP that a gathering in New Orleans last week actually focused on whether they should adopt “No!” as their official party slogan. Parading a “diverse” bunch of potential presidential candidates, the Party of Lincoln (and fundraisers at S&M Bars) has no policies to point to, or any interest in developing any.