This is why you don’t poach a jump you don’t know the speed for. Hopefully this guy is recovering and has learned some valuable lessons about watching before trying and physics.
Oops. Too Fast.
Posted inOpinion
Killing OSU-Cascades: A Dumb Move
Ever since the Cascades Campus of Oregon State University was founded in 2001 it's been treated like the ugly stepchild of the state higher education system - unwanted, undernourished and unloved.
Now, with the economy still tanking and a budget shortfall of more than $4 billion looming over the next two years, there are those in the state legislature who want to kick the stepchild out of the house. That would be a huge mistake, both now and in the long run.
Although so far it hasn't lived up to the early enrollment projections - in part because the state provided only half as much money for it as it originally promised - OSU-Cascades already is giving hundreds of Central and Eastern Oregon students a higher education opportunity they probably wouldn't have otherwise.
Posted inMusic
Hard Touring Schedule or Hard Time? Road warriors Larry and His Flask fight on tour and in jail
Larry lays it on the line. It could be argued, and argued quite convincingly, that there is no harder touring band in Central Oregon than Larry and His Flask. Even before the Redmond-based outfit went from a hard-driving punk outfit to a gang of raucous Americana pranksters, these often-grizzly looking gentlemen were rampaging across the country (as well as Canada and Mexico) sometimes leaving home for months at a time.
From the crowd, all we see is the band take the stage, play its set, perhaps tell a few humorous stories in between cuts, wrap up the show and then they're gone - out of our consciousness until the bus (or van) rolls into town the next time around. But for a band like Larry and His Flask, there is much more that goes into touring than simply playing a string of shows. There's also, of course, a whole lot of driving. And there're also some wild cards that are sure to be dealt the band's way.
And LAHF hasn't been without its share of wildcards during its recent touring days. From jail cells to sleeping on dirty floors to playing street corners for extra cash - LAHF has seen it all.
Posted inNews
Bonus Coverage: The budget battle, downtown dollars: Skyline Forest update and more
Council Roundup
The Bend City Council and staff head into an intensive round of budget talks this week that will produce the blueprint for next year's spending priorities. One person involved with the budget process said it's off to a positive start, but expect some tough negotiations this year between staff who are facing another round of potential lay-offs and the council. Also, it remains to be seen how well the council will work together to prioritize and, ultimately, compromise. To date, there hasn't been a lot of consensus on the council over issues of budgeting and planning. A recent vote to continue weekend transit operations with money previously designated for a left turn lane at the airport narrowly passed on a 4-3 vote. Similarly, a proposal to raise construction fees on builders to a rate that would allow the city to fully recover its costs was approved recently on a slim 4-3 margin.
In other city news, the council approved a new downtown taxing district that will generate about $120,000 for downtown improvement programs and administration. The move is a continuation of the existing downtown economic improvement district (EID) with some tweaks. The new district will tax property owners at a slightly higher rate (15 cents per square foot per year versus 11 cents) and the additional funds will offset loses from the dissolution of the fee-based Downtowners group, essentially creating one pot of funding.
Downtowners Executive Director Chuck Arnold said it's a more equitable way to fund activities that benefit all of downtown, including beautification efforts, marketing, event planning and his own full-time position.
"We're all in this together. Certainly there are those who don't want to be a part of something, but you have to wonder why they would have located where they (did) if they didn't want to be part of where they located," Arnold said - and if you can make sense of that you're probably a Navajo code talker. Regardless, Arnold points out that less than three percent of property owners objected to their inclusion in the district, as opposed to the 11 percent who opposed it during the last tax election in 2007.
Posted inOpinion
A Resort By Any Other Name
Well here we go again, another destination resort is proposed for the Sisters area-only this one is being called, a "guest lodge."
Hank Queen, retired Boeing executive, decided to get out of the rain in Seattle and build a magnificent Dream Home, (www.sunburstretreat.com) on 9+ acres of the north end of Sun Mountain Estates. (If you're not familiar with the location, it's along Highway 20, between Sisters and Bend.) The only thing is, Hank wants all his friends to come visit him, along with others who want to drive a few golf balls, "meditate," and maybe he'll have a few weddings on the side. The area is zoned, MUA-10, (multiple use agriculture) so it's no wonder a lot of the residents of Sun Mountain are waving the red flag.
Posted inOpinion
This Week’s Non-Sequitur
Hey, I was wondering why all the news about what is happening outside of Bend when we, as individuals, have no control over what is happening 7,000 miles away? So many opinions about what is happening with the torturings and to what point? If anything talk about the issues closer to home like the problems here in Bend! Talk about them for a few seconds BUT do something about them and make a difference. I have met so many thousands of people who always whine about what is happening overseas instead of doing something here in town to make a difference. My question is this "can you make a difference with what is happening overseas? Most likely "NO." However can you make a difference here in town? The odds are far greater to your favor here in Bend. There are scores of problems here in Bend that need serious attention and watching TV about Obama, the war in Iraq, the torturing issues, the silly media hype on anything overseas.
Posted inOpinion
WTF Was All Wet
I believe you are the best newspaper in town, but your last WTF note re: the water level at Smith Rock rates journalistically on a par with that rag that claims to be a local daily newspaper.
Your rant shows a lack of research on your reporter's part.
Posted inOutside
PPP! Picks and Perils
PICKS
It's here, the PPP!
Storming the beach, PPP style. Even though the weather has
been prettycrappy for training, the forecast is looking good for race
day, enthusiasm seems to be running high and there will be some serious
competition for the mugs this year. I'm sure lots of wagers are being
placed, so for what it's worth, here are my picks.
In the elite
men's category, 3-time winner Marshall Greene has to be the odds on
favorite. He will be chased by the usual pack of X-C Oregon athletes,
plus Torin Koos and Lars Flora, a couple of U.S. Ski Team ringers in
town for a training camp, but Marshall is the safe bet.
Posted inCulture
Paging Dr. Ninja: Another year of training for this warrior
TOKYO: SOON
Just like on the mountain, without the liftlines and cold toes.The city is a jewelbox spilled across the night. An
alleyway winds across the sprawl. Within its darkness, a young girl
lies curled up in a corner of rubbish. Coughing.
A narrow little
figure in the suit of a salaryman detaches himself from the passing
stream of citizens. Sweat blisters on his brow. A tipsy hitch in his
step-or slipshod animation? it's getting tough to tell-he stumbles
towards the girl and opens his mouth. Almost instantly he's infected.
He
speaks Japanese in English subtitles as she coughs some more and
shudders-subtitles on his part, mutation on hers. Muscles stretch
through her skin. Her body grows, changes. A purple tentacle erupts
from her, a spatter of blood from him. He is left shuddering, coughing
on the pavement in the alley in the city in the night.
Posted inCulture
Cardinal Sin: In Angels & Demons, everyone once again takes Dan Brown way too seriously
The truth is down there. If you thought Howard's adaptation of The Da Vinci Code managed to make
ecclesiastical conspiracy boring, just wait for Angels & Demons.
Tom
Hanks-sans his greasy Da Vinci mullet-is back as Harvard symbologist
Robert Langdon, summoned by Vatican officials to help deal with a
potential crisis. Though the book was written before Da Vinci, a few
knowing references here make it clear that the events in the movie
post-date Da Vinci, and therefore the Church understands that Langdon
knows his stuff. In the wake of the death of the Pope, the four
cardinals who are the primary candidates to replace him have been
kidnapped. Evidence suggests the involvement of the Illuminati-the
ancient society of scholars and artists whose pro-science views
antagonized the Renaissance-era Catholic Church. And if Langdon can't
follow the clues to the lair of the Illuminati, the Vatican itself
could be destroyed by a cylinder of stolen anti-matter.