While the eyes of Congress and the public were focused on the $700 billion Wall Street bailout in September, the Bush administration slipped through a tax break for banks that could cost the federal treasury $140 billion - and cost the state of Oregon a bundle too.
Wells Gets a Gold Mine, Oregon Gets the Shaft
Posted inCulture
The Didjeridude: Tyler Spencer puts a new spin on an Aboriginal Australian instrument
Tyler Spencer and a prized didjTyler Spencer was only 15 when he stumbled across a metal tube in his
parents' basement and happened to blow into it, creating a unique
resonating sound. While the tube was actually a piece of exercise
equipment, Spencer's father told him about an Australian Aboriginal
instrument called the didjeridu. Spencer began scouring reference books
and other materials, eventually creating his own out of a pine log for
a school project. Fast forward 15 years and Spencer now makes and plays
this ancient instrument for a living, having even gone to Australia's
Northern Territory and studied under the highly respected Aboriginal
elder Djalu Gurruwiwi. Based out of his home on Bend's east side with a
recording studio just off of the workshop where he creates his
instruments, Spencer is bringing ancient Australian traditions to
Central Oregon and he's doing it with style.
"I make very high-quality didjs for people very serious about playing …
it's kind of my duty to pass on my experience and what I've learned,"
he says.
Posted inNews
GOP Advice: “Freeze Out” Liberal Reporters
Who's to blame for Republican Party's election setbacks in Oregon? It was the durn liberal media, of course.
Posted inNews
Ex-Mayor Bill Friedman Dies
The Eye was saddened this morning to learn of the death Sunday of Bill Friedman, former Bend mayor and veteran city councilor, of complications following surgery at St. Charles Medical Center.
Posted inNews
Bachelor to Cancel Free Ski Day
Mount Bachelor management is canceling Free Ski Day, a popular annual charitable event that has been a tradition in Central Oregon for decades.
Posted inNews
FCC Probes Bend Broadband Pricing Policies
The Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into the pricing policies of 11 cable TV services, including Central Oregon's own Bend Cable Communications.
Posted inNews
Got Them Low-Down, High-Deductible Health Care Blues
There was a touching story on the front page of the local section of Bend's Only Daily Newspaper this morning - touching, but also disgusting and infuriating.
Posted inNews
The Weekend Warrior
Starting today, The Blender is going to do our damndest to bring you a guide for the weekend to come every Friday. We're not saying that our readership is out of touch and needs a blog post to direct them toward non-sucky weekend events, but rather lending a helping hand in whittling down that long mental list of things to do you've compiled while slaving away in your cubicle.
Posted inNews
Obama’s Progesssive Mandate
It's just three days after Barack Obama swept the board in the presidential race, and already the mainstream media pundits are repeating their shopworn argument that "America is still a center-right country."
Posted inNews
Early Turns on Mt. B
Throughout much of the day yesterday the sky was spitting out snow, much of it mixed with rain, but up on Mt. Bachelor it was dumping.