Deschutes County foster children and their foster families were hosted by Pine Tavern and Assistance League of Bend at their 32nd Annual Breakfast with Santa on December 7, 2025. Bringing neighbors together, the event featured a delicious buffet, caroling, cookie decorating, and face painting added to the festivities. Children had the chance to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, have their […]
Assistance League of Bend Holds 32nd Annual Breakfast with Santa
Posted inLocal News
Shepherd’s House Redmond Center Provides a “First Step Out of the Dirt”
Shepherd’s House Ministries has been operating in Deschutes County for 18 years. The nonprofit was founded and is still based in Bend, but has operated a shelter in Redmond since November 2023. As reported by the Source, the Shepherd’s House Redmond Center became a 24/7 shelter in February 2024, “providing meals, showers, mobile outreach, day services, job readiness programs and wrap-around services.” It also doubles […]
Posted inLocal News
‘Implausible,’ ‘Inconsistent’ and ‘Unsubstantiated’ by Evidence
After the dramatic departure last September of Andrés Portela III, the City of Bend’s equity and inclusion director, City officials vowed to hire a third-party consultant to investigate the allegations Portela listed in his Sept. 12 resignation letter. The allegations include a racially hostile environment inside City Hall, mismanagement of racial incidents by City Manager Eric King and a DEI department stripped of staff and organization. The results of that report, prepared by Amy Ahrendt, owner of Attorney-Conducted Workplace Investigations, suggest that the allegations of […]
Posted inOpinion
E-Bikes are Coming to Bend Area Trails. It Seemed Only a Matter of Time.
When e-bikes began to enter the mountain bike scene, trail users were concerned. Getting out into the forest in this way was inherently an activity that required committment — and anyway, wouldn’t those fast new bikes ruin the trails, and add more congestion in our already crowded network? Those were just some of the assumptions […]
Posted inFilm
Bill, Killed
I have a complicated relationship with Quentin Tarantino. I rented “Reservoir Dogs” on VHS when I was 12 years old and it was the first movie that ever made me really understand the importance of dialogue in filmmaking. The way QT balanced tough guy dialogue with flawless needle drops and character-driven ultra violence felt like […]
Posted inLocal News
Incoming Snowstorms Could Blow Away Warm Weather Worries
This December, an unseasonable warmth has had Bend residents and tourists alike sweating and shedding layers. Data from the Bend Municipal Airport weather station indicates recorded temperatures this month have exceeded high monthly averages by over 10 degrees Fahrenheit, and low monthly averages by over 25 degrees. Weather has been sunny and in the mid 50s for much of this month so far. Of course, heat in December also impacts the mountains. Without suitable snow on the slopes, some ski […]
Posted inLocal News
As CDC Changes Vaccine Guidance, Deschutes County Health Providers Stay the Course
On Dec. 5, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a significant shift in vaccine policy. The federal health agency will no longer recommend that newborn babies receive Hepatitis B vaccinations. For over three decades, the CDC universally recommended this shot. This change in policy came on advice from its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which “develops recommendations on the use of vaccines in […]
Posted inBusiness News
Cascade East Transit Will Begin Requiring Riders Have a CET GO pass
Cascades East Transit (CET), operated by the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, today announced a series of major initiatives that will roll out over the next several months, including the return of fares on all CET services, expanded rider support programs, and the launch of the Central Oregon Community Movement Fund – a new sponsorship initiative […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor, Week Dec. 18
Deschutes County Commission’s Not So Funny Comedy of Errors Oh, the irony! Last Wednesday [Dec. 3], I watched with incredulity as Patti Adair and Tony Debone called for public comment in a room full of interested citizens they themselves had silenced. Per The Source, “Adair requested that a public hearing be held [emphasis added] before any decision-making by […]
Posted inTelevision
Atomized Canon: The Folly of Hollywood’s Fallout TV Show
To filmmakers, screenwriters, and showrunners, being allowed to work on an established, deeply fleshed-out fictional universe must feel like a god-sent gift. Rather than constructing a tale from scratch and hoping it charms audiences enough to pay it mind and dollar, using the setting of an existing intellectual property lets creatives skip a hard step […]