The year 2016 was a great time to be outside: extreme sport start-ups let Bendites bungee off a bridge or dive into the sky; rare wolves and foxes made brief cameos in the wild; Bachelor debuted a new ski lift; even Pokémon Go helped out, if only fleetingly. To help you start planning your outdoor […]
Bend Oregon News
Posted inMusic
Hardest Losses
A tribute to the musicians we loved and lost over the past year
Throughout 2016, the grim reaper was busy taking some of our most beloved icons. While this section focuses on music, it’s hard not to pour one out for John Glenn, Gene Wilder, Anton Yelchin, Garry Marshall, Muhammad Ali, Garry Shandling, Larry Drake, Harper Lee, Alan Rickman, Carrie Fisher and dozens of others. Plus these people, […]
Posted inNews
Top Cannabis Strains of 2016
As a bad year comes to a close, Smoke Signals considers the best strains of 2016. The strains making the list are both strong sellers in Bend, Portland and elsewhere in Oregon, as well as those that have increased greatly in popularity over the past year. Blue Dream Blue Dream is what’s known as a […]
Posted inCulture
Good Stuff, Not-So-Good Stuff
The most underrated and overrated films of 2016
Every year there are films that are wonderful, yet are completely ignored by audiences, eventually attracting a cult following several years later. On the opposite end there are movies that critics and audiences alike think are giant piles of crap. Here are a couple of films misunderstood or over-loved by audiences this year. Underrated: The […]
Posted inNews
Headlines that Made You Say Hmmm
The Source’s top news stories for every month of the year
When you say “2016 sucked,” what I think you’re really trying to say is, “November and beyond sucked.” In case you need a reminder about how the rest of the year only mildly sucked, and then only sometimes, here’s a look back at the Source’s biggest news story for each month of the year. January […]
Posted inNews
How the Fed Interest Rate Hike Will Affect the Housing Market
As anticipated, the Federal Reserve voted Dec. 14 to raise the federal funds rate by a quarter point. I thought it would be “fun” to show the effects of interest rate hikes on a $300,000 mortgage with a 30-year term: As you can see, a quarter point difference is not that significant, but a half […]
Posted inNews
Stay Lit, Central Oregon!
Energy Challenge program extends into Redmond and Tumalo for 2017
Over the past two years, you may have wondered at the crew of people in Americorps gear, riding around Bend on bikes laden with boxes of LED bulbs. Whether in snow or in sleet, the crew has been working to get the word out about the incredible energy savings you can get by replacing your […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Ditch the Kitchen this Christmas
Festive feasts and where to find them
The dog doesn’t have to “accidentally” eat the turkey for you to feel justified in taking your loved ones out to a restaurant to eat this holiday. If the idea of planning, preparing, serving, and then cleaning up after feeding family and friends sounds more like a work day than a holiday, then we have […]
Posted inCulture
Beware the Christmas Goat
The odd, absurd and sometimes downright freaky side of Christmas traditions
Let’s get weird for a second. Imagine you were trying to explain Western holiday traditions to someone not raised in our culture. For one, there’s this bearded guy, totally not connected to Jesus or his birthday, who climbs down the chimneys of people with children and leaves presents under a tree propped in a corner […]
Posted inCulture
All You Can Do is Laugh
Roast the year 2016 like it deserves
Regardless how good of a year we had as individuals, it’s kinda hard to deny that 2016 sucked. Sucked bad. Like, out of toilet paper in a cemetery outhouse bad. We lost Bowie, Prince and Alan Rickman. Politics have us divided worse than four years ago (or eight years ago…or maybe just really any election […]
