Glass Slipper

AirBnB and other informal services through which homeowners rent out their homes have remained largely unregulated by the same agencies and rules that govern hotels. But as those rental have grown in numbers (and market share), so has grown cities' interest in taxing them. Last Friday, the city of Bend issued a press release announcing […]

We live in a desert. Water is precious. That much should be agreed upon. Fortunately, we have a newly formed Central Oregon Conservation Network (COCN), a dream team collection of area environmental organizations, which is watchdogging how the region and regional agencies manage this resource—and, more keenly, what infrastructure is being planned and installed to […]

This week, the Oregon Legislature did something important, albeit largely symbolic: It asked Congress for a constitutional amendment to reverse the 2010 Citizens United decision, an onerous ruling that relieved corporate campaign spending from government restrictions. Chief Justice John Roberts penned the opinion, stating that the First Amendment allows such “freedoms.” Or, in more operational […]

Newspapers in America are dying. That’s the common refrain—and it is backed up by numbers. Over the past five years, two dozen major daily newspapers have shuttered their productions, and an estimated 40 percent of print journalism jobs have been lost over the past decade. Case in point: Last week, The Oregonian announced it will […]

Today, sun shines on the Riverfront Plaza at 875 NW Brooks St. where families and friends sit at wrought iron tables—some under the shade of an umbrella, others basking in the late-afternoon rays. Adults play yard games, sip pints of locally made beer and collect the bean bags for another round of cornhole. This scene […]

On Tuesday, Bend and two other cities were designated “Walk Friendly Communities.” The program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, recognizes community efforts to increase non-car travel. While not comprehensive evaluations, such recognitions are an accurate measurement of Bend’s efforts to be sustainable—environmentally by weaning from car travel and socially by bringing more people […]

It is the best type of arm’s race: For those just tuning in, the University of Oregon and Oregon State University are doing more than battling on the football field in their annual Civil War game. They are involved in a giant game of Risk, staking out outposts for their colleges across the state. But […]

Maybe it is President Obama’s soothing voice as the Commander-in-Caring, or maybe we really are becoming nicer as a nation. But three years into the current decade, it certainly does seem as if the arc of history is bending noticeably toward kindness. Certainly, there are notable and horrible exceptions—the insanely cruel bombings at the Boston […]

Thanks to an impassioned and impressive effort by the staff of Economic Development of Central Oregon, on June 12, American Airlines is slated to begin air service from Redmond direct to LAX. In under two weeks, the Economic Development of Central Oregon, a public/private partnership devoted to building business in the region, managed to raise […]