At 5:30pm on opening day, the parking lot at Market of Choice on Colorado Avenue was overflowing. I parked a block away and made my way inside the 42,000-square-foot shopping Mecca, along with everyone else in Bend, it seemed. Market of Choice boasts more than 10 different departments, ranging from fresh produce, seafood and meat […]
Pacific Northwest
Aliens vs. Teenagers
When “Independence Day” was released in 1996, there was something refreshing about a movie that chose to blow up most of the world before saving it. The heroics of Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum mattered little because millions of people were already dead. While there were plenty of disaster flicks before “ID4,” the novelty of […]
Beer Bouquets for Discerning Drinkers
Local beer fans looking for extra variety are being spoiled for choice this summer. The 2016 version of Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp Across America 12-pack has been out for a little while now, offering everything from a light table beer to an imperial brown ale in the same package—and in a few days, two more […]
Picks 6/29-7/6
Friday 1 Lonestar COUNTRY—As the first country band to appear on both Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right, Lonestar, knows how to win fans AND the Showcase Showdown. Catch them the night before the La Pine Rodeo begins, and stick around town the next day for more music, food, and fun. // 6pm, […]
Little Bites 6/29-7/6
Eat, Drink, and Brew-It-Yourself at Immersion Brewing You probably already know you can brew your own beer at Immersion Brewing. But did you know you can drink here, and eat dinner here, whether or not you opt to reserve a two-hour session where you can learn to make your own batch of beer? Immersion Brewing […]
Precautions Urged to Help Save Bats
Portland, Ore. – Visitors using public lands are encouraged to help fight the spread of white-nose syndrome and save bats in the Pacific Northwest. White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a fungal disease that has devastated bat populations in eastern North America, killing an estimated six million bats since 2006. In March 2016, Washington’s first case of […]
Little Bites – Top Chef
Judging Central Oregon’s Top Chef competition is a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. Fortunately, I was one of those someones last weekend at the Bite of Bend. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Top Chef pits two culinary masterminds against each other in a head-to-head cooking competition that features a […]
Swimming in Place
It is difficult to go into a film released by Pixar Animation Studios without abnormally high expectations. While not every single one of their films is an outright classic, they have had only one full-blown misfire in their filmography with “Cars 2.” Even though these are basically categorized as animated films for children, Pixar has […]
Beer Fans’ New Market of Choice
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Market of Choice, the upscale supermarket that opened near the Old Mill off NW Sizemore last week, completely changes the beer distribution picture in Central Oregon. “Our aim is to provide the best experience we can with the beer and wine we offer,” says Cameron Webster, manager of […]
Microsoft is Ready to Make Money From Weed
It is often said that making money is one of the oldest highs. That might be the mantra of tech giant Microsoft, now peddling products ranging from PowerPoint to pot. This week, Microsoft welcomed cannabis business compliance company KIND Financial to its Azure Government cloud platform. The pioneering, Seattle-based company becomes the first major tech […]

