In 2011, the last bookstore in Nashville closed its doors. The book was dead, they said. Who needs bookstores when you can download the most popular titles straight to your preferred device—or better yet, wait for the film adaptation to hit theaters? But Ann Patchett, a lifelong Nashvillian and bestselling author, was having none of […]
Section Feature
Posted inCulture
Beer Bottle Beauty
Our Artist of the Month is a local photographer who captures beer and the outdoors
Self-described “beertographer” and Bend resident Matthew Ward (aka: Bend Brew Daddy) has two passions common to a large swath of Central Oregonians: photography and craft beers. A stay-at-home dad, Ward was in the habit of heading outside with a beer in hand for some alone time when his wife Lisa came home from work at […]
Posted inOutside
Need a Little Alone Time?
The “new” Oregon Desert Trail offers an 800-mile trek through solitude
The difference between the Pacific Crest Trail and the Oregon Desert Trail, explains Shane Von Schlemp who has walked both, is a lot of “space-out time.” He goes on to explain that the famous PCT is well-marked—and increasingly well-trodden—while ODT is, at best, a faint trail that meanders through some of Oregon’s most hard-scrabbled and […]
Posted inNews
Making Ends Meet
Fair Shot Oregon calls for higher wages and more sick days
Blanca Meliton and her husband want to start a family. But it’s just not financially feasible. The 25-year-old college grad makes $10 an hour as a homecare aid for hospice patients, and her husband makes minimum wage—$9.25 an hour—as a line cook for a Chinese restaurant. And even if they could pinch enough pennies to […]
Posted inCulture
Environmentalism on Film
Telluride Mountain Films captures the adventurer’s spirit
Since the Telluride Mountain Film Festival launched in 1979, the definition of “environmentalist” has both broadened and become much more diverse. Likewise, the collection of films for this annual festival—and its subsequent tour of short films around the country—has become more complicated and more nuanced about the definition it provides for modern-day environmentalism. Duke & […]
Posted inMusic
Idolize This
Crystal Bowersox was a star long before American Idol
You know what they say: you can spend your entire life as a performing musician, but compete on one season of the highest-rated singing show in America and that’s all people remember you for. Aside from that one time Crystal Bowersox was the runner-up on American Idol, she’s best known for her powerfully soulful vocals […]
Posted inCulture
Poetry to the People
Get Lit brings literary empowerment to MUSE Conference
As a teenager, Diane Lane couldn’t be bothered with poetry. Despite the passion her teachers tried to impart, she just couldn’t get into poems about flora and fauna, written by dead white dudes. “I didn’t give a hoot about flora,” Lane tells the Source. “I was from New Jersey. So I cared about the height […]
Posted inNews
Farewell to Skyline Forest?
After a decade of conservation efforts, the forest’s sale casts doubt on future
It’s a view that keeps building heights low and spirits high—the majestic, snow-capped Cascades, skirted by ponderosa forests. But the future of that view may be in jeopardy. That’s because the 33,000-acre swath of forestland west of Bend known as Skyline Forest—where Bendites mountain bike, hike, and ride horseback on user-created trails—doesn’t belong to the […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Kombucha Nation
Bend adds the fizzy tonic to its repertoire
Overheard conversation between two seniors in a Bend café on a Sunday morning: “Hey, what are you drinking there?” the first one asks. “It’s kombucha!” the second replies enthusiastically. “It’s supposed to make me more energetic, and help my digestive system…and make me smarter, ha!” That’s right, kombucha and all of its alleged wonderful benefits […]
Posted inOutside
Boulder Bash Blows Up
Bend Rock Gym climbing competition goes big, and goes home!
For the past five years, the Bend Rock Gym has been hosting a competitive bouldering series called “Boulder Bashes.” But, these events have largely been self-contained to the climbers there to show off their skills. That is, until last weekend. On Saturday, the Bend Rock Gym hosted its final “Boulder Bash” of the season—and, Bend’s […]
