Until Tuesday evening, the race for Deschutes County District Attorney—potentially the most interesting and probably the most important current race for office—had been largely silent. Still eight months away, the challenger John Hummel, a former defense attorney who has been campaigning since October, has been trying to pull the incumbent Patrick Flaherty into the ring, […]
Section Feature
Posted inNews
The Long View of History
New president, Dana Whitelaw’s new outlook for the High Desert Museum
Growing up in Central Oregon, some of my earliest memories are of my Mom walking me though the winding cement paths of the High Desert Museum. Surrounded by tall pine trees and eyelevel sagebrush, the first stop was always the otter exhibit, where Bert and Ernie, now both long deceased, frolicked in their high desert […]
Posted inOutside
Cool Callister
Bend snowboarder reflects on his Olympic debut
Most of the $50 billion Russian President Vladimir Putin poured into the recent Olympic preparations was not noticed by 18-year-old Bend snowboarder Kent Callister, who was in Sochi representing Australia. The halfpipe—Callister’s home for the three weeks he spent at the subtropical Russian resort—was bad. The food was worse. And his sparse Mountain Village accommodations […]
Posted inFood & Drink
The Missing Link
Tetherow’s new pub brings high brow to the people
In April, Tetherow, the golf course resort at the cusp between the city and the mountain, will open up 50 spacious hotel rooms on its 700-acre site. Formerly a burn zone a decade ago, the golf course and private homes sprung up like wild flowers in the charred grounds. But for the past several years […]
Posted inFood & Drink
No Poisoned Apple
Mirror Mirror is the fairest of them all
Barley wine beers are an interesting lot. Though not wine at all, these intense brews do pack a boozy punch—often registering between 10 and 15 percent alcohol by volume—and are often quite sweet and filled with a swirl of flavors, from dried fruits to acidic hops to caramel. The worst ones are syrupy sweet and […]
Posted inMusic
Let’s Get Serious
Portland rock band Hong Kong Banana is what happens when silly becomes earnest
On the ridiculousness spectrum, a scale of 1-10 measuring absurdity, Portland garage soul band Hong Kong Banana should score an 11. The band name alone is worth seven points. But there’s a lot more to them than a goofy name and silly alter egos. Their lead singer goes by Nigel Bubblesworth, clearly a made up […]
Posted inCulture
Superstar!
Meet cover artist Brett Superstar (yes, that’s his legal name)
The steps to legally changing a surname are as follows: Put a public notice in a newspaper to prove you’re not trying to escape debt, warrants, bookies, ex-wives, etc., provide a reasonable excuse to a judge (something like, you’re an artist and the name recognition might help to boost sales) and cough up $200. That’s […]
Posted inCulture
MUSE Worthy
Year Two of Bend’s Bigger Better Women’s Conference
Last month, the Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon, an international effort to correct the heavy male bias in Wikipedia pages, created over 100 new entries for women in just 24-hours, and bulked up the collective knowledge with a more complete gender representation. Reading the lineup for Bend’s second annual Muse conference feels like the organizers are trying […]
Posted inOutside
Wildlands Warrior
Conservationist Tim Lillebo was the voice of eastern Oregon
Spread an eastern Oregon map over the hood of a decades-old pickup truck and point to any spot at random. Tim Lillebo could not only tell you five intimate details about the chosen location, he could recall everything that happened during his last visit there—the bull elk he spotted over the ridge, the Indian paintbrush […]
Posted inCulture
And The Winner Is . . .
With the Academy Awards this weekend, our staff choices
Best Actor: Editor Phil Busse believes that Matthew McConaughey deserves not one but TWO Oscars as Best Actor (and a third for Best Supporting Actor in his brief appearance in The Wolf of Wall Street.) The Texan heartthrob had his breakout year, finally reclaiming the greatness he showed in A Time To Kill and cleaning […]