The Wandering Eye

In a way, you have to admire the indestructible optimism of Bend realtors. If you could take an extract from their brains and turn it into a pill it would be better than Prozac.

A move's afoot in the state Legislature to change the formula under which the tourist industry gets the lion's share of room tax revenue, and the industry is squealing.

Forbes magazine columnist Joel Kotkin, whose comments about the economic ills of our state and city The Eye focused on recently, was on OPB's "Morning Edition" today offering more of the same — along with some encouragement.

State officials have come up with a plan that would keep destination resorts away from the Metolius, and the pro-resort forces are, predictably, fuming and sputtering.

"Drop in groundwater perplexes scientists," reads the headline on the top story in today's edition of Bend's Only Daily Newspaper.

The Juniper Ridge Info blog did a fine job of getting the skinny on who got how much from whom in the last Bend City Council campaign, and the results are intriguing - and in one respect rather surprising.

In a post delightfully headlined "Death by Moron," blogger Mark Morford of the San Francisco Chronicle rips into the trolls, orcs, goblins and other repugnant Tolkienesque life forms that infest Internet forums.

Allen Alley, the Republican who lost to Democrat Ben Westlund in the battle for the secretary of state's office last year, is taking a shot at the governorship.

Carla Axtman of the Blue Oregon blog takes a look at the lobbying going on in favor of the proposed Metolius destination resorts and raises some intriguing questions. For instance: Why is Rep. Gene Whisnant, whose southern Deschutes County district is nowhere near the Metolius, getting contributions from resort developers?

Forbes magazine columnist Joel Kotkin took a peek this week at the outlook for the Oregon economy in general and Bend's in particular, and what he saw ain't pretty.