Bend’s restaurant scene, particularly downtown, has seen more than its fair share of turnover in the past few years. Thankfully where restaurants have disappeared others have been quick to take their places – at least in most instances. That appears to the be the case, or something like it at least, with the latest spin of the culinary carousel, which reportedly has the owners of the well established Marz handing control of the restaurant to Gavin McMichael of The Blacksmith.

Read more at the Source Food Blog, Stuffed.

The cash-strapped city of Bend is preparing to send a collective six figure bill for overdue room tax charges that the city believes it has been shorted by a number of local hotels, including the Riverhouse.

The city of Bend released the final figures from its recent audit of six Bend hotels showing that the properties owe together more than $330,000 to the city because they under reported room tax revenue between Jan.2007 and Jan 2010. According to the city the Riverhouse, a property that has a contentious history with the city including an unrelated lawsuit over a construction bill disputes, owes the most -- roughly a $129,000 as of Dec 31 last year. Bend Inn and Suites and the Best Western each own roughly $57,000, according to the city. Other debtors include Econolodge ($38K) Pine Ridge (19K) and Sleep Inn ($46K)

The news follows several months of wrangling and speculation by the city that a number of hotel properties had exploited a loophole in the city's room tax rules that allowed hotels to deduct a meal expense from their tax bill, but had failed to properly account for the funds. The city has since eliminated the meal tax loophole over the objections of several hotel owners, most notably Riverhouse owner Wayne Purcell who aggressively lobbied the council to retain the exemption.

Purcell, who could not be reached by phone Wednesday evening, told the Source earlier this year that he has followed the city's room tax rules and didn't expect an audit to reveal any discrepancies.

Wow. Just wow. LSA (les schwab amphitheater) is back for 2010 in a big way with last night's Band of Horses show. That was some unapologetic, unbridaled rock and roll that managed to make half the audience swoon. And, oh yeah, there was a full-on Fourth of July fireworks dispaly over the river BEFORE the encore, which-btw-on Rd. 3 was Yo La Tengo.

Sorry did my face just melt off?

Long live wild horses.

REJ.

We’re a pretty humble bunch around here, but we just had to let ya’ll know that your hometown alt weekly nabbed a couple of nods this past week from the Society of Professional Journalists for our writing and reporting in 2009. Competing against non-daily newspapers and magazines from across the state and in southwest Washington, the Source garnered awards for news, social, issues and business reporting. Most notably, Arts and Culture editor Mike Bookey took home a first place award for his news feature “Poet. Friend. Killer?” about Jason Centrone, the artist turned transient who killed two other men in a local homeless camp. Bookey’s story beat out features from no less than the Willamette Week to win the top honor. Other winners included Editor Eric Flowers who grabbed a second place in the social issues category for a piece on sustainable agriculture. Contributor Daniel Pearson took home a third place award for a feature piece on the struggles at KOHD. Without the support of readers and advertisers, we wouldn’t have a chance to tell these kinds of stories. So thanks for sticking with us. Here’s to more good scoops in 2010.

Mt Bachelor’s sometimes controversial marketing director Alex Kaufman has left the company in what he calls a mutual decision to separate.

Kaufman who was known for his hands on approach to marketing helped modernize the mountain’s social marketing campaigns, moving Bachelor aggressively in to the world of Facebook and Twitter, but he also ruffled more than a few feathers with his persistent posting and desire to personally answer every criticism be it a newspaper article or Craigslist rant.

Kaufman recently butted heads with the Source over last week’s decision to Boot the hooligans who vandalized Bachelor property and started fights in the Skyliners parking lot on the final weekend of the season, prompting Bachelor to close the lot for Sunday’s finale. Kaufman took exception to the Source’s characterization of the offender’s as knuckledraggers, a term that Kaufman, who was quoted in the Boot, said he would never have used because of its association with snowboarders. The newspaper amended the story online substituting the word moron for knuckledraggers but Kaufman persisted with his criticism and indicated with his online comments that he felt the Source may have defamed him.

Such exchanges were common during what we’ll call the Kaufman era, but Kaufman said they didn’t prompt the sudden departure, which he said he had been talking about with his supervisors prior to the dust up.

“It’s something that we’ve been wrestling with for months,” he said.

Kaufman came to the mountain roughly two years ago along with President Dave Rathbun following a purge by parent company Powdr Corp, which saw the departure of then president Matt Janney, operations chief Ernie Pool and Kaufman’s predecessor Carly Carmichael.

Kaufman said that he wasn’t sure if he would remain in Bend, but added that he would be making the decision soon whether to stay or leave since his wife is pregnant.

 A state land use planner who has been a thorn in the side of the city’s long suffering UGB expansion proposal announced today that he is retiring early. Mark Radabaugh has served as the state’s point person throughout the city’s prolonged UGB process and has been a pointed critic of the city’s unprecedented expansion proposal.

Radabaugh’s dogged skepticism about Bend’s ambitious plan earned him plenty of scorn from local politicians and planners. Councilor Mark Capell in a January interview with the Source likened the city’s relationship with Radabaugh’s employer, the Department of Land Conservation and Development, to its well-publicized feud with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission and called Radabaugh a “roadblock.”

Radabaugh’s supervisors however stood by his work publicly and have defended the department’s overall review that was based in large part on Radabaugh’s research and comments.

“I know there have been some differences of opinion and some personality issues and I stand behind Mark. I think he’s done an excellent job,” Whitman told the city council in January.  

Based in part on Radabaugh’s review, the state decided earlier this year to send the city back to the proverbial drawing board, a process referred to in planning speak as a “remand.” The city opted to appeal the decision rather than revamp its proposal, presumably to a more modest request. After a series of recent hearings, the state’s oversight commission voted to largely uphold the department’s recommendations.  

Environmentalists rejoice! Oregon’s pre-eminent statewide conservation group 1,000 Friends of Oregon is kicking of its renewed commitment to Central Oregon with an open house this evening at its new regional office, conveniently located above the Summit Saloon and Stage. Festivities begin at 7 p.m at the Summit where light refreshment will be served, according to the group. Executive Director Jason Miner will be on hand to talk about the organization’s statewide plans as well as its plans for Central Oregon where the group has hired two staff members, local land use attorney Pam Hardy (formerly of Central Oregon Landwatch) and Ben Gordon, formerly of OLCV, to advocate for conservation causes in our backyard. The event concludes with a tour of the new offices which will be newly furnished with works from local artist Genessa Goodman Campbell (who also happens to work for the Oregon Natural Desert Association) and photographer Jim Davis. The event is free and open to the public.

“We want to bring the community together to know we’re here, engage in some dialogue and get used to the idea of coming to our office,” Gordon said.

For more info, ben@friends.org

Oregon Attorney John Kroger announced today that his office will not be filing criminal charges against the University of Oregon over its handling of the dismissal of former football coach and athletic director Mike Bellotti, who was given a roughly $2.3 million severance earlier this year by the school. Bellotti was working without a contract at the time of the generous payout. In a press release issued Thursday morning, Kroger said the university had exposed itself to “substantial legal risk” by allowing Bellotti to work without a written contract. Because of that legal risk, Kroger said it was not unreasonable for the school to settle the matter. Bellotti left the school to take a job with ESPN after the university’s new president Richard Lariviere informed him privately that it would be cutting ties with the popular coach turned AD. Lariviere has subsequently said that the university needed someone with more business experience than Bellotti to run the school's athletic department (aka cash cow). Hmmm. Maybe it's time to pick up the Swoosh Phone and call Uncle Phil.

While most eyes are on the primary with the May 18 election fast approaching, there is already some preliminary jockeying for the three Bend City Council seats up for grabs in November. Local businessman and BendFilm board member Scott Ramsay was the latest to announce his intention to run. Ramsay said in a press release that he had filed preliminary paperwork with the state to run for the seat currently held by former mayor Oran Teater who recently announced that he would not be seeking re-election this fall. Teater was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Chris Telfer after she was elected to the state Senate where she now holds the seat vacated by the late Ben Westlund.

For his part, Ramsay said he has long been vocal about his political views and decided to run for council thanks in part to the encouragement of current City Councilor Jeff Eager, who is a family friend and has worked as an attorney representing Ramsay’s businesses that include the Sun Mountain Fun Center and the variety shop Casarama. Ramsay describes himself as a fiscal conservative with an open mind who expects government to accord itself with the same kind of responsibility and restraint that society expects of individuals.

However, he added, “I certainly wouldn’t call myself a thundering conservative in all realms.” 

As far as a platform, Ramsay said he believes the city needs to do a better job of creating a positive environment for business that will help grow our local economy and sustain our tax base.

Ramsay has a little bit of practical experience to draw upon when it comes to the city’s business friendliness. His plan to redevelop the corner around Casarama at Division Street and Revere Avenue was stymied by the city, which, according to Ramsay, demanded $600,000 to $700,000 worth of adjacent road improvements just to break ground.

It’s still a few months before candidates can officially file petitions to run for city council, but the race for Teater’s seat is already taking shape with Downtown Business Association Executive Director Chuck Arnold having already announced that he will be seeking the seat. Other seats in play in November include that held by Mayor Pro Tem Mark Capell and that of Jodie Barram.

The latest Central Oregon wilderness lands bill took a step forward today clearing Sen. Ron Wyden’s public lands subcommittee in a development that could set the stage for another wilderness showdown with Sen. Tom Coburn, aka Dr. No, the Nebraska Oklahoma Republican who held previously held up the Badlands designation and has thrown up procedural roadblocks on all wilderness bills over what he says are unfunded costs, but look to us just like more petty partisanship.

The Cathedral Rock/Horse Heaven Wilderness would create a pair of new federally designated wilderness areas along and adjacent to the John Day River, opening up thousands of acres of new lands to the public while moving other public parcels into the hands of private landowners. The move, if successful, would address the historic “checkerboard” ownership patterns in the John Day area where public and private lands are often intermingled, leading to conflicts between users, notably hunters who reportedly sometimes stray from public lands onto private parcels including a Christian youth ranch located on the former Rajneesh Purim outside the tiny town of Antelope.

In all, about 16,000 acres would be included in the new wilderness area, including 9,000 acres along and immediately adjacent to the John Day River, which although accessible only by the river would open up additional camping and hiking options for boaters along the popular stretch of river.

While it’s unlikely the proposal will come up for a vote of the full Senate because of Coburn’s parliamentary maneuvering, it is likely to join other pending wilderness legislation in a yet-to-be-introduced omnibus public lands bill similar to the one that passed with the Badlands and Spring Basin wilderness areas.

“There’s a couple of things that have happened in the last year that are building momentum for that (omnibus) package,” said Aaron Kilgore, the wilderness coordinator for Oregon Natural Desert Association, the Bend-based conservation organization that helped broker the deal with the BLM and adjacent private landowners, including Bend’s Bill Smith, of Old Mill fame, whose family owns a large ranch on the John Day.