Blog entries posted in The Beacon

Winter Fest Gets Road Trip Props

Eric Flowers — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:13:09 +0100

A national online magazine/blog has given Bend’s WinterFest a nod as one of the Top 10 winter festival destinations for road tripping families.

Road Trip For Families published a piece this week identifying WinterFest among the nation’s must-see winter celebrations alongside such well known festivals as St. Paul Minnesota’s massi...

Chris Horner To Host Mass Road Bike Tour in Bend

Eric Flowers — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 04:00:00 +0100

Bend native and Tour de France star Chris Horner has teamed up with Visit Bend on a new charity bike event to be held in August this year. The event, which will be hosted by Horner and organized in part by Visit Bend, the city’s tourism bureau, is dubbed the Cascade Gran Fondo, and modeled on similar mass participation rides that are popular in Italy.

...

The Big Cheese: Appointing or electing Bend’s mayor

Bob Woodward — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:48:53 +0100

Before heading off into the City Council retirement sunset, former councilor and mayor Oran Teater yet again brought up the question of why Bend doesn’t have an elected rather than an appointed Mayor.

Teater is absolutely spot on with his question, which is essentially pertinent this week, considering Jeff Eager was ...

New John Day Rafting Restrictions Released

Eric Flowers — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:39:20 +0100

The BLM has issued new summer time boating rules for the John Day that will greatly restrict the number of boats allowed on the most popular stretches from late May to early July. Under the rules released on Thursday afternoon, which go into effect for the 2011 boating season, the BLM will allow a total of just nine boat trips to launch in the popular Clarno to Cottonwood sec...

Bend Drivers Not Drunk, Just Texting!

Eric Flowers — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 22:47:07 +0100

I recently lost my Bluetooth headset. After finally giving up on the search, I’m planning to replace it soon at a cost of roughly $40. That will make $80 so far that I’ve spent on headsets for myself, another $40 for my wife’s Bluetooth and a grand total of $120, or thereabouts.

That’s about the equivalent of the fine that the state lev...

Um, Did Pat Robertson Say That We Should Legalize Marijuana?

Mike Bookey — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:49:55 +0100

Remember Pat Robertson, the aging hard-right Christian broadcaster known for, among other things, announcing that the earthquake in Haiti was a result of the nation's pact with the Devil?

Well, last week he seemed to indicate on his show The 700 Club, that he was in favor of decriminalizing marijuana (or perhaps reforming mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana possession), a statement that seems to fly in the face of the rhetoric Robertson and his followers typically espouse. His re...

Redmond to Residents: Wait to Skate

Eric Flowers — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:33:52 +0100

Ambitious plans to get an outdoor community ice rink up and running in Redmond’s Centennial Plaza this winter were scrapped earlier this week. According to a press release from the city of Redmond, the city’s plans hit a roadblock when arrangements to bring a compressor over from Portland fell through recently. Rather than keep searching around the city has decided to temporarily shelve the project until next year, allowing the city to complete some of the accompanying site work o...

DMV Decides Not to Pursue New Office Location in Bend

Mike Bookey — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 16:52:53 +0100

After months of protests by residents in neighbors off of Brookswood Blvd. on the southwest side of Bend, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced today that it would no longer pursue a DMV location in a shopping center in that area.

In the letter to the owner of the space, W. Scott Lovejoy III, the DMV says that the lease is void because the space could not be prepared in time for the planned January move in.

The current Bend DMV will continue at its current location o...

Central Oregon's Email Subject Line of the Day

Eric Flowers — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 22:25:11 +0100

One of the great privileges of sitting in my chair is the opportunity to wade through hundreds of emails and press releases each week for the chance of finding just one small nugget that could possibly be of interest or relevance. It’s captivating stuff. Then every once in awhile you see something that catches your eye, like the following email that came through from the Sheriff’s office this afternoon. I wish I knew how to write headlines like that -- without even a trace of iron...

Arnold Concedes Bend City Council Seat to Ramsay

Eric Flowers — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 19:52:24 +0100

Just off the phone with council candidate Chuck Arnold who informed that he has conceded the final council seat from last month's election to his opponent Scott Ramsay, following a hand recount that determined Ramsay edged Arnold by a razor-thin three vote margin. An upbeat Arnold said that he felt very positive about the recount process and confident that the hand recount was accurate. Arnold, who also serves as the executive director of the Downtown Bend Business Association, said he looks ...

Goodbye Goomba’s, Hello Bond Street Bar and Grill

Eric Flowers — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 22:09:11 +0100

The restaurant casualties continue in downtown where longtime operator Peggy Falcaro announced on Monday that she has sold Giuseppe’s after a 20-plus-year run on Bond Street.

Longtime locals remember Giuseppe’s as one of the places to enjoy a good meal and a glass of wine before the boom. However, like many downtown establishments Giuseppe&rsq...

COCC Newspaper Editor Resigns After Admitting Theft

Mike Bookey — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:01:15 +0100

The editor in chief of The Broadside, the student newspaper at Central Oregon Community College, resigned today at request of the publication’s board, after admitting that he’d been caught stealing from a former employee.

Eric Ercanbrack, who began as editor at the beginning of the school year, made the announcement today following a meeting of the Broadside’s Publication Board, which consists of faculty, advisors, a representative from The Bulletin and a member of th...

Flaherty To Get Blaylock Murder Case

Eric Flowers — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:30:40 +0100

In a break from string of hostilities dating back to the May election campaign, District Attorney Mike Dugan has announced that his successor DA-elect Patrick Flaherty will serve as a special prosecutor on the high profile Lori Blaylock murder case. Blaylock’s husband, Steven, was arrested last week and charged with killing his wife whose body has not yet been found.

Flaherty who takes office in January has been publicly battling with Dugan’s office and county brass over issues related to hi...

After Abuses, City is Ready to Pull Plug on Parking Program

Eric Flowers — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:48:20 +0100

The city of Bend is preparing to pull the plug on its downtown parking validation program, again, because of persistent problems with downtown employees and business owners who abuse the system. City staff is proposing to kill the validation program at the end of the calendar year and has already met with the program’s chief proponent, the Downtown Bend Business Association (DBBA), to discuss the change. City staff and DBBA are already kicking around ideas to replace the validation prog...

Forest Service Wants Winter Leash Law Input

Eric Flowers — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:29:36 +0100

Bend dog owners who want more access to groomed ski trails will have a chance to share their perspective with the Forest Service and other winter trail users this week at an open house aimed at airing some of the access issues. While there are no official proposals on the table, off-leash proponents lead by Bend-b...

Miller Landing Campaign Gets A Boost

Eric Flowers — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 22:28:13 +0100

The push to build a new riverfront park in Bend got a boost this week from the Oregon Community Foundation, which announced that it has pledged $50,000 toward the acquisition of the Miller Landing property. The news brings the Trust for Public Land, and the community at large, a step closer to realizing the vision of a new riverfront park just downstream of the Colorado spillway. If successful, the area would be developed as a public park and potentially a vital component of a p...

Ramsay and Arnold Headed for Recount

Eric Flowers — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:52:02 +0100

It's late and my pain meds are just starting to kick in (sprained ankle) so I'll keep this short. But after speaking with newly re-elected Deschutes County Clerk Nancy Blankenship, I've got this to report about the too-close to call city Council race between Chuck Arnold and Scott Ramsay .

The un-official margin of victory for Ramsay is eight votes out of the more than 10,000 cast in the race. The election won't be certified for three weeks, however. In the meantime, the county needs ...

A Quick Local Election Round-up

Eric Flowers — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:43:44 +0100

(Update: Final numbers, or at least what appeared to be final this a.m. showed that voter turnout was much better than earlier numbers indicated. Roughly 72 percent of registered voters turned out for the election in Deschutes County. However, late arriving ballots did little to change the overall results. Perhaps save the Bend City Council race which tightened to a razor thin margin overnight with Scott Ramsay, clinging to an 8, yes 8, vote lead over Chuck Arnold.)

The Des...

Obama Loves Phil's Trail

Eric Flowers — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 19:28:18 +0100

Tea Partiers and other members of the Obama-Care/B.Hussein nation, stop reading here. The following sequence of letters strung together in words and sentences does not pertain to you.

All others may proceed…

Word over the Internets this afternoon is that the Deschutes Forest is in line for another round of federal highway funding and that’s good news for mountain bikers (see I told you it didn’t apply - now go put on your civil war re-enactment garb on and continue...

Fly Fishing is Spooooky!

Eric Flowers — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 16:46:53 +0100

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAmKcCXMtxM&feature=related 480x385]

The fledgling Bend Casting Club, which is seeking to take advantage of the underutilitzed Orvis casting course, has upped the novelty factor for this evening's monthly meeting/competition. In honor of this weekend's Halloween festivities, the club is encouraging fly anglers to come out to this evenings' gathering in Halloween costumes. The club will adding glow in the dark ...