The wolf has always gotten bad press. To early Christians he was a symbol of evil, or even the Devil himself (in contrast to Jesus, the “good shepherd” protecting the flock). In folklore, from werewolf legends to tales about the Big Bad Wolf who harassed the Three Little Pigs and the wolf who almost ate Little Red Riding Hood, Canis lupus consistently was cast as a villain – though sometimes a comic one.

His literary reputation, combined with a tendency to grab the occasional spring lamb or calf, didn’t endear the wolf to European-Americans as they moved across America and set up farms and ranches. The result was a campaign of extermination that eliminated wolves from most of the lower 48 states, including Oregon.

We’ve seen businesses perform some amazing acrobatic feats with numbers, but the cast of Cirque du Soleil couldn’t top the stunt that Wayne Purcell, Brett Evert and some other Bend hotel owners are trying to pull off.

About 10 years ago, when the city decided to raise its transient room tax to 9%, the hotel owners pleaded for – and got – a $10-per-person credit for the supposed cost of providing complimentary breakfasts to guests. For example, if a couple rented a room for $100 a night, the hotel could knock off $20 for the meal credit and thus owe room tax on only $80.

George Washington grew it, Shakespeare might have smoked it, and its use in medicine dates back some 5,000 years. But until last week, the State of Oregon regarded it as a dangerous drug in the same category as heroin and LSD.

Bowing to scientific evidence and common sense, the state Board of Pharmacy voted to reclassify marijuana from a “Schedule I” controlled substance to a “Schedule II” one. Schedule I drugs are those that have a “high abuse potential and no acceptable medical use in the United States.” Schedule II drugs also are deemed to have a high abuse potential but are recognized as having legitimate medical uses, such as the painkiller oxycodone and cocaine, used as a topical anesthetic in some surgeries.

It’s good to know people in high places. Just ask Keith Cyrus and his family.

Cyrus, the descendant of five generations of Central Oregonians, is a member of the Deschutes County Planning Commission. He also is the developer of Aspen Lakes, a tony golf course subdivision near Sisters.

Whether you were headed north or south on Highway 97 at Deschutes Junction just north of Bend, the brilliant shocking-pink building by the side of the road was pretty impossible to miss.

If the color didn’t get your attention, the signs would: “LIVE NUDE GIRLS!!!” “Sensual Rubdowns,” “Shower Shows,” “Pole Dancing,” and “Erotic Dungeon.”

Other signs proclaimed that the old building, which more than a decade ago was home to Buffet Flat, a funky and quirky antique-cum-junk shop, was about to be reborn as the “Pussycat Ranch.”