We had a chance to drop by Crux Fermentation , the new Old Mill area brewery from Paul Evers of tbd advertising and longtime Deschutes brewmaster Larry Sidor. The brewery is shooting for an end of June opening and things are moving apace at the job site where crews are working to get the brew system, kitchen and pretty much everything else installed before grand opening. On Tuesday most of the crew, with the exception of Sidor who was out on a parts run, was on hand to watch as a paint crew erased the Aamco Transmission shop sign once and for all from the front of the building, unofficially marking the start of its new life as a Bend's newest craft brewery.

According to Evers, the building which featured skylights and glue-lam beams before they every started remodeling, began as a mill supply shop. Aamco moved into the building in the 1990s before the parkway was built when the well-trafficked  Division street ran adjacent to the property. Besides the building, Evers said he and his partners liked the centralized if somewhat out-of-the way location that offers surprising mountain views right from the front door.

In fact says Evers, if you put a north-south, east-west grid on the city of Bend, the property would fall right at the intersection of the lines, a fact that helped to inspired the owners to choose the name Crux for their business.

We shot some more pics of the interior, which includes cool re-purposed barn wood finishing, creative wall papering and copper tanks, soon. Stay tuned for more on Crux.

A major planning project that could guide the next quarter century of year-round recreation at Mt Bachelor is up for review by the public.

The Forest Service released its draft Environmental Analysis of Mt. Bachelor’s long-term development plan on Monday. The plan includes a proposal for a new high-speed lift on the east side of the mountain, potentially opening up hundreds of more acres to skiers, as well as improvements to the lodging and guest facilities. The Forest Service, which manages the public land lease with the resort, will hold a yet-to-be schedule open house in June to showcase the document and collect feedback. The agency will also be taking written comment beginning Friday, May 25 and concluding July 9.

Other elements of the winter plan include:

       *adding new trails (ski runs) on the mountain’s eastside

       *clearing trees and brush to improve tree skiing opportunities between that area and Sunrise,

       * construction of a new Sunrise lodge and expansion of West Village lodge

       *moving the tubing area across the parking lot

       * shortening and replacing the Red Chair and Rainbow lifts

       * Replacing the Sunrise lifts with a six-pack chair

Plans for enhanced summer recreation include a future network of lift-served downhill mountain bike trails, a la Mt. Hood’s Ski Bowl, and a tree canopy zipline park.

A former Deschutes County deputy has been jailed on a string of domestic abuse charges that were first brought to light in 2009.

The Deschutes County sheriff’s office said it learned Thursday that former deputy Mike Lopez had been jailed in conjunction with an Oregon State Police (OSP) investigation.

Mike Lopez also faces an official misconduct charge in relation to the arrest, few details of which were offered in a press release Friday.

However, the department acknowledged that the allegations against Mr. Lopez first surfaced in 2009. According to the sheriff’s office, which reportedly looked into the matter with the assistance of the Oregon State Police, there was not sufficient evidence to pursue a case against the deputy who remained on the force until February this year.

Since then, additional information uncovered that led to the renewed investigation by OSP.

Lopez is currently jailed in at the Deschutes County Public Safety Building.

After months of testimony and hand wringing the state board of education moved to end the debate over the appropriateness of Native American mascots and tribal imagery by voting overwhelmingly to ban all references entirely from Oregon campuses.

The board voted 5-1 on Thursday to ban the use of names like “Redskin” “Braves” “Indians” and other names that refer to native American tribes and tribal traditions. Board members said they were convinced by expert and personal testimony that such depictions, while not deliberately negative, have a negative impact on Native American students. Oregon schools have until July 1, 2017 to comply with the ruling, though some schools may appeal the decision.

The Oregonian has tapped former Bulletin editorial page editor Erik Lukens to replace Bob Caldwell as the Oregonian’s editorial page director.

The paper announced the move in a blog post Wednesday afternoon and said Lukens will start in June.

Lukens has been with the Bulletin since 1998, primarily as the editorial page editor, more recently he has served as the paper’s city editor, a position that has seen a cast of characters rotate through over the past five years. It was widely speculated that Lukens was in line to take over when the paper’s editor in chief John Costa steps aside.

Lukens walks into another paper where the editorial board is widely known to sit well to the right of its news coverage. The move appears to cement publisher T. Christian Anderson’s commitment to that conservative approach, despite the liberal bent of the paper’s primary audience in the Portland metro area.

A pair of animal rights groups are offering a $2,500 reward for information in a wolf killing case in Union County near La Grande, Oregon, which happens to be the epicenter of Oregon’s wolf recovery and ground zero for the heated debate over the future of wolves in Oregon.

The nearly 100 pound animal was discovered by a property owner on his land near Cove, Oregon about 30 miles east of La Grande and has subsequently been determined to have been unlawfully killed. The exact cause of death has not been released.

Now the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Wildlife Fund are offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. While genetic tests are still pending to confirm that the animal is a legally protected wolf, investigators have already dubbed the killing a wildlife crime which carries a potential one-year jail sentence and a fine up to $6,500.

Personally, we’d like to see a little more robust reward from wildlife advocates, something that could entice an enlightened friend, neighbor or family member to break the silence. We're dealing with the “Shoot, shovel, shut-up” crowd and, if nothing else,  we’d love to see how well the "shoot-shovel" mantra goes over in a state or federal courtroom.

A 64–year-old La Pine man faces seven counts of sexual abuse involving a minor for his alleged relationship with an underage girl.

Police arrested Kendall Jourdan on April 19 after a “lengthy” investigation into his relationship with a juvenile in the La Pine area. Jourdan has been charged with six counts of sexual abuse in the second degree and one count of encouraging sex abuse. Jourdan remains jailed in Bend on $50,000 bail.

According to police, there may be additional victims from previous years. Anyone with information about Jourdan’s case is asked to contact the Deschutes County Sheriff’ Office, 541-388-6655