the Source August 6, 2026

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A lot of our coverage this week is related to wildfires which are on track to surpass the 2024 record for acreage scorched. Reporter Clayton Franke looks at how massive fires are attacked from above. An exhibit at the Scalehouse gallery examines the impact of climate change on wildfires from the perspective of three artists. A local winery owner watches and waits to figure out whether the fire burning near Warm Springs has damaged the grapes in his vineyard. The intensity and proximity of seasonal wildfires has become a disappointing reality that Doug Maragas says has intensified over the past four years.

In happier news, the Central Library has an impressive lineup of guest speakers including Oregon Poet Laureate Ellen Waterston and U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze as well as a jam-packed weekend of family friendly events to celebrate its grand opening. We also have interviews with Mt. Joy band members who will headline at the amphitheater later this month. And if you have household items in need of repair, we have details on where to take them to get fixed for free.

—Managing Editor Nic Moye

LIGHTMETER: PRESENTED

BY HARVEST MOON WOODWORKS

Under a hazy sun, a plane disperses its load of fire retardant on one of our many area wildfire. Check this week's

story for details on aerial operations. We want to share your photo! Email calendar@bendsource.com or tag @sourceweekly on Instagram for a chance to be featured.

feature

Anthony Puckett / Ochoco Horizon Media

OPINION

Beware the Election Misinformation Complex

Hawkers trying to profit off supposed chaos have created their very own cottage industry

When the pandemic worsened our housing crisis, national and local governments, and nonprofits, began to address the tent cities that were popping up. At that time, a term began to be thrown about: “the homeless industrial complex.” Using words borrowed from a critique of American military spending, it was meant to indicate that people were capitalizing off the crisis to create their own cottage industries, where homelessness would not be solved but merely managed in perpetuity.

That is a callous term that dehumanizes people and ignores the visceral struggles of poverty and housing affordability, but there is a similar process of profiting from fear and dysfunction today in the world of elections. People are making money through carpetbagger tours of American cities — including those in Central Oregon — by sharing misinformation about voting and elections, whipping unsuspecting people into a frenzy about the integrity of our voting systems, the process of voter registration and more. Call it the “election misinformation industrial complex,” if you will — and this one

Last month, a carpetbagger funded by the MyPillow founder Mike Lindell (the former gambler and cocaine addict who now profits mightily from his cleaned-up, evangelical image) rolled into Central Oregon, sharing his personal brand of hellfire-by-election-fraud misinformation. Like Lindell and others who can’t get over the

results of the 2020 presidential election, Dr. Douglas Frank has created a cottage industry based on false information about the integrity of elections. It doesn’t matter that in the years since the 2020 election, everyone from the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice to the Harvard Kennedy School — which brought together over 800 scholars to assess the 2020 election — debunked the notion that the election was steeped in fraud.

Frank, a chemist by training, wants you to believe the oft-debunked lies he’s peddling, over the hundreds of scholars who are trained in things like political theory and elections law. Tell us why we should believe the individual paid to peddle his brand of misinformation around the country over the people who have devoted their lives to the pursuit of equal justice under the law.

Ensuring that our elections are free and fair is not a partisan issue, but it has become one. This is not about favoring Joe Biden or Donald Trump or any other new face who comes our way; it’s about getting the most people to vote in order to get the greatest representation, and ensuring our governments continue to be run for the people, by the people.

Elections will live beyond Donald Trump, and we can only hope that the checks and balances put in place so long ago will not be thoroughly dismantled by the time he, and those currently participating in the election misinformation complex, are done. For the time being, beware the hawkers trying to profit off the chaos.

ENERGIZE BEND’S FUTURE WITH YOUR EXPERTISE AS A BENDITE

If we are going to keep growing, we should all have a say. When I returned to Central Oregon after graduating from college, I could not believe how many new neighborhoods had popped up. It made me wonder where all the water, electricity, and energy to support that growth would come from. Bend is changing fast, and we have an opportunity to grow in a way that benefits everyone.

A sustainable Bend is about more than reducing emissions; it is about the joy that people find from life and the pride they take in community. It requires the stories and voices from residents who experience smoky air, shorter winters, and battle with electrical bill increases, and also experience the beauty of our parks, mountains, and river. All of these factors, plus more, impact our lives, and a sustainable Bend decreases the burdens and increases the stories of joy!

A sustainable Bend is preparing for wildfire smoke, extreme heat, and changing season lengths. Upgrading homes to be more energy efficient, making pedaling or walking around town with ease, and knowing how to maintain comfort in your living space. I have seen such incremental changes since coming home — new bike lanes, more climate resilience workshops, greater solar panels adorning rooftops, and more affordable housing that already prioritizes electric appliances. Progress can still be done!

As someone who hopes to continue building a life here, I find that Bend’s character and welcoming nature toward newcomers are important. Growth that protects both people and the place we call home will make it easier for everyone — not just those in brand-new homes — to benefit from clean energy and clean investment.

The Climate Pollution Fund, a mix of revenues from policies like the Climate

HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY? Send your thoughts to editor@bendsource.com. Letters must be received by noon Friday for inclusion in the following week’s paper. Please limit letters to 250 words. Submission does not guarantee publication. Opinions printed here do not constitute an editorial endorsement of said opinions. Letter of the week receives $5 to Palate!

Pollution Fee, will move us in that direction. This tool focuses on resident needs, and it is time to be part of the conversation. Community input will guide how these funds are used. So, share your experiences and values to help the City better respond to your needs.

If you care about Bend’s future, take a few minutes to complete the survey. As the city grows, it can reflect our values, today and for generations.

—Riley Ahmuty

WHAT’S IN THE WATER?

Every year or two, headlines announce another lettuce recall, and consumers respond predictably: stop buying lettuce. Grocery stores are left with unsold romaine and iceberg while people avoid salads for a few weeks. Then the cycle repeats.

But lettuce does not produce E. coli, Salmonella, or Cyclospora. It merely carries them. The real source is often upstream: contaminated water used to irrigate or wash produce. In many outbreaks, that contamination originates with industrial animal agriculture.

A current Cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce has sickened more than 1,600 people in five states. Although Cyclospora contamination comes from human sewage rather than livestock waste, the lesson is the same. The lettuce is not the source. Contaminated water is.

The pattern is even clearer with E. coli. In 2018, contaminated romaine lettuce sickened 210 people across 36 states and killed five. Federal investigators traced the outbreak not to a lettuce field but to an irrigation canal near a massive cattle feedlot in Yuma County, Arizona. The outbreak strain of E. coli was found in the canal water, creating a pathway from manure to lettuce.

Research published in 2024 in the Journal of Food Protection found similar patterns in leafy-green outbreaks since

2009. Feedlots and concentrated animal feeding operations were frequently located near irrigation canals serving produce fields.

An honest headline would not be “Lettuce Recalled.” It would be “Food-Growing Water Contaminated.”

Vegetables are not inherently dangerous. They become risky when grown in polluted environments.

If we want fewer recalls and illnesses, we need to follow contamination upstream. Stop blaming the lettuce. Start asking what’s in the water.

—Debra Merskin, PhD

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN BY DESTROYING IT

Destruction includes shredding the Constitution, granting personhood and free speech to corporations, eliminating the separation of church and state, flipping the justice system to injustice, abolishing the rule of law, cancelling voting rights, transferring judicial and legislative powers to a president, trashing government agencies responsible for social services such as health care, social security, education, disabilities and poverty, fueling the power of the fossil fuel industry to exacerbate the climate crisis, instilling fear, hatred and deadly actions against immigrants and people of color, creating ICE, an illegal militarization of the police state and controlling the media.

Perpetual wars are the foundation of the financial system. The economy depends on the war machine. Deporting manufacturing, eliminating living wage jobs, sinking American workers into despair and poverty are essential parts of economic destruction. Increasing the

astronomical national debt is inevitable but of no concern to the ruling class.

Destroying democracy with an authoritarian, theocratic, corrupt corporate capitalist system of control for the ultra-wealthy class establishes the roots of fascism.

Celebrating 250 years of the initial efforts to create a government based on freedom, equality and justice for WeThePeople, or at least some people, was commendable.

Now it feels like America has devolved into a country that behaves like a spoiled, privileged, petulant fiveyear-old.

—Sue Bastian

Letter of the Week:

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from you Sue! As letter of the week, you can stop by the Source to pick up a gift card to Palate coffee.

A note to readers, please send me your letters!

—Managing Editor Nic Moye

Government Roundup

Deschutes County Planning

Commission

Family burial plots

The Planning Commission recommended a text amendment to the county code that outlines the criteria for anyone wanting to bury human remains on private property. It requires burials be at least 100-feet from wells, springs and other water sources used for drinking; a minimum of 50-feet from streams, rivers, lakes or ponds; at least 25-feet from property lines and at least 50-feet from onsite wastewater system soil absorption areas. If a property is sold, it would require applicants to notify future landowners about a burial site by filing a restrictive covenant with a map before any interment occurs. An applicant would also have to follow state law under Oregon Revised Statute 97. County staff say they routinely receive requests from property owners to establish private family burial grounds. The planning commission did exempt urns from the above requirements. The Deschutes County Commissioners will have the final vote at an upcoming meeting.

Terrebonne Community Plan

A second open house is scheduled Aug. 11 on the Terrebonne Community Plan. It’s a blueprint to guide growth in that area, building upon the 2010 plan. It follows a recent sewer feasibility study and formation of a Terrebonne Sanitary District that addresses the issue of failing septic systems. The first open house was held in April. Deschutes County says the second public meeting is to confirm what the community wants Terrebonne to look and feel like over the next 20 years, especially in relation to the potential development of sewer lines, which would impact future growth as well as commercial development. The open house will be 4:30-6:30pm at Alton Gregory Middle School in Redmond.

July’s Cyberattacks Accessed an Oregon Drinking-Water Provider’s Operating Technology; Bend, Redmond OK

The City of Bend’s IT director explains the robust cybersecurity measures that keep our facilities — and faucets — running daily

By Peter Madsen

Throughout the country, the costs of the conflict in Iran have had wide-ranging effects, and we’re not just talking about gas prices.

Dozens of municipalities across at least seven states, including Minnesota and Michigan, have reported that their water and wastewater systems were hit with cyberattacks in the last week of July. Now we know Oregon was also hit. While federal and state officials said a preliminary investigation hasn’t confirmed Iran’s involvement, the attacks mirror those the country has waged against U.S. water systems in the past, according to The New York Times. President Donald Trump claimed, without evidence, that Minnesota was responsible for its cyberattacks, not Iran.

As of press time, no municipality has reported its water quality having been compromised by the attacks.

Yet, the question remains — gulp — how’re the City of Bend’s water and wastewater systems holding up? And how often does the city get cyberattacked?

The city’s information technology director Adam Young told the Source via email that —good news — the city’s tech infrastructure was not affected by the July cyber assault. The main reason being that its infrastructure systems are not internet-facing, unlike the aforementioned attacks that targeted internet-facing systems with known vulnerabilities, Young said.

In other words, the City of Bend’s water — which is supplied by the Bridge Creek watershed and the Deschutes Aquifer and sanitized by the Outback Water Filtration Facility — is good.

“Should a cyberattack impact operational technology systems, the City’s freshwater and wastewater treatment facilities can continue operating manually,” Young said. “That helps maintain critical services while the incident is being managed and resolved.”

Alarmingly, the City of Bend experiences daily attempts to comprise its systems through phishing, social engineering, malware and other attack methods, he added. The City of Redmond’s cybersecurity team also repels thousands of attacks daily; they were not compromised in the last week of July.

A breach, ongoing investigation

The late-July cyberattacks did temporarily disrupt the operational technology of an Oregon drinking-water provider, Michael Hanna-Butros Meyering, chief privacy and communications officer at Enterprise Information Services, told the Source. Meyering couldn’t elaborate, owing to the ongoing investigation headed by FBI and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. EIS is a company whose services include handling the state’s IT and cybersecurity controls.

“With these incidents we have to be really intentional about our execution and safeguarding, so we don’t provide bad actors an opportunity to kick us while we’re down,” Meyering said. “That doesn’t feel good.”

“I’m hoping that it stays habitable, and that would mean that it doesn’t continue to go down every other year.”

—

“Although some threats are specifically directed at the City, most are part of large-scale campaigns targeting organizations across the public and private sectors,” Young said of Bend. “Given the evolving threat landscape, the City maintains a robust cybersecurity program and dedicated cybersecurity professionals to protect City operations, data and essential public services.”

That cybersecurity program uses a layered approach, which includes employee cybersecurity training, security controls aligned with industry frameworks, regular third-party security assessments and cybersecurity exercises. It also involves round-the-clock threat detection and plans for business continuity and incident response, according to Young.

Those security standards are set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a federal agency charged with advancing measurement science, standards and tech. Notably, systems supporting critical infrastructure are isolated from both the City’s business network and the public internet, “significantly reducing their exposure to external cyber threats,” Young said.

The state has not confirmed who or which group is responsible or whether the attacks are related to those in Minnesota, Michigan and seven other states, he added.

Cyberattacks against state government technology systems aren’t unheard of. Just last year, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality experienced such an attack, when the agency’s servers and network were targeted in a randsomware attack. To isolate the ransomware, which encrypts devices and files pending a ransom payment, EIS shut down all DEQ activities, including bricking staff computers and freezing access to its shared network. The hackers nonetheless stole more than a million files and ransomed the agency about $2.5 million in Bitcoin to get the data back, OPB reported. The damage totaled about $2 million and investigators concluded that nearly 5,000 residents’ personal data was compromised. In this instance, the ransomware group, Rhysida, auctioned some data and leaked other material when the agency didn’t pay up.

In 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation sounded the alarm on a nationwide ransomware carpet bombing that struck the Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls, The Oregonian reported.

Doug Maragas on watching fires threaten his vineyards.

The late-July cyberattacks, which targeted municipal water systems in Minnesota, Michigan and seven other states, also breached a water system in Oregon, the Source has learned.

Bend City Council to Consider Ways to Spur Housing

Recommendations include a taxpayer bond to support affordable housing, new loan programs and expanding property tax and fee exceptions for development

By Clayton Franke

Acommittee appointed to help spur Bend’s housing production has come up with a set of policy recommendations the Bend City Council will discuss this month — including whether to ask voters to help subsidize affordable housing through a tax measure.

The recommendations are intended to propel Bend toward lofty home building targets established by the state. That could mean expanding property tax and infrastructure fee exemptions for affordable housing while creating new loan and credit-backing programs to help finance developments.

“We’ve really been pushing housing for years now,” Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler told the Source. “Now we’re going, ‘OK, what else can we do? What other tools have we not tried yet that we should try?”

The Bend City Council in June 2025 finalized a resolution appointing the Housing Options Made for Everyone committee, or HOME. The committee members consisted of several nonprofit and for-profit affordable housing developers, two bankers and representatives from the Central Oregon Builders Association and Bend Chamber of Commerce. The committee met eight times to hash out the recommendations.

The potential for a taxpayer bond to support affordable housing will likely generate the thorniest discussion of the bunch.

The committee discussed the possibility of a bond in the range of $50 million to $100 million, which could support

development of between 350 and 1,000 units through land acquisition, infrastructure funding, according to a memo.

“We spent the first six months coming up with all of these awesome incentives and ideas,” said Sarah Odendahl, CEO of the Bend Chamber of Commerce and chair of the committee. “And then we realized, OK, they all cost money. How are we going to fund this?”

Odendahl said the committee opted to recommend a taxpayer bond because it spreads costs across the entire community, calling it a “sustainable and kind of wide net for funding.”

Voters in several larger cities like Portland and San Francisco have supported taxpayer bonds for affordable housing.

In Bend, residents are still paying off a $190 million transportation bond voters approved in 2020. Kebler said the City Council will also have to consider potential taxpayer asks from other taxing districts and the City’s fire department levy, which expires after 2028.

“What might our community be willing to vote ‘yes’ on when it comes to housing? I think that’s what we’ve got to figure out,” Kebler said.

Other tools could be less politically risky but complex to implement. The committee recommends exploring the Moderate-Income Revolving Loan fund, a program authorized by the state legislature to support “workforce and middle-income” housing, according to the memo. But the memo notes that participation by local jurisdictions has been

limited, and some committee members were concerned about financial risk for the City.

A 2025 housing report found that nearly half of all renters in Bend are “cost-burdened,” meaning they spend at least one-third of their income on rent. The same report found only 16% of Bend households could afford the average price of a home.

To meet the state’s recommendations, Bend will need to dwarf historic levels of home building, especially for lower-cost housing. The Oregon Housing Needs Analysis pegs the need for more than 33,000 new homes in Bend over the next 20 years. That includes 13,700 homes restricted to people earning less than 80% of the Area Median Income, which is about $91,100 for a

household of four. To follow up, the City Council set a two-year goal of permitting 1,800 new units below that income level. One year later, the City is not even one-quarter of the way to its goal, having permitted 357.

That’s still a higher number of lower-cost units than were permitted in the previous two years, according to Jacob Larsen, a spokesperson for the City.

“Those are very lofty numbers,” Kebler said. “Especially at the affordability levels that they want, those require a lot of subsidy. I think part of putting it in the goals was to show how hard it might be to actually get to those numbers and find out what some of those barriers are to not building that much housing.”

Homes in Northwest Crossing.

Peter Madsen

Just 10 minutes from Downtown Bend!

IREDMOND NEWS

Waiting Out the Fires to Determine the Damage

The Bench Fire burned up to the edge of a Maragas Winery vineyard

By Nic Moye

t’s a challenging time to be a grape grower. Dave Maragas of Margaras Winery has been watching the fires and waiting to learn just how deep the impact will be. The Bench Fire, which is 67,238 acres and 84% contained as of Tuesday, burned up to the edge of one of the vineyards on land he’s leasing near the Pelton Dam. The grapes need to be tested to determine if they’ve been affected by the smoke.

“What we'll do is harvest a small part early, just enough to make some sample wines to send to the lab and test for the particulate or the content from the particulate that could be smoked and would affect the wine if it's in high enough concentration,” he explains. Those grapes are used to make the “Legal Zin” label.   If it turns out the grapes are damaged, Maragas says, “We'd have to skip the vintage, so we wouldn't make wine out of it, and that's a loss because we've already sunk [money]. It's very expensive to cultivate grapes for premium wine because you prune multiple times a year, and you thin, and taking care of it. It just really adds up… Our zin is $45 a bottle. So, if we did 300 cases of zin, that turns out to be a lot of money.”

The winery has two vineyards. The second, larger one is next to the tasting room north of Terrebonne. From there Maragas has been watching the Akawa Butte Fire, 9 miles away. That fire was 27,435 acres and 85% contained as of Tuesday. He says two years ago, the winery was evacuated due to a fire burning near Culver.

Maragas says even if a fire is burning miles away, it can destroy a crop. “When it (air quality) gets into the hazardous category is when we have to start thinking about the grapes.”

The smoke and threat of fire have cut into the number of visitors stopping at the winery.

“It's peaceful, but you know, if you're inhaling smoke, it certainly takes away from it. You're sitting out here and you can't see Smith Rock or Gray Butte or any of the peaks of the Cascades, and it's just smoky all around you,” he says.

Maragas Winery offers live music and Sunday dinners, which he says move inside if it’s unpleasant outside.

He opened the winery in 1999 and his concerns about wildfire smoke have been building in recent years.

“I'm hoping that it stays habitable, and that would mean that it doesn't continue to go down every other year, that you need to be concerned about a fire burning your vineyard down. It hasn't been that way all the time that we've been here, but definitely we've been having issues since 2022, I'd say is the most significant,” he says. “From 2022 to current days, for us has been a little bit challenging.”

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG MULTIPLE PERFORMANCES PLANNED THROUGH AUG. 16

It’s a whodunit that goes amazingly, hilariously wrong. Check out the thrilling murder mystery that turns disastrous, performed by actors from Meadow Sky Productions. It’s a comedy for the whole family. 7-9pm at High Desert Music Hall, 818 SW Forest Ave., Redmond. $30.

THE UNCHARTED PROJECT

THEY ALSO PLAY FRIDAY, AUG. 7 AT SCP REDMOND HOTEL

Check out the cool stylings of The Uncharted Project as they blend Caribbean rhythms with raw, bluesy vocals. It’s a captivating mix of indie folk and soulful jazz. 3-4pm at Redmond Public Library, 827 SW Deschutes Ave., Redmond. Free.

This photo illustration shows how close the flames got to a Maragas vineyard.

Doug Maragas

The Play that Goes Wrong

Cowboys in the Cockpit

Planes, Helicopters Help Battle Central Oregon Blazes

The costly and complicated business of reining in wildfires from above

By Clayton Franke

Aformer British airliner once suited to carry 100 passengers now skims the Central Oregon High Desert carrying only two people: a pilot and an officer trying to decide where to send 27,000 pounds of reddish-pink slurry tumbling to the ground.

They are among the first to reach the fanning flames of the Bench Fire burning on the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs reservation.

The plane — white with red and black stripes, red tail accents and a protruding belly full of fire retardant — circles 1,500 feet above the ground, then drops to 1,000 feet. The pilot, Brian Brantner, flies in a holding pattern. A lead plane, which helps scout the drop, hasn’t arrived. They struggle to find a radio frequency. In this scenario, called the initial attack, Brantner and other pilots are trained to start fighting the fire, even with no one else around.

But finally, they make contact with firefighters on the ground.

Partially because of strict noise abatement ordi nances at Heathrow Airport in London, where the plane originated, it’s designed with rear flaps that cre ate drag and allow for slower, steeper descents to stay farther away from nearby neighborhoods.

The design is also good for navigating mountain slopes.

Brantner swoops down, presses a button on his computer in the cockpit, and releases a line of retar dant flanking the fire.

Then he circles back to the air base in Redmond to do it again.

Firefighting aircraft — from converted military helicopters to former airliners — have been circling Central Oregon skies as the region and the state bat tle what’s already one of the worst wildfire seasons on record with weeks of potential weather still to come. The local air tanker base has churned through record

amounts of retardant as planes and helicopters were stretched thin.

Brantner is a tanker pilot for Aero-Flight, a Spokane-based aerial firefighting company.

After a two-week rotation working 13-hour days — about half of which is spent in the air — his logbook is littered with names: Little Buck Fire, Bald Mountain Fire, Bob Creek Fire, Poland Creek Fire, Grasshopper Fire, Akawa Butte Fire, Bench Fire. Multiple rounds of July lightning created an onslaught of blazes that were fueled by hot and gusty weather, burning more than 1 million acres across the state and a smattering of homes while threatening thousands more.

for aerial support from incident commanders battling fires across Central Oregon.

For weeks, Oregon and Washington have been stuck at PL5 — the maximum firefighting preparedness level as designated by the National Interagency Fire Center.

That indicates a scarcity of resources, Schmidt said. Inevitably, some requests don’t get filled, especially as multiple large fires blow up at once.

“In the case of this mass ignition event, everyone wants more,” Schmidt told the Source July 31. “That’s where the aviation side becomes interesting. The public expects aviation. There’s a lot of perceptions, I think, in that we have aircraft that put fires out. Any-

A Chinook helicopter operated by Billings Flying Service drops water over the Akawa Butte fire near Sisters.

A Neptune Aviation tanker takes off from the U.S. Forest Service firefighting base in Redmond.

Andrew Sawyer

Choco Horizon Media

“Overall across the West, there’s not enough resources, There’s not enough airplanes, there’s not enough helicopters, there’s not enough firefighters on the ground to meet the fires we’ve seen at the scope and scale of what we’ve seen over the last 25 years.”

— Paul Peterson

According to a summary of U.S. Forest Service research written by the International Association of Wildland Fire, wildfire is 8.4% less likely to spread when protected with fire retardant. In addition, retardant-protected land takes four to five hours longer to burn, the summary says.

A 2025 Forest Service study found it was tough to evaluate the direct effect of aerial firefighting on wildfire spread. It points to the need for more research on the subject.

Environmental groups have pushed back against the Forest Service’s widespread use of fire retardants, citing concerns over impacts to fish and wildlife.

According to a Tuesday report, about 2.2 million acres were burning across Oregon and Washington, with 423 crews, 89 helicopters and 18,441 people deployed to fight the blazes.

As wildfire seasons grow longer and more extreme, firefighting resources are increasingly outmatched, said Paul Peterson, executive director of the United Aerial Firefighting Association, a trade group formed four years ago to lobby — mostly in Congress — on behalf of the aerial firefighting industry.

“Overall across the West, there’s not enough resources,” Peterson told the Source. “There’s not enough airplanes, there’s not enough helicopters, there’s not enough firefighters on the ground to meet the fires we’ve seen at the scope and scale of what we’ve seen over the last 25 years.”

Many of the planes and helicopters above Central Oregon are run by private companies that sign contracts with the federal government to fight fires. Oregon also has contracts with aerial firefighting companies to supplement the efforts.

And planes and helicopters are not cheap. According to Peterson, large tankers can cost up to $20,000 per hour, on average, while large helicopters can cost between $6,500 and $35,000 per hour. Each drop of retardant can cost about $20,000 per load, according to Peterson.

Record-breaking retardant drops

When resources get stretched thin, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group takes over to make decisions about the most pressing firefighting needs.

As it ballooned toward Sisters in mid-July, the Akawa Butte fire became the nation’s top priority.

At one point, nearly a dozen large air tankers were flying over the fire, said Eric Graff, who manages the Forest Service’s Redmond Air Center, a firefighting base at the Redmond Municipal Airport.

“They were constantly coming in, picking up a load, going, coming back, in, out, in, out,” Graff said later. “Planes on the fire, planes going back and forth, planes on the ramp. Eleven air tankers. It’s crazy.”

The base has pumped a record-setting amount of fire retardant into the tankers. The base went through a year’s supply in two weeks. On July 25, it pumped 244,000 gallons of retardant.

“We’ve never pumped that much, or that many loads, in one day,” Graff said.

Luckily, they haven’t run out of fuel or retardant, Graff said.

The Redmond Air Base is one of five regional bases where tankers can refill on retardant, which comes in large powder bags and is mixed with liquid before being pumped into tanks. Large Air Tankers, or LATs, can carry between 2,000 and 4,000 gallons of retardant, while Very Large Air Tankers, or VLATs, can hold around 9,000 gallons. There are only a few of those planes available, and they are too large and heavy to land at the Redmond Air Base.

There are also Single-Engine Air Tankers, or SEATs, which resemble bush planes, and “amphibious” water scoopers that skim the surface of a lake to collect water. Chinook helicopters — which resemble a flying bus with front and rear blades — formerly used by the military can be outfitted with long hoses to suck up thousands of gallons of water, dropped either in a long spray or directly above a burning tree.

“They can hover over a tree and they can drop all 2,600 gallons in about three seconds. It just blasts through the tree, rips branches off the tree, and it’s one of the most effective ways to put out large fires in

trees,” said Andrew Sawyer, a partner with Kawak Aviation, a Bend-based company that designs and builds aerial firefighting systems.

In the aerial firefighting world, there are only a few aircraft that were built for the specific purpose of aerial firefighting. Airliners must go through the process of ripping out seats and assembling large metal tanks with drop doors, while military helicopters must also be outfitted with hoses and tanks.

That process is time consuming and expensive, said Bill Thomas, director of flight operations at AeroFlight, the Spokane-based company. The modified aircraft must go through the multi-year process of federal government certification. It also takes years to train the pilots, Thomas said.

“There’s only a handful of vendors that do this,” Thomas said. “It’s a very specialized arena in which we operate — a very unforgiving arena.”

—This story is powered by the Lay It Out Foundation, the nonprofit with a mission of promoting deep reporting and investigative journalism in Central Oregon. Learn more and be part of this important work by visiting layitoutfoundation.org.

Inside the cockpit of a Neptune Aviation tanker.

Ryan Baer, an aerial firefighting pilot with Neptune Aviation, stands inside a BAe 146 tanker plane, a converted British airliner, at the U.S. Forest Service Redmond Air Center.

Clayton Franke

Clayton Franke

SOURCE PICKS

WEDNESDAY 8/5

OWN YOUR ZONE WITH BEND FIRE & RESCUE

REDUCE YOUR WILDFIRE RISK

Talk with the experts and learn simple ways to help reduce wildfire risk at your home or business. Bend Fire & Rescue’s Own Your Zone is a community wildfire-preparedness campaign that aims to help people take simple, specific actions to reduce wildfire risk, especially by creating defensible space within the first five feet. 5:30-6:30pm at the Central Library, 61956 SE Santorini St., Bend. Free.

THURSDAY 8/6

ECHO CHAMBER

SUPPORT LOCAL MUSICIANS

Echo Chamber, a local School-of-Rock band that is making a name for themselves, will play lots of wellloved rock covers and there'll be award-winning cider, beer, wine and nonalcoholic beverages available for purchase, as well as light appetizers. Outside food welcome, and it's kid and dog-friendly. 6-8pm at Bend Cider Company, 64649 Wharton Ave., Bend. Free.

FRIDAY 8/7

FIRST FRIDAY AT LIMINAL LIBRARY

GET READY FOR GOOD VIBES

The Liminal Library opens its doors at Pine & Prism each First Friday in Bend to the curious, the creative and the energetically attuned. From Tarot readings and Aura photography to local artisans and craft mocktails, each month brings something new. 5-9pm at Pine & Prism Wellness Collective, 856 NW Bond St., Bend. Free.

FRIDAY 8/7

RACHEL BINAH GALLERY DEDICATION ART SHOW OPENING

CELEBRATING THE OREGON ARTIST

The life and ongoing legacy of Oregon artist, environmental activist, mentor and philanthropist Rachel Binah will be celebrated at the The Rachel Binah Gallery Dedication Art Show. The dedication ceremony begins at 5:30pm at The Open Arts Center, 999 NE 2nd St., Bend. Free.

TOMI MART 2026 4TH ANNUAL RAMEN EATING CONTEST

ENJOY EATS, SWEETS, SIPS AND SHOPPING

Cheer on participants in the 4th annual ramen eating contest. There’ll be more than 30 vendors, lots of food, live music and performances, shopping and fun for the whole family. Parking is limited. 2-7:30 p.m. Tomi Mart, 1130 SE 3rd St., Bend. Free.

SATURDAY 8/8

THE DESERT HOWLERS

ROADHOUSE BLUES AT ITS FINEST

The Desert Howlers are fast establishing themselves as Central Oregon’s premier roadhouse blues band. Formed by veteran bassist and vocalist Howard Dyer, they’re driven by the dynamic drumming of Mitch Peay, whose rocking rhythms are steeped in the blues. 8-10pm at The Commonwealth Pub, 30 SW Century Dr., Bend. Free.

MONDAY 8/10

SUNRIVER MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT

CLASSICAL CONCERT AT THE GREAT HALL Grammy winner Michelle Cann kicks off the Sunriver Music Festival and will perform Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major by Beethoven, while Joan Tower’s Made in America and Haydn’s Symphony No. 101 in D Major also will be performed. Other events are planned, so check out sunrivermusic.org. 7:30pm, Great Hall at Sunriver Resort, 17600 Center Dr., Sunriver. $25-$91.

WEDNESDAY 8/12

TEDDY BEAR PICNIC

FUN IN THE SUN FOR FAMILIES

Pack a picnic and don’t forget your favorite stuffed animal as the Deschutes Land Trust for Nature Kids! leads a nature walk for kids ages 5-10 followed by a picnic under the trees and some fun games. Don’t forget to pack a lunch. 9:30-11am, Shevlin Park, 18920 Shevlin Rd., Bend. Free.

WEDNESDAY 8/12

BAT WALK WEDNESDAY

LEARN ABOUT THE FANTASTIC FLYING MAMMALS

Join in a guided twilight trek looking for nocturnal flyers after a quick presentation by experts. Weather-appropriate attire recommended, and don’t forget to pack a flashlight or head lamp. 8-9:30pm at High Desert Museum, 59800 S. Highway 97, Bend. $10.

Unsplash-Huyen Bui

Echo Chamber

Unsplash-Jakub Klucky

Titilayo Ayangade

Matt Howard

S SOUND Mt. Joy: Live Shows Lead to Inspiration Guitarist Matt Quinn says

By Chris Young

You can’t have one without the other,” sang Frank Sinatra on “Love and Marriage.” For Mt. Joy, the group’s musical matrimony comes in the form of touring the world and playing for crowds of rapturous fans before settling down in a recording studio.

Life on the road inspires those studio recordings, and by the end of a tour, “you’re probably as close playing-wise as a band as you’ll ever be,” explained vocalist and guitarist Matt Quinn in a recent interview. “It’s sort of like the whole tour ends up being a practice session. When you do finally get these new songs, you’re feeling like the band’s playing well together, and it’s a good time to press record.”

To be honest though, “there’s really no other way for us to do it,” Quinn added.

After extensive touring last year, the road schedule is no less busy this summer — thanks in part to the release in May 2025 of their fourth LP, “Hope We Have Fun.” Accompanying Quinn are guitarist Sam Cooper, drummer Sotiris Eliopoulos, bassist Michael Byrnes and Jackie Miclau on keys and piano, and they’ll revisit some of these same stages and cities this year.

“We’ve been touring pretty consistently for the last eight years, and so we’ve kind of learned to make albums in the little spaces that we have between tours,” Quinn said. “Hope We Have Fun” was no different: “It was made mostly in two installments between two big tours where we had a little break between them. We made about half the album and then we went back on tour and made the second half [at] the beginning of (the next) year.”

Appropriately enough, the first sounds broadcast from “Hope We Have Fun” were the catchy strums of the poppy tune, “Highway Queen,” released a year before the album was even announced. At the time, Quinn didn’t even know what would come of this track.

“That one was just one of those songs in songwriting where it came together really fast. It didn’t feel like it needed a whole lot — pretty straightforward tune,” he said. “So it was like, ‘Hey, let’s record this and put it out and see if it fits on the record once we make the record,’ because we really hadn’t made the record.”

The next single was “God Loves Weirdos,” a true ode to life on the road that romanticizes 4 a.m. pit stops at gas stations selling amusing tchotchkes while also pondering the idea of “a benevolent god who actually cares for everyone. I thought that was the point of Christianity, but [it’s] certainly been turned on its head at times,” Quinn explained, “and I just like the idea of flipping it back and throwing that back at people as much as possible.”

The song shows how silliness can shine through the grind. Give into laughter when you’re exhausted rather than hold emotions in. The original intention was for “the song to be really sweet, but have this underlying darkness,” which represents “how anxiety seems to work,” Quinn said. Amongst the euphoric moments, “there’s constantly that sort of devil on your shoulder,” one that can overtake you. The dark companion to the joyful and buoyant “God Loves Weirdos” is one minute of intensity with the driving, distorted “Scared I’m Gonna F*** You Up,” which juxtaposes “something really sweet against something really frenetic.”

“You have these great moments, but in the back of your mind, there’s always this part of you that can’t be present because you’re worried more about maintaining a good thing than just enjoying it while it’s there,” Quinn elaborated.

the whole tour ends up being a practice session

The importance of living in the moment comes into even more clarity with the following track, “Lucy,” prompted by an encounter with an old friend after the band played a sold-out show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The friend had been recently diagnosed with multiple brain tumors and the prognosis was uncertain. Mt. Joy was riding high, having just played “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” but in an instant, Quinn and Co. were faced with the short, fragility of life. Inspired, he wrote “Lucy” in tribute, opening with “I wanna live like Lucy died, living my life wire to wire,” recounting her dancing, skydiving and drinking cheap champagne. (The good news is that she’s still alive today and accessing the treatments she needs.)

“Hope We Have Fun” documents it all — from “rare moments of peace” to “crazy, high-energy moments,” Quinn said. Life on the road can be stressful. It can also be funny.

“I hope every band makes as many jokes as we do on the road, and it sort of becomes that summer camp vibe,” he said. “I think there’s every emotion. And if our goal was to sort of soak up the last couple years of Mt. Joy and project it into the world, I think it has that roller coaster that I think the record has.”

Bringing the fun for both the band and the audience is something that’s reflected in the playful transitions heard on their 2024 release, “Live at The Salt Shed.” Featuring snippets of iconic songs like Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You,” the Grateful Dead’s “Casey Jones,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” and The Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’,” the album shows that Mt. Joy likes to jam.

“We have great players in our band… so how do you get the best out of a Mt. Joy show?” Quinn said. “Over time, we’ve all gotten better at playing with each other and improvising,” which allows the whole band to shine.

“The spontaneity of it… keeps you fresh throughout a year of playing music every night. It really is difficult six weeks into a tour to play the same exact thing over and over and over again,” he said. “Each year as we grow, we challenge ourselves to push it in different directions, as much as makes sense, and I think it ends up being a band that jams.”

Over the course of Mt. Joy’s career, the band has certainly succeeded in connecting with music fans, while growing musically. The group made a big splash early on with “Silver Lining,” the single from the band’s 2018 self-titled debut album, which became a No. 1 hit at adult alternative radio. On the two subsequent studio albums, “Rearrange Us” and “Orange Blood,” Mt. Joy broadened its sound beyond the folk roots of “Silver Lining” that prompted many comparisons to the Lumineers, a process that continues with “Hope We Have Fun.”

“We’re so lucky to be able to do what we do, and there’s such a pull as you gain notoriety or success to add a level of seriousness to it,” Quinn said, but “the moment that you take yourself seriously, or allow yourself to be sort of self-important in any way, is the moment that the real power of art and connection with people starts to degrade.

“I still don’t think you should ever forget that music is fun and should be approached with that sort of weirdness and always trying to make sure you’re not taking yourself too seriously,” he said.

Here’s to having fun.

Mt. Joy 2026: Celebrating 10 Years Sat., Aug. 29 at 7:30 pm Hayden Homes Amphitheater 344 SW Shevlin Hixon Dr., Bend $73-$219

“

Humor and jamming propel this band and bring back fans for more.

Caity Krone

CALENDAR

5 Wednesday

The Commonwealth Pub Richard Taelour Band Richard Taelour has toured and played nationally for decades. His 3 piece band features Jeff Ingram on drums and Ted Taelour on bass guitar. Bring dancing shoes, and get ready for a treat! 7:30-9:30pm. Free.

Crosscut Warming Hut No 5 Alex Winters Relax with a pint and enjoy great local music in our garden from 6-8pm. 6-8pm. Free.

General Duffy’s Waterhole Dominick Antonelli at General Duffy’s Waterhole Dominick Antonelli is on his first national tour and will be sharing original music. An evening of stories from the road, acoustic instrumentals, and heart felt lyrics, plus wonderful food, drink and community! 6-8pm. Free.

M&J Tavern Musicians Open Mic All Musicians welcome to the downtown living room! Sign-ups start at 6pm. Set up and ready to go by 6:30pm. You bring instrument, your band and/or your friends. Goes until last call or last musician, which ever happens first. 21 and over. 6:30pm. Free.

Northside Bar & Grill Mellow Wednesday Open Mic Night Open mic night hosted by Derek Michael Marc! 5:30-8pm. 0.00.

Portello Lounge Music Bingo Music Bingo is hosted by the always entertaining Rachel Fishman, who keeps the crowd singing and laughing all night! It’s the perfect bonus to a night out enjoying great food, drinks and good company at Portello! 6:30-8:30pm. Free.

Prost! - Bend Wednesday Trivia Fun at Prost! Bend 7pm UKB Trivia in Bend is an ongoing event on Wednesdays. Useless Knowledge Bowl is a live trivia & more, no AI here. There’s no fee to play, Authentic food favorites, biers and more. Feed the brain and the belly! 7-9pm. Free.

Silver Moon Brewing DJ Logic & Friends The theorem of turntablist as musician has been long proven in the capable hands of DJ Logic, whom with jazz as his foundation has become a wax innovator by crossing genres and mixing his sound across the map. 7-10pm. $19.73.

6 Thursday

Bend Cider Company Echo Chamber Come out and listen to Echo Chamber, a local School-of-Rock band who’ve come fully into their own! They’ll be playing lots of well-loved rock covers, and there’ll be award-winning cider, beer, wine and nonalcoholic available for purchase, as well as light appetizers. Outside food welcome, and it’s kid and dog-friendly. Free. Bevel Craft Brewing Live Music at Bevel Catch talented local artists on the patio, grab a bite from our 4 on-site food carts, and enjoy award-winning craft beer, wine, cider, and more. Bring friends, relax, and make it a weekly tradition. 6-8pm. Free.

The Cellar Live Irish Trad Music with The Ballybogs! Live music featuring Bend’s Irish Trad band, The Ballybogs! Every Thursday at The Cellar. Seats fill up, so get there early! 6-8pm. Free. The Commonwealth Pub Pina Colada Pina Colada is a duo with a story as refreshing as their name! Joe “Pina” Plass and TJ “Colada” Brodeur first met on a sun-soaked tropical island, and now they’re entertaining audiences with their yacht-rock stylings. Get ready to dance and party! 7:30-9:30pm.

LIVE MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE

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Drake Park Munch & Music Summit Health & PacificSource Munch & Music free concerts in Drake Park presented by The Source Weekly and Hayden Homes! Music starts on the Stilson Builders stage on Thursday, Aug. 6 at 5:30pm. Free.

Eurosports Sisters Food Cart Garden

Free trivia Free trivia every Thursday night at Eurosports sign up is at 5:30pm. Trivia starts at 5:45pm. 5:45-6:30pm. Free.

Frankie’s – formerly Sisters Depot

Tristan Marshall Tristan began playing the ukulele in Hawai'i at the age of five and has been performing live since he was six. Now 16, he has entertained audiences throughout Hawai'i and Oregon with a style that blends Hawaiian music, contemporary favorites, fingerstyle arrangements, and acoustic classics. In addition to the ukulele, 6-8pm. Free.

Hayden Homes Amphitheater Luke Bryan: Word On The Street Tour Country musician and comedian Luke Bryan hits the stage with special guests Drew Baldridge, Shane Profitt, Karley Scott Collins & DJ Rock. 6pm.

The Lot Sidney Joseph A multi-instrumentalist who’s greatest passion has been creating and performing music since he was just a wee lad. With a foggy Philly past. The smokey voiced singer just moved to Oregon, where he’s finding inspiration for new songs. 6-8pm. Free.

Mountain Burger Thursday Night Live! Carl Ventis at Mountain Burger for Thursday Night Live! Great music, food & company! 6-8pm. Free.

River’s Place Midnight Cove West Coast Reggae Rock from Central Oregon 6-8pm. Free.

Stoller Wine Bar Bend Haute Melange Haute Melange performs the first Thursday of each month at Stollers, celebrating the music of Django Reinhardt, Gypsy Jazz and beyond. Jon Harnum (trumpet and guitar), Bob Baker (violin), Scott Johnson (guitar) and Andrew Lion (bass). A swinging blend of classic jazz manouche. 6-8pm. Free.

The Suttle Lodge & Boathouse Big Lawn Series The Suttle Lodge is a perfect stop for touring bands and musicians, allowing us to showcase some incredible artists from near and far. Catch a variety of tunes on our Big Lawn every Monday and Thursday from 6-8pm. Free for all and for all ages. 6-8pm. Free.

The Winery at Manzanita- Bend Vino & Vibes Enjoy an evening of wine and Local community grooves every Thursday. Local singers and song writers welcome. 5-7pm. Free.

Tower Theatre Jerry’s Middle Finger Jerry’s Middle Finger do more than celebrate the Jerry Garcia Band’s catalog; they also broadcast it to a new generation. 8:30pm. $17-$37 (plus $8 Historic Preservation Fee).

Volcanic Theatre Pub Anthony Gnomes - “Praise the Loud” 2026 World Tour Volcanic Theatre Pub and 1988 Entertainment Presents: Anthony Gomes - “Praise The Loud” 2026 World Tour Thursday, August 6th 2026 This show is seated. Doors @ 7PM - Show Starts @ 8PM 8pm. $36.

Worthy Brewing - Main Pub and Brewery Comedy Mics Hear fresh jokes from established comedians, cheer on first timers, and drink tasty brews. For comics, this is a practice space, and also an opportunity to get booked for paid time in future shows. 6:30-8:45pm. Free.

7 Friday

The Astro Lounge Live local sounds with assorted DJs. Live local sounds from different artists every Friday and Saturday. 10pm-2am. Weekend cover charge.

Bend Cider Co. Grits-n-Gravy Yee-ha! Come out for a night of down-home music with Grits-nGravy on our backyard garden stage! Grits-nGravy is an acoustic folk and classic country trio (an offshoot of Dry Canyon Stampede). There’ll be award-winning cider, beer, wine and nonalcoholic beverages available for purchase, as well as light appetizers. Outside good is welcome. Kid and dog-friendly. Free. 6-8pm. Free.

Boneyard Pub FREE LIVE MUSIC: Silvertone Devils Free live music at Boneyard Pub every Friday during Summer in the beer garden. 8/7, Silvertone Devils, 6-8PM. Let It Be Known! 6-8pm. Free.

The Commons Cafe & Taproom First Friday Block Party! The tunes are cranked up every first Friday to celebrate Art Walk throughout downtown. Food, Drink, and Community abound on these nights. VanHenion Brewing helps this event support the Latino Community Association. First Friday of every month, 5:30-8:30pm. Free.

The Commonwealth Pub Cover City Come enjoy an evening of all the hits and songs you love performed by Cover City, Bend’s premier cover band. Get ready to dance the night away! 8-10pm. Free.

Desert Inn Sports Bar & Grill Chasin’ Bandits Enjoy a variety of memorable country and rock favorites. Talented musicians keep the crowd entertained and engaged. Come out and dance the night away or just enjoy the music. First Friday of every month, 7-10pm. Free.

Eurosports Sisters Food Cart Garden

Five Pint Mary Free music every Friday night from 5-7pm at Eurosports. This week it’s Five Pint Mary. Please feel free to bring your own chairs as sometimes we run out. 5-7pm. Free.

Frankie’s – formerly Sisters Depot

Singer Songwriter Series: Rick Moore, Bill Powers and Tamra Jean Another Singer Songwriter Series for the month of August, featuring an intimate night of original music from Rick Moore, Bill Powers, and Tamra Jean. 6-8pm. $10.

Hardtails Bar & Grill 70+ 80’s Night w/ DJ Cris Ossig Get ready for a night of pure nostalgia as DJ Cris Ossig spins all the biggest hits from the ’70s and ‘80s. From classic rock and disco favorites to new wave, pop, and dance anthems, you’ll be singing along and dancing all night long. 8-10pm. $10.

Hayden Homes Amphitheater Sarah McLachlan - Better Broken Tour You may know her songs like Angel, When She Loved Me, or Fallen. Sarah McLaughlin is coming to the high desert to shake things up for the summer! 7pm.

M&J Tavern Bends band SuckerPunch Bend's own local fellas play the covers they lived! Not to be confused with the Grant Pass punk band! Tips encouraged! 8pm. Free.

RE/MAX Key Properties August First Friday Gallery Hop Join us for our monthly First Friday Gallery Hop at REMAX Key Properties! Experience vibrant artwork by featured artist David Kinker, live music from Jordan Madsen, refreshing summer drinks and snacks, and a welcoming community atmosphere. Bring a friend and celebrate an evening of art, music, and community in Bend. 5-8pm. Free.

SCP Redmond Hotel The Uncharted Project plays an acoustic set at the SCP Redmond Hotel lobby for Redmond First Friday Artwalk Where Indie Folk meets Soulful Jazz. <0x1F4FB>✨ Think Norah Jones meets James Taylor. The Uncharted Project blends John’s vibrant Caribbean rhythms with Cassia’s raw, bluesy vocals. 5-8pm. Free.

Silver Moon Brewing So Much House: Fluffy Stuff & Luxo SoMuchHouse: Bend debut DJ set by Fluffy Stuff with support by Luxo. B2B set by Its Fine & MStarkDJ. Dance, community, house music. Join for this special night! First Friday of every month, 8pm-2am. $15.

Testimony Wine Bar Cecilia Voss at Testimony Cecilia Voss brings something for everyone performing a mix of styles ranging from folk and American roots to contemporary, blues, and jazz. Settle in, enjoy a glass of wine, and a heartfelt listening experience you won’t want to miss! 6-8pm. Free.

Volcanic Theatre Pub Outdoor Courtyard Definitely Dead Doors @ 6PM - Show Starts @ 7PM Presale - $25 Door - $35 Definitely Dead - 7pm. $25.

Sarah McLachlan brings her Better Broken Tour to Hayden Homes Amphitheater on Friday, Aug. 7 at 7pm. She’ll no doubt play some of her classics like “Angel” and “Fallen” and also showcase newer tunes.

Sarah McLachlan

Reed Pub

TALL BOY TUESDAYS

8 Saturday

The Astro Lounge Live local sounds with assorted DJs. Live local sounds from different artists every Friday and Saturday. 10pm-2am. Weekend cover charge.

The Commonwealth Pub The Desert Howlers The Desert Howlers are fast establishing themselves as Central Oregon’s premier roadhouse blues band. Formed by veteran bassist and vocalist Howard Dyer, they’re driven by the dynamic drumming of Mitch Peay whose rocking rhythms are steeped in the Blues. 8-10pm. Free.

Craft Kitchen and Brewery Dork Side of the Moon Science Comedy Show Is it comedy or is it science? Yes! Join scientists-turned-comedians Naomi Fitter and Sarah Hagen as they lead the audience on a wildly hilarious and mildly risqué romp through engineering, robotics, and astronomy. 8-9:30pm. $17.59.

Frankie’s – formerly Sisters Depot

Scott Foxx An evening with Scott Foxx, a versatile Central Oregon musician known for his work with The River Pigs, Burnin’ Moonlight, and After Midnight. Enjoy an unforgettable night of Americana, bluegrass, blues, folk, and classic rock live at Frankie’s. 6-8pm. $10.

Hardtails Bar & Grill Radio Riots Get ready for the ultimate classic rock experience, delivering crowd-favorite hits spanning more than seven decades of legendary music and a high-energy performance that keeps audiences dancing, singing, and rocking all night long. 8-10pm. $10.

Hayden Homes Amphitheater Tedeschi Trucks Band: Future Soul 2026 Tour 6pm.

M&J Tavern Smooth As Buttah Conspiracy w/Midnight Cove Local one man reggae looping brings the chill vibes and shares the stage with others to keep the cool night grooving. Tip the bands! 9pm. Free.

River’s Place Saturday Jazz Folks Jazz Folks ~ Classic, jazz standards 6-8pm. Free.

Silver Moon Brewing Bend Moonlight Market: SOLUNA Bend Moonlight market presents: Soluna moon Our very first two day market experience! Aug 8th 4-11pm Aug 9th 12-8pm Free to attend All ages welcome Come bask in the sun and dance under the moon! Let’s party y’all! 4-11pm. 0.

Silver Moon Brewing Brooklyn Del & The Revelators + Clark Engine Company

Brooklyn Del & The Revelators are a Portland, Oregon–based Americana outfit carving out their own stretch of desert-country - music that feels sunburned, restless, and cinematic. 7-10pm. $14.92.

The Oxford Hotel Don’t Tell Comedy Show

This show will be at an indoor location. The precise address is emailed to ticket holders at 8:00 AM on the day of the event. You will also be able to pull the show address at that time using your email address on our website. 7:30pm. 25.

Tower Theatre Only Yesterday - A Softer Side of the 70’s Only Yesterday celebrates the gentler soundtrack of the decade, the music that filled living rooms, kitchen radios, and wood-paneled station wagons. Think Karen Carpenter, Anne Murray, and Linda Ronstadt. 7:30-9:30pm. $39 - $59.

Volcanic Theatre Pub WATKINS GLEN & MFG - TEDESCHI TRUCKS HAYHO AFTERPARTY Parallel 44 Presents WATKINS GLEN (Dead/ Allmans/Band/Feat Tribute) & MFG (Jazz/Funk) for a Tedeschi Trucks Band HayHo AfterParty at Volcanic Theatre on Saturday, August 8, 2026. At the same after party last Summer, we were bleNoon-1am. $20 ADV / $25 DOOR.

9 Sunday

10 Barrel Brewing Co. Coyote Rider at 10 Barrel Brewing Co. Kat Hilst, Kim Kelley and Tim Coffey perform original folk-Americana songs crafted for timeless storytelling with roots-driven sound and powerful harmonies. 5-7pm. Free.

Deschutes Brewery Tasting Room & Beer Garden Sunday Sessions: Brad Parsons Brad Parsons has collaborated with Bart Budwig, John Craigie, Fruition, Cabinet and numerous others throughout his career. 4-6pm. Free.

Dogwood At The Pine Shed Okay Karaoke Sing your favorite songs with friends, enjoy professional sound and lighting, and let the spotlight shine on you. Hosted by the dynamic Tammy Larsen, it’s the perfect night out for music lovers and party people alike. Noon-11pm. Free.

Hayden Homes Amphitheater Gavin Adcock: The Day I Hang It Up Tour 2026 Country singer Gavin Adcock knows how to put on a show. Central Oregon country-lovers will certainly not want to miss this one! 6:30pm. $67-$359.

River’s Place Uncharted Project Unique blend of Indie/Folk and Soulful Jazz. 6-8pm. Free.

Silver Moon Brewing Bend Moonlight Market: SOLUNA Bend Moonlight market presents: Soluna moon Our very first two day market experience! Aug 8th 4-11pm Aug 9th 12-8pm Free to attend All ages welcome Come bask in the sun and dance under the moon! Let’s party y’all! Noon-8pm. 0.

Silver Moon Brewing The River Ramblers The River Ramblers are a five-piece bluegrass band out of Missoula, built around fast picking, tight harmonies, and a sound that hits hard live. With roots in the University of Montana music scene, they bring a mix of traditional bluegrass and high-energy, foot-stomping sets that keep people locked in. 6-9pm. $12.24.

Volcanic Theatre Pub Outdoor Courtyard Nick Shoulders Volcanic Theatre & 1988 Entertainment Presents: Nick ShouldersApocalypse, Never! Tour Sunday, August 9th 2026 Outside in the Volcanic Courtyard Genre - Outlaw Country / Folk Doors @ 6PM - Show Starts @ 7PM Presale - $20 Door - $30 7pm. $26.

10 Monday

The Commonwealth Pub Musician’s Open Showcase Hosted by The Session Calling all musicians! Come by Monday nights for a special opportunity to share your talent, connect with other artists and perform in a welcoming, collaborative and music-loving atmosphere. Hosted by The Session. Full backline provided, just bring instruments and chords. Signups at 5, music starts at 6. 5-9pm. Free.

M&J Tavern Vinyl Night Monday Night just got better!!! 9pm to Midnight. SupaFly will be your Dj. Bring your own vinyl and sign up to add it to the Playlist or pick from hers. 9pm. Free.

On Tap Locals’ Day Plus Live Music Cheaper drinks all day and live music at night, get down to On Tap. 11am-9pm. Free.

11 Tuesday

The Cellar Open Mic Open Mic is hosted by Mari of the band, Mari & The Dream! This is an intimate night of sharing music in a welcoming environment and supportive community. 6-8pm. Free.

The Commons Cafe & Taproom Open Mic StoryTellers open mic nights are full of music, laughs and community. Mason James is the host. Poetry, comedy and spoken word are welcome, but this is mainly a musical open mic. Performance slots are a quick 10 minutes each, so being warmed up and ready is ideal. If you wish to perform sign-ups start at 5pm in the cafe. 6pm. Free.

The Commonwealth Pub T5 Jazz - Tuesday Night Jazz Come enjoy a great night of jazz music at the pub with Thomas Tsuneta and T5 Jazz. 7-9pm.

Elements Public House Trivia (&Taco) Tuesdays Quiz fans of Redmond: bring the crew this week for UKB live trivia & more! Delicious menu favorites, brews, cocktails, plus Taco Tuesday menu! Players will compete for gift card prizes or play just for fun. Bring good vibes and a pen. 6:30pm. Free.

GoodLife Brewing Live Music in the GoodLife Beer Garden Free Live Music in GoodLife’s Beergarden every Sunday 4-6 and Tuesday 6-8. Full Kitchen, Full Bar, Food Trucks, Playground, Kids Menu, GOOD VIBES! 6-8pm. Free.

Initiative Brewing - The Hub Bingo at Initiative in Redmond! Randy is hosting Central Oregon’s “semi-pro” bingo legend, for a fun night with real cash prizes. Great food, cold drinks, and a good time—all while supporting the Redmond Senior Center! 5:30-7:30pm. Free.

M&J Tavern Karaoke Sign-ups start at 8pm! 8pm-1:15am. Free.

Mountain Burger Trivia Tuesdays Trivia Tuesday at Mountain Burger! Free to play! Prizes & fun every Tuesday! 7:30-9pm. Free.

Silver Moon Brewing Chris Baron Chris Baron, backroads songwriter-savant from the PNW, is waxing nostalgic and living vibrant. The stylized music draws you in, calmly shakes your hand, and dispels all your fears. 6pm. $12.24.

Volcanic Theatre Pub Penny & Sparrow w/ Cece Coakley Volcanic Theatre & 1988 Entertainment Presents: Penny & Sparrow w/ Cece Coakley Tuesday, August 11th 2026 Outside in the Volcanic Theatre Courtyard Genre - Americana Doors @ 6PM - Show Starts @ 7PM Presale - $30 Door - $40 6pm. $37.87.

Volcanic Theatre Pub Karaoke Karaoke in the pub of VTP! Every Tuesday, 7pm - late 7pm. Free.

The Tedeschi Trucks Band, led by husband-and-wife Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, brings its 12-person jam band to the Hayden Homes Amphitheater on Saturday, Aug. 8 to delight fans with the band's mix of blues, soul and Southern rock as part of the Future Soul 2026 Tour.

Hayden Homes Amphitheater

12 Wednesday

The Astro Lounge Karaoke with Christina Christina Karafun catalog gives one thousands of songs to sing to. Great sound system and brand new wireless mics. Drink specials during the event. 9pm-1am. Free.

The Capitol Karaoke Drink specials! Air guitars! People should definitely check this out for themselves. 8pm-1am. Free.

The Commonwealth Pub Daring Greatly Daring Greatly has spent the last decade carving out a harmony-forward country rock sound rooted in classic songwriting and road-tested chemistry. The band has grown from Canadian transplants into one of the Southwest’s most respected independent touring acts. 8-10pm. Free. Midtown Ballroom STS9 Human Dream Tour 8pm. $55.

Northside Bar & Grill Mellow Wednesday Open Mic Night Open mic night hosted by Derek Michael Marc! 5:30-8pm. 0.00.

Silver Moon Brewing Kristen Ford Kristen Ford Looping Indie Rock (Righteous Babe Records). Sacramento-based singer-songwriter performs as part of her Sad Sac tour. 7-10pm. $12.24.

Silver Moon Brewing $5 Comedy Night There are many things in Bend that you can’t buy for five dollars. But $5 can get you a ticket to some of the best laughs in Bend! 7:30-9pm. $5.

MUSIC

Around the World in 30 Instruments with Four Shillings Short Enjoy a global music performance from a husband/wife duo. Aug. 5, 2-3:30pm, Sunriver Library, Venture Lane, Sunriver; Aug. 6, 1:30-3pm, Redmond Library, 827 Southwest Deschutes Avenue, Redmond; Aug. 7, 1:30-3pm. Central Library, 61956 SE Santorini Street, Bend. Contact: 541-3121032. lizg@dpls.lib.or.us. Free.

Sunriver Music Festival 49th Season The Tower Theatre presents the 49th Sunriver Music Festival. Artistic Director Brett Mitchell leads world-class musicians in Bend and Sunriver. Enjoy classical, pops, and family concerts featuring Michelle Cann, Tessa Lark and more. Tower Theatre, 835 NW Wall St., Bend. Contact: 541-593-1084. information@sunrivermusic.org. $40-$96/ $25 for people 25 and younger.

Sunriver Music Festival Classical Concert II This program celebrates the 100th anniversary of William Grant Still’s jazzy tone poem, Darker America, premiered in 1926. Aug. 12, 7:30pm. Great Hall, Sunriver Resort, 17600 Center Dr., Sunriver. Contact: 541-593-1084. tickets@sunrivermusic.org. $45-$91; 25 & under $25.

Sunriver Music Festival Opening Night Classical Concert The Festival season opens with variations on America the Beautiful by one of today’s foremost composers, Joan Tower, in her Grammy-winning work, Made in America. Grammy winner Michelle Cann performs Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4. Aug. 10, 7:30pm. Great Hall, Sunriver Resort, 17600 Center Dr., Sunriver. Contact: 541-5931084. tickets@sunrivermusic.org. $45-$91; 25 & under $25.

Sunriver Music Festival’s Pops Concert: John Williams and the American Journey Enjoy the Festival Orchestra in a lively program featuring various works by American legend John Williams and other masterpieces. Highlights include music from Saving Private Ryan, Born on the Fourth of July, The Cowboys, patriotic favorites and Copland’s Fanfare. Aug. 8, 7:30pm. Tower Theatre, 835 NW Wall St., Bend. Contact: 541-593-1084. tickets@sunrivermusic. org. $53-$96; 25 & under $25.

Sunset Sounds: A Lavender & Reiki infused Sound Bath Golden hour at Tumalo Lavender Farm for lavender infused Reiki & Sound Bath. Full hour-long sound bath by Lisa of Step into Stillness while Reiki master, Amy Mew from Namaspa performs Reiki. Complimentary Lavender Lemonade &refreshments served during sunset after. Aug. 7, 6:30-8pm. Tumalo Lavender Farm, 19825 Connarn Rd, Bend. Contact: 5419052949. soundbathstillness@gmail.com. $45. Trombone Trio Discover the extraordinary artistry of the trombone trio — an ensemble seldom heard and uniquely compelling. Blending warmth, resonance and remarkable musical range, three trombones together create a sound both majestic and intimate. Aug. 11, 7pm. Sunriver Resort Great Hall, 1 Great Hall Loop, Sunriver. Contact: 541-593-1084. information@sunrivermusic.org. $25-$35.

The Uncharted Project Check out the captivating music duo featuring Cassia Dawn and John Fortune. Together, they seamlessly blend Indie folk with soulful jazz, evoking the vibe of a Norah Jones and James Taylor collaboration. Aug. 8, 3-4pm. Redmond Public Library, 827 SW Deschutes Ave., Redmond. Contact: lizg@ deschuteslibrary.org. Free.

DANCE

Adult Ballet Class Learn or rediscover the art of ballet on Tuesday nights! Adult Ballet is an open-level class for adult learners and dancers. Tuesdays, 12:30-1:30 and 6:45-7:45pm. Academie De Ballet Classique, 1900 NE 3rd St #104, Bend. Contact: 541-382-4055. dance@abcbend. com. Price varies.

Adult Jazz Dance Community Class Intermediate-level adult jazz drop-in dance classes. Friendly, supportive atmosphere. Get your dance on! Fridays, 12:15-1:45pm. Acadamie De Ballet Classique, 1900 NE 3rd St #104, Bend. Contact: 408-857-6773. jcliff@gmail.com. $10.

Argentine Tango Milonga Tango in Bend holds its monthly Milonga (social dance). Enjoy music, the welcoming community, and the genuine social connection of Argentine Tango. No partner necessary! Second Saturday of every month, 7-9:30pm. Through Dec. 12. Sons of Norway Hall, 549 NW Harmon Blvd., Bend. Contact: 818-207-1363. info@tangoinbend.com. $10.

Belly Dance Classes, all levels welcome Expand your movement language by learning a variety of Belly Dance styles + build strength, grace, confidence, & community. Classes include a great workout, yoga, professional technique, functional fitness approach for alignment, longevity, & safety in movement and body. Performance opportunities for those who desire Wednesdays, 5:15-6:30pm and Thursdays, 5:15-6:30pm. Private Studio, ., Bend. Contact: www.templetribalfusion.com/dance-bend. $20.

Boots & Brews at Worthy Brewing Country line dance lessons 6-7pm. Two-step dance lessons 7-8pm. Open dancing 8-9pm. Food & drink specials. Family-friendly patio atmosphere. Tuesdays, 7-8pm. Through Sept. 30. Worthy Brewing - Main Pub and Brewery, 495 NE Bellevue Dr., Bend. Contact: howdy@swingnline.com. Free. Cuban Dance Class! Learn to dance! Rueda de Casino is an energetic, community-oriented dance from Cuba where dancers form a circle, switch partners and move together to the music. No partner or experience needed! Price includes a 4-week progressive series, plus additional socials announced in class. Aug. 10, 6-7:30pm. The Barrel Room at Upp Liquids, 550 SW Industrial Way, Bend. Contact: 5416108865. bendrueda@ gmail.com. $40.

Partner & Line Dance Lessons at The Coyote Join us Wednesdays at The Coyote in downtown Bend! Partner dance lessons 6–7 p.m. with Seth and McKenna, line dance lessons 7–8 p.m. with Alex. No partner or experience needed—come solo and connect. Wednesdays, 6-8pm. The Coyote, 910 NW Harriman St., Bend. Contact: mindfulmotionmentor@gmail.com. Free. Tango in Bend Learn and dance Argentine Tango. Whether a beginner or an experienced dancer, the community welcomes all. First class is free! 6:30 - Intermediate Class. 7:15 - Beginners Class. 8:30 - Practice for all. Wednesdays, 6:30-9:30pm. Sons of Norway Hall, 549 NW Harmon Blvd., Bend. Contact: 818-207-1363. info@tangoinbend.com. $10 class & practice, $5 practice only.

Looking for an energetic, community-oriented dance where no partner or experience is needed? Check out the Cuban Dance Class four-week progressive series, focused on the Rueda de Casino circle dance, at The Barrel Room at Upp Liquids beginning Monday, Aug. 10 at 6 pm.

Bend Rueda

DISCOVER HIDDEN GEMS OF THE PACIFIC

in a world of exquisite wines and delightful flavors. Our knowledgeable staff is here to guide you through our curated wine list, ensuring a memorable and enjoyable tasting experience. Whether you're a wine enthusiast or a casual sipper, Put A Cork In It Wine Bar & Bottle Shop is the perfect destination to unwind and savor the moment. We also have an extensive bottle list, and our team would be happy to help you pick out the perfect wine pairing for your evening.

FILM EVENTS

The Peanuts Movie: Sensory Movie Night Life always seems complicated for good ol’ Charlie Brown (Noah Schnapp), the boy who always tries his best against seemingly impossible odds. The Peanuts Movie offers a colorful gateway into the world of its classic characters and a sweetly nostalgic treat for the adults who grew up with them. Aug. 12, 6pm. Tower Theatre, 835 NW Wall St., Bend. Contact: 541-317-0700. info@towertheatre.org. Free (Reserve a seat in advance).

ARTS + CRAFTS

**08/05-Lemonade Summer Paint Party @ SCP Hotel in Redmond** Lemonade Summer Paint party @ SCP Hotel Redmond. Come have a fun time painting a pre-traced canvas, with prizes and more! Tickets must be sold before event. Seating is limited so get your tickets today! https://www.imaginaryrebelpaintparties.com/ Aug. 5, 6-8:30pm. SCP Redmond Hotel, 521 Southwest 6th Street, Redmond. Contact: 9496773510. imaginaryrebelartstudio@gmail.com. 35.

Art Play Toddlers and preschoolers dive into process-based art through sensory stations, open-ended exploration, and hands-on creative play. Ages 2-5 Thursdays-Saturdays, 10-11am. Two Suns Art Studio + MakerSpace, 70 SW Century Drive, Bend. Contact: 541-892-6471. taylor@ twosunsartstudio.com. $25.

Craft & Connect Come join PMRCAA staff and community members for an afternoon of fellowship and craft. Bring any small project and materials you need to work alongside community members and enjoy conversation with fellow artists. Aug. 6, 3-5pm. Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture, 68467 Three Creek Rd., Sisters. Contact: 5419040700. moriah@ roundhousefoundation.org. Free.

Crochet Café Fancy Nancy will be the host at Fancywork Yarn Shop. This 2-hour hook session is designed specifically to foster community among the crochet crew. All skill levels are welcome in this weekly drop-in event. Thursdays, 1-3pm. Fancywork Yarn Shop, 200 NE Greenwood Avenue, Bend. Contact: 541-323-8686. hello@fancywork.com. Free.

First Friday opening: Future Mythologies by North Pole Studio Future Mythologies presents a collaborative body of work created by five North Pole Studio artists and master printers at Mullowney Printing Company. Through experimental printmaking processes, the artists explore identity, storytelling, and imagination, creating new symbolic languages through ink and impression. Aug. 7, 5-7pm. Scalehouse Gallery, 550 NW Franklin Ave, Bend. Free.

First Fridays Liminal Library at Pine & Prism The Liminal Library opens its doors at Pine&Prism each First Friday in downtown Bend — a gathering place for the curious, the creative, and the energetically attuned. From Tarot readings and Aura photography to local artisans and craft mocktails, each month brings something new. Come curious and ready to explore! First Friday of every month, 5-9pm. Through Sept. 7. Pine and Prism Wellness Collective, 856 Northwest Bond Street #Suite 202, Bend. Contact: hello@pineandprism.com. Free.

Free Teen Open Art Hours Teens ages 1318 are welcome to join every Tuesday & Thursday between 3pm-7pm for Free Open Art Hours where they will have access to art supplies, musical instruments, a sewing station and plenty of space for your creative projects with the support of creative mentors. Registration required. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 3-7pm. The Open Arts Center, 999 NE 2nd St, Bend, OR 97701, Bend. Contact: 9787714635. claire@theopenartscenter.org. Free.

Kids Studio! Exploring Shape & Form Kids ages 7–12 will make surrealist collages, sculpt imaginative 3D objects, and experiment with vibrant watercolor techniques inspired by Dalí and Höch. Hands-on, playful, and full of artistic adventure. Aug. 10-13, 9:30am-Noon. FREAK’N ART, 1265 NW Wall st., Bend. Contact: 541-508-7438. hellofreaknart@gmail.com. $200.

Let’s Paint - Sunflowers! Manzanita Winery This is a creative class open to all experience levels. letspaintclasses.art/ Aug. 12, 6-8pm. The Winery at Manzanita- Bend, 550 sw Industrial Way #194, Bend. Contact: 5414807491. sarahanneswoffer@gmail.com. $55.

My Color Weighs A Ton The exhibition premieres a new collection of statement pieces created to command a room rather than decorate one. Each piece explores emotional weight through vibrant color and physical presence. Aug. 7, 5-9pm. artHouse LTA, 113 NW Minnesota Ave, Bend. Free.

OAC First Friday Open Studios & Gallery Show Tour artist studios, explore our current community exhibition and connect with local artists and makers. First Friday of every month, 6-8pm. Through Dec. 4. The Open Arts Center, 175 NE Greenwood Ave., Bend. Contact: 971-241-6225. maija@theopenartscenter.org. Free.

Open Horizons Artists Jan Dow and Pamela Beaverson exhibit paintings that begin with exploration. Whether by foot or kayak, each spends time in the landscapes they create. Mondays-Fridays, 9am-5pm and Fri, Aug. 7, 5-7pm. Through Aug. 31. Premiere Property Group, 25 NW Minnesota Ave., Bend. Contact: 541-241-6860. Free.

Pottery Art and Crafts Sale Art and Crafts by local artists. Pottery, printmaking, painting, woodworking, jewelry and more! Fridays-Sundays, 11am-4pm. Through Aug. 8. Smiley Design, 443 NW Delaware Ave., Bend. Contact: 541-3828406. Babsomatic56@gmail.com. Free.

The Rachel Binah Gallery Dedication Art Show Opening The Open Arts Center is proud to present The Rachel Binah Gallery Dedication Art Show, a special exhibition honoring the extraordinary life and ongoing legacy of artist, environmental activist, mentor and philanthropist. Begins at 5:30pm. Aug. 7. The Open Arts Center, 999 NE 2nd St, Bend, OR 97701, Bend. Contact: 9712416225. maija@ theopenartscenter.org. Free.

Second Saturday - Meet the Artists Featured artists will be demonstrating their process. Wine, beer, and nibbles will be served as visitors mingle with the artists and browse the latest pieces. All are welcome. Second Saturday of every month, 4-7pm. Artists’ Gallery Sunriver, 57100 Beaver Dr. Suite 19, Sunriver. Contact: 541-593-4382. info@artistsgallerysunriver.com. Free.

Summer Fun - fused glass Learn to cut and break glass, use frit, stringers, and murrine to complete your own fused glass project. Glass and tools supplied. Once completed, project is fired in off-site kiln and available for pickup at the gallery or shipped. Snacks and soda provided. Tue, Aug. 11, 7-8:30pm and Thu, Aug. 20, 7-8:30pm. Artists’ Gallery Sunriver, 57100 Beaver Dr. Suite 19, Sunriver. Contact: 541-593-4382. info@artistsgallerysunriver.com. $75.

Sunriver Art Fair Sunriver Art Fair: August 7 - 9, 2026. Sunriver, OR. Browse 90 booths of fine arts and crafts in the Village at Sunriver. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Free admission and parking. Proceeds support south Deschutes County nonprofits. www.sunriverartfair.org @sunriverartfair Fri, Aug. 7, 9am-5pm, Sat, Aug. 8, 9am-Noon and Sun, Aug. 9, 9am-3pm. The Village at Sunriver, 57100 Beaver Dr., Sunriver. Contact: publicity@ sunriverartfair.org. Free.

Tomi Mart 2026 Matsuri and 4th Annual Ramen Eating Contest Join Tomi Mart on Saturday, August 8 from 2-7:30 p.m. for our annual Matsuri and 4th Annual Ramen Eating Contest! Enjoy 30+ ANHPI vendors, food, music, performances, shopping and family fun. Parking is limited, so please carpool, bike, ride share or use transit. Aug. 8, 2-7:30pm. Tomi Mart, 1130 SE 3rd Street, Bend. Contact: 5416687066. natasha@tomimartbend.com. 0.00.

PRESENTATIONS + EXHIBITS

The Other Half of Passion Everyone talks about following your passion. Nobody talks about what comes after. Jarrod Allen - BMX rider turned art director - shares stories from a life of trial, error and finding his way back to work he loves. Not a highlight reel. Free with a Q&A and hangout afterward. Aug. 6, 6-8pm. Embark, 2843 Northwest Lolo Drive, Bend. Contact: 8312951400. thejarrodallen@gmail.com. Free.

Own Your Zone with Bend Fire & Rescue Learn simple ways to reduce wildfire risk to your home! Bend Fire & Rescue’s Own Your Zone is a community wildfire preparedness campaign focused on getting residents to take simple, specific actions to reduce wildfire risk around their homes—especially by creating defensible space within the first five feet. Aug. 5, 5:30-6:30pm. Central Library, 61956 SE Santorini Street, Bend. Contact: 5412413395. emilyc@ deschuteslibrary.org. Free.

THEATER

“Something Wicked” Part 1: Introduction to “Macbeth” Explore the world and plot of William Shakespeare’s famous play. Aug. 11, 1-2pm. Redmond Library, 827 Southwest Deschutes Avenue, Redmond. Contact: 541-3121032. lizg@deschuteslibrary.org. Free.

Angels in America (Theater) The most ambitious American play of our time: an epic that switches between realism and fantasy, from the tragedy of AIDS to the camp comedy of drag queens to the death or at least the absconding of God. From Bend’s only professional theater that brought you ONCE and Great Comet! The Greenhouse Cabaret, 1017 NE 2nd St., Bend. Contact: info@thegreenhousecabaret.com. $19-79.

The Play that Goes Wrong A thrilling murder mystery takes a turn for the disastrous as things begin to go from bad, to worse, to irrecoverably wrong. The most ambitious production that Meadow Sky has taken on, The Play That Goes Wrong is an epic slapstick comedy for the whole family. High Desert Music Hall, 818 SW Forest Ave., Redmond. Contact: 4582066879. meadowskyproductions@gmail.com. $30.

Winnie-the-Pooh With this classic, heartwarming production, BEAT joins audiences around the world in celebrating 100 years of Winnie-the-Pooh, Christopher Robin, and all their beloved friends from the Hundred Acre Wood. Fridays-Saturdays 6-7pm and Saturdays-Sundays 1-2pm. Through Aug. 16. Open Space Event Studios, 220 NE Lafayette Ave, Bend. Contact: 541-419-5558. admin@beatchildrenstheatre. org. $20.

Participants will cut and break glass on their way to learning how to create a fused glass project Tues., Aug. 11 and Thurs., Aug. 20 at Artists' Gallery Sunriver.

Heidi Brown

WORDS

Details = Credibility Want to write compelling crime stories that readers can’t wait to dive into? Details matter. Space is limited and registration is required. This workshop is designed for participants 16+. dpl.libnet.info/event/16294403 Aug. 6, 6-7:30pm. Central Library, 61956 SE Santorini Street, Bend. Contact: 541-312-1032. lizg@deschuteslibrary.org. Free.

OUTDOOR EVENTS

2026 Haulin Aspen Haulin’ Aspen participants will enjoy spectacular single track and forest service roads beginning and ending at Wanoga Sno-Park at an elevation of 5500 feet. The course weaves through the rolling terrain of the Deschutes National Forest offering stunning views. Aug. 8, 7am. Wanoga Sno Park, Cascade Lakes Highway, Bend. $65-$100. Bend Adult Volleyball Bend Hoops adult open gym volleyball sessions offer players a chance to get together and enjoy some competition. To sign up, go to meetup.com and RSVP. Bring exact change. Sundays, 7-9pm and Saturdays, 7:30pm. Bend Hoops, 1307 NE 1st St, Bend. $10. Elkhorn Crest Race Runners will not only get a good endorphin rush after the race, they will be able to celebrate with food and beer. The race features immaculate mountain views. The shuttle for 50mile race and 50k race leave at 4:45am and 6:15am respectively. Aug. 8, 5:30am. Sumpter Fair Grounds, Sumpter. Prices vary.

MX13 Arenacross & Freestyle Jump Show MX13 Arenacross brings Action Packed racing to the Pro Caliber OUTDOOR Arena. PROS and Amateurs compete for $10k and trophies. All ages and all abilities competing. Freestyle Motorcross X-Games Jumps. Amateurs/Kids Practice and Racing 12pm-5pm. Pros Amateurs/Kids Racing 7pm-10pm. General Admission Gates open 6pm. Aug. 7, Noon-10pm and Aug. 8, Noon-10pm. Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, 3800 SW Airport Way, Redmond, Redmond. Contact: 5418155512. homan@justinhoman.com. Spectators: Kids $15, Adults $20.

Perseids Meteor Shower Canoe Tour

This is a journey of celestial wonder! As the last of the sun’s light disappears behind the mighty Cascades, the group will push out into the water. Fri, Aug. 7, Sat, Aug. 8, Sun, Aug. 9, Fri, Aug. 14, Sat, Aug. 15 and Sun, Aug. 16. Wanderlust Tours, 61535 S Hwy 97, Bend. Contact: 541-389-8359. info@wanderlusttours.com. $130.

Perseids Meteor Shower Hiking Tour

We have two amazing hiking options to take in the Perseids Meteor Shower this summer. Join us for what is sure to be a magical night experiencing one of the brightest meteor showers that will grace our solar system in 2025. Aug. 12. Wanderlust Tours, 61535 S Hwy 97, Bend. Contact: 541-389-8359. info@wanderlusttours.com.

SkyBall SKYBALL at Pine Nursery Park Have fun while getting your exercise. For active men and women ages 60+. Mondays and Thursdays 9:30-10:45. Meet at the net just west of playground. Contact Dave 541-233-7573 or email: skyballoregon@icloud.com. Pine Nursery Park, 3750 NE Purcell Blvd., Bend. Contact: 541-2337573. skyballoregon@icloud.com. Free.

GROUPS + MEETUPS

Bend Chess and Go Club Casual gathering for players of Chess and Go/Baduk/Weiqi. Informal and welcoming to players of all skill levels. We love teaching new people! Wednesdays, 6-9pm. Crux Fermentation Project, 50 SW Division St., Bend. Contact: 425-354-8867. leifawiebe@gmail.com. Free.

Perseid Meteor Shower Photo Outing Dark Sky, Milky Way and Meteor Shower Photo Workshop. What better place than Central Oregon to experience the annual meteor shower. A once-in-a-lifetime photo experience. Aug. 12, 6:30-11:45pm and Aug. 13, 6:30-11:45pm. Cascade Center of Photography, 2660 NE Highway 20 Ste 610, #212, Bend. Contact: 541-241-2266. workshops@ccophoto.com. $225.

Rally League Night This event features ping-pong and foosball leagues! At the first few meetings, the group will have round robin play, gauge interest and determine league formats. Wednesdays, 5-8pm. Rally Recreation, 549 NW York Dr, Bend. Contact: 541-241-8581. info@ rallyrecreation.com. $8-$10.

FAMILY + KIDS

Balloons with Tyler at Initiative! Things get a little weird—in the best way. A balloon artist creates full-blown masterpieces right at visitors’ tables: dragons, aliens, and much more. Technically for kids, but adults get just as into it. Tips encouraged. Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30pm. Initiative Brewing - The Hub, 424 NW Fifth St., Redmond. Contact: 541-527-4380. followtherabbit@initiativebrew.com. Free.

Bat Walk Wednesday Join the High Desert Museum for a guided twilight expedition in search of bats! Brush up on nocturnal species with Museum experts before heading outside to search for our flying mammalian friends. Weather-appropriate clothing and a flashlight or headlamp are necessary. Aug. 12. High Desert Museum, 59800 S. Highway 97, Bend. Contact: 541-382-4754. info@highdesertmuseum.org. $10.

Hello! Storytime Roundabout Books Storytime! At "Dog Days" share stories, movement and a touch of music with 0-5 year olds, geared toward those younger ages. A heavy emphasis on fun. Aug. 12, 10:30-11am. Roundabout Books, 900 NW Mount Washington Dr., #110, Bend. Contact: 5413066564. events@roundaboutbookshop.com. Free.

Nature Kids: Teddy Bear Picnic! Join the Deschutes Land Trust for Nature Kids! Get outside and explore the nature of Central Oregon on guided family nature walks just for kids ages 5-10. Families pack a picnic, kids bring your favorite stuffed animal, and we’ll have a picnic beneath the trees with wonderful games to play! Aug. 12, 9:30-11am. Shevlin Park, 18920 Shevlin Rd., Bend. Contact: 541-330-0017. event@ deschuteslandtrust.org. Free.

Professor Universe: A Comedic Science Show Help Professor Universe solve the carbon conundrum! This program is intended for children ages 5-12, and all children must be accompanied by a caregiver. Aug. 10, 12:30-1:30pm, Redmond Library, 827 Southwest Deschutes Avenue, Redmond, and Aug. 10, 4-5pm, Central Library, 61956 SE Santorini Street, Bend. Contact: 541-312-1032. lizg@dpls. lib.or.us. Free.

Smokey Bear’s Birthday Celebration! It’s almost time for Smokey Bear’s birthday party on Sunday, August 9, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Cascade Lakes Welcome Station. The festivities will include photo opportunities with Smokey and kid-friendly activities. Forest rangers and guests will sing “Happy Birthday” to Smokey and enjoy cupcakes at 12pm. Aug. 9, 11am-1pm. Cascade Lakes Welcome Station, 18390 Century Drive, Bend. Contact: 541-233-6110. karen. walsh@discovernw.org. Free.

HEALTH + WELLNESS

Badass Sound Bath Empowering, elevated, and anything but average. This sound bath brings a bold twist to deep R&R. Aug. 11, 6:307:30pm. Continuum, A School of Shadow Yoga, 155 SW Century Drive, Suite 112, Bend. $28.29. Belly Dance Classes, all levels welcome Expand your movement language by learning a variety of Belly Dance styles. Classes include a great workout, yoga, professional technique, functional fitness approach for alignment, longevity, & safety in movement and body. Performance opportunities for those who desire Mondays, 5-6:15pm. Private Studio, ., Bend. Contact: https://www.templetribalfusion.com/ contact/. $20.

Friday Yoga Wind down your summer weekends with playful grounding outdoor yoga classes steps away from The Lodge, taught by Ulla Lundgren, who has more than 28 years experience as a yoga teacher, yoga teacher training facilitator and studio owner. Yoga classes are accessible and fun for all ages First Friday of every month, 10-11am. Through Aug. 28. The Suttle Lodge & Boathouse, 13300 Hwy 20, Sisters. Contact: sales@thesuttlelodge.com. $25.

LGBTQIA+ NAMI Mental Health Peer Support Group This is a peer-led support group event for adults who identify as S2LGBTQIA and are living with mental health challenges. Second and Fourth Tuesday of every month, 6-7pm. Almadorada, 180 NW Oregon Ave., Bend. Contact: 541-316-0888. organize@ namicentraloregon.org. Free.

NAMI Central Oregon Bend In-Person Adult Mental Health Peer Support Group NAMI’s Peer Connection Support Group is a free, peer-led support group for adults living with mental health challenges. Attendees will gain insight from hearing the challenges and successes of others, and the groups are led by NAMI-trained facilitators who’ve been there. Fourth and Second Sunday of every month, 3-4:30pm. NAMI Bend In-Person Peer Support Group, 62030 Dean Swift Rd, Bend. Contact: 541-316-0888. organize@namicentraloregon. org. Free.

NAMI Family Support Group Gain hope and develop supportive relationships. This group allows one’s voice to be heard and provides an opportunity for personal needs to be met. It encourages empathy, productive discussion and a sense of community. Second and Fourth Wednesday of every month, 5:30-6:30pm. First Presbyterian Church, 230 NE Ninth St., Bend. Contact: info@namicentraloregon.org. Free.

NAMI Mental Health Peer Support Group: Bend NAMI’s Peer Connection Support Group is a free, peer-led support group for adults living with mental health challenges. You will gain insight from hearing the challenges and successes of others, and the groups are led by NAMI-trained facilitators who’ve been there. Held the 2nd & 4th Sunday monthly. Second Sunday of every month, 3-4pm. The Taylor Center (Best Care), 358 NE Marshall Ave, Bend. Contact: 541-316-0167. programs@namicentraloregon. org. Free.

View the Perseids Meteor shower by canoe with Wanderlust Tours.

Unsplash-Uday Mittal

CULTURE

The Intersection of Climate Change, Wildfire and Art

An exhibit at Scalehouse explores the local impact of environmental changes

By Nic Moye

Atouring exhibit, currently at Scalehouse Collaborative for the Arts in downtown Bend, creates a ghost forest filled with images of wildfire scars through which visitors can wander.

“It’s digital photography and these are all forests along the west coast from northern Washington to southern California,” Jocelyn Church, a Scalehouse intern, explains while looking at the translucent images suspended from the ceiling by wire. “She does this carbon printing process where she prints the photos onto glass… The carbon that is used is soot from actual forest fires.”

The artist, Sarah Grew, won a LensCulture Critics Choice award in 2022 for Ghost Forest. The bulk of her art studies time, light and climate change. To develop concepts, she immerses herself in a subject such as becoming an artist-in-residence at a recycling facility, a beekeeper and studying plants and participating in a philosophical collegium in Italy.

She’s one of four artists featured in the exhibit, “The Spaciousness of Change,” which examines the impact of climate change shaped by wildfire. The artists’

work involves different interpretations through photographic, sculptural, sound and 2D mixed media installations.

Artists Sandra Honda and Dr. Mei-Ling Lee created “Hands on the Land: Central Oregon Climate Stories.” It features plaster molds of hands from 40 Central Oregonians. Each mold has a QR code that brings up an audio recording of the human associated with the hand. Honda created the molds while Lee recorded the stories. Even though it’s anonymous, listeners learn a lot about each speaker and each story is remarkably unique.

Hand number three has the voice of a woman. “You could feel it,” she says during the two-minute recording. “Especially living in Sisters or where we live, you’re near nature. Just recognizing, ugh, there’s a lot less birds in this tree this year, than there was two years ago. There’s less water in this river. I recently helped start a ritual group, a grief group, for young people and one of the pillars is holding a sacred container so people could express their grief and their anger and their hopelessness, helplessness around the earth.”

by

Hand number 13 belongs to a man. “We bought Lake Creek Lodge in 2003 and that was the year the B&B Complex Fire burned around the little community of Camp Sherman and that was a real wake-up call because immediately we had to evacuate Camp Sherman,” he says. “As owner of a hospitality business we had to then refund all the deposits people paid that were coming to stay there, so we started out in the hole.”

Hand 20 is that of a young man. “What I try to do here in Central Oregon is…I help around four or five farms taking care of their bees. So, the idea is for my bees to be pollinating this food that all the people in Central Oregon and Bend are eating, kind of completing this food circle. I’m doing this for free.”

Hand 26 belongs to a woman. “I’ve always loved sticks. Here, sticks, rocks, bones are all part of my artwork and now fabric and textiles… With the work I’m doing now, with the small animals, I’ve started using burned manzanita as the antlers and what the fire does is harden that wood, where before it might have been brittle.”

In another part of the exhibit, artist Kathleen Caprario wove tapestry with colors representing biodiversity and fire-retardant cutouts. An acrylic entitled “Living in a Postcard” is made with paint and Whychus Creek silt on slashed and burned canvas.

In another room, visitors are surrounded by acrylic paintings on paper called “Illusion of Infinite Water,” inspired by one of the storytellers from the “Hands of the Land” project. Lee also recorded the sound of single water droplets which is played on a loop, further immersing visitors in the moment.

The artists will give a talk at Scalehouse gallery on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 5:30pm. Registration is online. The exhibit is open to the public through August.

The Spaciousness of Change

Gallery: Wed-Sat 11am-4pm thru Aug 28

Artist talk: Thu, Aug 27 5:30-7pm

Scalehouse Collaborative for the Arts 550 NW Franklin Ave, Suite 138 scalehouse.org/thespaciousnessofchange Free

“The Spaciousness of Change” is on display at the Scalehouse gallery through Aug. 28.

Photos

Nic Moye

CHOW C

The Way West: A Destination Smoked meats, craft beers &

bevs, and one of Bend’s newest

gathering spaces

By Donna Britt

There’s something appealing about a place where you can order a craft cocktail, grab a sliced brisket sandwich, pick up bone-in chops or ribeyes for the grill and leave with provisions for your next mountain adventure. That is exactly the niche The Way West hopes to fill. The new collaboration between Bend Brewing Company and Sisters Meat & Smokehouse has officially opened inside The Jackstraw on Southwest Industrial Way. Equal parts neighborhood gathering place, butcher shop, deli and smokehouse, it is unlike anything else currently operating in Bend.

Guests can browse a walk up butcher counter stocked with Sisters Meat & Smokehouse specialties, order sandwiches to go or to eat on-site, settle in with a pint or cocktail at the expansive horseshoe bar, or relax on the spacious patio overlooking the mountains. A full dinner menu is still on the way, but for now the focus is sandwiches, snacks and drinks.

For longtime Central Oregon residents, the partnership feels natural. Sisters Meat & Smokehouse has built a devoted following since opening in Sisters in 2016 and later expanding to Redmond. Bend Brewing Company has been pouring beer since 1995, making it Bend’s second oldest brewery. The location is excellent. Sitting adjacent to the Box Factory and just a short stroll from both the Old Mill District and downtown, The Way West is an easy stop whether you’re heading to the river, grabbing supplies for a picnic or looking for a casual meal.

The space is what impressed me most. Warm wood tones, abundant natural light and an eye- catching tumbleweed ceiling fixture create a modern

Western aesthetic without feeling gimmicky. Large garage doors blur the line between indoors and outdoors, opening onto a partially shaded patio with plenty of seating and beautiful mountain views. The atmosphere is relaxed and social, with enough room to spread out whether you’re meeting friends after work or lingering over lunch.

Walking through the front doors, guests first enter the butcher shop, where refrigerated cases display the high quality meats, smoked cheeses and specialty products Sisters Meat & Smokehouse fans already know well.

Nearby, grab and go coolers offer packaged fish, beverages and prepared items that make it tempting to stock up before even reaching the restaurant.

The menu currently centers on sandwiches built on Sparrow Bakery’s excellent hoagie rolls. Options include the Smokin’ Gun Chicken with pulled smoked chicken, white barbecue sauce and kale slaw, along with a sliced brisket sandwich topped with caramelized onions, Western sauce and provolone. There’s also a beef and cheddar and a verde turkey sando and a roasted broccoli snack.

On my first visit, the smoked chicken sandwich had already sold out, which was disappointing since it was at the top of my list. Then again, selling out of smoked meat shortly after opening probably says as much about customer demand as anything else. I tried the Cowboy Cubano, which is not a traditional Cubano despite the pulled pork and tangy yellow mustard. Instead of sliced ham, it uses Cotto salami, pepperjack replaces Swiss, and sliced jalapeños stand in for dill pickles. The pork was tender and moist, and the Sparrow hoagie roll was the highlight of the sandwich. However, the mustard was applied so heavily that the salami’s flavor was mostly lost, and I found myself missing the sharp pickle punch of a classic Cubano.

Sandwiches come with chips and a cookie. My plate arrived with only a small handful of chips and a chocolate chip cookie. It was a surprisingly modest accompaniment, especially given the otherwise generous reputation of Sisters Meat & Smokehouse. The Peachy Pecan salad looked very enticing at my neighbor’s table, with fresh greens, peaches, goat cheese, candied pecans and blueberry balsamic vinaigrette. That will likely be my order next time.

The beverage program goes beyond beer, although Bend Brewing staples such as Tropic Pines IPA, Oregon Summer Ale and Cascade Crisp Apple Lager are all available. Wine drinkers will find a concise but appealing by-the-glass selection that includes Spanish cava and an Oregon Chardonnay. Cocktails deserve attention as well. The Sundance Kids combines tequila, basil, strawberry, lime and Tajín salt for a bright summer sip, while the floral Paper Daisies blends gin, chamomile, lavender, honey and lemon. Those wanting something with a little more bite can opt for the Gunsmoke, made with rye whiskey, Scotch whisky and tobacco bitters. Non-drinkers have not been forgotten thanks to zero proof creations such as the cleverly named All Hat No Cattle.

The first few weeks of opening a new restaurant inevitably comes with a few growing pains, and The Way West is no exception. As the butcher shop, bar and restaurant share one building, first time visitors may need a moment to orient themselves. During one visit a host greeted guests and explained the process; on another, it was less clear whether diners should seat themselves or wait. I did discover that you order sandwiches at the counter while drinks are ordered separately at the bar.

Parking is another small hurdle. Visitors to the Box Factory lot should know they need to park first, head inside The Way West and scan the posted QR code to validate their parking. Those minor inconveniences seem likely to smooth out with time.

Both Bend Brewing Company and Sisters Meat & Smokehouse have spent years building loyal customer bases through quality products and friendly hospitality. Even before the full dinner menu arrives, The Way West already feels like more than another restaurant opening. It’s a gathering place, a neighborhood butcher shop and an easy stop for everything from a quick sandwich to supplies for your next Central Oregon adventure or backyard cookout.

So my suggestion is to grab a drink, settle onto the patio and soak up the view, and plan on leaving with a bag full of smoked meats and cheeses for later.

The Way West

Daily 10am-Close Happy Hour 3-5pm At The Jackstraw 310 SW Industrial Way, Suite 114, Bend thewaywestbend.com IG: the_waywest

The Way West is a neighborhood butcher shop, deli, bar and gathering place all in one.

Donna Britt

Bend Brewing beers and craft cocktails are served in the indoor/outdoor bar at The Way West.

Donna Britt

LITTLE BITES

By Nic Moye

Changes in the Local Food Scene

A longtime restaurant is closing; a popular food truck is moving and a bagel shop expands

On the move

Ponch’s Place is undergoing a transformation. The brick-and-mortar beverage pavilion at the food truck lot is closing Aug. 7 due to ongoing staffing shortages. A note online says food trucks remain open; however, some have relocated. The Tin Pig is now at Ballers & Brews. The cart, open for nearly a decade, serves hand-breaded fried chicken strips, Nashville-style sandwiches and burgers. It’s been voted Best Fried Chicken by Source readers for the past five years.

One hell of a ride

Dump City Dumplings announced it’s closing at the end of August. Sticking it out for 17 years, during highs and lows, the owners, in a social media post, say it’s time to turn in.

“We managed to keep our boat afloat through some pretty crazy moments; the roller coaster of Covid, shoveling our downtown corner after beastly snow storms (kinda miss those?), a food cart that tried to steal both that spot and our dumpling customers(!), encroaching forest fires that added a new level of AQI severity to the scale, a complete totality eclipse AND our own attempts at learning how to run a business, all while having a lot of fun serving you and working with some incredible people. We never would have gotten anywhere near this far without such incredible support from such an incredible community.”

The message addresses the grueling work of the food industry and admiration for its comrades in the service industry.

“It has been hard work these nearly two decades, work that cost our bodies and our hearts alike, work that didn’t always turn out the way we hoped, but work that was worth it for a chance to be part of this wonderful, vibrant and occasionally very silly town.”

Bagel bound

Haven Bagel & Coffee has opened a westside location on Century Drive near OSU-Cascades. It’s the second location for the farm-to-table bagel and coffee shop. The eastside spot, open since 2024, at SE Reed Market and 27th Street often has a line out the door. Daily bagel flavors include pepperoncini garlic Swiss, cranberry orange, cheddar scallion, gluten free everything along with traditional flavors. Weekend additions include gluten free cinnamon raisin, onion, honey wheat and pumpernickel. A variety of bagel sandwiches, tartines and parfaits are also on the menu along with an espresso bar.

Kilgore!

Wellness Care, Dentistry, Surgery, Nutrition, Allergy and Dermatology, Behavioral Counseling, Limited Same Day Urgent Care Appointments She sees cats and dogs and has a special interest in behavioral management (both training and pharmaceutical), surgery, and the treatment of

The Tin Pig relocates to Ballers & Brews.

thetinpigfoodcart.com

Dump City Dumpling’s last day is Aug. 31.

Dump City Dumplings Facebook

Haven Bagel has a new west side location.

Haven Bagel Facebook

AUGUST 15, 2026 AT 11AM WINNIE THE POOH

PRESENTED BY BLUEFISH DENTAL DRAKE PARK

SC SCREEN The Millennium Approaches Angels in America comes to the Greenhouse Cabaret

By Jared Rasic

Countless words have been written about what constitutes the “Great American Novel” and what that phrase even means given the vast breadth of literature published in the United States over the last few centuries. My own rubric has always been that the work must capture something quintessential—not just about life in America, but something profound about the social construct of being American in a nation still too young to easily define itself against the rest of the world.

Familiar examples of the Great American Novel abound: Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” aggressively dismantles outmoded ideas of masculinity and solipsism; F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” offers a breezily devastating critique of materialist emptiness and Toni Morrison’s “Beloved" unveils the moral horrors of American history and its endlessly looping generational trauma.

While these are obviously monumental achievements, some of society’s truly great literary triumphs aren’t novels at all. Essays like Omar El Akkad’s  “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This,” graphic novels like Art Spiegelman’s “Maus,” and Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Angels in America,” are just as vital to the fabric of our country’s letters as any traditional book that came before.

“Angels in America Part 1: Millennium Approaches” runs Aug. 7 through Sept. 5 at The Greenhouse Cabaret. Whether you’ve been familiar with the show since its 1991 premiere or you’re just discovering it now, I can’t overstate the seminal nature of Kushner’s masterpiece. Both parts of “Angels in America” do more than just tell a powerful story set during the 1985-1986 AIDS crisis in New York City, they unpack (among many other things) religion, race, gender, sexuality, mental

by Jared Rasic

illness, Reaganism and the ever-shifting moral center of America.

The plot primarily follows two couples, one gay and one straight. Prior and Louis are deeply in love until Prior tests positive for HIV, causing a panicked Louis to look for an exit strategy. Meanwhile, Joe and Harper are a Mormon couple living in NYC, where Harper has dissolved into a Valium-addicted agoraphobe. Simultaneously, Joe battles his closeted sexuality as he enters the rarified halls of power, clerking for notorious real-life lawyer Roy Cohn. Populate the margins with an Angel, a former drag queen, an imaginary friend, a Rabbi, the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, and other characters both real and imagined, and you still barely scratch the surface of the play’s narrative and symbolic depth.

To say that my expectations were high when attending a recent rehearsal is an understatement. “Millennium Approaches,” along with its companion piece, “Perestroika,” stands as one of the finest theatrical works of the 20th Century. Yet, I saw no need to temper my

anticipation, knowing the track record of The Greenhouse Cabaret and producer John Kish. Live theater is healthier than it has been in years, largely due to the high quality of work steadily produced by The Greenhouse over these last few years.

Watching the show for the first time in a few years, I found it remarkable how timely the script remains more than three decades later.

“It’s very much parallel with now,” explains Kish. “I think a lot of what we are seeing politically now was set in motion back in the 80s. I think HIV/ AIDS became such a pivotal historical centerpiece for the gay community and also the cultural lightning rod to how this country would accept sexual freedoms and choices. But aside from those large topics, even the stories of love, relationships and struggles are timeless for all humans. We, as humans and Americans, are all messy flesh suits stumbling through an obstacle course of life and this show depicts that epically.”

The rehearsal I witnessed was fully immersive and deeply moving. Director Tyler Andrew Jones blocks and stages the play gorgeously, crafting painterly tableaux in scenes both epic and intimate. From the flawless casting and the evocative lighting to the black box-style set design, surreal costumes and breathtaking performances, every aspect of “Angels” feels fully realized, intentional and alive.

Every actor finds layers in these characters I’m not sure I’ve seen before. Lilli Ann Linford Foreman captures the complicated heart of Joe’s intensely religious mother, Hannah, while John Kish channels his unbridled charisma into the quiet intensity of Joe’s blooming sexual identity. Donald Emmerich brilliantly chews the scenery as Roy Cohn, Austin Comfort summons the gentle majesty of Prior’s bravery; Christie Capucci expertly weaves a sardonic spell as the

Homeless Woman; Gerald Germajesty Price effortlessly commands the stage as Belize, and Joshua Curtis reveals the flawed, multi-layered soul of Louis with remarkable precision.

Yet, as incredible as this ensemble is, Brooke Markham’s performance as Hannah is a true revelation. She unfurls herself fearlessly onstage, abandoning past interpretations to play Hannah with a weary grace that honors the character’s fierce intelligence just as much as her messy, fractured mental state. Make no mistake: Markham delivers one of the finest performances I’ve ever seen on stage, in Bend or anywhere else.

If enough people attend “Part 1,” we just might get to see “Part 2,” so do all of us a favor: go see it and revel in the fact that we live in a community that produces theater of this caliber.

Looking ahead, audiences can expect big changes for The Greenhouse Cabaret. “We realize our theater has hit a cap and we need to expand,” says Kish. “But we also need time to do so and make the correct choices for our theater’s future. We have the musical Cabaret in October, but are looking ahead to a year hiatus to regroup and potentially find a new home. We are also working on getting a fiscal sponsor so we could accept donations and grow. So keep your eyes and ears out for the changes and expansion in our future as we hit our 5th anniversary.”

If the "Great American" literary standard is defined by art that illuminates the beautiful, messy and flawed social construct of who we are, then this production doesn't just meet the rubric—it sets it.

“Angels in America Part 1: Millennium Approaches” Aug 7-Sept 5

The Greenhouse Cabaret 1017 NE 2nd St. Bend

thegreenhousecabaret.com/angels-in-america

Photos

OUTSIDE

As gardeners, landscapers and owners of a native plant nursery for over 30 years, we’ve had our fair share of interesting, sometime humorous, but never stupid questions. One common theme is the difficulty of growing ANYTHING in our challenging area, but more specifically, what CAN we grow in our wonderful soils and climate. Our answer is always “native plants!” There are hundreds of native plants that grow well in gardens and landscapes, but most never reach the commercial market. Getting started with native plant landscapes is a bit easier with a general understanding of plants, where and why they occur and the conditions in which they thrive. And along with that, an awareness of the incredible diversity of plants native to central and eastern Oregon is essential.

Many newcomers to central Oregon love the climate and the outstanding recreational opportunities available, but have limited knowledge of the amazing diversity of plants and animals that occur east of the Cascades. And it really is amazing! Driving through the sagebrush steppe east of Bend looks desolate and boring, but the richness of the plant community is difficult to see at 65 miles per hour. And the subtle changes in plant communities often go unnoticed.

Compared to the Willamette Valley — often thought of as a highly diverse region — central and eastern Oregon contain about four times the number of native plants (~ 350-500 in the valley; ~2,000 in central and eastern Oregon according to Oregon Native Seed Strategy. But why?

Why is Central Oregon So Biodiverse? Examining the vast microclimates that make our region unique

By Rick Martinson, Founder, High Desert Horticultural Center

Condensing a long discussion into a brief summary comes down to three primary reasons: topography, microclimates and ecotones. There are, of course, a number of variables that affect each of these drivers at different scales, but the basic reason there are so many different plant species is that there are so many different environments east of the Cascades.

For example, Hells Canyon on the Oregon-Idaho border drops to an approximately 1,000 ft. elevation, capturing heat in the deepest gorge in North America and creating unique thermal conditions that support specific types of plants. Contrasting those plants with the flora at the top of Steens Mountain (approximately 9,700 feet) shows how a huge variation in elevation and climate affects what kind of plants live where. Then quickly dropping east off Steens Mountain to the Alvord Desert — a drop

of over 5,000 vertical feet — reveals many different plant communities from alpine to alkali flats in a very short distance. Incredible!

The different environmental conditions that occur in small areas on this side of the state, generally referred to as microclimates, reflect specific soil, precipitation patterns, geography and geology, and play a huge role in supporting the plant diversity in central and eastern Oregon. There are plants that are adapted to “islands” of unique soil chemistry, or that have evolved with our nutrient poor soils or highly variable rain and snow patterns or specific amounts of sun or shade. The variation in microclimates has an enormous effect on the diversity of plants growing in even very small areas and contributes to the amazing biodiversity throughout the region.

The third primary reason for the high degree of diversity in our part of the

world is ecotones. Ecotones are areas where two or more large environments merge together. Those ecotones contain plants and animals that are characteristic of each of those larger environments, but may also contain species that are unique to those blended conditions. I hope that makes sense. For example, the west side of Bend is predominantly a ponderosa pine forest, while the east side of the city is characterized by western juniper. Where those two major plant types come together forms an ecotone that supports not only plants that occur in both plant communities, but also some unique plants and a suite of insects, birds and mammals that occur only in the distinctive conditions found within that ecotone.

So next time you’re traveling through the east side of Oregon, stop and check out different areas that offer examples of microclimates, ecotones or unusual topography. Each location will have a range of plants, insects, and animals that are well adapted to the conditions found there. Those types of areas show exactly why the biodiversity of central Oregon is so profound. And you might discover your next favorite plant that you can incorporate into your own garden!

—Rick Martinson is the founder of the High Desert Horticultural Center, a Bendbased nonprofit working to increase the understanding and appreciation of native plants and their contribution to resource conservation in urban landscapes. Contact them at www.highdeserthort.org, or Rick@ highdeserthort.org.

A highly diverse plant community in Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge on the Oregon-Nevada border.

Rick Martinson

By Nic Moye

Celebrating the New Library & Where to Get Broken Stuff Fixed

Details on free events for the family and your home

Party at the Central Library!

Just over two months after opening, the public is invited to a Grand Opening party lasting two days at the Central Library in Bend. The celebration will begin at noon Saturday, Aug. 15, with remarks from members of Indigenous Neighbor Nations, U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze and Oregon Poet Laureate Ellen Waterston. Outside, performers from Lava City Cirque along with kite fliers will entertain the crowd. Inside, there will be face painting, balloon artistry, a poetry exhibit and hands-on activities in the MakerSpace. Artists whose work appear in the library will speak at 1:45. Then at 3pm, Sze will discuss poetry and read from his work. On Sunday, llamas will appear on the library’s east patio at 9:30am. At 11am, there’s

Breathe new life into well-loved items

If you have something you love, but it needs a little TLC, the Repair Café returns Aug. 26. It’s an opportunity to gather your broken lamps, ripped clothing, wobbly chairs, dull knives, small appliances, electronics, broken jewelry and more and take it to volunteers who will use their expertise to fix them. The Environmental Center has offered the free event for more than a decade. It’s part of their Rethink Waste project which helps reduce waste and save money. The Repair Café concept began in Amsterdam in 2009. Today there are more than 2,500 worldwide.

Repair Café

Wed, Aug 26 5-7pm Central Library

61956 SE Santorini St, Bend envirocenter.org

a free showing of the documentary,

“The Librarians.” Ellen Waterston will host a writing workshop at 2pm Sunday (registration is required.) Capping the weekend celebration, the Bella Acapella Choir will perform. A schedule of events can be found at bendsource.com. The Central Library will be closed the morning of Saturday, Aug. 15 to prepare for the festivities which begin at noon that day. Nearly 150,000 people have visited the new library since it opened on May 11.

Central Library Grand Opening Celebration

Sat., Aug. 15 Noon-4pm Central Library 61956 SE Santorini St., Bend deschuteslibrary.org

Deschutes Public Library

envirocenter.org

SMOKE SIGNALS

DEA Hearings on Cannabis Rescheduling Conclude Is it legal YET?

By Josh Jardine

Last month, the Drug Enforcement Agency concluded its hearings related to the reclassification of Cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. Analysis as to how it went is limited by restrictions that prohibited live streaming, cell phones, recording devices, or cameras in the hearing room gallery, which only had 20 seats. Hearing transcripts and audio recordings have not yet been released by the Feds.

But thanks to some diligent note taking by members of the pot press, we have some great insight as to how it went, and what’s potentially to come.

Natalie Fertig, who covered the hearings for Cultivated, writes “...two primary questions were at stake: is there any indication for medical usefulness, and how large is the potential for abuse?”

When the hearings were announced, there was some outcry that the DEA wasn’t scheduling testimony from cannabis advocates, and instead would be hearing primarily from cannabis prohibitionists who are against rescheduling.

D’Souza has an impressive resume, as Jackson describes him as “...a Yale professor of psychiatry, staff psychiatrist at VA Connecticut, inaugural director of the Yale Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids and author of more than 200 papers.”

Under cross examination, he confirmed that in an interview he stated that “...the overwhelming majority of cannabis users will have no negative outcome. He agreed not everyone who uses cannabis will have mental health problems, then said most people will not develop psychosis.”

Jackson brings up an excellent point, that one of Dr. D’Souza’s exhibits was based on 10 cannabis studies, going back to 2004. All of these studies utilized a manner that I, nor any of my friends, have ever used - intravenous THC. That’s right, research based upon filling an IV with a precise amount of THC, and then shooting it directly into the bloodstream.

As Max Jackson, who attended the hearings for Marijuana Moment, explains “...The government…is the proponent of moving cannabis to Schedule III, and carries the burden of proof. All seven designated interested parties oppose rescheduling. DEA designated no pro-rescheduling party at all…. People assume the witnesses testifying about psychosis and cartels and pediatric poisonings are the government’s. But they are witnesses against the government’s own position ... .The government put on two witnesses—an FDA-controlled substances official and a pain physician—and rested.”

Jackson cites an ER physician who testified using a slideshow, which sounded…sketchy AF. The doctor “... established that much of her visual evidence came off the open internet with no verified provenance—a toddler-witha-bong photo from Google, a baby with a pipe from a Reddit parenting subgroup, an astronaut meme she could not source. Asked how she knew the baby in the photo was real, she said she didn’t.”

Won’t someone PLEASE think of the AI-generated children? Also, babies can’t use lighters, so unless they chew on the glass pipe, we are good.

The hearings also heard from Dr. Deepak Cyril D’Souza ,a psychiatrist who argued against rescheduling. Dr.

So, what’s next?

The Judge will review post-hearing briefs, and issue a non-binding recommendation to the DEA. He could accept the DEA’s move to reschedule, recommend cannabis be rescheduled but only to Schedule II, or recommend against any rescheduling. Consensus is that regardless of the outcome, both sides are ready to follow up with lawsuits if things don’t go their way, meaning a final decision could be months or years away.

In the meantime, the only ones benefiting at the moment are companies operating in the licensed medical cannabis space. Those businesses can now prepare to throw off the shackles of 280E, which has disallowed the standard tax deductions offered any other U.S. business. This will cut current effective tax rates of 60-70%.

Those companies can also begin registering with the DEA as Medical Cannabis license holders. Registration allows DEA inspections and regulatory paperwork for those companies to become fully legal. Researchers will see benefits as well as regulations loosen. For any companies operating in the Adult Use cannabis industry, and those using cannabis, nothing has changed. While full descheduling remains the goal, and there are legit concerns that big pharma will make a play to control the medical cannabis industry, these hearings are a huge first step.

AWAKENING YOUR INNER HERO

A COLUMN TO HELP LOCALS LIVE A KINDER AND MORE COURAGEOUS LIFE

By Burt Gershater

I Want You...To Be Happy: A column about inner peace and joy

We cannot fix every problem in the world, but we can choose how we treat the people around us.

—Author unknown

The older I get, the less I know… and the more I know. Go figure.

All I know for sure is, it’s true.

—Burt

Gershater

And I truly do want us all to be happy. Being right isn’t as important as it used to be for me for most of my life. The power of “I am right and you are wrong” has faded into the sunset. Truth is rediscovering itself in the morning sunrise. It stays up in the sky all day long, on the cloudiest days, even after sundown into the dark starry night. We can debate, we can discuss, we add nuances and we have to remind ourselves to never stop practicing truth in order to keep it alive.

Like, are there times when not telling the truth is more right than telling the truth?

Or, do I sometimes not need to try my very hardest?

Truth?!

Happiness is similar.

I just finished a book by Dennis Prager, the wise author of eight intriguing books, a celebrated talk-show host and columnist. In this book, “Happiness Is a Serious Problem,” he won’t even define happiness. He said it’s easier to identify unhappiness than it is happiness, and I agree. But still, I want you, me and everyone to be truly happy, Then what does this mean and how can all of us head in this happier direction?

Let’s go forward, slowly.

My latest wisdom is:

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast… Ponder that one for a minute or much more, and remember, slow is smooth and smooth is fast… We actually cover more territory going slower. We don’t whiz by and miss it. We see it. Hear it. Smell it. Feel it. Taste it. We truly experience when we slow down. And there are surely many legitimate exceptions to this profound wisdom.

Slow is a key ingredient to being happy. Even if you win the Olympic 100-meter dash and set a world record, true happiness happens when you slow down afterward to soak in the uncountable levels of appreciation you have for achieving your accomplishment. And even if you tried your best to win the race of your lifetime, and

came in last, you can still find happiness. It might take a bit longer (maybe not), but remember….

Happiness is a way of being, it is not an event. Happiness is not simply pleasure. Happiness transcends pleasure. Happiness does not include much blame, indifference, or time spent listening to our never-ending, fear-based thoughts. Too much of any of these interfere with our precious happiness.

Hate, which is rooted in fear, is painfully addictive and blocks our pathway to happiness. Here is a powerful wisdom I recently read on this toxic human pattern. It can help guide us away from hate and make more room for joy, love and happiness:

Let’s stop pretending we have haters.

We have humans who hate themselves and their lives and then project that onto others.

The hate is their own, let it stay right there with them.

—Purma Sharma

Why do I deeply hope, pray and work vigilantly for happiness for everyone? And why do I believe you should, too, each in your own way?

As much as we can, knowing that we all have our own genetic and historical pathways, try to understand, accept, stretch and release our limitations, and expand our true essence. Happiness is not a switch, a pill, a glorious moment. Happiness is a discipline, a practice, daily appreciation. It includes resilience in the face of life’s challenges that never stop presenting themselves…right up till the end. Please, be a devoted member on the Happiness Train. Continue to learn, unlearn, live it, teach it by living it, laugh a lot, and cry some, too.

Be generous.

Be kind.

Wish, in your heart and soul, that everyone joins our train.

Bless you.

Thank you.

We need all of us!

—Burt Gershater is a counselor, leadership trainer, speaker and writer. He can be reached at burt@burtgershater.com.

TAKE ME HOME

By Nathan Powers Engel Volkers Bend

The Psychology Behind Home Prices

Why a single dollar can change how buyers search, sellers price, and homes are perceived.

If you’ve spent any time browsing homes in Central Oregon, you’ve probably noticed a surprising number of listings stop just short of the next major price point—$599,000, $799,000, $999,000. It’s almost as if every Realtor collectively agreed that round numbers are off-limits.

Of course, that’s not actually what’s happening.

The truth is that pricing a home is just as much about psychology as it is about market value.

Buyers Can Only Buy What They Can Find

Today’s home search almost always starts online. Most buyers search in clean, round numbers: up to $600,000, $800,000, or $1 million. Imagine two nearly identical homes listed at $799,000 and $801,000. To most buyers, they’re essentially the same home. But one instantly disappears from thousands of saved searches.

Round Numbers Carry More Weight Than They Should

A home listed at $599,000 often feels much more attainable than one listed at $600,000. Logically, it’s only a $1,000 difference. Emotionally, we’ve crossed into a new category.

A buyer planning to spend “around $800,000” may happily tour a home at $799,000 but instinctively scroll past one at $825,000—even if both fit comfortably within their budget.

For Sellers, Pricing Is Marketing

One of the biggest misconceptions I hear is, “Let’s list it a little high—we

HOME PRICE ROUNDUP

can always come down.” Occasionally, that strategy works. More often, it quietly backfires.

Picture two similar homes: One priced at market value and has cars lining the street during its first weekend. The other is priced $30,000 higher. Weeks later, buyers aren’t wondering how much they’ll have to offer—they’re wondering why no one else has. Pricing doesn’t create value. It creates interest.

Every Number Tells a Story

We’ve all seen oddly specific listing prices—$826,400, $913,275, or $1,147,800. Sometimes those numbers are rooted in comparable sales. Other times, they’re simply the seller’s target number.

Price reductions can be just as intentional. A seller might reduce a home by $14,000 or $26,000—not because those numbers are magical, but because they place the home into a new search bracket.

Buyers assign meaning to numbers. A precise price can signal confidence. A round number can feel more strategic.

The Bottom Line

Comparable sales determine a home’s value. Psychology determines how buyers experience it. The numbers may look objective, but the decisions they inspire rarely are. In real estate, every listing tells two stories—one in dollars, and another in human behavior.

—Nathan Powers is the Director of Marketing/Business Development Engel & Völkers Bend.

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PRESENTS

ASTROLOGY

By Rob Brezsny

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Within most galaxies are dense clouds of gas and dust that astronomers call “star factories.” Here and there, the magic of gravity gradually gathers together diffuse material into concentrated clusters until nuclear fusion ignites, creating brilliant new suns. I suspect you will be operating a metaphorical star factory in the coming weeks and months, Leo. Small ideas, fragments of plans, or tentative experiments could coalesce in productive ways. Through your patient attention and care, luminous concentrations of useful beauty will emerge.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo biologist Stephen Jay Gould argued that evolution isn't a ladder of progress but a branching bush of experimentation. Most species that ever existed are extinct, but they weren't failures. For a very long time, they were successful experiments in being alive, well adapted to their environment. When conditions changed, they ended. That's how evolution works. Let's apply this lesson to your life, Virgo. If a part of your world is concluding, celebrate and thank it, then bid it a fond farewell. Feel grateful that it succeeded completely at what it was meant to do and gave you all it had to give.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Your sense of purpose is intensifying. Your people need you more than ever, and your gifts are ripening just as they are most valuable to your community. But I must add that the road ahead will not be frictionless. You will have to outmaneuver diversionary tactics and dispel pockets of confusion. To serve as a shimmering catalyst of beauty and truth for your allies—and a shrewd strategist in the presence of deflections—lean into the paradoxical counsel attributed to Jesus: Be gentle and pure like a dove, yet keenly perceptive and discerning like a serpent.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Concrete continues to cure beyond the time when it's first poured. After seven days, it has 70 percent of its ultimate strength, and after 14 days, 90 percent. It usually keeps getting sturdier for a few months, even years. I propose that we use this as a metaphor for what you’re working on, Scorpio. The foundations you established a while back are still solidifying. Projects that are working pretty well are still developing potency. This is a good thing! Everything is slowly improving through processes you're not actively managing.

the center of your attention. The tepid wishes and lukewarm yearnings are being exposed for what they are: distractions that nibble away at your time and passion without fully feeding your soul. As these mediocre drives fade in importance, you'll be exultant to see how much more fire, clarity, and juice you have available for the few burning, churning yearnings that truly belong to you.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean is so deep that if Mount Everest were located at the bottom, its peak would be over a mile underwater. The deepest point in the ocean could swallow the highest point on land with room to spare. The world holds more below than above. Please meditate on this fun fact, Pisces. I hope it inspires you to understand that your most interesting power often lies in the depths, not the peaks. While others are summiting, you're descending into the mysterious, fathomless interiors. Your explorations may not photograph well because they happen in darkness. But they are the source of your strength.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the early days of aviation, navigation instruments were rudimentary, and the skies were often a blur of clouds, darkness, or featureless horizons. Pilots sometimes relied on a technique called “dead reckoning”: good instinct bolstered by simple instruments like compasses and stopwatches. I suspect you will benefit from practicing a metaphorical version of dead reckoning in the coming weeks. You may not have all the data you would like, and the path ahead might be less than clear. But you already possess enough hints and inklings to make thoughtful approximations. If you're alert and flexible, listening to subtle signals within you and around you, your evolving estimates will guide you uncannily close to the right destination.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Here’s your assignment: Find yourself a pair of enchanted pants that will bring you good luck and stir up fun. How will you know that they’re authentically charmed? Because when you put them on, you will instinctively wander toward adventures that expand your understandings about life. They may also lead you to explore places and situations that aren’t truly forbidden or taboo, but which you have oddly avoided as if they were forbidden or taboo. Finally, your enchanted pants are likely to inspire you to dream up a few crazy good ideas that will turn out not to be mostly good and not at all crazy.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In classical music, a "fermata" is a symbol on the sheet music that instructs the instrumentalist to hold a note longer than its written duration. How long? It's unpredictable. The musician decides. I think your life would benefit from a metaphorical fermata or two, Capricorn—maybe even more. You won't come to a protracted pause, but you will engage in strategic prolonging, extending certain notes beyond their expected duration. Examples? Lingering longer in a conversation from which you're inclined to exit early; staying with an ambiguous emotion rather than rushing to resolution; allowing a project to develop more leisurely than you might if you were simply pushing for sheer efficiency. Opt for what's soulful instead of what's crisp and neat.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Fate is subtly but insistently pressuring you to stop squandering energy on half-hearted, hand-me-down desires. Why? So your real, holy obsessions can move to

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Nineteenth-century poet Emily Dickinson rarely left her comfortable home in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her favorite activity was to sit in her bedroom and compose her odd, unique, brilliant poems. Eventually, she wrote 1,800 of them, though few were published during her lifetime. Today she is renowned as one of America’s great literary geniuses. Her story reminds us that magnificent growth may emerge from simple and humble circumstances. I suspect you will thrive if you borrow her strategy during the coming weeks. You don’t need a hubbub of flashy events to evoke your beauty. A period of creative stillness could amplify your imagination and inspire your dazzle.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In Renaissance workshops, apprentice painters learned their craft by assisting masters with small tasks. They mixed pigments, prepared canvases, and cleaned up. There was a valuable trade-off for this humble work. Being in proximity to mature brilliance often spurred the fledgling artists to harness their own creative powers. I suspect this dynamic is relevant for you, Gemini. Now is a favorable time to be alert for unexpected teachers and lessons. Be ready to apprentice yourself to captivating experiences where you might learn what you didn't even realize you needed to know. Your willingness to be a curious, gracious student is your superpower.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): If you knew you were going to live to 95 in reasonably good health, what additional careers or adventures might you pursue? Visualize your lifespan stretching out before you like a wide winding road, where you will have plenty of time not just to survive, but to experiment, wander, and reinvent yourself. Would you train for a new craft or profession? Would you move to another country for a while and apprentice yourself to a language, landscape, or tradition that has always piqued your curiosity? I invite you to take a concrete step that moves you in the direction of interesting future fun.

Homework: True or false: “In the same way that you judge others, you will be judged.”

Crossword

By Brendan Emmett Quigley

Pearl’s Puzzle Difficulty

Puzzle for the week of August 03, 2026

Puzzle for the week of August 03, 2026

Fill in every row, column, and 3x3 box with each of the letters

exactly once.

The highlighted letters read left to right and top to bottom will complete the quote: “Walking the streets of Charleston in the late afternoons of August was like walking through or inhaling damaged .” - Pat Conroy

The highlighted letters read left to right and top to bottom will complete the quote: “Walking the streets of Charleston in the late afternoons of August was like walking through ____ or inhaling damaged _____.” — Pat Conroy We’re Local! Questions, comments or suggestions for our local puzzle guru? Email Pearl Stark at pearl@bendsource.com © Pearl Stark mathpuzzlesgames.com/quodoku

Answer for the week of July 27, 2026

The highlighted letters read left to right and top to

ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S PUZZLES

will “Walking the streets of Charleston in the late afternoons of through or inhaling damaged .”

Answer for the week of July 27, 2026

"Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability." — Sam Keen

"Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability." - Sam Keen

© Pearl Stark