It’s First Friday and Art Walk in Downtown Bend and the Old Mill District tomorrow: art galleries and other businesses stay open late to showcase art and often live music, and many also offer complimentary food and wine. The festivities … Con

Tonight at GoodLife Brewing is the Ignite Bend Battledecks event and voting party: the free “Ignite improv” event where you can come and sign up to do an impromptu presentation to a bunch of slides you’ve never seen—or simply come …

I wrote at the beginning of the month about the Abbey Pub changing hands, to become the Broken Top Bottle Shop, and by the end of this week (if all goes well) the new beer bar (or Ale Café as … Continue reading →

The deadline for proposals for the next Ignite Bend is tomorrow—Friday, January 27th. So if you have a burning desire to give a five-minute presentation on stage (on anything you want, really, as long as it’s not a sales pitch …

As I’d twittered and posted on Facebook over the weekend, this blog (and a bunch of other sites that were on the same server account) had been hacked with some malicious server code that was redirecting referring links away to … Continue

This Saturday and Sunday, January 21st and 22nd, is “Poverty Weekend” as a part of the larger “Poverty in America Awareness Month” being promoted by the Partnership to End Poverty. For this upcoming weekend Greg forwarded the link to the …

Heads up Central Oregonians: The Bend – La Pine School District has closed all schools due to snow today, Wednesday, January 18th. The snow continues to fall so keep your kids home. You can always call and check the school … Conti

Over on the eastside, a Togo’s Sandwich Shop is set to open in the space formerly occupied by Quiznos. According to the Bulletin, the opening should be February 1st. I know next to nothing about Togo’s as a brand, but … Continue read

The Stylish Stork is Bend’s largest non-profit baby clothing and furniture store located over on Greenwood, selling new and gently-used items for children up to six years of age. They accept tax-deductible donations and they seem to be going out …

My wife told me about this, and it sounds like a pretty cool event: The Pine Tavern is hosting a “Bites & Brews” event tonight, where they are pairing beer tasters from seven breweries with special food “bites” for $25 …

Coming up on Tuesday, January 31st is the Ignite Bend “Battledecks” event which combines what can best be described as “Ignite improv” with the Ignite Bend 8 voting party. Join us at GoodLife Brewing on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 7pm for Battledecks …

Maragas Winery announced this week that they will be closing their tasting room in Bend (again) to consolidate all of their operations out at their Winery north of Terrebonne. After attempting to run two tasting rooms with tapas food service, …

I don’t remember seeing this reported locally anywhere else yet, but the Panda Express that is located on the north end of Bend (essentially on the northeast corner of the Target lot) is now open. It had been under construction … Continue

Down in the Old Mill District, there are some changes taking place: Bath & Body Works is planning to close from February 8th through March 7th, in order to perform some remodeling. The Children’s Place is closing entirely, on January …

There’s a new, free website service you can sign up for to get text alerts sent to your phone when snow drops on Mt. Bachelor: Cone Patrol. It’s a dead-simple service to use—all you need is a mobile phone with … Continue reading ͛

Big changes are in store for The Abbey Pub on Bend’s westside: it’s changing hands! Current owner Geoff Marlowe included this tidbit in his “draft list” email newsletter: Finally, as some of you know I have sold the Pub and …

Each year Ben Salmon (the Bulletin’s music writer) compiles a big list of the year’s songs in a compilation called “Near/Far“ that comprises 18 songs by national acts, and 18 songs by local acts. The best part is that these …

There are of course lots of New Year’s Eve parties and events going on in Bend tomorrow night, so I thought I’d try to compile a list of the prominent ones I can find. If you know of any others, … Continue reading →

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone in Bend and Central Oregon! I hope everyone is having a safe holiday today (or earlier this week, or tomorrow, depending on what you celebrate) and are enjoying good times with your friends … Continue read

In the past I’ve posted my own Bend-themed holiday gift guides but haven’t seemed to have time to do that lately. Not to worry though, the Bulletin has a Central Oregon gift guide that nicely covers some of the uniquely …

I received this press release email and it’s definitely for a good cause. Their page about the Christmas Toy Program is here; they’ll be collecting toys in each pickup location until December 22nd. Ladies Of Elk’s Continues Christmas Charity Tradition …

Brother Jon’s Public House is expanding, according to the Bulletin this weekend: they plan to open a second location in the old Bond Street Grill (née Decoy Bar & Grill) downtown, across from Deschutes Brewery on Greenwood and Bond. John …

The next Ignite Bend (number 8 ) is coming up a scant two months away, on February 23rd, and it’s time to start thinking about submitting a proposal. Yes, I am of course talking about you; you should definitely consider … Contin

Yes, you read that headline right. On Friday, December 16th, Tumalo Creek Kayak & Canoe is hosting a Christmas kayaking event. This is the press release: Every year, Bend’s most dedicated paddling enthusiasts dress up their canoes and kayaks in …

The Salvation Army and the Bend Fire Fighters are participating in the Santa Express again this year; from today (the 5th) through Thursday the 8th, the Santa Express is visiting Bend neighborhoods to collect food, toys, and clothing donations to …

Today is the Deschutes Public Library’s “Friends of the Bend Library” Holiday Book Sale: it takes place at the downtown Administration building basement at 507 NW Wall, from 10am to 4pm. (The follow-up sale also takes place on Sunday from …

Saturday, December 3rd (that’s tomorrow!), Deschutes Brewery is holding their annual garage sale: where you can buy all sorts of Deschutes merchandise (most or all of which is discontinued or overstock) like t-shirts, sweatshirts, glassware, hats, jackets, and other random …

Over at Newport Avenue Market today they are celebrating their 35th anniversary, and as part of their “Retro Party” they are rolling back prices on select items to 1976 prices, as well as offering games throughout the day and general …

This Sunday, December 4th, the Cascade Winds Symphonic Band has their latest free concert, An Afternoon of Sacred Music, at Summit High School starting at 2pm. This concert will feature music from Alfred Reed, J.S. Bach, David R. Holsinger, Jean …

This Saturday, December 3rd, is the annual Bend Christmas Parade, one of my favorite downtown events (even though it’s usually really cold!). This year’s theme is the “Sights and Sounds of Christmas” and starts at noon. The Parade route starts …