Category: Local

Redmond To Eliminate Soda/Candy Sales

The Redmond School Board approved a recommendation from the District’s Wellness and Nutrition Education Committee on Wednesday night that eliminates the sale of “non-nutritious” foods and beverages in schools. On the planned toss list are products such as “carbonated soft drinks and candy (or other bars containing more than 35 percent total sugar by weight), candies made predominately from sweeteners (e.g., licorice, jelly beans, gum drops, marshmallows), chewing gum and water ices” (whatever water ice is). Full story over here on Bend.com.

My thoughts: Getting rid of them from the machines is not going to stop kids from eating them during the school day. When I was in high-school, I would just keep my food and stash of soda in the fridge in the newsroom. What I would’ve liked to have seen is better alternatives — for example, the news Pepsi Edge sodas are still pretty tasty, and have half the sugar of regular Pepsi. And I’m sure there are candy alternatives that have less sugar and fat. Kids that have diet problems are going to have diet problems, and having a school take away that stuff isn’t really going to help them a whole lot when they go home and get the garbage again. I do know, however, that I needed the caffeinated beverages in high school to keep me awake, as I was up at 5:00am everyday for cross country practice, then early-bird jazz band, school all day, then my afternoon cross country practice and then I’d hit the newsroom to check in on the newspaper (as I was editor-in-chief, but was never actually enrolled in the class). I usually rolled home about 6:30-7:00PM.

December 17, 2004

Predictable News

There’s rarely a day that goes by where you couldn’t find an “old-lady/man mistakes gas-pedal for brake-pedal and runs automobile into immovable object” story. Heck, we even got on that news map when we had one in Bend a couple days ago. But a news story that is increasingly becoming more common: Man bites dog, type of stories (we’ve already had one of those locally).

December 15, 2004

It’s 25 Degrees, and The Heat Is Out

The furnace in our office is toast, getting repaired right now. We have space heaters all over the place, trying to keep things from freezing up, but trying to work in an office that’s 55-degrees and your hands are frozen really doesn’t help.

Meanwhile, the commute out here this morning was treacherous. See this picture? That may look like just a bit of moisture on the road, but it’s pure ice — a thin, slick layer of nastiness. Hopefully it’ll warm up a bit outside so it’ll melt off a bit.

Update at 1:20: Mt. View Heating came out and fixed it. Turned out to be a bad thermostat. Everything’s all better now, and I’m starting to thaw out now.

December 12, 2004

It’s Snowing

This is what the scene looks like right now outside my office:

That was taken from our Web cam here at the office. It doesn’t really show that great of quality, but there’s at least 3-4 inches on the the ground and still coming.

The roads to work are ugly, that’s for sure. Only took me twice as long to get out here (an hour versus 30 minutes).

December 6, 2004

Another Local Moron Crook

It’s amazing to me that people could really, truly, be this dumb:

A transient dressed in black was spotted by neighbors pushing a wheelbarrow full of loot from a home in the Old Town neighborhood. He abandoned the goods a block away — along with clothes, his wallet (with ID), a handgun and his pickup truck — then ran from police, only to stop and call 911 to report his pickup and wallet were stolen, officers said.

So he runs away, calls police about his stolen truck, and waits for police so he can help them fill out a stolen vehicle report. The police had long since found the guy’s wallet and ID, and the arrest was pretty quick after they showed up for the call. Idiot.

December 2, 2004

Weapons Stash Found Under Sunriver Home

No further information is being released right now, but this is what Barney has right now:

A hidden stash of explosives, detonators, automatic weapons and modified firearms was found in three containers that repair contractors discovered and removed from the crawlspace beneath a Sunriver home, Police Chief Mike Kennedy said Tuesday.

The containers also contained silencers and conversion kits for automatic weapons, Kennedy said in a news release, declining to identify the address or even the street in the resort community where the cache was found on Monday. The owner of the home was contacted and denied any knowledge of the containers or their contents, Kennedy said.

I grew up in this area, and know a lot of people out here. I’ve got a definite interest in hearing who’s involved in this because a) I want to make sure it’s not one of our homeowners at work and b) I want to make sure it’s not one of my dad’s employees or former employees that found it (my dad doesn’t know anything about it) or even one of his old employees that stashed it, for that matter (my dad’s worked out here for about 25 years, and dang near every construction-type of person has worked for him at some point).

I’m definitely keeping an eye on this. Especially considering it, at most, is about four miles from where I sit right now.

November 30, 2004

Drugs Are Bad

They cause you to do bad things to your home:

Police surrounded a southeast Bend home for more than two hours Monday while the renter inside, apparently under the influence of methamphetamine, went on a destructive rampage with a baseball bat, causing at least $20,000 in damage before kicking his way through a wall and finally being taken into custody, officers said.

Shot in the dark here, but my guess is he won’t get his security deposit back.

November 23, 2004

Moron Crook For The Day

Not only is he a moron crook, but he’s local, too!

A Redmond police officer gave his own “Stupid Criminal of the Year Award” to a 39-year-old transient who thought he could burglarize a gas station/fast-food restaurant by climbing onto the roof and sliding into the deep fryer’s grease vent. He got stuck, and covered head to toe in grease for his troubles.

The only reason he managed to get out alive is because some folks walking down the street overheard the moron screaming from inside the vent.

The best part? He not only was taken to the Deschutes County Jail, facing charges of second-degree burglary, second-degree criminal mischief and possession of burglar’s tools and being held on $10,000 bail, but he probably lost his job — he worked at the store he was trying to break into.

November 22, 2004

Interstate 97

There’s a new Anthony’s Home Port Restaurant opening up in Bend next month. And apparently they’re really close to Interstate 97 (map below).

For those out-of-towners, there is no Interstate 97 (actually, there is, but it’s on the East Coast), though some of us drive US Hwy. 97 through Central Oregon like it’s an Interstate.

Not only that, but the place is getting built on the East bank of the river, though the map shows it being on the West side.

Thanks Barney for the tip.

November 17, 2004

Bend Has a Segway Dealer

I asked yesterday if Bend had a Segway dealer, after reading an article and seeing it on their site. Barney did some digging, and a story about the local dealership is now on Bend.com. And he said he didn’t kill himself riding it, so if Barney can do it, than anybody can (joking, Barn).

November 15, 2004