BendVibes — 2026-10-14

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

IN THIS ISSUE Around the Bend · Trail Mix · The Trailhead · The Setlist · Did You Know · Bend Almanac

🗳️ Check your mailed voter pamphlet — some Deschutes copies are missing 25 pages

Some Deschutes County voter pamphlets that arrived in mailboxes are missing pages 17 through 41, the county clerk has confirmed. The missing chunk includes the arguments for and against the Deschutes County district map measure and Redmond's psilocybin measure — kind of the important part.

If your pamphlet jumps from page 16 to 42, that's why. The full text is available from the county and the state — check before ballots land, not after.

Source: Bend Bulletin →

Mornin', Bend. Wednesday starts cool and finishes perfect: sunny and 68° today, 73° Thursday, not a drop of rain in the forecast. No snow at the SNOTEL sites yet, the Deschutes is running 797 cfs near Culver, air's clean at AQI 26, and the passes are clear. Cabin Butte and West Bend trail closures are still in effect.

• 🗺️ Tonight at 6: Adair and Bynum debate live for Oregon's 5th District on KTVZ.

• 🎱 Duda's Billiards downtown is closing Oct. 31. Two weeks left to rack 'em.

• 🍺 Tomorrow: Fresh Hop Takeover with Fort George at Crosscut. The wet-hop window is short.

📬 Property tax statements are coming — first payment due Nov. 16

Deschutes County has posted property taxes for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Statements will be mailed to property owners by Oct. 25, and the first payment for the new period is due Nov. 16.

The least fun mail of the year, but at least it's not a surprise now. Budget for Nov. 16 and check your statement when it lands — posted amounts are live on the county site today.

Source: KTVZ NewsChannel 21 →

✉️ Oregon's elections chief says vote early — the mail test came back slow

Oregon's secretary of state ran a county-by-county mail delivery test and found rural areas getting slow USPS service. The advice: mail your ballot by Oct. 27, or skip the mailbox and use an official drop box.

Ballots for the Nov. 3 election go out soon. A drop box in Bend takes the postal service — and the worry — out of it entirely.

Source: Oregon Capital Chronicle →

⛷️ Bend's Hunter Hess just got nominated to the U.S. Freeski Halfpipe team

Bend skier Hunter Hess has been nominated to the U.S. Freeski Halfpipe team — another local name on a national roster, earned the usual Bend way: a lot of laps, a lot of winters.

When the halfpipe season starts, Bend has a hometown rooting interest. Remember the name before your out-of-town friends discover him.

Source: Central Oregon Daily →

🌿 New ERA Festival takes over Century Center this Saturday

A brand-new Central Oregon nonprofit throws its first fundraiser Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Century Center in Bend: live music from local acts across four stages, silent and live auctions, and a market of growers and makers — all for regenerative action and community projects.

Four stages of local music plus a makers market, and the money stays local. That's a Saturday plan that plans itself.

Source: Bend Source Weekly →

👻 The Literary Ghost Walk is back at the downtown library Oct. 28

Deschutes Public Library hosts its fourth annual Literary Ghost Walk on Oct. 28, 6 to 7 p.m., at the Central Library in Bend. Volunteers and actors portray deceased authors stationed around the library — haunted, but make it bookish.

Free, an hour long, and the most Bend version of spooky season there is. Put it on the calendar before it fills your feed.

Source: KTVZ NewsChannel 21 →

💝 Nominate a Central Oregonian fighting breast cancer by Oct. 23

Central Oregon Disaster Restoration is taking nominations for its third annual CODR Cares program, which gives $10,000 directly to Central Oregonians fighting breast cancer. Nominations close Friday, Oct. 23.

Somebody in your life is fighting this quietly. A nomination takes five minutes and puts real money behind the support.

Source: Bend Source Weekly →

🎤 From the 'American Idol' stage to a Bend classroom

A Bend singer who made it to the 'American Idol' stage has joined School of Rock in Bend — trading the audition room for teaching the next round of local kids how to actually play.

Local music scenes are built exactly like this: somebody good comes home and teaches. Bend's garage-band pipeline just got stronger.

Source: Central Oregon Daily →

🚦 Terrebonne's new dogbone roundabout is open — no more left turns across the highway

The new dogbone roundabout in Terrebonne is open, ending the white-knuckle left turns across Highway 97 traffic. If you drive north to Redmond, Madras, or the gorge, your route just changed shape.

First trip through will feel weird — that's every roundabout. After that, it's faster and nobody's sitting in a turn lane praying. Give it one calm lap.

Source: Central Oregon Daily →

🎱 Last call at Duda's: downtown's pool hall closes Oct. 31

Duda's Billiards Bar in downtown Bend will close on Oct. 31 after 10 years in business. It started as a father-and-son venture and became a family business — a decade of pool and beer, in their words, and downtown Bend's last proper rack-'em-up spot.

You've got about two weeks to get one last game in and say thanks properly. Downtown loses a real hangout on Halloween.

Source: KTVZ NewsChannel 21 →

🥞 A crepe stand just opened downtown — Bond Street, southwest corner

Crepe Oh! Holics, a mobile creperie from husband-and-wife Nataliya and Jesse Gonzalez, is now serving downtown on the southwest corner of Bond Street. The twist is half-Russian, half-Ukrainian — sweet and savory crepes, made to order.

Downtown walk-and-eat options just got better. Lunch break, dessert run, farmers-market detour — pick your excuse.

Source: Bend Bulletin →

💡 The last mill closed in 1994 — and the spotted owl wasn't the whole story

After 78 years of mill dominance, Crown Pacific shut the former Brooks-Scanlon mill in 1994. The company blamed federal protections for the spotted owl, but the Oregon Historical Society's account says the real cause was decades of aggressive clearcutting of the companies' own land with little replanting — by the end they were surviving on subsidized federal timber sales that couldn't last.

Reframes the most-told Bend story with the nuance it usually misses.

Source: Oregon History Project, Oregon Historical Society →

Wednesday morning: sunny and 68° today, 73° Thursday, air clean and the passes clear. One straight note: a prescribed burn is planned today six miles northwest of Sunriver — expect smoke in that area (Central Oregon Fire Information). Otherwise, it's a lunch-outside kind of day. Take it.

☀️ Wednesday — Sunny · High 68° · 💨 0 to 5 mph · 💧 2%

🌙 Wednesday Night — Mostly clear · Low 41° · 💨 0 to 3 mph · 💧 0%

☀️ Thursday — Sunny · High 73° · 💨 0 to 6 mph · 💧 0%

❄️ Snow: 0" on the ground at every reporting station (2026-10-12). (NRCS SNOTEL)

🎣 Fishing: Anglers report good fishing at Hosmer Lake and Little Lava Lake. Anglers can still fish for trout throughout the lower Deschutes. Using a large stonefly nymph or a double nymph setup with an indicator typically does well during the summer months. Anglers report excellent fishing for recently stocked and holdover trout at Three Creek Lake. With cooler temperatures and improved water clarity, anglers report improved rainbow trout fishing at Crane Prairie Reservoir. Anglers report good fall trout fishing at East and Paulina Lakes. (ODFW Recreation Report (October 8, 2026)) Report →

🌊 River: Deschutes flowing 797 cfs near Culver (nearest active gauge — no at-Bend gauge exists). (USGS)

🚧 Roads: TripCheck shows no incidents on the passes this morning. (ODOT TripCheck)

🌲 Forest alert: Cabin Butte Area Closure (USFS Deschutes NF) Report →

🌲 Forest alert: West Bend Area Trail Closures (USFS Deschutes NF) Report →

Don't miss: Fresh Hop Takeover with Fort George at Crosscut, Thu 5pm — peak wet-hop season, two-week window.

Don't miss: Young Frankenstein at Cascade Theatrical, Thu 7:30pm — Mel Brooks, live and local.

Don't miss: Vamonos Outside community bike ride at Shevlin Park, Sat 10am — fall colors in the canyon, free.

Trivia Night at Van Henion Brewing

Wed, Oct 14 · 6:00 PM · Van Henion Brewing

Brewery trivia night — bring a team, drink local beer.

Source: Van Henion Brewing →

Line Dancing at Stoller Wine Bar

Wed, Oct 14 · 7:00 PM · Stoller Wine Bar

Line dancing with a decent glass of wine nearby.

Source: Stoller Wine Bar →

Pine Nursery Adaptive Cycling Center Ribbon Cutting

Thu, Oct 15 · Oregon Adaptive Sports

Ribbon cutting for Bend's new adaptive cycling center.

Source: Oregon Adaptive Sports →

Fresh Hop Takeover w/ Fort George

Thu, Oct 15 · 5:00 PM · Crosscut Beer

Wet-hop beers from Fort George, poured at peak season.

Source: Crosscut Beer →

Young Frankenstein

Thu, Oct 15 · 7:30 PM · Cascade Theatrical

Mel Brooks' musical comedy, live on a Bend stage.

Source: Bend Magazine →

Neighbors & Makers

Fri, Oct 16 · 4:00 PM · 10 Barrel Brewing West Side

Local makers market with a pint in hand.

Source: Bend Magazine →

Vamonos Outside — Community Bike Ride at Shevlin Park

Sat, Oct 17 · 10:00 AM · Shevlin Park

Free community ride through fall colors in the canyon.

Source: Bend Bikes →

Annual Chili Fest at Bend Brewing Company

Sat, Oct 17 · 11:00 AM · Bend Brewing Co

Chili cook-off energy plus downtown-brewed beer.

Source: Bend Magazine →

Live Music Around Town

⭐ Babes In Canyon + Anna Smyrk + Shelby Natasha at the Domino Room, Thu 7pm — indie synth-pop bill, all women-led.

⭐ Shire on the Mountain at Volcanic, Fri — bluegrass Lord of the Rings costume party. Yes, really.

⭐ The War and Treaty at the Tower, Tue Oct 20 — next week's headliner; get tickets now, not later.

Brent Alan & Brother Gabe Duo

Wed, Oct 14 · McMenamins Old St. Francis

Local roots-music duo at Old St. Francis.

Source: Details →

Babes In Canyon, Anna Smyrk, & Shelby Natasha

Thu, Oct 15 · 7:00 PM · The Domino Room

Indie synth-pop bill, three women-led acts.

Source: Tickets →

Long Gone Wilder Trio

Thu, Oct 15 · 6:00 PM · River's Place

Trio set on the River's Place patio stage.

Source: Details →

Live Music with Baker & Barringer

Thu, Oct 15 · 6:00 PM · Stoller Wine Bar

Duo set with wine-bar pours on the side.

Source: Details →

Shire on the Mountain

Fri, Oct 16 · Volcanic Theatre Pub · $22

Bluegrass Lord of the Rings costume party.

Source: Tickets →

Live Music with Timothy James

Fri, Oct 16 · 7:00 PM · Stoller Wine Bar

Solo live set at the wine bar.

Source: Details →

Jack Krouscup Quartet

Sat, Oct 17 · 6:00 PM · River's Place

Live quartet set on the patio stage.

Source: Details →

Live Music with Sugar Mountain

Sat, Oct 17 · 5:00 PM · Stoller Wine Bar

Early-evening live set, wine in hand.

Source: Details →

The War and Treaty with Blank Page

Tue, Oct 20 · 7:30 PM · Tower Theatre · $52–$72

Soul-Americana duo, next week's Tower headliner.

Source: Tickets →

TAIKOPROJECT

Wed, Oct 21 · 7:30 PM · Tower Theatre · $37–$57

Japanese taiko drumming ensemble, big-stage show.

Source: Tickets →

The #1 multi-dog city in America

A 2026 analysis named Bend the top U.S. city for multi-dog households — 22.02% of households have more than one dog, beating Austin, Nashville, and Denver. If your neighbor has three dogs and a Sprinter van, that's not a lifestyle choice here, it's the median.

Source: Parade Pets

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🌅 Sunrise 7:19 AM · 🌇 Sunset 6:22 PM

🕐 Daylight 11h 3m · Visible light 12h 2m · 2m 56s shorter tomorrow

🌒 Waxing Crescent · 17% lit · Rises 11:55 AM · Sets 8:15 PM

🌡️ Bend averages for today: High 64° · Low 33°

That's the Wednesday edition. Check your pamphlet, watch the debate tonight, and go earn that 68° afternoon.

Float on, Bend.

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