Last week, neighbors on NE 15th St received a letter from Central Oregon Villages announcing a new 24-unit emergency shelter at 425 NE 15th St (the old city vehicle yard, directly across from family homes and under half a mile from Bear Creek Elementary). When COV knocked on doors to "engage the community," we asked when construction would start. The answer: ground had already been broken.

The site was approved under Oregon's shelter siting law (HB 3395), which requires cities to approve qualifying shelters with no public notice, no hearing, and no comment period. So to be clear... nothing illegal happened, and this post is not about stopping the shelter. But the sequence is worth knowing: approval and groundbreaking happened quietly over summer break, the one time of year the school community... parents and teachers a few blocks away... is least likely to hear about anything. The first "community engagement" was an open house held five days after the notification letters went out, for a decision already final. Families will come back to school in September to a shelter that's built and occupied, having never heard a word.

Some honest context, because it matters: this is a high-barrier shelter... residents must maintain sobriety, pass background checks, and engage in case management. COV is a small local nonprofit with a legitimately strong record of transitioning people into permanent housing, and their previous site coexisted with its neighborhood for years. Everyone deserves shelter, and this model is among the more accountable ones.

But "committed to being a good neighbor" (their words) has to mean more than a letter after the "bulldozers arrive". We're a group of adjacent households... many with young kids... organizing to negotiate a Good Neighbor Agreement with COV covering supervision, site design, a named contact for concerns, incident transparency, and a clear answer on how long "temporary" means, since the city-owned lease renews annually.

If you're a nearby resident, a Bear Creek parent or teacher, or just someone who thinks neighborhoods should hear about these projects before the concrete pours: add your contact info here and we'll reach out as we set up a first community meeting → [Google Form link]

We'd genuinely welcome COV and city folks in that conversation too.

I feel bad even asking this while people are dealing with the wildfires and smoke in their hometown, but we are from somewhere that does not really experience this type of thing.

We are staying in in town close to the river, 3 kids (10,8,5). Have planned all sorts of outdoor activities and have been very excited for our first visit to the area. Should we pivot to another destination? I have no feel for what these AQI readings are like, if we will be miserable for a week, or if there is a good chance things change early next week.

Just looking for locals advice as to what to do?

Thanks!

I’m craving spaghetti, where should I go tonight that’s in the middle of Bosa and Olive Garden?

We’re planning on taking a roadtrip (34 hours :O) and arriving in Bend this Sunday. We’re a bit worried about the AQI for 1 and 3 year old.

How bad is it there right now? I know the AQI can shift quickly. Is it worth the risk? I’d usually delay in this case but there’s no refund on the Airbnb we booked.

Any thoughts / insights? Will we likely be able to enjoy the outdoors (kind of the point of our whole trip)?

Can anyone help or recommend where to go for a sofa/sectional, decent price, in box or deliver? We been looking for days 🙄

Interested in the bike park. Hard to get aqi readings at Bachelor specifically vs downtown Bend. With the higher altitude, I'd assume it's either higher or lower AQI but not sure. Anyone know?

And do you have recommendations? I’ve got some yard work to do, and my throat hurts from the smoke.

Hate the ones over the ears they hurts. Also I probably need to shave my beard.

Hi folks! As I’m sure you all have noticed, we are off to a pretty gnarly fire season. As a frequent dispersed camper, I noticed that there is no centralized, intuitive source to determine the campfire restrictions in a given national forest or BLM land district.

I got fed up with having to dig through each national forest and ranger district website to determine if I could legally (and safely) have a fire. It made planning camping trips a headache. I also realized that in the face of this friction, some people may not bother to check regulations at all. My goal is to make planning more convenient and to help dispersed campers have fires safely.

So I set out to make one myself! I have reached a point where I think it is worth sharing to get some feedback and feature suggestions from anyone who might see themselves using it. While obviously it is not a good idea to have a fire basically anywhere in Oregon right now, I expect it to be a useful resource in September and October as areas begin to loosen restrictions in the face of better conditions.

Please let me know what you think! Would you use this? What features would you like to see? How could the user interface be improved?

Oregon Fire Restriction Map (Demo)

Hey everyone. I am doing my behind the wheel driving test this Thursday. I am testing through a third party testing service that operates in Central Oregon called Hanford Testing Service. Just came here to ask if anybody has tested with them, or has knowledge on the general route as well as opinions on them. They were heavily recommended by my friends. The location is Downtown adjacent, so I assume it is going to be a drive around Old Bend. As always, thanks in advance!

My power in SW just went out AGAIN. This is the fifth time in the last three days and the outages are lasting 1-2+ hours. Anyone know what is happening? Is it fire related? Seems excessive…

I saw a red food truck that said Maria’s Tamales on it (closed) in the parking lot of the Budget Inn on 3rd tonight. Was driving so couldn’t take a picture. Does anyone happen to know if that’s the same Maria that is usually in front of gross out?

I have had an iPhone since 2010 and I honestly can say this is the probably the best app I have ever used. Each year they keep making it better. The best part is the only reason to upgrade to pro is if you want to nerd out on all the information.

Probably going to purchase it just to support them. Not sure why I felt the need to post this. Maybe it’s because so many things are so shitty, divided, expensive, stressful right now. Knowing there are organizations like this out there trying to help without asking its users for money like gives me a little hope?

I'm a little surprised the cameras near Lowes haven't been taken down; maybe this is a good alternative if Flock refuses to remove them.

Since this came up in another post, I thought I'd post another update to my posts from 2 years and 5 years ago.

Source: Wildfire Smoke Trends and the Air Quality Index Data from 2000-2025 (DEQ)

"Between 2000 and 2012, Bend had six USG days caused by wildfire smoke. Between 2013 and 2025, Bend experienced 100 days ≥ USG, including 31 unhealthy days, 10 very unhealthy days, and eight hazardous days. Of those, 96 days ≥ USG occurred from 2017 to 2025. In 2025, Bend recorded only two Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) days."

One benefit of the smoke is that we get a chance to check out our star! I just took this photo with my phone. Those visible sun spots are bigger than earth itself.

WARNING: THE SMOKE FILTERS A LOT OF HARMFUL UV RADIATION FROM THE SUN, BUT NOT ALL OF IT. STILL DO NOT STARE AT THE SUN FOR EXTENDED PERIODS

Very sad... condolences to the family and friends of Stacy Chiddix: https://barneysbendbugle.com/article/news_story/fatal-atv-crash-during-brewer-fire-response-3

Both northbound lanes blocked at 8:15. Emergency service on the way but not there yet.

From the article:

According to [Cascades East Transit Director Bob] Townsend, the plan is to run buses from Bend’s Hawthorne Station to the Redmond Airport terminal every hour starting from about 4 am to 1 pm five days a week, in order to serve people catching early morning flights. If the service goes well, it could be expanded to evening hours, Townsend said. He estimated the ride will cost $15 each way.  

It feels like it's time to start shopping my home/auto/umbrella policies. I've been with State Farm for a long time and the umbrella premiums have gotten ridiculous in the past couple years. I'm wondering if there is a better way than going to individual agents that represent a single insurance company.

Do you have any experiences with the independent brokers in the area that you would be willing to share? I am interested in additional data points beyond the google and yelp reviews I am looking at currently.