‘Tis the season for events
It’s summertime, and the living
is easy. It’s also the season
for a lot of events, including:
The Latino Community Association
is holding an open house at its
new location at 1130 NW Harriman
St. (The lower level of the Mike
Maier Building) between 4 and 6
p.m. on Thursday, June 7. The
organization’s new e-mail
address is
info@latca.org. The fifth
annual Balloons Over Bend,
sponsored by LibertyBank, will
be held on June 9 and 10, with
more than 20 hot air balloons
scheduled to take off from
Jewell Elementary School at
about 6:30 a.m. both days. The
Night Glow, sponsored by Kirby
Nagelhout Construction, will be
held at J Bar J Youth Services
on Hamby Road beginning at 6
p.m. on June 9. All events are
free. For more information, go
to
www.balloonsoverbend.com.
And also on June 9, you can help
the environment and get a free
barbecue by taking part in
noxious weed eradication day.
All of Bend’s area neighborhoods
are taking part in getting rid
of noxious weeds that invade
open spaces and local forests
that crowd out native plants,
starve wildlife, use water and
create allergens. A weed pull
site map is available at
www.letspulltogether.com.
The barbecue, complete with
entertainment, will be held at
Drake Park. There are many, many
events in the summer, and you
always can find a schedule of
community goings-on at the
Chamber’s Web site,
www.bendchamber.org.
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Play some golf with the Chamber
on June 7
There still are some spots open
for the Bend Chamber’s inaugural
Team Challenge Golf Tournament,
sponsored by Columbia River Bank
and scheduled for the afternoon
of June 7 at Widgi Creek Golf
Club on Century Drive. This
tournament replaces the “Swing
into Spring” ladies’ golf
tournament. You can register
online at
www.bendchamber.org/teamgolf
or contact Lindi at
lindi@bendchamber.org or
382-3221.
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Housing slowdown a lingering
pain to Bend businesses
Last week’s survey question was,
“Has the lingering slowdown in
the housing market affected you
or your business?” Boy, has it.
Some responses:
“Yes, by about 28 percent just in the first quarter.”
“We have a landscaping business, and we’re having the
slowest year ever. I can’t say
directly that it’s from the
slowdown in the housing market,
but that’s my suspicion. I talk
to others doing landscaping and
we all believe that’s the
reason.”
“Please
don’t use our name (editor’s
note: We never do), but our
business has been off for over a
year now. We’ve had to lay
people off, which hasn’t
happened in several years. I
think the “flip it” investors
have gone elsewhere, so maybe
things have calmed down. That’s
a good thing.”
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Get ready for higher electric
bills
The Oregon Public Utility
Commission on Wednesday approved
the highest increase in
electricity rates for
privately-owned companies in 40
years, which will cause
residential rates to rise about
13 percent effective
immediately. Commercial and
industrial clients, as well as
members of publicly owned
utilities such as Central
Electric Cooperative, won’t be
affected. The average customer
of Pacific Power will see a
monthly increase of about $10.
The increase is due to an Oregon
Supreme Court ruling that the
Bonneville Power Administration,
which administers the
electricity generated by dams on
the Columbia River, can’t
distribute financial benefits to
customers of privately-owned
utilities. Even with the
increase, rates in Oregon are
still the 10th lowest
in the nation.
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Businesses invited to
transportation conference in
June
Worth repeating from last week’s
E-News: The first Central Oregon
Regional Transit Forum will be
held from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday,
June 18 at the Eagle Crest
Conference Center in Redmond.
This interactive forum will
address public transportation
and transit issues that are
affecting local businesses, the
workforce and the region’s
economy. This is a great
opportunity for area businesses
to voice their opinion to
community leaders and
transportation planners about
regional transportation needs,
priorities and how the region
should address public
transportation issues. The forum
will feature nationally
recognized speaker Dale Marisco,
director of the Community
Transit Association of America,
who will discuss the influences
local transportation systems
have on a community. The free
forum is being sponsored by the
Central Oregon Area Commission
on Transportation; Crook,
Deschutes and Jefferson County
and the Oregon Department of
Transportation. Information:
504-3306 or
aspreadborough@coic.org.
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