The holidays are coming, and with the season comes the 13th year of Santa Express, a partnership between the Bend Fire Department, the Bend Firefighters Association, and The Salvation Army to provide food, clothing, and toys to families in need in Central Oregon. A new part of Santa Express this year is a one-day Santa Express Coat & Blanket Drive, conducted in partnership with Sportsman’s Warehouse.  On Friday, December 8, stop by the parking lot ... [full story]

On December 7, the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Oregon Parks and Recreation (OPRD) and the Des Chutes Historical Center (DHC) will dedicate two new memorials in honor of Colonel Rex T. Barber.  On April 18, 1943, Barber, who served as a W.W. II Army Air Corps fighter pilot, shot down Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The first dedication begins at 1:00 p.m. at Peter Skene ... [full story]

The last place you expect to find classic regional Italian cuisine is at an airport. Particularly in a restaurant celebrating the 15th century artist Leonardo da Vinci, who gave the world the "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper." But entrepreneurial chef Stefano Colaiacomo has taken a carefully considered culinary flier and has opened Stefano's da Vinci Ristorante ( www.stefanosdavinci.com) at Daugherty's Sky Harbor, an executive jet complex one minute away from Long Beach (Calif.) Airport, ... [full story]

AgendaThursday, December 7, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.Des Chutes Historical Center129 NW Idaho Avenue, Bend1.  Call to Order/ Roll Call 2.  Consideration of Minutes of July 20, 2006 3.  Consideration of Minutes of August 31, 2006 4.  Consideration of Minutes of September 21, 2006 5.  Consideration of Minutes of October 19, 2006 6.  General Comments and questions from the public. (Topics that are not on the agenda.) 7.  Public Hearing.Bend Planning Division Case: PZ 06-607Owner/Applicant:  Joan M. ErcoliniAddress: 350 NW Staats Avenue, Bend, ... [full story]

Central Oregon Community Colleges’s Cascade Chorale will present “Holiday Magic” at 7 p.m. on Dec. 8 and 9; and at 3 p.m. on Dec. 10, at the Tower Theatre in downtown Bend. James W. Knox, assistant professor of music at COCC, will direct. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. This is a fundraising event for Central Oregon Resources for Independent Living. The event is sponsored by SELCO Credit Union and Tennant Development. Tickets cost $15 and are ... [full story]

Motorized vehicle use will be prohibited in parts of the McKay Creek watershed on the Lookout Mountain Ranger District of the Ochoco National Forest from December 1, 2006 to May 21, 2007, to protect natural resources. McKay Creek flows from the western edge of the national forest toward Prineville, along Forest Road 27.  Open routes in the closure area include Forest Roads 27, 2705, 2710, 33, 325, 350 and 3320.  Dispersed camping will be allowed ... [full story]

On Tuesday, December 12th, a public meeting will be held by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to present its Flood Insurance Study Revisions for incorporated Deschutes County. The meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Deschutes County Services Center building in the Barnes Room, located at 1300 NW Wall Street.Representatives from the Oregon State Department of Land Conservation and Development, FEMA, and other local communities will be on hand to discuss the ... [full story]

The community can help the homeless animals this holiday season by participating in the Humane Society of Central Oregon’s holiday wish trees by donating food and supplies.  For the pet lover on your list give an adoption gift certificate or identification tag.  For those that prefer to choose their own present, a gift certificate from the Humane Society Thrift Store is the perfect answer.  For those who like to make it easy for others to ... [full story]

Central Oregon Community College (COCC) is offering two information sessions about its new composites manufacturing program. The sessions will be offered at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 12, in Room 306 of the Manufacturing and Training Center on the Redmond Campus; and at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 14, in Room 206 of Ponderosa Hall on the Bend Campus. COCC’s composites manufacturing program grew from the need of local composites companies for trained employees, according ... [full story]

Hot Buttered Rum will appear at the Domino Room at 8:30 p.m.  on Saturday, December 12. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door.  We are separated by age or gender, by belief systems or money, by city blocks or hemispheres. But the sheer scale or severity of world events can sometimes steamroll even the deepest of these rifts. Large-scale military conflict, slow but unrelenting climate changes, and the disturbing depletion of our global ... [full story]