Sunday, January 25, 2009

Then and Now

Usually on these weekly posts, I wax on about how awful it's going to get. But I read the following piece, and this week I figured I'd wax off.

Read this.

Great Depression in the United States
I. Introduction

Great Depression in the United States, worst and longest economic collapse in the history of the modern industrial world, lasting from the end of 1929 until the early 1940s. Beginning in the United States, the depression spread to most of the world’s industrial countries, which in the 20th century had become economically dependent on one another. The Great Depression saw rapid declines in the production and sale of goods and a sudden, severe rise in unemployment. Businesses and banks closed their doors, people lost their jobs, homes, and savings, and many depended on charity to survive. In 1933, at the worst point in the depression, more than 15 million Americans—one-quarter of the nation’s workforce—were unemployed.

The depression was caused by a number of serious weaknesses in the economy. Although the 1920s appeared on the surface to be a prosperous time, income was unevenly distributed. The wealthy made large profits, but more and more Americans spent more than they earned, and farmers faced low prices and heavy debt. The lingering effects of World War I (1914-1918) caused economic problems in many countries, as Europe struggled to pay war debts and reparations. These problems contributed to the crisis that began the Great Depression: the disastrous U.S. stock market crash of 1929, which ruined thousands of investors and destroyed confidence in the economy. Continuing throughout the 1930s, the depression ended in the United States only when massive spending for World War II began.

The depression produced lasting effects on the United States that are still apparent more than half a century after it ended. It led to the election of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who created the programs known as the New Deal to overcome the effects of the Great Depression. These programs expanded government intervention into new areas of social and economic concerns and created social-assistance measures on the national level. The Great Depression fundamentally changed the relationship between the government and the people, who came to expect and accept a larger federal role in their lives and the economy.

The programs of the New Deal also brought together a new, liberal political alliance in the United States. Roosevelt’s policies won the support of labor unions, blacks, people who received government relief, ethnic and religious minorities, intellectuals, and some farmers, forming a coalition that would be the backbone of the Democratic Party for decades to come.

On a personal level, the hardships suffered during the depression affected many Americans’ attitudes toward life, work, and their community. Many people who survived the depression wanted to protect themselves from ever again going hungry or lacking necessities. Some developed habits of frugality and careful saving for the rest of their lives, and many focused on accumulating material possessions to create a comfortable life, one far different from that which they experienced in the depression years.

The depression also played a major role in world events. In Germany, the economic collapse opened the way for dictator Adolf Hitler to come to power, which in turn led to World War II.

II. Causes of the Depression

It is a common misconception that the stock market crash of October 1929 was the cause of the Great Depression. The two events were closely related, but both were the results of deep problems in the modern economy that were building up through the “prosperity decade” of the 1920s.

As is typical of post-war periods, Americans in the Roaring Twenties turned inward, away from international issues and social concerns and toward greater individualism. The emphasis was on getting rich and enjoying new fads, new inventions, and new ideas. The traditional values of rural America were being challenged by the city-oriented Jazz Age, symbolized by what many considered the shocking behavior of young women who wore short skirts and makeup, smoked, and drank.

The self-centered attitudes of the 1920s seemed to fit nicely with the needs of the economy. Modern industry had the capacity to produce vast quantities of consumer goods, but this created a fundamental problem: Prosperity could continue only if demand was made to grow as rapidly as supply. Accordingly, people had to be persuaded to abandon such traditional values as saving, postponing pleasures and purchases, and buying only what they needed. “The key to economic prosperity,” a General Motors executive declared in 1929, “is the organized creation of dissatisfaction.” Advertising methods that had been developed to build support for World War I were used to persuade people to buy such relatively new products as automobiles and such completely new ones as radios and household appliances. The resulting mass consumption kept the economy going through most of the 1920s.

But there was an underlying economic problem. Income was distributed very unevenly, and the portion going to the wealthiest Americans grew larger as the decade proceeded. This was due largely to two factors: While businesses showed remarkable gains in productivity during the 1920s, workers got a relatively small share of the wealth this produced. At the same time, huge cuts were made in the top income-tax rates. Between 1923 and 1929, manufacturing output per person-hour increased by 32 percent, but workers’ wages grew by only 8 percent. Corporate profits shot up by 65 percent in the same period, and the government let the wealthy keep more of those profits. The Revenue Act of 1926 cut the taxes of those making $1 million or more by more than two-thirds.

As a result of these trends, in 1929 the top 0.1 percent of American families had a total income equal to that of the bottom 42 percent. This meant that many people who were willing to listen to the advertisers and purchase new products did not have enough money to do so. To get around this difficulty, the 1920s produced another innovation—“credit,” an attractive name for consumer debt. People were allowed to “buy now, pay later.” But this only put off the day when consumers accumulated so much debt that they could not keep buying up all the products coming off assembly lines. That day came in 1929.

American farmers—who represented one-quarter of the economy—were already in an economic depression during the 1920s, which made it difficult for them to take part in the consumer buying spree. Farmers had expanded their output during World War I, when demand for farm goods was high and production in Europe was cut sharply. But after the war, farmers found themselves competing in an over-supplied international market. Prices fell, and farmers were often unable to sell their products for a profit.

International problems also weakened the economy. After World War I the United States became the world’s chief creditor as European countries struggled to pay war debts and reparations. Many American bankers were not ready for this new role. They lent heavily and unwisely to borrowers in Europe, especially Germany, who would have difficulty repaying the loans, particularly if there was a serious economic downturn. These huge debts made the international banking structure extremely unstable by the late 1920s.

In addition, the United States maintained high tariffs on goods imported from other countries, at the same time that it was making foreign loans and trying to export products. This combination could not be sustained: If other nations could not sell their goods in the United States, they could not make enough money to buy American products or repay American loans. All major industrial countries pursued similar policies of trying to advance their own interests without regard to the international economic consequences.

The rising incomes of the wealthiest Americans fueled rapid growth in the stock market (see Stock Exchange), especially between 1927 and 1929. Soon the prices of stocks were rising far beyond the worth of the shares of the companies they represented. People were willing to pay inflated prices because they believed the stock prices would continue to rise and they could soon sell their stocks at a profit.

The widespread belief that anyone could get rich led many less affluent Americans into the market as well. Investors bought millions of shares of stock “on margin,” a risky practice similar to buying products on credit. They paid only a small part of the price and borrowed the rest, gambling that they could sell the stock at a high enough price to repay the loan and make a profit.

For a time this was true: In 1928 the price of stock in the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) multiplied by nearly five times. The Dow Jones industrial average industrial average—an index that tracks the stock prices of key industrial companies—doubled in value in less than two years. But the stock boom could not last. The great bull market of the late 1920s was a classic example of a speculative “bubble” scheme, so called because it expands until it bursts. In the fall of 1929 confidence that prices would keep rising faltered, then failed. Starting in late October the market plummeted as investors began selling stocks. On October 29, known as Black Tuesday, the worst day of the panic, stocks lost $10 billion to $15 billion in value. By mid-November almost all of the gains of the previous two years had been wiped out, with losses estimated at $30 billion.

The stock market crash announced the beginning of the Great Depression, but the deep economic problems of the 1920s had already converged a few months earlier to start the downward spiral. The credit of a large portion of the nation’s consumers had been exhausted, and they were spending much of their current income to pay for past, rather than new, purchases. Unsold inventories had begun to pile up in warehouses during the summer of 1929.

The crash affected the economy the way exposure to cold affects the human body, lowering the body’s resistance to infectious agents that are already present. The crash reduced the ability of the economy to fight off the underlying sicknesses of unevenly distributed wealth, agricultural depression, and banking problems.

III. Economic Collapse (1929-1933)

The stock market crash was just the first dramatic phase of a prolonged economic collapse. Conditions continued to worsen for the next three years, as the confident, optimistic attitudes of the 1920s gave way to a sense of defeat and despair. Stock prices continued to decline. By late 1932 they were only about 20 percent of what they had been before the crash. With little consumer demand for products, hundreds of factories and mills closed, and the output of American manufacturing plants was cut almost in half from 1929 to 1932.

Unemployment in those three years soared from 3.2 percent to 24.9 percent, leaving more than 15 million Americans out of work. Some remained unemployed for years; those who had jobs faced major wage cuts, and many people could find only part-time work. Jobless men sold apples and shined shoes to earn a little money.

Many banks had made loans to businesses and people who now could not repay them, and some banks had also lost money by investing in the stock market. When depositors hit by the depression needed to withdraw their savings, the banks often did not have the money to give them. This caused other depositors to panic and demand their cash, ruining the banks. By the winter of 1932 to 1933, the banking system reached the point of nearly complete collapse; more than 5,000 banks failed by March 1933, wiping out the savings of millions of people.

As people lost their jobs and savings, mortgages on many homes and farms were foreclosed. Homeless people built shacks out of old crates and formed shantytowns, which were called “Hoovervilles” out of bitterness toward President Herbert Hoover, who refused to provide government aid to the unemployed.

The plight of farmers, who had been in a depression since 1920, worsened. Already low prices for their goods fell by 50 percent between 1929 and 1932. While many people went hungry, surplus crops couldn’t be sold for a profit.

Natural forces inflicted another blow on farmers. Beginning in Arkansas in 1930, a severe drought spread across the Great Plains through the middle of the decade. Once-productive topsoil turned to dust that was carried away by strong winds, piling up in drifts against houses and barns. Parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado became known as the Dust Bowl, as the drought destroyed the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of small farmers. Packing up their families and meager possessions, many of these farmers migrated to California in search of work. Author John Steinbeck created an unforgettable fictional portrait of their fate in the novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939).

IV. Initial Response to the Depression

The initial government response to the Great Depression was ineffective, as President Hoover insisted that the economy was sound and that prosperity would soon return. Hoover believed the basic need was to restore public confidence so businesses would begin to invest and expand production, providing jobs and income to restore the economy to health. But business owners saw no reason to increase production while unsold goods clogged their shelves. By 1932 investment had dropped to less than 5 percent of its 1929 level.

Convinced that a balanced federal budget was essential to restoring business confidence, Hoover sought to cut government spending and raise taxes. But in the face of a collapsing economy, this served only to reduce demand further. As conditions worsened, Hoover’s administration eventually provided emergency loans to banks and industry, expanded public works, and helped states offer relief. But it was too little, too late.

The epitome of a “self-made man,” Hoover believed in individualism and self-reliance. As more and more Americans lost jobs and faced hunger, Hoover asserted that “mutual self-help through voluntary giving” was the way to meet people’s needs. Private giving increased greatly, reaching a record high in 1932, but charitable organizations were overwhelmed by the enormous number of people in need. To many, government assistance seemed the only answer, but Hoover was convinced that giving federal relief payments would undermine recipients’ self-reliance, and he resisted this step throughout his term.

The tension between citizens seeking government action and Hoover’s administration came to a head in June 1932. More than 20,000 World War I veterans marched on Washington, D.C., to ask for early payment of government bonuses they had been promised. But the government refused, and when some members of the so-called Bonus Army didn’t leave the capital, federal troops used tear gas and bayonets to evict the men and their families (see Bonus March).

Hoover and most of his Republican Party firmly supported protective tariffs to block imports and stimulate the American economy by increasing sales of American-made products. In 1930 they enacted the Hawley-Smoot Tariff, which established the highest average tariff in American history. This was a crushing blow to European economies, which were already sinking into depression. Other nations retaliated by raising their own tariffs. This action helped to worsen and spread the depression by choking off international trade. Between 1929 and 1932 the total value of world trade had declined by more than half.

V. International Effects of the Depression

Like Hoover, leaders of other nations around the world were determined to balance their budgets by raising taxes and slashing government spending. Germany, struggling to pay reparations imposed by the peace settlements after World War I, suffered to a larger extent than any other major industrial nation. Nearly 40 percent of the German workforce was unemployed by 1932. In these desperate economic circumstances, large numbers of Germans began to listen to the tirades of Hitler, who blamed the depression on Jews and Communists and promised to restore Germany to economic and military strength. After his Nazi (National Socialist) Party became the strongest political force in Germany, Hitler was named chancellor in January 1933. He soon seized absolute control of the German government.

In Britain the effects of the depression were not as dramatic because the nation had been suffering from high unemployment through much of the 1920s. Unlike the United States, Britain already had unemployment insurance and government welfare payments to ease the burden on the jobless. The depression took longer to hit hard in France because it was less industrialized than the United States, Germany, and Britain. Also, because so many French men had died in World War I, the workforce was very small, and it took a severe economic decline before the demand for workers fell below the small supply.

VI. Roosevelt and the New Deal

By the election year of 1932, the depression had made Hoover so unpopular that the election of the Democratic presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt was all but assured. Confidence—Hoover’s elusive goal—was Roosevelt’s most abundant quality. Declaring in his inaugural speech that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” Roosevelt quickly lifted the nation’s spirits with the rapid and unprecedented actions of the New Deal.

Within days of his inauguration Roosevelt called Congress into a special session, during which many pieces of emergency legislation were passed. Following the example of many states, Roosevelt proclaimed a nationwide bank holiday, closing all banks to stop panicky depositors from withdrawing their money. A few days later he broadcast the first of many fireside chats on the radio, reassuring Americans that all banks that were allowed to reopen would be safe.

The New Deal produced a wide variety of programs to reduce unemployment, assist businesses and agriculture, regulate banking and the stock market, and provide security for the needy, elderly, and disabled. The basic idea of early New Deal programs was to lower the supply of goods to the current, depressed level of consumption. Under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, the government sought to raise farm prices by paying farmers not to grow surplus crops. Parts of the National Industrial Recovery Act created codes for many industries that regulated competition while guaranteeing minimum wages and maximum hours for workers.

The New Deal also tried to increase demand, pumping large amounts of money into the economy through public works programs and relief measures. Public works projects not only provided jobs but built schools, dams, and roads; the innovative Tennessee Valley Authority provided electric power and improved living conditions in an area of the southeast United States.

However, Roosevelt never embraced the new ideas of British economist John Maynard Keynes, who argued that intentionally unbalancing the budget to a significant degree would boost demand to the point where recovery would take place. The U.S. gross public debt increased from $22.5 billion in 1933 to $40.44 billion in 1939, but Roosevelt was reluctant to accept any more deficit spending than seemed absolutely necessary to prevent mass suffering. He did not create an unbalanced budget on the scale Keynes advocated until World War II forced it upon him. Once the government started spending at the levels Keynes had suggested, the depression ended.

The New Deal helped people to survive the depression, but acted as a painkiller rather than a cure for the nation’s economic ills. Unemployment was reduced, but remained high through the 1930s. Farm income rose from a low of $1.9 billion in 1932 to $4.2 billion in 1940. The demands of the depression led the United States to institute social-security programs and accept labor unions, measures that had been taken decades earlier in many European nations.

VII. Life During the Depression

The Great Depression had a substantial and varied impact on the lives of Americans. Physically and psychologically, it was devastating to many people, who not only lacked adequate food, shelter, and clothing but felt they were to blame for their desperate state.

Although few people died from starvation, many did not have enough to eat. Some people searched garbage dumps for food or ate weeds. Malnutrition took a toll: A study conducted in eight American cities found that families that had a member working full time experienced 66 percent less illness than those in which everyone was unemployed.

The psychological impact was equally damaging. During the prosperity of the 1920s, many Americans believed success went to those who deserved it. Given that attitude, the unemployment brought by the depression was a crushing blow. If the economic system really distributed rewards on the basis of merit, those who lost their jobs had to conclude that it was their own fault. Self-blame and self-doubt became epidemic. These attitudes declined after the New Deal began, however. The establishment of government programs to counteract the depression indicated to many of the unemployed that the crisis was a large social problem, not a matter of personal failing. Still, having to ask for assistance was humiliating for many men who had thought of themselves as self-sufficient and breadwinners for their families.

Because society expected a man to provide for his family, the psychological trauma of the Great Depression was often more severe for men than women. Many men argued that women, especially married women, should not be hired while men were unemployed. Yet the percentage of women in the workforce actually increased slightly during the depression, as women took jobs to replace their husbands’ lost pay checks or to supplement spouses’ reduced wages. Women had been excluded from most of the manufacturing jobs that were hardest hit by the depression, which meant they were less likely than men to be thrown out of work. Some fields that had been defined as women’s work, such as clerical, teaching, and social-service jobs, actually grew during the New Deal.

The effects of the depression on children were often radically different from the impact on their parents. During the depression many children took on greater responsibilities at an earlier age than later generations would. Some teenagers found jobs when their parents could not, reversing the normal roles of provider and dependent. Sometimes children had to comfort their despairing parents. A 12-year-old boy in Chicago, for example, wrote to President and Mrs. Roosevelt in 1936 to seek help for his father, who was always “crying because he can’t find work [and] I feel sorry for him.” The depression that weakened the self-reliance of many adult men strengthened that quality in many children.

The depression’s impact was less dramatic, but ultimately more damaging, for minorities in America than for whites. Since they were “born in depression,” many blacks scarcely noticed a change at the beginning of the 1930s. Over time, however, blacks suffered to an even greater extent than whites, since they were usually the last hired and first fired. By 1932 about 50 percent of the nation’s black workers were unemployed. Blacks were frequently forced out of jobs in order to give them to unemployed whites.

Yet the depression decade was one of important positive change for blacks. First lady Eleanor Roosevelt and several leading New Deal figures were active champions of black rights, and most New Deal programs prohibited racial discrimination. These rules were often ignored in the South, but the fact that they were included at all was a major step forward. Blacks were sufficiently impressed with the New Deal to cause a large majority of black voters to switch their allegiance from the Republican to the Democratic Party during the depression years. See also African American History.

Other minority populations had experiences similar to those of blacks during the depression. Native Americans were even less likely than blacks to notice a downturn when the depression began; they already fared poorly by virtually every social or economic indicator. But Native Americans, like blacks, were brought into New Deal relief programs that in theory did not discriminate, and an attempt was made, through the Indian Reorganization Act, to enable tribes to reestablish their identities and cultural practices. In industrial cities such as Detroit, Gary, and Los Angeles and in agricultural regions such as California’s San Joaquin Valley, Mexican Americans were seen as holding jobs that should go to whites. Repatriation (meaning deportation) programs were instituted to persuade Chicanos to return to Mexico, often through intimidation.

Groups of white Americans also faced discrimination during this era. Poor farmers evicted from their land or fleeing the Dust Bowl were often despised and abused when they arrived in California and other western states. They were commonly labeled “Okies,” whether they came from Oklahoma or other states.

VIII. End of the Depression

Although economic conditions improved by the late 1930s, unemployment in 1939 was still about 15 percent. However, with the outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1939, the U.S. government began expanding the national defense system, spending large amounts of money to produce ships, aircraft, weapons, and other war material. This stimulated industrial growth, and unemployment declined rapidly. After the United States entered the war in December 1941, all sectors of the economy were mobilized to support the war effort. Industry greatly expanded, and unemployment was replaced by a shortage of workers.

IX. Legacy of the Depression

The impact of the Great Depression and the programs of the New Deal dramatically altered the relationship between the American people and their government. The federal government expanded its role in many social and economic areas, becoming larger and more powerful. Americans came to accept government involvement and responsibility in caring for society’s most needy members and regulating many aspects of the economy.

The New Deal’s social programs reflected a shift in American values created by the shared hardships of the depression era. The depression experience discredited the extreme individualism and pursuit of self-interest that characterized the 1920s, and revived an emphasis on community, cooperation, and compassion. These values were reflected in the popular culture of the day and in political and labor movements that developed and expanded during the 1930s.

One of the most far-reaching New Deal measures, the Social Security Act of 1935, guaranteed government help to citizens who were unemployed or disabled, to older Americans, and to mothers and children. The National Labor Relations Act (1935) provided protection for union activity, which contributed to the rise of labor unions in mass-production industries such as steel and automobile manufacturing. Unions and racial minorities, who had benefited from the New Deal, were among the groups who became staunch supporters of the Democratic Party, changing American politics for decades to come.

The literature, films, and art of the depression era demonstrated the desire for a more cooperative, less fiercely competitive way of life. Many celebrated the common people, who were contrasted with greedy, powerful interests. Examples included films such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), directed by Frank Capra, and Stagecoach (1939), by John Ford; paintings by Norman Rockwell; songs by folk singer Woody Guthrie; and novels by such writers as John Steinbeck.

While many conservatives believed the New Deal was turning the United States toward socialism, other Americans felt it did not go far enough and sought more revolutionary change. Political movements to the left of the New Deal enjoyed considerable support during the 1930s. Among them were the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party, which offered radical proposals challenging the capitalist system, and the unsuccessful campaign by novelist Upton Sinclair to be governor of California in 1934, proposing essentially socialist programs to “End Poverty in California.” By alleviating some of the worst effects of the depression, the New Deal helped defuse tensions and preserve a democratic, capitalist system at a time when other nations turned to fascism or socialism.

The return of prosperity during and after World War II revived some of the forces that divided society and promoted self-interest in the 1920s. But the experience of the Great Depression left a lasting mark on the United States in the forms of a much greater role for the federal government, a new political alignment in which Democrats would retain the support of a majority for most of the next half century, and a general feeling that the free market must be regulated in order to avoid another such economic catastrophe.

Contributed By:
Robert S. McElvaine, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Elizabeth Chisholm Professor of Arts and Letters and Chair of the Department of History, Millsaps College, Mississippi. Author of The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941.
"Great Depression in the United States," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
© 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.


OK, at what point does this thing get a little eerie? OK, I'll agree it's not a carbon-copy of today. But it's Close. The Past is Prologue, folks. Get ready.

727 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   201 – 400 of 727   Newer›   Newest»
tim said...

>>The sales vs drop in inventory numbers don't match. I think people are pulling the houses, waiting to see if they get a last minute repreave from Comrade Sam and if not...bye, bye house.

I don't know the reason, but every year we have scads of houses pulled from MLS at the end of the year.

They gradually come back on...

http://bendhousingdata.com/

See?

Anonymous said...

Homer, I think I have a partial erection. Tell us more about the PDX mayor kissing 17yr old boy's.

Anonymous said...

Poodle wanking in BEND returns. Think about this. Poodles get HORNY, and not since say 1978 has there been a poodle wanker in Bend,OR.

Now Kathy Eckman Bend's new mayor is bring back the future to Bend, or is that bring back the past to the future? Either way 100% employment is here.

BEND MAYOR

Kathie Eckman

Kathie Eckman



Kathie Eckman was elected to City Council in November 2008 and was appointed Mayor by City Council on January 7, 2009.

Kathie moved to Bend in 1978 from Burns, Oregon where she had served as the City Recorder/Treasure/Municipal Judge. Prior to her election to the Bend City Commission, Kathie served on the Bend Planning Commission. She has been elected to the Bend City Council/Commission in 1980, 1982, 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000



"I have worked diligently for our community and have been elected to the commission/council on six different occasions. I served as Mayor of Bend in 1991. I have a proven track record as a fiscal conservative believing strongly in having reserves for the future. "



Committees 2002

•Representative to the Central Oregon Cities Organization (liaison to state legislature)

•Centennial Celebration 2005, Chair

•Budget Committee

•Performing Arts Center Task Force

•Japanese Sister City Committee


Committees 2000-02

•Economic Development Committee

•Basic Services Committee

•Administration/Human Resources Committee, Chair


Committees up to 2000

•Solid Waste Task Force

•Cemetery Committee

•Audit Committee

•Your Community 2000

•Water and Sewer Committee

•Street Priorities Committee


Other Political Involvement

•Central Oregon City Club

•Deschutes County Home Rule Committee, "Yes on Home Rule" - 2006

•Budget Committee Member - MPO

•Bend Chamber of Commerce - Governmental Affairs Council, through 2005

•State Legislature Campaign "Elect Kathie Wenick Eckman," State Representative - Position 54, 1998

•Republican Party Central Committee Precinct Representative, elected 1996, 1998

•Campaign Co-Chair to Elect Tom Dewolf, Deschutes County Commission Campaign, 1996

•Campaign Worker for Norma Paulus/Gubernatorial Race, 1986

•Campaign Treasurer for Beverley Healy State Representative Campaign, 1986

•Campaign Treasurer for Bill Olsen, State Representative Campaign, 1982

•Campaign Worker for Tom Throop, State Representative Campaign, 1979

•City of Bend Planning Commission 1978 to 1981


Community Involvement

Current:

•Rotary Club of Bend

•July 2003 to current; Officer 2005 to current/Secretary; Bookkeeper

•President Elect 2009-2010

•Bend Rotary Foundation - 2005 to current/Secretary; Bookkeeper



Previous

•Central Oregon Community Action Agency Network (COCAAN) - Liaison, City of Bend Board Member

•Bend Chamber of Commerce - Governmental Affairs Council , Leadership Bend Advisory Committee Member and Mentor, Free Enterprise Education Task Force, Legislative Action Committee

•Bend (Downtown) Development Board (BDB) - Board Member

•Quota Intl. of Central Oregon - Treasurer, Secretary, Program Chairman, President 1997-98

•Central Oregon Symphony Association - Volunteer

•Central Oregon Battering and Rape Alliance (COBRA) - Board Member

•United Way Board of Directors - Liaison to Hospice

•Toastmasters Morning Club - Secretary, Treasurer, President


Education
•Central Oregon Community College - General Studies, Bend, Oregon

•Working toward Bachelor of Science Degree with an emphasis on Political Science

•Long Term Goal: Masters Degree in Public Administration


Personal Interests

•2002 to Present - Organized Investment Club for the purpose of investment education (called the 'Money Mommas,' 13 members)

•1982 to Present - Manage Rental Property/Residential

•Photography

•Cooking

•Miniatures/Dollhouses, 1/12 scale

•Quilting/Needlework - Instigated the creation (and participated in the making) of the City Bend's Centennial Quilt Project

•Investing/Investment Club


Highlights of Qualifications

Skills and Abilities

•Confident in a hectic, diverse office atmosphere

•Assertive, yet diplomatic

•Self-motivated, with a commitment to teamwork

•Able to juggle a variety of priorities while remaining organized and focused


Employment History

March 2003 - May, 2005:

Field Representative, Deschutes County - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden

•Represented Senator Wyden in Deschutes County

•Obtained information on issues and concerns to apprise the Senator

•Attended consultations and meetings for the purpose of gathering information

•Developed and assisted in putting together meetings for the Senator in Deschutes County



June 1978 - June 2001:

Bend-LaPine School District, Bend, Oregon

July 1990 - June 2001: Licensed Staff Specialist - Human Resources Department

•Developed application rating review process for all Licensed (teacher, administrative, specialist) Staff

•Managed on-line application services

•Developed and managed all Licensed Staff job openings website

•Managed OTIS HR Tracking Systems for 700-plus Licensed Personnel

•Analyzed college and university transcripts and employee work experiences for salary placement

•Managed licensure renewal process with Licensed Staff and Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission

•Composed correspondence; prepared responses to grievance and employee misconduct investigations

•Assisted collective bargaining matters and contract management issues

•Developed and assisted with orientation of new licensed employees

•Represented school district to outside organizations (United Way, Chamber of Commerce)

•Supervised secretarial staff

August 1985 - June 1990:
Office Manager - Curriculum and Instruction

•Implemented reporting procedures and internal controls for the purpose of maintaining accurate records

•Maintained various information, files and records

•Processed documents and materials for the purpose of updating information

•Managed curriculum and instruction office work flow

•Managed budget expenditures and purchases

•Responded to and composed correspondence

•Organized meetings for administrative staff

May 1978 - July 1985
Executive Secretary/Administrative Assistant to Superintendent and Board of Directors

•Maintained multiple schedules

•Processed documents and materials for the purpose of disseminating information

•Screened confidential calls, responded to inquires when necessary

•Organized materials for school board meetings, recorded minutes of meetings, correspondence

•Represented Superintendent and Board of Directors when needed; extensive public contact

•Managed Budget for Superintendent's Office


April 1971 - May 1978

City of Burns, Oregon

August 1974 - May 1978: City Recorder/Treasurer/Municipal Judge

•Executive Secretary to Mayor and Council; recorded meeting minutes

•Supervised all administrative staff

•Coordinated all functions of municipal organization

•Director of Central Accounting System for a $4 million-plus budget; responsible for compilation, disbursement, and overview of annual city budget

•Collection of outstanding accounts

•Maintained personnel records and payroll for all city personnel

•Project coordinator for state and federal projects

•Managed city owned cemetery, processed funeral arrangements

•Municipal judiciary responsibilities/Ex-Officio Justice of the Peace for implementation of city traffic infractions and city ordinances; performed marriages

•Extensive public contact

May 1972 - August 1974 : Accounting Clerk

•General bookkeeping procedures and practices

•Reconciled all bank accounts, billings and receivables, monthly financial statements

•Prepared accounts receivable/payable

•Recording secretary to city planning commission
April 1971 - May 1972: Water Department Clerk

•Managed water and sewer billings and receivables

•Prepared bank deposits


Self-Employed

2000-present Paul B. Eckman, M.D. - Neurological Consultant

•Office Manager

1969 - 1978 Town and Country Dog wanking

Owned and operated professional dog/poodle wanking business

Bewert said...

Went to D-Brewery, which was most excellently crowded, including several nice gals. Very nice.

Never met Buster or whoever, but ended up with a local lawyer, a commercial RE agent, and a dog trainer, all who went to high school here. Locals.

They are severely bummed with the current mess, but standing forward. Good stance, actually.

One thing that struck me was the lawyer talking about all the divorces he was dealing with.

My take: Hot ladies are still here. Very much so.

That's key. Simple fact: hot those of the other sex.

Sorry, but I like girls.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Area unemployment rates jump
By Andrew Moore / The Bulletin
Published: January 27. 2009 4:00AM PST

Unemployment rates in Central Oregon continued their climbs into record territory in December as the local economy continues to shed jobs.

Deschutes County’s December unemployment rate climbed to 11.3 percent, from a revised rate of 9.8 percent in November, according to Oregon Employment Department data released Monday. In December 2007, the jobless rate was 6.1 percent.

The December 2008 jobless rate is the highest since 1990, when the department changed the methodology it uses to calculate unemployment. Under the prior methodology, the last time the county’s December jobless rate was as high was in 1985, when it reached 11.7 percent, according to Jan Swander, a work force analyst with the department. Swander said the 1990 methodology changes provided counties with smaller labor markets, such as those in Central Oregon, with more accurate unemployment rates.

The December 2008 unemployment rate exceeds the last recession in 2000 and 2001, when county unemployment rates for the month were 5.4 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively.

In Crook and Jefferson counties, the December 2008 unemployment picture was bleaker — 14 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively.

One area of employment in Deschutes County hit hard recently has been the restaurant industry, which has seen the closure of several high-profile restaurants in downtown Bend, including Volo, Deep and Merenda Restaurant and Wine Bar.

On Monday, at the WorkSource Oregon office in Bend, job-seeker Marshall Murray was reading the newspaper, hoping to find information that might help him in his job search. A former restaurant employee, Murray was laid off and now works on-call for another restaurant. Last week, he worked one day. This week, he thinks he won’t work any.

Murray, who has a background in sales, moved to Bend in 2006 from Portland, thinking it would be easy to find work. It was, until last summer. He’s since been living off savings and making near-daily trips to the WorkSource Department office on Northeast U.S. Highway 20, trying to find a full-time job.

But with unemployment rates rising, Murray is ready to “throw in the towel” and move in with friends in Salt Lake City.

“I’m trying to network here, but you are competing with so many people, my choices are far less abundant,” Murray said. “I’ve never been in anything like this. I used to just fall out of bed and find a job, but not here.”

Also in the crowded WorkSource Department office Monday was Michael Williams, of Bend. A machinist at a local steel-fabrication company, he was furloughed three weeks ago and in the office “to see what else is out there.” A single parent to a 7-year-old boy, Williams wants to work.

“All the other steel-fabrication companies are in the same situation, so there’s not a lot of demand for me, but I gotta pursue this and see what my options are,” Williams said.

In Crook County, the loss of 230 jobs in wholesale trade, wood product manufacturing, and leisure and hospitality contributed to December’s 14 percent jobless rate, according to the department. The rate, the county’s highest since 1990, climbed from 12.3 percent in November and 7.3 percent in December 2007. The last time it was nearly as high was December 1982, when it reached 13.9 percent, calculated using the old methodology, Swander said.

In Jefferson County, 30 jobs were lost in December — the expected seasonal amount — but continued employment declines in construction, manufacturing and leisure and hospitality contributed to December’s 13.3 percent jobless rate. That number is up from November’s revised rate of 11.8 percent and the December 2007 rate of 8.2 percent. Swander said the last time Jefferson County’s unemployment rate was as high was in December 1984, when it reached 13.7 percent, calculated using the prior methodology.

Neither of the three Central Oregon counties had the state’s highest unemployment rate last month. That distinction went to rural Grant County, at 15.9 percent. Benton County, home to Corvallis and Oregon State University, had the lowest rate, at 6.2 percent.

Jobless rates in Central Oregon are likely to worsen before they improve, Swander said.

“In past recessions, we came out more quickly because of construction but probably not this time around,” she said. “I think it will be slower.”

Construction jobs, along with employment in natural resources and mining, were the biggest losers in Deschutes County in December, shedding 230 jobs. Government also lost jobs, including 50 in education and 110 in local government. The federal government lost 80 jobs in the county in December and state government shed 10 jobs.

The county did see some job gains as the tourism industry ramped up for the winter season, according to the Employment Department. There were 200 jobs added in leisure and hospitality, followed by the addition of 60 retail jobs and 60 more jobs in transportation, warehousing and utilities. There also were gains in educational and health services.

“People are finding jobs,” said Swander, whose department helps people find work through a job-matching program with local employers. The department also offers classes for job-hunters in skills such as interviewing and preparing résumés.

“People retire, get promoted, move from the area, so there are companies holding their own and maybe growing, albeit more slowly,” Swander said. “We really focus on the job-seeker, so they can make a great impression because now they are competing with so many more people.”

Andrew Moore can be reached at 541-617-7820 or amoore@bendbulletin.com.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Breedlove cuts jobs

January 27, 2009 4:00 am

Breedlove Guitar Co., the Bend-based guitar and mandolin manufacturer, cut five jobs, or 10 percent of its staff, last week, said Connie Hensley-Jones, controller. Breedlove, which makes 15,000 instruments annually and sells to customers around the world, is projecting flat sales in the U.S. this year, Hensley-Jones said. Forty-six workers remain, she said.

“It’s just a reflection of trying to find the right size for our manufacturing operations for the coming year,” she said. “We felt we were overstaffed and we needed to cut back.”

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Breedlove will regret that move to fancy new digs in NWX. That was just weird.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Murray, who has a background in sales, moved to Bend in 2006 from Portland, thinking it would be easy to find work. It was, until last summer. He’s since been living off savings and making near-daily trips to the WorkSource Department office on Northeast U.S. Highway 20, trying to find a full-time job.

But with unemployment rates rising, Murray is ready to “throw in the towel” and move in with friends in Salt Lake City.


Welcome to New Bend! Much like Old Bend...

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...


On Monday, at the WorkSource Oregon office in Bend, job-seeker Marshall Murray was reading the newspaper, hoping to find information that might help him in his job search. A former restaurant employee, Murray was laid off and now works on-call for another restaurant. Last week, he worked one day. This week, he thinks he won’t work any.


Wait! Hold on! The Bull has been covering all these New Restaurant Openings! Why can't this guy work there?

Ohhhhhh, right, right, right, right... It's Subway. And you can't LIVE HERE OFF SUBWAY.

Anonymous said...

Bend-La Pine Schools prep more budget cuts

Posted: Jan 25, 2009 11:16 PM

Severity of cutbacks depends on state aid level

By Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM

A souring state economy is forcing school districts across Central Oregon to drag their budget axes out of storage - if they ever had a chance to put them away, that is. And that includes Bend-La Pine, where the latest numbers appear to mean another $3.5 million to $7.5 million cut - and that's just for the current school year ending in June.

The district already trimmed $2 million from its current $121 million budget through various means, from reserve funds to tightening supplies and hiring, since the latest shortfall projection in November.

But with another $300 million to $600 million deficit projected last week, the pain is expected to grow. How much it grows depends on what actions happen in the halls of Salem and Capitol Hill, in terms of stimulus packages and education's role in them.

Bend-La Pine Superintendent Ron Wilkinson said he'll be meeting with administrators Monday morning to sketch out a proposed contingency plan for cutbacks that is scheduled to go before the school board at their meeting Tuesday night.

Wilkinson told KTVZ.COM on Sunday that while Gov. Ted Kulongoski has expressed reluctance to using either of two "rainy day" funds to help ease the schools' budget woes, "we're suggesting they (lawmakers) at least consider it."

"We believe the Education Stability Fund was set up precisely for this" situation, he said, "in the middle of the school year, to get a hit in revenue."

Nothing is off the table, meaning staff cuts and a shorter school year are potential options, Wilkinson said - though neither would be easy to achieve.

"We're not going to lay off a bunch of teachers this year," Wilkinson said, as the district aims to protect its key priority - educating students well. "By Tuesday, we'll have a strategy to roll out a contingency plan. Probably there will be parts we can implement immediately and part on hold, depending on what comes out of the Legislature."

Coincidentally, the district already had planned a budget workshop for the Tuesday night meeting - because it's the time of year that public entities start planning for the next fiscal year, starting July 1. Now, there's an immediate crisis to deal with.

Wilkinson said they will focus their energies on the low end of the potential hit, $3.75 million, "because we really do believe there will be some strategy to use the Education Stability Fund. I know the Legislature is going to find some way to mitigate the impact on the last third of the school year."

The next state budget forecast is due out at the end of February, but the numbers may not become clear for two month months.

The superintendent said he knows schools won't be "put on a pedestal" and held harmless from the sea of red ink awash in Salem, so they must develop a range of options for the state funding shortfall.

Also on Tuesday night's agenda is the plan to replace aging school buses, but Wilkinson said that step might be delayed until the revenue picture becomes clearer, or restructured to ease the year-to-year cost.

President Obama's stimulus plan also has an education piece, but there's no way to tell how much or how soon as negotiations continue on Capitol Hill. And even once one is passed, it'll take time for any help to make it to the local level.

"The truth is, we all know there is a light out there," Wilkinson said optimistically. "It's just there's a pretty dark tunnel to get there."

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Bend-La Pine Schools prep more budget cuts

THIS is why people will move away from here. You can have great skiing, trails, biking, and all... but people don't want their kids going to CRAP SCHOOLS.

Crap Schools lower housing values 8-10%. Decent schools are probably a big reason why Sisters had such a boom the past 5 years... well known that the schools there DID kick ass. Now they are dog shit due to misappropriation of funds.

Bend will be hit hard. But ultimately will recover. Sister will implode & never recover.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

The superintendent said he knows schools won't be "put on a pedestal" and held harmless from the sea of red ink awash in Salem...

Wilkinson said they will focus their energies on the low end of the potential hit, $3.75 million...


Someone profoundly confused & conflicted.

Does anyone know what this really means? Timmy? $7 mill hit to school budgets sounds like a game changer... and it's for the current "semester" ending in June. How in hell can they cut $7 mill? There HAVE TO BE layoffs and a FAR SHORTENED school year. Redmond's already been forced to go that route, on what I think was a much smaller deficit.

I *thought* I heard them say that each day cut from Redmond saved $100K? Even doubling those savings for Bend-LaPine and you get something like 7 weeks CUT. That's a school year that ends in April! WTF! That's like a Spring Break that never ends... til Sept.

Kids would love that.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Hey Ma, Are We Bankrupt Yet?

Good piece & good comments on TSW...

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Someone trying to dump their debts & money-losing business onto someone else & leave town. Good luck.

Bend Preschool For Sale - Private Financing (Bend)
Reply to: see below
Date: 2009-01-26, 7:57AM PST


Owner relocation forces the sale of this large Bend preschool with an excellent reputation and prime location. This sale includes the business only, although the lease terms of the property are excellent. Current owners will also provide transition assistance to buyers, including assistance with state licensing renewal which must be completed by new owner.
This is an excellent opportunity for an interested party to purchase a great business with a long history at a discounted price. Because of current economic conditions as well as our need to relocate soon, we are motivated to sell quickly. With a reasonable, negotiable cash down payment to us directly, a buyer could then assume the approximately $80K of privately held debt remaining on the business and assume ownership. That means no banks, no credit issues. We may even be willing to owner-finance our portion as well, depending on the circumstances.
Business isn't great right now, for obvious reasons, but our Center is certainly treading water. Bills are being paid, and the business is not incurring any new debt. If you have the means to wait this slow time out, you can reasonably expect to profit $50K-$75K per year, with the potential of even more. We are emotionally invested in the continuing success of this business for the sake of our employees and our clients. We would really like to find a quality buyer who will take good care of it, and we will offer any help we can after the sale to make the transition smooth. If you would like to discuss this further and are willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement, please send an email to bendpreschoolforsale@gmail.com. Thank you.

tim said...

>>"Neither of the three Central Oregon counties..."

Oh Andrew, Andrew, Andrew.

None of the three.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Crook County economy crashes hard after riding high
by Matthew Preusch, The Oregonian
Monday January 26, 2009, 9:05 PM


When Travis Tunison moved to Prineville five years ago to take a mill job, the local newspaper was packed with help-wanted ads.

"Now it's just down to one full page of notices of foreclosures," said Tunison, 36, who lost his job this month. "It's terrible."

Just two years ago, central Oregon's Crook County was a rapidly growing community starving for workers to fill jobs in construction, services and wood products.

Now it has the state's second-highest unemployment rate: a staggering 14 percent in December, according to Oregon Employment Department data released Monday. That compares with 8.8 percent statewide and 7.8 percent in Multnomah County. Only next-door Grant County had a higher rate, 15.9 percent.

The stark reversal reflects more than the national recession. In parts of Oregon still tied to the timber-products industry, the homebuilding boom brought great prosperity -- and, when it collapsed, a steep decline. Wood-products manufacturing remains Crook County's single largest employer.

"The housing downturn very strongly impacted the wood-products sector, which does tend to be more in the rural areas than urban areas," said Art Ayre, the state employment economist.

In Crook County, the jobless rate nearly doubled from December 2007 to December 2008, a greater shift than in the rest of the state. And county companies have cut scores more jobs since December. For example, Les Schwab Tires, which last year moved its corporate offices to nearby Bend, eliminated 27 jobs at its Prineville plant this month.

Tunison was among 45 workers told they were losing their jobs at Contact Industries Inc. at an employee meeting. The company makes parts for wood windows and doors, among other building components, at its Prineville mill.

"By 9 o'clock, I had my toolbox loaded in my pickup, and I was headed home," said Tunison, a millwright who supported his wife and two children on the $23.70-an-hour job.

Since then, he's joined an increasing number of laid-off workers queuing up to use the computers at the Oregon Employment Department's resource center on the eastern edge of Prineville.

Each day, as many as 60 people sign up at the center, nearly twice the number who came at this time last year, said Teresa Rodriguez, the department's local account representative.

Those searching the department's jobs site recently would have found as few as six listings for Crook County. And most of those required advanced degrees or specialized experience, Rodriguez said.

Two years ago, Crook County employers were recruiting from across the state, and chambers of commerce were warning that business was suffering because of the tight labor market. In December 2006, the unemployment rate was 5.6 percent.

The county's population growth was also the state's fastest from 2006 to 2007, jumping 5.5 percent, from 24,525 to 25,885. Today, 26,845 call the county home.

In downtown Prineville, the old Pine Theater was renovated and reopened. Restaurants and real estate offices moved into old storefronts or new buildings, all hyped by a glossy new lifestyle magazine called Prineville.

"Back in that day, if you were breathing, you were qualified for a job," Rodriguez said. "It threw a switch in the fall of '08."

The county experienced a smaller version of the record-setting home construction of neighboring Deschutes County. Deschutes had the state's lowest unemployment rate, 3.6 percent, in September 2006. Now its rate is also in double-digit territory, at 11.3 percent in December 2008.

Tunison said his family will probably have to leave the home he built in Prineville so he can seek work elsewhere or pursue a degree.

He's not the only one considering leaving: "I'm looking for something in welding, but right now, any type of work would be nice," said Todd Frank, 38, who moved from Sacramento this month to join his girlfriend and 2-year-old son in Prineville. "We might have to move. I don't know."

The countywide loss of jobs is already affecting local government's ability to provide services. For one thing, more people are paying property taxes in chunks instead of all at once, said Mike McCabe, the newly elected county judge. As a result, the county is considering cost-cutting measures such as shifting its employees to a four-day workweek, he said.

"It's not a pretty scene," McCabe said, "but the people of Crook County have always been resilient."

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Unemployment spike spares no Oregon county
by Matthew Preusch, The Oregonian
Monday January 26, 2009, 10:59 PM

With companies announcing layoffs here and nationwide, we all know unemployment is bad.
Now there's more proof.

Unemployment grew in every Oregon county in December 2008 compared with a year earlier, according to Oregon Employment Department statistics released Monday.

Fully one-third of Oregon's 36 counties had rates in the double digits, the data show, and nearly all of those were outside the Willamette Valley.

Counties dependent on wood products were especially hard-hit, with Grant County posting the state's worst jobless rate for December 2008, 15.9 percent. That's up from 10 percent in December 2007.

Next door in Crook County, where wood-products manufacturing is the single-largest employer, the jobless rate nearly doubled, from 7.3 percent to 14 percent. (Figures are not seasonally adjusted.)

Douglas County logged its highest December unemployment rate in nearly a quarter century, 12.8 percent, also in part because of job losses in wood products and durable-goods manufacturing.

Home construction has "fallen off a cliff," said Joe Cortright, a Portland economist. When housing starts plummet, related industries take a beating, too.

Statewide, more Oregonians were out of work last month than at any time since 1983. Oregon's jobless rate was 8.8 percent, compared with 5.4 percent in December 2007.

The picture darkened in the Portland area, too, where unemployment approached the peak levels of the recession earlier this decade, said Amy Vander Vliet, a regional economist for the Employment Department.

Unemployment in the metro area -- defined by the Employment Department as Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon, and Clark and Skamania counties in Washington -- was 8.1 percent last month, a full percentage point higher than in the month before.

Plus, the figures don't capture the most recent announced layoffs -- 1,000 at Intel and as many as 1,000 at Oregon Health & Science University, for example. And Vander Vliet said more job losses are on the way.

"I think it's safe to say we're going to exceed the rates we saw in the 2001 to 2003 recession," she said.

The biggest job losses in the metro area were in construction, down 1,700 jobs in December compared with the month before, and manufacturing, which shed 800 workers for the same period. Economists expect those losses to spread to other sectors as the recession rolls on.

Rural Oregon is especially suffering because it lacks a broad employer base and is more dependent on seasonal employers such as the U.S. Forest Service, said Jason Yohannan, a state economist in La Grande for two decades.

"This is a long-standing issue," he said. "It's not particular to the current recession."

The statewide jobless rate began climbing in late 2008 after hovering around 5.5 percent earlier in the year. The state lost an average of 9,000 jobs a month over the last five months of the year.

Education and health services have been two bright spots statewide, with both adding jobs, Vander Vliet said.

Benton County, for example, where Oregon State University accounts for many jobs, had one of the state's lowest unemployment rates at 6.2 percent.

Still, "I would not be surprised at all if it slows down," Vander Vliet said. "I don't think anything is going to be immune this time around."

Matthew Preusch: 541-382-2006; preusch@bendbroadband.com

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Lab finds salmonella in Oregon crackers

Gat damn White mutha fucka's!

You were right hbm... Whitey is the problem. Proof that white fuckers from Oregon are disease bags.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Won't read THIS in The Bull:

Les Schwab: Supplier defects led to "hundreds" of flats
by Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian
Monday January 26, 2009, 1:50 PM

Les Schwab Tire Centers has sued one of its suppliers, alleging that defective valve stems caused "hundreds" of flat tires.

For some customers with leaking valves, Les Schwab said, the fix was as simple as a new valve. Others, though, needed new tires or wheels -- and some customers needed after-hour service calls by Schwab or independent tow companies.

Schwab said it reimbursed customers "swiftly and fairly" but alleges in a suit filed in state circuit court that a foreign company called Valve Force International hasn't properly reimbursed Schwab.

According to the suit, Valve Force switched one of its own suppliers without notifying Schwab or properly testing the new supplier's valves.

Valve Force paid more than $200,000 to reimburse Schwab, according to the suit, but hasn't paid about $135,000 more in claims.

Valve Force could not be immediately reached for comment.

-- Mike Rogoway; mikerogoway@news.oregonian.com

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

January 26, 2009 8:02 AM
Bill Gates: foundation lost 20 percent in 2008, but spending more in 2009

Posted by Kristi Heim

The letter is already posted on the foundation's Web site. The contents are similar to what Gates has been saying in recent speeches and interviews: don't let the economy throw off the momentum of fighting disease and poverty.

Gates discusses the economic crisis here. He says his foundation lost 20 percent of its assets in 2008. That figure could be nearly $8 billion. The foundation had about $39 billion in assets at the end of 2007, according to its annual report.

"I never thought I would say losing 20 percent is a reasonable result, but it is better than most endowments because so many asset classes went down by more than 20 percent in 2008," Gates writes.

Nevertheless, the foundation will be spending more this year than it did last year ... $3.8 billion, about 7 percent of its assets, compared to $3.3 billion last year.

He quotes from John Maynard Keynes' essay "The Great Slump of 1930," drawing parallels to today. In "five to ten years, I am very optimistic that these problems will be behind us."

Gates says foundation needs the "innovation power" of business; next year he hopes to show examples of where "creative capitalism" has made a difference.

"The common sense of the business world, with its urgency and focus, has strong application in the philanthropic world," he writes. And yet, he's sure that he'll "make mistakes in over-applying some elements from my previous experience and will need to adjust."

On health, it's interesting that Gates points to research that shows better health is linked to smaller families, addressing an argument made by some that reverses that notion, claiming that population control will improve health in developing countries.

On technology he says it's a personal passion, and that things like building health clinics or roads.. "are better left to governments."

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Hack Bend says Fireside Red is re-opening in Feb.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Consumer confidence at record low; income worries persist

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Consumer confidence hit a record low in January, according to the monthly Conference Board index reported Tuesday, as worries worsened about future income.

The January consumer confidence index fell to 37.7 from an upwardly revised 38.6 in December. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a January reading of 38. The data go back to 1967.

"It appears that consumers have begun the new year with the same degree of pessimism that they exhibited in the final months of 2008," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "Looking ahead, consumers remain quite pessimistic about the state of the economy and about their earnings."
Consumers' view of current conditions worsened slightly in January, with those saying business conditions are "bad" rising to 47.9% from 45.8%.

Consumers' short-term outlook also deteriorated, with the proportion of those expecting more income falling to 10% from 12.7%.

Details on jobs, buying plans
Consumers' views on the labor market was mixed in January, showing some improvement, but remaining at relatively low levels.

The proportion of those saying jobs are "plentiful" rose to 7.2% from 6.5%, while those saying jobs are "hard to get" fell to 41.1% from 41.5%. Looking six months ahead, 9.4% of consumers expect more jobs, compared with 9.8% in the prior month, while the proportion expecting fewer jobs fell to 36.7% from 40.6%.

Consumers' view on inflation in 12 months improved, with respondents looking for a rate of 5.6%, compared with 5.8% reported for the prior month.

The percentage of respondents with plans to buy an automobile within six months rose to 5.3% in January from 4.8% in December. Those with plans to buy a home fell to 2.5% from 2.6%, while those with plans to buy major appliances fell to 23.2% from 27.1%.

Elsewhere Tuesday, Standard & Poor's reported that home values in 20 major U.S. cities fell at a record 18.2% in the 12 months ending in November. The Case-Shiller 20-city home price index fell 2.2% in November, with home values in all 20 cities falling at least 1%.

Ruth Mantell is a MarketWatch reporter based in Washington.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Restaurant Brands — A Recipe For Failure.
January 25, 2009

In a town the size of Bend, Oregon, three top restaurants closing within weeks of each other is big news. It’s a story that goes way beyond water cooler banter. Beyond the blogosphere. Beyond the business section of the local paper and into the annals of business school curriculum everywhere.

These are lessons worthy of any MBA program in the country.

The obituaries sounded all too familiar for this town, at this time: “Merenda’s demise was hastened by prevailing economic conditions.” “The bottom dropped out of the restaurant business. Everyone’s feeling the pinch.” “The seasonal nature of business in this town makes it very difficult…”

But the story goes way beyond recessionary economics and touches on many of the fundamental principles of branding. The restaurant business is littered with cases of meteoric success and dramatic failure. For whatever reason, it’s an inherently volatile business.

Prior to 2000, the culinary scene in downtown Bend wasn’t much to write home about. Some would say, non existent. So when Merenda opened in 2002 it generated more buzz than Steve Jobs with a doctor’s appointment.

As the Bend Bulletin reported, “Chef Jody Denton pioneered a renaissance in fine dining in Central Oregon.” But the Merenda brand wasn’t about the cuisine. It was about partying. The brand promise seemed to boil down to “good friends, good times.” It was a loud, raucous place where groups would gather and drink generously from an outstanding wine list. The vibe was more urban, the energy level more electric, than anything previously. Many nights you couldn’t hear yourself think.

Lesson # 1: Trendiness seldom translates into a lasting brand. Many of Merenda’s customers were only there because it was THE place to be. It was a superficial relationship, not a genuine bond. Success by association. When new restaurants opened the crowds thinned out.

Trendiness is a common problem in the restaurant business, fashion and high tech. The next big thing or hot spot is always right around the corner. So successful brand managers have to find ways to stay relevant with their past customers, or become relevant to a whole new group.

After five years Chef Denton got distracted. Just when Merenda neeed a little extra attention he opened another restaurant less than a block away. And his place called Deep never got above water.

Lesson #2. Brands need constant attention. This seems like a no-brainer, but many people dream of having a business that runs on autopilot and generates an endless flow of effortless revenue. That doesn’t work in any industry, much less the restaurant business. You have to mind the store.

In 2005 Cornell University published a seminal study on why restaurants fail. One of the surprising contributors was simply a lack of attention, time and effort by the owners. “Failure seemed to stem from an inability or unwillingness to give the business sufficient attention… The immense time commitment was mentioned by all of the survey respondents who had failed.”

At Deep, Denton was determined to create something completely different. As he told The Bulletin: “That’s been kind of my business model: finding what Bend doesn’t have and filling that void. I’ve always enjoyed the environment of a sushi bar. It’s always been something appealing, both from the restaurant’s and the chef’s standpoint.”

What he failed to consider was the customer point of view.

Lesson # 3: Differentiation doesn’t guarantee success. Being different from the competition is certainly important, but it’s not as crucial as being appealing. Tiny morsels of Kobe beef served on a hot rock for eight dollars a bite… That’s different! “Angry Lobster,” Monkfish pté, grilled yuzu and marinated, chopped maguro tataki were all impressively different. But not appealing enough to inspire repeat business by a large group of people in a relatively small market.

Bottom line: Deep was a high-end sushi place in a meat and potato town.

Lesson #4: All successful brands have a clear, well-defined concept that goes beyond the product. The Cornell study proved that clarity of concept is essential to restaurant success. “Perhaps the key finding was the focus on a clear concept that drives all activities… Successful restaurant owners all had a well-defined concept which encompassed an operating philosophy and business operation issues. Failed owners, when asked about their concept, discussed only their food product.”

Denton certainly had vision beyond food for both his restaurants. But the concepts behind Merenda and Deep were based more on Denton’s past experience and personal preference than on the realities of the local market.

There’s an old saying… “If you want to live with the classes, sell to the masses.” In Denton’s case, his restaurants served the classes. His high-end brands only resonated with a small segment of the population, and he didn’t reinvent Merenda when he needed to.

In the end, Denton’s concept for Merenda was not clear enough to sustain the business over the long haul. (Being first in the market isn’t a sustainable brand strategy for a single restaurant.) And the concept for Deep never had a chance. So both restaurants were shuttered, his investors came away empty handed, and there are two more empty storefronts in downtown Bend. Hopefully, the next restaurateur who comes along can learn a lesson from Merenda.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

The entire previous piece can be applied to Bend as well...

Anonymous said...

THIS is why people will move away from here. You can have great skiing, trails, biking, and all... but people don't want their kids going to CRAP SCHOOLS.

Megadittoes. The skiing, biking, rock climbing, etc. are not the big draw for anybody but the 20-something slackers who move here to spend their lives playing outside. (And in five years they move on to "the next great place," wherever that may be.) The people who are invested in the community, who hold jobs and raise kids and pay the taxes and serve on the school boards and planning commissions and city councils, might see the recreation opportunities as a nice amenity, but they're not the reason they come here and stay here.

LavaBear said...

>>>people don't want their kids going to CRAP SCHOOLS.

I said it last week...it's a deal changer for the Lavabear family. And I'm from here.

Madison, WI

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

hbm said....

Megadittoes.

WHO ARE YOU!!! AHHHHHHH!!!

Anonymous said...

Schwab said it reimbursed customers "swiftly and fairly" but alleges in a suit filed in state circuit court that a foreign company called Valve Force International hasn't properly reimbursed Schwab.

*

Yep, a little orifice in juniper-ridge is a marketing front for CHINESE crap.

Who would have guessed?

No wonder they're going to lay everyone off.

Schwab is Dead, bend dead.

There is Suterra, the $500M contract to spray Cali poison, is now Bend fucked with BUSH gone. Thus Suterra is all dressed up with nobody willing to buy zyklon-b to be sprayed on cali-bay-ahrea jews. Another fuck.

Over $30M into the toilet for Juniper-Ridge, net job gain zero, occupancy in the future ZERO.

Anonymous said...

"It's not a pretty scene," McCabe said, "but the people of Crook County have always been resilient."

*

Yeh, the original 5K old-timers, who know how to survive.

But this time, its all going down.

Sounds like ALL the gold rush folk are moving on to the next rush, resiliency has NOTHING to do this this fucking ghost town.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ma, Are We Bankrupt Yet? E-mail
User Rating: / 3
PoorBest
Written by H. Bruce Miller
Friday, 23 January 2009

If The Bulletin plays the story on its front page, it must be official: Bend is broke.

*

Homer, this is second time since last thurs this article of hbm's had been posted, but I guess you decided to dump it into this weeks comments.

What' interesting is this deal about 'growth', but EVERYBODY is avoiding the fucking issue.

The reason that the 'reverves' are getting hit, and the reason that cracker-ass Bend can't pay the bills, and the reason they can't borrow there way out of this hole is that TODAY 1/2 the revenue goes towards paying debt. What's also interesting is that the real debt load didn't come along until 2005, well after the bubble got moving.

So today there is near $200M in debt, and NOBODY wants to discuss where it went, and who got the money. Today the debt-service ( monthly payments on debt ) completely wipes out Bends ability to pay for public safety.

Where did the $200M go?

Today Bend can no longer borrow money, the SDC ratio is to low, because there is now no SDC revenue. Bend's credit rating is now toast which means that Bend must pay more interest on the $200M. Bankruptcy is the ONLY solution to save this town, as to wipe out the $200M in debt, and start over, and restructure the city to #1 public-safety, #2 kids, and builders, & bankers LAST.

Anonymous said...

There is this repeating theme about how much was paid to build a home in Bend. The SDC for a new home was set around $12k/home, in Wilsonville post 2002 it was close to $60k/home, so all our favorite builders left the 'valley' and came over here and built. The city had to 'borrow' to cover the lost revenue. Now that the building boom is over the city can't meet the loan payments. The problem is as simple as this.

The builders made their profits on having the general tax payer cover their expense. Builders run city-hall in this town. Now today what's their solution? Cut cops, schools, and fire, and build more STD's.

The reason that Bend was #1 in appreciation, and we had the building boom, and now bust is that city-hall was lobbied by the builder's who run this town, to keep the SDC artificially low. The irony is that the money was not collected in good times, and the city took on astronomic debt to cover the shortage.

Anonymous said...

"Anyone ever heard of a RECALL? Stop complaining, start acting."

Who do you want to recall? The only people remaining from the old city council are Jim Clinton and Mark Capell, and the new guys have been in office less than a month.

*

Excellent point hbm, the 'bandits' are long gone, Capell really cares about this town, and so does Clinton, all the other newbies to city-hall are pro-growth, but they don't look at the budget close enough to realize that Bend can no longer legally by State law borrow money or issue MUNI debt ( bonds ).

Hummel didn't walk from Bend he ran. Abernethy who largely played all along with the CACB debt game feeding tens of millions to Knife River knows that's game-over, and he's gone from public life.

So yes, 'recall' is too late. Bankruptcy is the only option, as in 1-2 years almost all of the little revenue that Bend will see will go to paying off the debt from the party.

Anonymous said...

The skiing, biking, rock climbing, etc. are not the big draw for anybody but the 20-something slackers who move here to spend their lives playing outside.

*

All built on the backs of old-timers who volunteered and built these bike-paths, and developed the rock climbing routes.

I always find it interesting how COVA (city taxpayer money) promotes the world about Bend's 'natural amenitys', but the fact is had not local's for the past 20+ years busted their butt's on the trails and routes they wouldn't be here.

Woodard & HBM PR&MARKETED BEND via the SORE, and Woodward promoted to the world that Bend was #1 for outdoor. They came and Swizter of the SORE, gave them events and God ( hollern ) saw that it was good.

But at the end of the day the mission was always to sell them shitty condos, so that Friedman & Johnson could collect HOA fees.

Anonymous said...

The skiing, biking, rock climbing, etc. are not the big draw for anybody but the 20-something slackers who move here to spend their lives playing outside.

*

Let's remember that back in the 70's & 80's it was these 'slackers' living in their cars ( trucks ) up on the trailheads, who did the work, this playground existed because the made the time.

Then come the late 90's and REHO's said how can we promote BEND? They looked around at the the 20-somethings were doing, and noted that could bring in more 20-somethings, e.g. new home-buyers, ...

So todays slackers are the engine for tomorrow REHO's.

Welcome to Bend.

foz said...

Haven't had much time to pay much attention to Bend but since I'm heading down there in a couple weeks I've been watching the web-cam up at MtB. I have never in my 30 some years of skiing up there seen it so slow. Even on Saturdays there is hardly anyone on Pine Marten. And now they are dropping prices to $29 bucks if you go with someone who has a pass or book a ticket online. They must really be hurting for cash.

Anonymous said...

Rumor I heard last night: Zydeco moving into VOLO's spot.

Good for them, or bad for them? Some of you have said that you had never been there because of the location, but I'm guessing the location was cheaper then VOLO's.

Their food is good, and always has been. Since they are moving into a spot that is already built out nicely they may be able to make it.

Anonymous said...

They must really be hurting for cash.

*

We'll they pre-sold a ton of season passes up front, and that money is 'bend gone'.

The tourists are coming anymore xgiv-newyear where most of the 'cash' is made, mostly poor service, people stuck on lifts in 5F for two hours, ...

Most of the lifts have been closed this season.

When there was snow, they didn't groom so people got stuck in drifts.

Now its just ice, with a little bit of snow on it.

The real issue is Powdrz, they're not a ski biz, they're a condo developer biz, and now they're stuck with a loser, and no hope in hell of building condos.

The bitch (mtb) is for sale, if you want to buy it, Powdrz already got their money back by selling the down-town parking, and buses, ...

This is Bend, where everyone is hurting for cash. Easy-Money is Bend-Gone.

Bewert said...

Butter, nice catch on the Branding article. There's fads and then there's ongoing life.

Just finished Kunstler's "World Made By Hand", about life after oil. More dire than I think it can get, but a great read. A return to the B's.

A couple more takeaways talking to some real locals (like went to high school and remembered a certain cheerleader) from last night:
Commercial RE guy: downtown rents are down 50%--he just made an offer at that level and was astounded that the counter-offer came back only a nickle higher. Some places have been empty for 12+ months now.

Lawyer: Re: Summit 1031: "...those guys are going to jail!"

There is an incredible amount of foreclosure, BK, lease breaking, and divorce work right now.

RE guy: Has a wine distributor client whose revenues have tripled just regionally. Adding on space.

Lots of 20 to 30-something healthy ladies. Large crowd, several people stated it was a big night.

Bewert said...

Re:
The reason that Bend was #1 in appreciation, and we had the building boom, and now bust is that city-hall was lobbied by the builder's who run this town, to keep the SDC artificially low. The irony is that the money was not collected in good times, and the city took on astronomic debt to cover the shortage.

###

That nail you hit on the head, Buster.

The comments on HBM's piece about how high the SDC's are are kind of funny.

What, you want to build around a dirt road with no sewer or water? That's called DRW.

Anonymous said...

: Zydeco moving into VOLO's spot:

That's a good rumor, but Zydeco current location sucks, but honestly that 'volo' location is one of the most expensive, and over built property's downtown, they probably want a 7yr triple-net lease, unless 'volo' just transfers their lease to 'zydeco', but some lease contracts don't allow that.

It's like Merenda, Denton would have killed the bitch in 2005, but couldn't because the lease, the way these leases are written your on the hook for say $1M whether you stay or go. If you bail, they come after you with a civil lawsuit, followed by court judgment.

There's is tons of cool places downtown for Zydeco, like the 'merenda' place, to me the 'volo' building is one of the biggest fucks downtown.

There's is ton's of cheap downtown frontage, but zydeco, better get back to basics, cuz last time I was there it had gone downhill. At least where they're at now, by walmart country, its cheap.

There will be lots of places downtown, somebody will figure out how to do the super-burrito, or taco-shack thing, and make killer food for under $10. Make it fun, make it good, make it cheap.

Zydeco is the model of how things used to be, conspicious spending downtown is over for at least five years.

That's why BT going public, or even nice places at NWX may not be a bad idea, so that the real rich don't have to be seen downtown. Nobody is going to want to be downtown when this thing hits bottom.

Nice cars will be keyed, un-employed angry kids this summer will be bend astronomical.

Anonymous said...

The comments on HBM's piece about how high the SDC's are are kind of funny.

What, you want to build around a dirt road with no sewer or water? That's called DRW.

*

No they want to keep doing what they were doing, building for cheap, and having the general tax payer pick up the SDC cost as muni bond debt. But guess what? Something happened.

Our credit is now fucked, we have max'd our 'muni credit card', and soon 1/2 our falling revenue will be credit-card debt, a debt councilor would call this a fucking nightmare, but so far all the KUNTS in Bend are ignoring this fucking elephant, its why I keep posting this subject, and why dunc keeps deleting and changing the subject, or even hbm's post, they want to make it sound like 'community hysteria' drove growth. BULL SHIT.

Insiders setup a PONZI-SCHEME backed by tax-payer credit. Now Bend has ran out of SUCKER's ( muni investors ) to screw, and its Bend game-over.

No the developers want water, sewer, power, flood-control, parks, schools that sell's STD's they just don't want to pay for it up front. See the SDC up front is REAL cash, even $12k/home, its up front CASH. Most of these builders were throwing up STD's by the 1,000's with nothing down. Thus the city SDC cost was their only real fucking problem.

Ok, so they filled city hall with HO's, and now are debt is max'd out, ... and we BK, so fucking what.

Bewert said...

Re: The bitch (mtb) is for sale, if you want to buy it, Powdrz already got their money back by selling the down-town parking, and buses, ...

###

One comment I heard last night is that Powdr shouldn't have sold the bus parking land and should have built their own hotel on it.

Another is that someone associated with the city should just buy it and run it as a non-profit. COVA?

Report was that it is "dust on crust" at MtB right now. Maybe better today, as its warmer.

Anonymous said...

>There's is tons of cool places downtown for Zydeco, like the 'merenda' place, to me the 'volo' building is one of the biggest fucks downtown.

What killed Merinda would kill Zydeco in that space: it's a fucking barn. NO way people will fill it. In that respect Volo is a better spot.

Bewert said...

Re: ... and we BK, so fucking what.

###

Yep.

Almost time to start the tomatoes in front of the south glass door.

Bewert said...

Interesting--getting a ton of birds in the feeders today. They've emptied one out already.

Bewert said...

Re: What killed Merinda(sic) would kill Zydeco in that space: it's a fucking barn. NO way people will fill it. In that respect Volo is a better spot.

###

Why don't they just put a restaurant downstairs and offices or whatever upstairs?

Bewert said...

LB, Re: Madison

###

I remember sitting in an office building at about 5 or 6, overlooking that lake. My dad and his fellow state road engineers were using their slide rules to calculate the speed of the hydroplanes in the race unfolding below us. This must have been about '64 or '65. It remains an indelible memory. Those slide rules and what they could do really caught me.

Here's another, the town we moved to when Dad got a promotion, named Eau Claire:

Unemployment~5% right now

It's a lot like us, without so much growth the last few years. Sits on the confluence of two big rivers, started out as a lumber/mill town, then the Uniroyal plant was the big boy for awhile. 65,000-70,000, up from 40,000 in the 80's.

When I went back this summer, I rode all over and just got the feeling this should be our model: a regional center for government, medical, higher ed, and bigger shopping.

The bigger shopping we already have. Duh. And medical is well on the way.

Not much for high end restaurants in EC. Yet, no one really fucking cares.

EC does have a leg up because it's university started back in 1918 or so as a nurse and teacher school. Now you can get grad degrees there.

Here, we have the school on the hill that is "land-rich and cash poor", which instead of supporting the local admin wants to recreate on some scale at Juniper Ridge. Which strikes me as astoundingly stupid. I mean, I can see their vision, but it has no basis in reality.

Why not put the effort of building higher ed at JR into building it bigger up on the hill, and make that land at JR more 10-50 acre parcels for jobs? Education is the basis for decent jobs, but why try to fucking move what little we got to the fucking middle of the desert?

I just don't get it.

EC's stable base supports everything 40-60 miles around while providing real ongoing jobs. Those places where the farms and tourism is, depending on where you go.

If it was a bit warmer in the winter, and mountains magically appeared nearby, I would go back in a minute.

But trying to make that happen here, instead of this constant drumbeat of building more empty buildings, has become my mantra.

Bewert said...

Re:
March 2003 - May, 2005:

Field Representative, Deschutes County - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden

•Represented Senator Wyden in Deschutes County

•Obtained information on issues and concerns to apprise the Senator

###

Eckman is perfectly placed to bring some Obama gravy. Spending it wisely it the real question.

Bewert said...

OK, it suddenly came together in my addled old head: instead of building out, why not build in?

Like Manhattan.

Instead of STD's, why not invest that in what we already have, making it better, nicer? Streets with drains, for instance.

Building in. Creating supportive spaces.

Maybe even the Brooks Resources of the area could get behind this. The Old Mill district is an example. Like the Pearl District in PDX.

Don't build out, build in.

Anonymous said...

Eckman is a Rush Limbaugh PUG to the max silly goose.

Wyden has been reaching down to both party's for years, that's how he went from congress to senate, just cuz Eckman has Wyden her resume mean's ZERO.

The future of Bend is Poodle-Wanking. Your heard it here first.

Anonymous said...

This one is LA-BEND its pathetic. A father is fired, and told by boss to go home and blow his brains out.

So father goes home, and kills wife and five small children. This is so fucking Bend-LA.

*

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles father who fatally shot his wife, five children and himself sent a note to a TV station claiming the couple had just been fired from a medical center and they planned the killings together.

The man claimed that before the firing, an administrator told them they should not have come to work and told them, "You should have blown your brains out," KABC-TV reported.

The bodies were found in a home in the Wilmington area of Los Angeles shortly before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police say they found a revolver near the father.

KABC reports that the man claimed his wife suggested they commit suicide and kill their children so they wouldn't end up with a stranger.

The note says the couple worked as medical technicians at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center.

Police say they are trying to confirm if the hospital employed them.

The victims, who were not immediately identified, included two sets of twins. The bodies were found throughout the McFarland Avenue house, said Officer Sam Park.

Deputy Chief Kenneth Garner said the man killed his wife, an 8-year-old girl, twin 5-year-old daughters and twin 2-year-old sons. He then killed himself.

."He was despondent, clearly, over his job situation," Garner said.

The two-story home, much larger than its one-story neighbors, sits in front of a railroad track. A children's playset stands in the backyard and a pickup truck and sport utility vehicle are parked in the concrete front yard.

Wilmington, about 18 miles south of downtown, is a 10-square-mile community adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles.

Anonymous said...

What killed Merinda(sic) would kill Zydeco in that space: it's a fucking barn. NO way people will fill it. In that respect Volo is a better spot.

*

In that respect, the DEEP location would be the best for Zydeco.

What killed Merenda, was yes the size, but what really killed it was the staff, when jodi first opened he had to have 80 on staff, and he just couldn't manage it.

Thus he developed the DEEP his ideal size place, but he couldn't just walk from Merenda, so he ran it until the 7-yr lease was up 2002->2009.

A lot of other people could probably manage a big place, with tons of staff but jodi found he didn't like having tons of people to babysit.

I agree that Zydeco doesn't have the crowds that could fill Merenda, nobody does, that space would ideally be a 'food court' if it could be in a mall. Downtown it could be a clothing store, but most likely it will become a large urban 'Goodwill'. It could also be a artist co-op.

Just to big a space. Who knows what the fuck they were thinking, but like the premise here, Bend was the next Aspen, and it was going to be BE BIG, and everything in BEND is BIG.

If Zydeco leaves I97 to downtown, that will be their death, they're just not that good, people are already tired of them, they need to re-invent themselves, like the article above, a food place must be hip, and only last a short while, fads come and go. You got to re-invent yourself.

Anonymous said...

>If Zydeco leaves I97 to downtown, that will be their death, they're just not that good, people are already tired of them, they need to re-invent themselves, like the article above, a food place must be hip, and only last a short while, fads come and go. You got to re-invent yourself.

Which of the following have re-invented themselves lately:

• Deschutes Brewery
• Bend Brewing Company
• Toomies
• Pine Tavern
• High Tides

Anonymous said...

OK, it suddenly came together in my addled old head: instead of building out, why not build in?

Every time somebody suggests that, they're told that "people don't want to live that way" and "you're trying to tell people how to live." The GOBs of Bend have always resisted any effort to increase density.

The Natives Are Restless said...

"I always find it interesting how COVA (city taxpayer money) promotes the world about Bend's 'natural amenitys', but the fact is had not local's for the past 20+ years busted their butt's on the trails and routes they wouldn't be here."

The true locals didn't bust their butts doing any such thing. The true locals busted their butts going to places where other people weren't. About the time a trail or route could be seen, it was time for a true local to get the fuck out of the way of the Cali's and flat landers.

Anonymous said...

Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.

Bernie Marcus, the charismatic co-founder of Home Depot, led the call along with Rick Berman, an aggressive EFCA opponent and founder of the Center for Union Facts. Over the course of an hour, the two framed the legislation as an existential threat to American capitalism, or worse.

"This is the demise of a civilization," said Marcus. "This is how a civilization disappears. I am sitting here as an elder statesman and I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it."

Donations of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to Republican senatorial campaigns were needed, they argued, to prevent America from turning "into France."

"If a retailer has not gotten involved in this, if he has not spent money on this election, if he has not sent money to [former Sen.] Norm Coleman and all these other guys, they should be shot. They should be thrown out their goddamn jobs," Marcus declared.

Earlier he argued: "As a shareholder, if I knew the CEO of the company wasn't doing anything on [EFCA]... I would sue the son of a bitch... I'm so angry at some of these CEOs, I can't even believe the stupidity that is involved here."


Fucking social parasites. God forbid that the people of this country who actually WORK and PRODUCE SOMETHING should get a share of the pie.

I will NEVER AGAIN buy ANYTHING from fucking Home Depot. EVER. They just joined WalMart on my shit list.

Bewert said...

Re: ...to prevent America from turning "into France."

###

You mean a country with health care for everyone? A country that actually prevents deaths rather than one that one that lets the elderly freeze to death if they are too poor to pay the electric bill?

No, we can't let that happen. It would be simply un-AmericanCo.

foz said...

"Which of the following have re-invented themselves lately:"

good question...does owning your building count as being different? I think 2 on that list qualify.

Bewert said...

Toomies looked pretty busy when I walked by during lunch to talk to Dunc.

I don't think any of them reinvented themselves, they are just good stuff at a good price. They didn't have to reinvent themselves, just had to keep executing. Although I have no idea what High Tides is after three+ years...

Foz, what two are you thinking?

Anonymous said...

Toomies SUCKS dick, always has sucked dick, who the fuck goes there? Enough to keep the place, enough to pay the bills, hell its the perfect model for a family place, super-burrito could had stayed where it was forever, had they not sold the building.

Toomies.
1.) Everything is frozen and pre-cut, no waste, but everything is shit, you like shit, then you love toomies.
2.) Staff, and 'greeter' are retarded, I remember 20 yrs ago, toomies suck, and it still sucks.
3.) Who like toomies? People that don't know thai food.

So know we have 'typhoon' where you can spend $12 for 1 cents worth noodles, and its already gone down hill.

Tourists went to Toomies once, local white-trash go there as often as they go to BAD chinese, which is a couple times a month.

I mean who keeps the places like mickyD's open?? Subway, ...

There are only a few good places downtown. Pizza-Mondo, & Deschutes is all that comes to my mind.

Want fish or sushi? Think PDX. Want Italian? Think PDX.

I do agree BEND needs a good 'meat & potatoe', and by that I mean 'mothers' in PDX, and that be 'comfort food', and I'm talking real good comfort food.

Tons of places in PDX know how to run a biz, the problem with BEND, is problem for all things NOBODY CAME TO BEND TO WORK, we all came here to play. I myself am a DAMN GOOD COOK, and my friends for years have told me to open a place in BEND, and I just look with a dumb stare.

You want to know what that biz is like? Try cleaning up vomit and toilets every fucking day at midnight, and being there at 6am, ... and sleeping on the floor that is the food biz.

Then there is the 'real reason' that DENTON gave up on MERENDA by 2004, it was the PEOPLE, we talked about it here before HOMER knows, Bend, the kids of Bend are mostly on meth, getting help in this town is impossible, jodi had 80 employees at Merenda in 2004, and 1/2 were on meth, it drove him up the wall, thats why he started DEEP, cuz with fewer people he could weed out the dopers.

Back to food, I know lots of people that make it work in PDX, always crowded good food, good service, fair price, ... its NOT rocket science. But it doesn't happen in BEND. The closest you'll find it in BEND is 'taco shack', the owner is just a cool guy, with a small biz, and has hours like m-sat 11-4, and is busier than hell, but leaves himself lots of time to play and help the community.

The problem with BEND eatery is the kids, and the kids in this town don't want to work, they want to be stoned 24/7.

Anonymous said...

>I don't think any of them reinvented themselves, they are just good stuff at a good price.

That's my point. If you market yourself as "hip and new" you have to keep re-inventing yourself to be hip and new.

If you just serve food that is worth what you are charging with good service in reasonably pleasant surroundings than you have a much better shot at surviving in the long run.

Hip, new, the "place to be seen..." all are fads.

Zydeco has good food and is not outrageously priced. Hopefully they won't have to up every plate price to afford downtown. Then they may be screwed.

Anonymous said...

I pick on the BEND kids, but who fucked their brains?

It was the parents, with the 24/7 wine&dine lifestyle of fake 'beautiful people', ... the kids grow up in that, and just want to party like mom&dad.

Trouble is mom&dad made their money before coming to BEND, and these kids WILL NEVER make money.

Welcome to BEND, where everything turns to shit.

Anonymous said...

>>A country that actually prevents deaths rather than one that one that lets the elderly freeze to death if they are too poor to pay the electric bill?

Hmm. I take it you're not aware of the scandalous history of winter freezing deaths of the elderly in Europe.

Anonymous said...

Zydeco has good food and is not outrageously priced. Hopefully they won't have to up every plate price to afford downtown.

*

Zydeco 'stacks' food, in the culinary world that is equivalent of a breast implant, and marge-simpson hair.

If you don't think Zydeco is over the top and 'hip' then you haven't been there.

Zydeco ain't cheap.

The only reason Zydeco has buzz in BEND, is that its the last fru-fru standing, and believe me if they move downtown, it will be the kiss of death. Because a lot of people are afraid to park downtown at night.

Anonymous said...

Re: ...to prevent America from turning "into France."

*

Ignore them BP, France is better than Burns or Bend. The only way a person can possibly bash france is someone who hasn't been there, or doesn't speak french.

Anonymous said...

>If you don't think Zydeco is over the top and 'hip' then you haven't been there.

I have eaten there 10-15 times, and no I don't think it's over the top.

Anonymous said...

Donations of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to Republican senatorial campaigns were needed, they argued, to prevent America from turning "into France."

*

POOR fucking HBM, why do you make me BITCH SLAP you.

RNC here in BEND, got most of its money from SUMMIT-1031, are you demanding they return client money??

RNC is fucked, if MR-Home-Depot, wants money for RNC why doesn't he write a check? But this is the BEND way, to rob city hall to pay for PUG's, or to rob widows with 1031, either way the money end's up in RNC war-chest.

Read this weeks Summit-1031 story, even in Fall of 2008, the GUV wanted to regulate it, but RNC prevented the regulation, and thus more people got Bend robbed.

Anonymous said...

The true locals busted their butts going to places where other people weren't. - restless

*

OHHHH, pleeeeeeeeze don't get me wrong, I was involved in pioneering many routes at SMITH-ROCK's, and I quit going to SMITH in the late 90's cuz it got toooo fucking crowded. So I agree, but the essence is that ski-bums, rock-bums, and bike-bums, are what developed the 'amenitys' that COVA promotes, and yes your right COVA destroyed them with masses of SHIT they brought to BEND, aka crowds.

Bob Woodward of the SORE siamese buddy of our own HBM, was a principal of this SHEEEEEET to this day all of the woods it etched "NO BOB".

I'm still involved with COTA ( bike trail alliance ) and we still build and maintain trails, and people here might know, but there was a war last year cuz city was busing people in from Reno-NV to illegally used trails that MUST be non-commercial.

Anonymous said...

I have eaten there 10-15 times, and no I don't think it's over the top.

*

Good for you, I don't mind it, but hate driving to siberia, given that I live on god's side of the tracks.

Been there a few times, but last month went there with a group, and 1/2 were sick the next day, we didn't complain, but let me just say the group will never go there again.

To me it's over the top. They focus too much on 'presentation'.

We have already agreed.

1.) Friendly service
2.) Prompt, bread&water them quick, and serve alki first minute
3.) good food for a fair price
4.) something that can't be made at home easily

Good for you, go there tonight.

Anonymous said...

>Good for you, I don't mind it, but hate driving to siberia, given that I live on god's side of the tracks.

Same here. I'll probably go more often when it is downtown as I can bike to it and have an extra drink.

Anonymous said...

To me it's over the top. They focus too much on 'presentation'.

Presentation (up to a point) just shows you give a damn.

Anonymous said...

Which of the following have re-invented themselves lately:

• Deschutes Brewery

[ an institution, case in point last night, town is dead, but you couldn't move @ DB ]

• Bend Brewing Company

[ just barely survives, but the gal hopefully doesn't have much debt ]

• Toomies

[ sucks the big dick, and has forever, but then its 'Bends only Cracker-White thai' ]

• Pine Tavern

[ please fucking shoot me ]

• High Tides

[ shoot me again ]

***

You fucking FORGOT the place that matters, and is going strong.

D&D still the place that even this recession will not bring down.

I don't think DB will make it, too much fucking debt, Fish has had to cut back on all employee bene's his troops are fucked, in the day working at DB was to be a rock-star, today it means living hand-to-mouth.

Most biz survive like toomies or super-burrito, or taco-shack, because they're small family biz, where over-head is low cuz boss works for free, dunc comes to mind, and how to run a small-biz, its the EMPLOYEES that kill you in small biz.

It's why DB is dying, 20 years ago the staff was young and health insur cheap, today they had to kill the insur, because most the emp's there today have kids; so in effect DB is like GM, FORD, ... they can't compete with a family comfort food joint, ... if Silver Moon did it right with their low over-head they could do well,

Bend Brewing is an interesting case, there must be MONEY behind that pretty gal that runs the place, but the problem there is its a ship in a bottle.

Anonymous said...

Presentation (up to a point) just shows you give a damn.

*

Stacking food was yesterday, about 5-10 years ago.

Stacking food just means that the portions are small, and they want to stack high to impress you.

Stacking is done with molds in the back kitchen.

Again, stacking was the rage on Rodeo-Drive back after disco, so it makes sense that its just now hitting Bend, if your impressed by stacking, ... great, ... anybody else here impressed with stacking??

Here' how you do it. You serve good food and slop it on the plate, and then right before the chef rings the bell for the server he takes that whit apron he's wearing and cleans the perimeter of the plate.

Want to know the truth about stacking and presentation, read "kitchen confidential' by anthony boudain,

Anonymous said...

Affordable, fair, food, ... below is from the zydeco menu. Excuuuuuuse me, but $26 for a fucking ribeye is 2X of what it should cost, at any of the better places in PDX you can get a painted-hills steak for under $18. Somebody here said that Zydeco was 'fairly priced' BULL FUCKING SHIT.

Zydeco is 2X across the board, $10 for appet, $8 salad, this make Merenda, well shit it is Merenda or worse, the prices are so fucking 2004 BEND guess what, if they take this downtown they're FUCKED.

...

Grilled Chicken over mixed greens with spicy pecans 15
Rustic Ribeye with grilled shrimp, mashed potatoes & seasonal vegetables 26
Hormone Free Grilled Filet Medallions green peppercorns, sea salt and crispy fries 28
Barbecued Baby Back Ribs slow-cooked with mashed potatoes & roasted vegetables 21
Roasted Wild Mushroom Pork Tenderloin with seasonal vegetables & mash potatoes 24
Grilled Copper River Salmon with seasonal vegetables & mashed potatoes 25
Gemelli Pasta shrimp & andouille sausage 18
Grilled Redfish zydeco sauce & dungeness crab meat with sauté spinach 25
Pan-Roasted Steelhead lemon-caper sauce, roasted green beans & mashed potatoes 19
Grilled Eggplant, Spinach & Goat Cheese Crepes creole tomato sauce 16

Anonymous said...

I'll probably go more often when it is downtown as I can bike to it and have an extra drink.

*

Who has the best price in town for studded snow tires for mtn-bikes. My studs are almost warn down.

Pleeze can he quit bashing bend lame eatery's and get back to bashing the fucking city-hall BK??

Anonymous said...

A country that actually prevents deaths rather than one that one that lets the elderly freeze to death if they are too poor to pay the electric bill? - BP

*

Thank god for Pussy Fodder.

That's our boy, our BP.

BP, people die all over the world from freezing, even here in ameriKKKa.

China had a solution for this problem, in the north you can have heat, in the South of the yangtze river you cannot,

This is too fucking FUNNY for 10k years civilization didn't have centralized heating. Now its everyone's 'right' to have a heated home paid for by the government, leave it to the pussy.

Let's also add a home, and an ice-chest of beer, and digital-tv to this list of 'rights' for the OLD.

Anonymous said...

On the subject of food, and I don't like the place but my wife loves it, its Pastini's, and they're all over.

Most entree's are $8, which is fair,

Right now they're in the O-MILL which will bend-die.

They would be a good bet for downtown,

Anybody ever been to Spaghetti-Works in PDX, its huge, and always packed, same deal, you get a 4 course italian (usa) din-din for under $10, and whitey loves it, ... that the kinds of thing that could do ...

But all these places are on large parking lots, face the facts most people don't want to walk, and its hard to park downtown.

people want to park in a walmart parking lot, and walk in an eat, and that's why Bend is cool when you have tons of tourists walking around, ... but the regular working people, just don't have the time or desire to walk around downtown and look for a place to park, ...

Sure people like me & stacker, we bike downtown, but we're a minority.

I really think that Bend will return to 1980's downtown, hw stores, and D&D, ... maybe some card shops, little thrift shops, most people who eat out want easy parking.

Another thing we haven't mentioned is McMennamins, now there is a business model that WORKS!!!!

Anonymous said...

You know it may have already happened.

Today there really isn't much left to eat in downtown Bend, and what there is, is lunch spots like subway, or down-towner ( sandwich ).

The Zydeco & Jackalope Grill are Bend's future, and both in large parking lots out in siberia.

On the westside you got safe places up at NWC, and soon the employees say, but BEBB keeps deleting it, that BTop is going to be open to the public, and they too do the $30 steak for those that need that.

So I hate to tell you folks were there today, the most expensive places to eat in BEND ( not always best ) are in the burb's.

Welcome new Bend.

This is essential, cuz with the depression I'm telling you all that this summer will be 100's of homeless roaming downtown Bend, and there is one thing that beautiful people don't like, its homeless.

Anonymous said...

The problem with the below model, is it worked fine in the day of BEND-HELOC, that day is gone. The day a couple going out for two entrees, an appet, and a couple salad and a bottle of wine, and dropping over $100 plus tip, is BEND OVER.

Want to make these days? Pastini has it right, again I don't like the place, but a couple can have salad, dinner, and wine for about $30.

Zydeco is 2X across the board, $10 for appet, $8 salad, this make Merenda, well shit it is Merenda or worse, the prices are so fucking 2004 BEND guess what, if they take this downtown they're FUCKED.

...

Grilled Chicken over mixed greens with spicy pecans 15
Rustic Ribeye with grilled shrimp, mashed potatoes & seasonal vegetables 26
Hormone Free Grilled Filet Medallions green peppercorns, sea salt and crispy fries 28
Barbecued Baby Back Ribs slow-cooked with mashed potatoes & roasted vegetables 21
Roasted Wild Mushroom Pork Tenderloin with seasonal vegetables & mash potatoes 24
Grilled Copper River Salmon with seasonal vegetables & mashed potatoes 25
Gemelli Pasta shrimp & andouille sausage 18
Grilled Redfish zydeco sauce & dungeness crab meat with sauté spinach 25
Pan-Roasted Steelhead lemon-caper sauce, roasted green beans & mashed potatoes 19
Grilled Eggplant, Spinach & Goat Cheese Crepes creole tomato sauce 16

Anonymous said...

But damn it tastes good.

Anonymous said...

Lots of 20 to 30-something healthy ladies. Large crowd, several people stated it was a big night. - BP

*

Deschutes has been very crowded lately BP, especially last saturday, couldn't move in there, just like last night.

Glad to see you there.

Glad to see you out talking with the real people of Bend, nothing like beer to open up a lawyer.

Funny though, most of those lawyers I thought to be struggling, and the comment I kept hearing was that if the couples just spent time talking to each other rather than to lawyers, they could save their marriage and their money.

Another note on last night, since you didn't mention, but 1/2 the people there last night were school teachers. Did you pick that up? They're all there for $3/pint monday, feeling the pinch, and seeing job losses, and cutting back.

The girlz I didn't think there were that many 20-30's last night, I saw a lot of 40's, mostly the monday regulars, the real party girlz of Bend of cut back big time, only see them there once a month now, but then they always drink wine, not a bargain.

Anonymous said...

To me it's over the top. They focus too much on 'presentation'.

Presentation (up to a point) just shows you give a damn.


*

But presentation is so BEND, make it good reel them in, and sell them condo's, ..

COVA Bend is PR & Presentation.

The real Bend is crack-ass whites, and mickyD's.

Like DUY says, Bend will never be a resort, its just too big.

Anonymous said...

>but 1/2 the people there last night were school teachers. Did you pick that up?

Of the 25-30 people I saw there last night I knew I think there was one teacher.

Anonymous said...

231 NODs as of today. Tomorrow we will pass December's all time high of 242.

Many of these properties are not currently on the market and will not be on the market until after they are bank owned.

The shadow inventory is staggering.

Anonymous said...

BP, on the subject of France, a simple mention of the Great Depression is that many the rich in the USA weathered storm in Paris, ... where life was Gay much of those years, for the French knew how to live.

Thus its notable that the PUG's fear their debt service slave colony to become a mecca for wine, women, and song.

p.s. in those days 'gay' didn't me what it means now.

Anonymous said...

The shadow inventory is staggering.

*

Yes, but like city-hall budget 2009 says this is a GOOD thing as BANKS pay the property tax, many of those who foreclose, and are FORCED to be evicted will take years, and the city/county will see nothing,

This is why the city is so BK, 1/2 their revenue is going to disappear.

Short-Sales & quick bank to the bank are great for the city.

The real problem is that our 25% un-employed will NOT pay their property tax, until last, which means that collections will go astro.

Anonymous said...

Of the 25-30 people I saw there last night I knew I think there was one teacher.

*

That's why I always say that Bend is the blind men and the elephant.

To BP there were lawyers, but I only saw two.

To me the place was full of school teachers,

The blind man holding the tail sees a snake, the one holding a leg sees a tree, they're all right, but all wrong.

Too me the loud sports people tend to hang more front towards the bar, and more quiet 'school' types hang towards the back.

Good crowd last night. Very few non-locals, I have been noticing that for months, that the tourist, and believe me Deschutes is a mandatory, but the tourist has become extinct in the last two months.

The downtown of the future is the bargain, and today the bargain is still $2 pints of Wildfire at KC's.

Anonymous said...

This one is LA-BEND its pathetic. A father is fired, and told by boss to go home and blow his brains out.

So father goes home, and kills wife and five small children. This is so fucking Bend-LA.

*

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles father who fatally shot his wife, five children and himself sent a note to a TV station claiming the couple had just been fired from a medical center and they planned the killings together.

The man claimed that before the firing, an administrator told them they should not have come to work and told them, "You should have blown your brains out," KABC-TV reported.

The bodies were found in a home in the Wilmington area of Los Angeles shortly before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police say they found a revolver near the father.

KABC reports that the man claimed his wife suggested they commit suicide and kill their children so they wouldn't end up with a stranger.

The note says the couple worked as medical technicians at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center.

Police say they are trying to confirm if the hospital employed them.

The victims, who were not immediately identified, included two sets of twins. The bodies were found throughout the McFarland Avenue house, said Officer Sam Park.

Deputy Chief Kenneth Garner said the man killed his wife, an 8-year-old girl, twin 5-year-old daughters and twin 2-year-old sons. He then killed himself.

."He was despondent, clearly, over his job situation," Garner said.

The two-story home, much larger than its one-story neighbors, sits in front of a railroad track. A children's playset stands in the backyard and a pickup truck and sport utility vehicle are parked in the concrete front yard.

Wilmington, about 18 miles south of downtown, is a 10-square-mile community adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles.

Anonymous said...

The selfishness is fascinating with all the welfare and public services, ... but these dual income BEND-LA parents, took their ultimate shopping trip. Who is to say the kids wouldn't have been better off? Yes, they would have ended up in LA's notorious Juvenile system, split apart each going to separate foster homes, never to see each other again.

Bankers jumping out of windows is understood, but this notion of a wife suggesting to her husband that they kill the family in order to save the family, sounds almost fucking BEND-CHRISTIAN.

Anonymous said...

>Good crowd last night. Very few non-locals, I have been noticing that for months, that the tourist, and believe me Deschutes is a mandatory, but the tourist has become extinct in the last two months.

Amen on that. 5 years ago I felt like I knew someone at 30-40% of the tables in the place on a Monday. Then I had one Monday about two years ago that I was there and only knew a couple people - and it's not because I wasn't going every week, it was because the old crowd stayed home. The last 6 months have had a great revival of locals night.

Anonymous said...

Where did the money go? Avion Water $12M settlement, two TaylorCo properties $10M, Juniper Ridge $16M and counting, etc.

*

Hush Money is Bend. $5M just last year city paid the BULLetin, for land it got for free from Mike Hollern of Brook Resources back in 1998.

Ten's and ten's and ten's of Millions to Knife-River, which is owned by MDU of which CACB Patricia Moss sits on the board and gets $200k/yr, and also sits on the Juniper-Ridge board which passes all the money to Knife-River.

Recall?: The crooks are gone. Retired. PERS retired, public dole, the best in Orygun.
Refund?: The money is gone.

Throughout history civilizations always fail when good men remain silent and complacent.

Bend will recover from the BK, but lets hope that the future city-hall really is people that puts public-safety, and education first.

An entire book can be written on the single subject of "Bend's Debt: Where did the money go?".

Hush. Omerta, Bend is a mob town.

Anonymous said...

Bringing you water and taking your s**t is mostly SDC's. - BP

*

I think HBM, should write about this sometime, but this idea of NOT paying SDC's and passing them to the public is all part of the 'wise-use' movement, invented by right-wing think tanks 20 years ago.

I have already explained why builders hate SDC's, but look at this way, as I have built homes.

They had it setup where everything was zero-down, no cost, so the ONLY upfront cost was city SDC, and of course these people wanted to build 1,000's of STD's with ZERO upfront cost, so they had to kill or minimize the SDC.

Just greed, but like everything in ameriKKKa the greed people rule the land, the law, and the country. Today ameriKKKa is at its zenith, the man running the IRS is a tax cheat. Fraud pays, and honest will make you poor, only fools pay taxes, and Geithner has now shown that the CHOSEN-PEOPLE pay not taxes and get away with it.

Anonymous said...

Given that Kathy Eckman is PUG BITCH and poster child for wise-use, I think we can assume that you'll be hearing about ZERO SDC real soon.

But the real joke will be that this city can no longer legally borrow money.

It should be interesting.

1.) Plummeting RMV of total land in city.

2.) Revenue dropping because NOBODY can pay property tax.

3.) SDC revenues zero, which causes bond holders to call Bends loans and change terms.

Fascinating times, but they put our own Sarah Baracuda Palin aka Kathy Eckman out front and center to re-invigorate the BEND-BRAND.

DEBT, FRAUD, CORRUPTION, ... We're Bend.


Lastly, HBM goes on about GOB, aka good old boyz, what about the good old PUG girlz like Eckman, & Moss.

Bend ain't a boyz club, crooks in Bend are Asexual.

Anonymous said...

GOB & GOG ( good old girlz ), siamese twins of Bend sharing common asshole.

Bewert said...

Re: Hmm. I take it you're not aware of the scandalous history of winter freezing deaths of the elderly in Europe.

###

No, perhaps you could enlighten us with a couple of links.

I am aware of the wave of deaths from the hot temps a couple summers ago.

But, hey, if you and Buster don't give a shit about WW2 vets, that's your choice.

Anonymous said...

Yes many deaths in summer heat wave. Damned French go on vacation and leave the old folks to die.

http://www.express.co.uk/features/view/73308/Winter-death-toll-shames-UK

http://www.express.co.uk/features/view/73308/Winter-death-toll-shames-UK

Anonymous said...

Oops. Did one twice.

http://in.ibtimes.com/articles/20090117/russia-ukrainia-gas-vladimir-putin.htm

Anonymous said...

Fuck BP a homeless guy was found frozen to death right here in Bend just a few weeks ago, where were your crocodile tears for our own?

Fuck the PUG's and their anti-french shit.

Like I have long said, when things get bad here in BEND, you don't want to be here, and Paris like the last depression was a great place to weather the storm.

Bewert said...

Re:
That's why I always say that Bend is the blind men and the elephant.

To BP there were lawyers, but I only saw two.

###

I wish you fuckers would talk to me in real life, like Dunc does.

Lawyer's name was Matt, office next door in the Boyd Building. Reminded me of several old friends. Good "kid".

The funniest part of the night was them talking about a certain cheerleader that whose family used to own the trash biz. She was "hot".

Gave me a lot of the small town feel I like. Trudy works retail and doesn't much want to go out and talk to people after doing it all day. I've stared at a computer for so long I like getting out a bit. But last night it actually felt like a small town getting it on.

I liked that. And still do.

Bewert said...

"..that whose.."

###

whose

Sorry, Timmy :)

PS This rock is the best rock to piss on in town, as Buster would say.

Anonymous said...

Hell with going out we go out three times a year- Quiznos with coupons, subway with coupons, carls jr order the superstar burger only no fries or pop and drink with water from home. I buy meat in bulk from cash and carry eat only good food most of the time no processed crap.except the three times a year we eat out. Never have bought a new car always buy used and pay cash. Not a lot of debt hunkerin down big time.I can live on bend wages believe it or not and own my own home

Bewert said...

Re: Fuck BP a homeless guy was found frozen to death right here in Bend just a few weeks ago, where were your crocodile tears for our own?

###

Still falling.

I'm starting to think we should at least let them set up legally on BLM or FS land, like out off China Hat. Instead of trying to hide them or drive them off.

Anonymous said...

The BULL will not discuss Bend's favorite past-time, but hell here it is ...

Experts: Depression & Suicide on the Rise
Posted By: Deborah Hoffman

SACRAMENTO, CA - More than 32,000 people kill themselves each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And mental health experts expect those numbers increase because of the economy.

"We're definitely seeing the numbers of suicides go up," said Dr. Debra Moore, Ph.D. "In the Great Depression we saw a spike. When the recovery came in the 40s we saw a decrease. We saw a decrease in the late 90s and early 2000s as the economy was booming. There's a correlation between the Dow Jones, the unemployment rates, the food stamp rates and suicides."

While Moore said unemployment does not cause suicide on its own, the loss of a job, the loss of retirement savings, and the loss of a home are very high risk factors. "When several risk factors come together there's a perfect storm and people can feel a combination of shame, humiliation and despair," she said.

Moore said individuals can take action to reduce their own level of distress by engaging in activities that relieve anxiety and emotional distress and focusing on managing areas in their lives where they have control.

"Reach out and strengthen connections with family members and friends. Schedule time for healthy and relaxing activities," said Moore. "If you've lost your health insurance and can't get mental health treatment, you should seek help from your church or your family."

Dr. James Margolis Ph.D., with Sutter Counseling Center said suicidal feelings are a dramatic reaction to severe depression, but he said many people in our communities are dealing with more common feelings of depression.

"Everybody's depressed and everybody's hurting with the economic stuff and the housing problems," said Dr. Margolis. "The number one cause of depression is loss. When someone loses their job not only do they lose their income but for most people they lose their identity."

Margolis said it's important for people to seek help. "Depression is a very serious disorder, and it's very treatable," he said. "Acute depression with some brief counseling and a few months of medication can be 100 percent treatable. It's when you let it go that it's a problem."

This health tip is brought to you by Richard Bowdle, M.D. board-certified Psychiatrist and Medical Director of Sutter Center for Psychiatry.

It's no wonder with the housing market collapsing, loss of jobs and plummeting stock market that people are going through an emotional rollercoaster. A poor economy affects everyone in some way which can leave people feeling depressed or anxious. While you may not be able to control the economy there are positive things you can do to help you and your family during this difficult time.

Identify your financial stressors and make a plan - revisit your budget and look for ways to reduce expenses. If you are approaching retirement and your 401K has decreased in value, contact a financial advisor.

Be tuned into what is going on but don't dwell on it - listen to the news, read the paper and monitor your investments but don't obsess over it and get caught up in negative conversations about the economy or look for people to blame.

Dealing with anxiety and depression - resist the temptation to indulge in unhealthy activities such as smoking, drinking alcohol or drugs to make you feel better. During this difficult time you need to take extra care of your body which will help your mind and spirit feel better. Eat a healthy diet rich of fruit and vegetables and exercise - preferably outside in the fresh air.

Connect with people - if you have been laid off, this is not the time to put your head in the sand. More than ever, this is the time when you need to network with family, friends and business contacts. Actively looking for a job will help you feel empowered.

Focus on the positive - Instead of being disappointed about not going out to dinner as often, embrace the opportunity to try new recipes. If you're quitting the gym as part of your action plan to reduce expenses maybe you and a friend can enjoy bike riding together. There is even a silver lining to being laid off - you can spend more quality time with your family.

If depression or anxiety continues for a lengthy period of time or worsens, schedule an appointment with your doctor or a therapist.

According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center:

- Males are four times as likely to die by suicide than as females - although females attempt suicide three times as often as males.

- White Americans are more likely to die by suicide than Americans of other racial backgrounds.

- Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 15-24 and the second-leading cause of death among those between the ages of 25-34.

- Suicide rates increase with age. Elderly people who die by suicide are often divorced or widowed and suffering from a physical illness.

Suicide Warning Signs:

Call 911 or seek immediate help from a mental health provider when you hear, or see any of these behaviors:

- Someone threatening to hurt or kill him/herself, or talking of wanting to hurt or kill him/herself

- Someone looking for ways to kill him/herself by seeking access to firearms, available pills, or other means

- Someone talking or writing about death, dying or suicide, when these actions are out of the ordinary for the person

Seek help by contacting a mental health professional or calling 1 (800) 273-TALK for a referral if you should witness, hear, or see anyone exhibiting any one or more of these behaviors:

- Hopelessness

- Rage, uncontrolled anger, seeking revenge

- Acting recklessly or engaging in risky activities, seemingly without thinking

- Feeling trapped - like there's no way out

- Increased alcohol or drug use

- Withdrawing from friends, family and society

- Anxiety, agitation, unable to sleep or sleeping all the time

- Dramatic mood changes

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1 (800) 273-TALK (8255)

Anonymous said...

The funniest part of the night was them talking about a certain cheerleader that whose family used to own the trash biz. She was "hot".

*

Our own Sarah Palin, right here in Wasilla-Bend, how fucking PUG.

Our little girl could go on to governator, and then VEEP!! Hey its Bend.

Anonymous said...

Another note on last night, since you didn't mention, but 1/2 the people there last night were school teachers. Did you pick that up? They're all there for $3/pint monday, feeling the pinch, and seeing job losses, and cutting back.

****

Ah hell, school teachers are some of the biggest drinkers I know. If you were cooped up with 30 snot nosed, whiney, spoiled, ritalin drugged kids all day, you'd drink too. Drink alot.

Anonymous said...

>I wish you fuckers would talk to me in real life, like Dunc does.

On the blog everyone looks like this... a bunch of letters. I don't know what you look like in real life. I was suspecting it may be you at around 8pm, talking to the shorter guy with the hat that drives the old land rover near the "over here" sign, then sitting at the last bar stool around 9. Yes?

LavaBear said...

>>>I wish you fuckers would talk to me in real life, like Dunc does.

And how do you know we haven't?

There is a large contingent of locals around Bruce. The people I know in town I've known since grade school all the way through. Back in the day there was Pilot Butte Middle school and Cascade Middle school. By the time you've gotten to high school you had gone to grade school or middle school with half the kids in the other high school. (Mtn View/Bend High) We'd train and run gates with the other high schools ski team all the time. It's just too small of a place not to know everybody. So....by this time in the game we've seen so many people come and go over the years but the core locals all stick around. It's Bend. If we see you around long enough we'll say hey if you aren't a cali slimbag.

LavaBear said...

>>>On the blog everyone looks like this...

I don't look like this...

I look like this#!$%^&*^...

Buster looks like tis FACT

Bewert said...

Main clue: Alta Ski Patrol hat.

I ended up sitting right in the middle of the stools along the divide between bar/restaurant.

I think JD, the dog trainer, was talking about driving a Land Rover at one point. It was four guys talking to each other. And the single ones trying to pick up the chicks. We had the tall, handsome one, Dustin, the Commercial RE guy, on track. He was just too fucking shy.

Like me at his age ;)

Bewert said...

RE: And how do you know we haven't?

###

Most excellent question.

Please enlighten me on the spot when the time comes. It would be very welcome.

LavaBear said...

>>>Please enlighten me on the spot when the time comes. It would be very welcome.

You know the secret handshake right?

Bewert said...

LB, we've talked so much over the net, talking in person is pretty easy.

Ask Dunc.

I just don't want to move for 20 years, at least. I don't want this nice little city to get too fucked up.

Bewert said...

Re:
You know the secret handshake right?

###

Nope! I'm just me.

LavaBear said...

>>>LB, we've talked so much over the net, talking in person is pretty easy.

In person? Like "talking"? Ummm you've got the wrong Lavabear. The wife is the designated talker in the Lavabear family. My roll is mixing the drinks, buying the rounds, and making smart ass comments. You want talking then you need Mrs Lavabear. Careful though...get her started and she won't stop.

Bewert said...

Re: Careful though...get her started and she won't stop.

###

Now that I would like to hear. I want to learn about this place. I picked those guys brains last night, but some things they wouldn't talk about. Like where last years Super Bowl party was--"they don't live in their own house anymore". Some of it was meant to go over my head.

Getting T out for fun talk is a pain, but it's worth it once in awhile. We just want a live in a good town.

Anonymous said...

"we go out three times a year . . . . no processed crap.except the three times a year we eat out."


Let me guess -
1. Your birthday
2. Her birthday
3. Your anniversary


But you go to Quiznos?

*

Anonymous said...

What is it about 'honor killing', these parents lose their jobs, and kill the whole family. I know Bend we're not allowed to talk about this, and so far guys just off and kill themselves after losing thier money. Saving face, but this shit about killing family??? What gives?? Is it cultural? Perhaps.

...

'Family honour' drives US father of three to murder and suicide

Jenny Booth

A man who had become depressed about his financial problems has shot dead his wife, three children and mother-in-law before turning his gun on himself in the family's expensive home in a gated community in a Los Angeles suburb.

The body of Karthik Rajaram, 45, was found still gripping a handgun that had been bought three weeks ago, on September 16, say police. He had left two suicide notes, one for police and one for friends and relatives, and a will.

A coroner's officer said that the victims had each been shot multiple times. The deaths appear to have occurred some time after Saturday evening.

Police found the scene of carnage at the family home yesterday after the wife failed to turn up at a neighbour’s house on Monday morning to go to work as a finance clerk at a pharmacy, according Deputy Chief of Police Michel Moore.
Related Links

* Briton guilty of US double murder

* NYPD officers cleared over Sean Bell shooting

* Five killed in Valentine's Day massacre at college

“The source of it appears to be a financial state, a crisis if you will, that this man became embroiled in that has unfolded over the past weeks,” said Mr Moore.

The man wrote in his suicide letter that he felt he had two options - to kill only himself, or to kill himself and his family. He had decided the second option was more honourable, said Mr Moore.

Officers found the mother-in-law, Indra Ramasesham, 69, dead in bed on the first floor. Upstairs, they found a 19-year-old son, Krishna Rajaram, dead in bed in the master bedroom.

The gunman’s 39-year-old wife, Subasri, was found in another room, also apparently shot while sleeping. In an adjoining room, a 12-year-old son, Ganesha, was dead on the floor, and his 7-year-old brother, Arjuna, was dead in bed. Their father’s body also was found there with a handgun “in his grasp”, Moore said.

Ed Winter, the coroner's officer, said that the mother-in-law was an Indian national, but he did not know the status of the others. “I think they are legal residents,” he said.

Police said that Rajaram had a master’s of business administration in finance, and had formerly worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sony Pictures, but had been unemployed for several months, Moore said.

Moore did not specify what financial trouble the man had been in. He noted that the family did not own the home.

A spokesman for PricewaterhouseCoopers said that Rajaram last worked for the company in 1999, but declined to offer any further information about him, given the time that passed since Rajaram’s employment there.

A spokesman for Sony Pictures Entertainment did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Investigators have determined that Rajaram was at least the part-owner of a financial holding company. He is listed as a co-manager of a corporation called SKGL LLC, which is incorporated in Nevada, according to state records. He formed the corporation for his family’s assets, said Christopher R. Grobl, a Las Vegas attorney.

He did not know what sort of business SKGL was or why Rajaram set up the company in the state Nevada. The business was incorporated in 1999 and renewed its annual licence in December 2007.

Krishna Rajaram was enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles, as a junior majoring in business economics, spokesman Phil Hampton said.

The gated community, called Sorrento Pointe, is among several developments along curving lanes and cul-de-sacs set on the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains in Porter Ranch, about 23 miles (37 kilometers) northwest of central Los Angeles.

“It’s very quiet here,” said Ryan Ransdell, who lives across the street. “That’s what’s so shocking about this... You’d think someone would have heard it. You can hear a car door shut at night.”

Anonymous said...

Forever the BP has been trying to out people, meet people.

BP get a dog or something, we know you need lots of love.

Trudi will let you go to Deschutes every monday night, hell my wifes wishes I would get the fuck out of the house more often.

Lava is right we know most people and they know us, you want to meet people your running for office, but many people want to maintain privacy.

This is a dead horse, but homer knows, you don't want to be in the spotlight, so far we have had self inflicted suicides its only a matter of time before wackos start looking for the reason for their problem, and 'we' that have talked down the town of 'cards' are a likely candidate.

Thus bring it on BP, go public, but pleeeeeeeze don't to force your need for attention in public on to the rest of us that desire the freedom of privacy.

LavaBear said...

Treasury released the names of 23 more banks who got some TARP on January 23rd. Sorry Cracker Ass.

Anonymous said...

11/14/2008Umpqua Holdings Corp. Portland OR Purchase Preferred Stock w/Warrants $214,181,000 Par


Sounds like the data we already know, and of course they used this to buy Clark Co Bank of Vancouver,WA.

It must be nice to be chosen by the gods, for which bank lives and which dies.

Below the biggies, sort of weird, they funded state-st, who died thereafter. The floated BofA and killed them by forcing them to buy country-wide, and then for the nail in the coffin they took the guy who orchestrated the whole thing ( geithner ) and made him treasury sec.



10/28/2008Bank of America Corporation Charlotte NC Purchase Preferred Stock w/Warrants $15,000,000,000 Par 10/28/2008Bank of New York Mellon Corporation New York NY Purchase Preferred Stock w/Warrants $3,000,000,000 Par
10/28/2008Citigroup Inc. New York NY Purchase Preferred Stock w/Warrants $25,000,000,000 Par 10/28/2008The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. New York NY Purchase Preferred Stock w/Warrants $10,000,000,000 Par
10/28/2008JPMorgan Chase & Co. New York NY Purchase Preferred Stock w/Warrants $25,000,000,000 Par 10/28/2008Morgan Stanley New York NY Purchase Preferred Stock w/Warrants $10,000,000,000 Par
10/28/2008State Street Corporation Boston MA Purchase Preferred Stock w/Warrants $2,000,000,000 Par 10/28/2008Wells Fargo & Company San Francisco CA Purchase Preferred Stock w/Warrants $25,000,000,000 Par

Anonymous said...

The AP is now calling ORYGUN one of the MOST fucked places in the country.

Rural Oregon battered by recession

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORTLAND, Ore. -- One-third of the state's 36 counties have unemployment rates of at least 10 percent, the Oregon Employment Department says.

Though bleak employment trends are seen across the state, those outside the Willamette Valley have been hit hardest. Grant County, in Eastern Oregon, had the state's highest unemployment rate in December -- 15.9 percent.

The recession was triggered by loans that went bad after house prices soared well beyond what workers could afford on middle-class pay. Not surprisingly, counties reliant on wood products posted high unemployment numbers.

The jobless rate in Crook County, where wood-products manufacturing is the largest employer, reached 14 percent last month. Douglas County, also confronted by job losses in wood products, logged its highest December unemployment rate in nearly a quarter century: 12.8 percent.

"Home construction has fallen off a cliff," Joe Cortright, a Portland economist, told The Oregonian newspaper. "When housing starts plummet, related industries take a beating, too."

Early last year, Oregon's jobless rate was only 5.5 percent. Now more Oregonians are out of work than at any time since 1983.

In Southern Oregon, Jackson County's jobless figure stopped just short of double-digits in December as unemployment hit 9.9 percent.

Unemployment in the Portland metropolitan area was 8.1 percent, a full percentage point higher than it was in November.

In Lane County, which includes Eugene, the jobless rate hit 9.5 percent. It was the county's highest December rate in 24 years.

There were 17,711 people unemployed in Lane County in December -- 7,918 more than December 2007.

"With the loss of Hynix (Semiconductor Manufacturing) and the loss in wood products and some of the published losses in RV manufacturing, this has been a particularly hard year for manufacturing," state labor economist Brian Rooney said.

But rural Oregon has suffered more because it lacks a broad employer base and is more dependent on seasonal employers such as the U.S. Forest Service, said Jason Yohannan, a state economist in La Grande.

"This is a long-standing issue," he said. "It's not particular to the current recession."

Anonymous said...

http://kohd.com/news/local/84295

Anonymous said...

Wells Fargo & Company San Francisco CA Purchase Preferred Stock w/Warrants $25,000,000,000 Par

*

WF Next to fall, said to have massive commercial loans non-performing off-books, stock is supposed to fucking plummet tomorrow open.

CACB is getting dumped hard right now, barely holding at $4, ready for another free-fall.

LavaBear said...

P MOSS: GADAMMIT!!! I NEED MY TARP MONEY!!!

T GEITHNER: Hello? Ummmm who is this, please?

P MOSS:It's been MONTHS since we applied for the TARP. Everything was in order. WHERE IS IT?

T GEITHNER:Well, ummm who ARE YOU?

P MOSS: Patti Moss....you know Bend, Oregon...Cascade Bancorp...you received our application months ago!

T GEITHNER:Drawing a blank here...no wait. You said Oregon right? Aren't you the guys that pulled the computer glitch thing at year end? We are still talking about that one around here.

P MOSS:well yes. That was us. But I swear I explained all of this.

T GEITHNER:Funny stuff. You don't need to call we'll call you....click.

Anonymous said...

2/ 12/23/2008 Capital Pacific Bancorp Portland OR Purchase Preferred Stock w/ Exercised Warrants $4,000,000 Par

*

This is the only other ORYGUN bank to get CARP.

For a state with the worst un-employment in the nation, you would expect more CARP?

LavaBear said...

States with the highest unemployment rates in December 2008:

1. Michigan, 10.6 percent
2. Rhode Island, 10 percent
3. South Carolina, 9.5 percent
4. California, 9.3 percent
5. Nevada, 9.1 percent
6. Oregon, 9 percent
7. District of Columbia, 8.8 percent
8. North Carolina, 8.7 percent
9. Indiana, 8.2 percent
10. Florida, 8.1 percent

Anonymous said...

Bend folks are dropping health Insur & Auto Insur, ...

Great time to be on the road, ever had an accident with an un-insured? Result? Your fucked, never been a better time to maximize your un-insured motorist numbers.

Tight economy has some dropping car, health insurance

Posted:
Video Gallery
Strapped Central Oregonians cut insurance (1/27)
2:41
Health insurance has been struggle for many families for years - and tough economy just worsens problem
Health insurance has been struggle for many families for years - and tough economy just worsens problem

Nearly one in four locally now lack health care coverage

By Tony Fuller, KTVZ.COM

The tough economy is forcing many Central Oregonians to cut back or cancel their auto and health insurance.

It's estimated that over 6,000 children in Deschutes County do not have health insurance. And the number of drivers without auto insurance is on the rise.

For many, money's tight, and people are being forced to cut back on their expenses, but trying to save money on your auto or health insurance could cost you in the end.

Even in good times, many people drive without insurance. But when the jobless rate climbs, dropping auto insurance is one of the first things people do to try and save money.

"The most common thing you see is people that have multiple vehicles dropping their second and their third vehicles," Redmond insurance agent Travis Bennett said Tuesday. "They are not insuring their ATVs, their four-wheelers, their travel trailers."

Bennett says driving without insurance is a huge risk. Not just financially, but it's also illegal.

"If you get caught driving without insurance, it's a $242 ticket, and you also get your car impounded," he said.

And what happens if an uninsured driver gets in an accident?

"You could lose your house," Bennett said, "because someone is going to be suing you for medical bills and damage to the vehicle."

At the Volunteers in Medicine clinic in Bend, Executive Director Kat Mastrangelo is managing a long list of patients hoping to receive medical attention, even though they can t afford health insurance.

"We are currently booking out at least a couple of months for new patient eligibility," she said.

About 25 million Americans - or approximately one of every five insured adults younger than age 65 - did not have sufficient coverage last year to shield them from financial hardship if they ended up in the emergency room or were seriously ill, statistics show.

And the rising jobless rate is making the numbers worse.

"We are probably up to 20, maybe 23 percent of the population in Deschutes County that does not have health insurance at this time," Mastrangelo said.

It's a risk many Americans are taking with their health, and behind the wheel.

Thanks mostly to expanded government health coverage for children, the number of people without health insurance fell in 2007.

That same year, Oregon voters rejected a cigarette tax increase that would have raised money for uninsured children and other health care needs.

As for drivers, if you own a car and get in an accident, no matter who is at fault, you could face fines from authorities.

Anonymous said...

BB2 - BAD NEWS ALL the TIME 24/7 ... Welcome to Bend.

Anonymous said...

I'll say one thing about the AP story "THANK GOD".

About time they tell the country NOT to come to ORYGUN.

Now if we can just get the city of BEND to turn off their fucking PR&MARKETING to get the un-employed and home-less to move here.

LavaBear said...

>>>This is the only other ORYGUN bank to get CARP.

Umpqua got $214m November 14th.

LavaBear said...

>>>This is the only other ORYGUN bank to get CARP.

You said "other" so you know it was Umpqua and not CACB right? I'll assume yes but around here that's not always safe.

LavaBear said...

>>>BB2 - BAD NEWS ALL the TIME 24/7 ... Welcome to Bend.

What? Are you saying Bruce getting out once and a while and talking to people is BAD NEWS? And what about the culinary discussion early today regarding Trendy/Hip versus mainstay restaurants in town? Decent enough review of Zydeco that may even get Buster to try it once.

Anonymous said...

wydens cumming, wydens cumming, bp its wyden, oryguns poly-tick-aipac man is going to bring jobs, ...

Wyden visits Madras: 'It's all about the jobs'


By Kate Paul, KTVZ.com

It's not every day Central Oregonians have the chance to speak with a U.S. senator one on one, but Madras residents did just that Friday.

The economy seems to be on everyone's mind lately, and that's true for residents of Madras, many of whom are losing their jobs.

At the first of two town halls Sunday (the second held in Prineville), Wyden shared his ideas on how the Central Oregon economy can be helped from Capitol Hill.

Jobs, jump-starting the economy and getting out of debt: those are a few of the concerns residents in Jefferson County who gathered at the Madras fire station want help with.

"Are we going to be sucked into some kind of a Third World country?" one man asked.

On many minds was the creation of jobs and a more vibrant economy through the use of natural resources.

"Wind energy, given the approved turbines, is only doable right near the foothills," said one audience member.

Issues like that were are something the senator was sure to have views to share.

"To come up with something that's good for local government and for those that want to develop alternative energy, is to particularly reward production," Wyden said.

Wyden also talked about pushing for the stiumulus bill to include improving forest health with major thinning work and getting "merchentable timber" to mills now idled or suffering from a sharp drop in business.

"In this case, healthy forests also can mean a healthy economy," Wyden said.

He also pointed to elements of the legislation that include a big push for electronic medical records, so doctors and hospitals can share information more efficiently.

Wyden's responses offer hope to a community that's seen job cuts and layoffs month after month, including the most recent business to get hit - Bright Wood, laying off 60 workers in Madras and Redmond.

"You're feeling it. You're seeing it," Wyden said. "Everything I'm working on, I'm seeing through a sort of prism that says jobs. And it's all about the jobs."

On Saturday, Wyden visited La Pine, talking with about 60 with community members about the proposed rodeo grounds and how he can help make it happen.

The visits are part of a promise he made in 1996 to hold a town hall meeting in every county, every year.

Anonymous said...

CARP just sounds funnier than TARP, and CACB ain't getting no CARP.

Nasty bottom feeding fish, sort of like Bend banks.

Anonymous said...

In Deschutes County 9,989 people are unemployed and the state employment website only shows 63 jobs in the county

*

Great figures, here's another there are tens of thousands of empty std flippers, and only 12 people in the county who qualify for loans.

I smell squatting and soon, this many un-employed homeless Bend was over 5,000 homeless this summer, imagine now, and all these fucking empty homes.

In London its legal to move into an empty house,... it could happen here, I'll tell you that's the kind of thing that could make this Detroit overnight with $15k homes, and all you BB2 kunts would not longer have to be renters.

Anonymous said...

Decent enough review of Zydeco that may even get Buster to try it once.

*

I never ride my bike even near I97.

Anonymous said...

"Wind energy, given the approved turbines, is only doable right near the foothills," said one audience member.

###

A mr ewert of Bend told the audience of a Capstone turbine that anybody could wear. Ewert told the audience you didn't even have to be near the foothills to use his device.

Bewert said...

Change: Standing Behind a Ban on Torture
by General James P Cullen

Well worth a read.

Anonymous said...

Hey BP, I was hangin with JD the dog trainer a bit last night at the brewery, also with a physical therapist and an arborist, I am surprised every monday I go there these days how crowded it is. $3+ beer isn't cheap. Definitely diggin certain things about the depresssion here, I've got no work these days but have plenty stashed away to weather(hang out) and see this thing through. I look forward to around a 30k population here. Run into people you know everywhere you go, good stuff. I'm also looking forward to $50k westside shacks again. I'm not worried about crime in downtown Bend, try west philly in boom or bust years and you'll see a place to be afraid of at night or day for that matter. I'll look for the Alta hat next week, I might hit up Cascade tomorrow night any of you gloom and doomers up for it? I haven't been in there for two weeks or so. I hope they still have some Santa's on tap. Life is good guys life is real good were just going through a nice little cleansing process.



SP

tim said...

Yes, Oregon has a high percentage of unemployed, but we don't have much population and we don't have many big banks. There are a lot higher priorities than Oregon when you're sitting in D.C.

Anonymous said...

anyone who was here during the 30K people days is looking forward to their return. Even the tourists were cooler back then.

Anonymous said...

SP don't get me wrong "I'm not afraid", cuz mainly I really enjoy the 'homeless' I always chat with them, and compared to PDX where I go frequently to actually dine, as you can't dine in Bend in my mind, but in PDX you have to wade through homeless. I'm saying this because most people near PDX live in the burbs and will NOT go to downtown, especially at night. Bend is the same, with summer coming all these homeless will camp&hang at drake park, and drift downtown through the night. In PDX I regularly get asked for 'change' with threat's, but like Marge, I just remind they wouldn't look good with a 44Mag shoved up their ass, and they move on to an easier target. ( Just kiddin Marge, I'm a Colt-45 ACP man, Officers Model for carry. ).

Bend so far really doesn't have 'AGRESSIVE' panhandling, and in PDX they actually demand money, they don't ask. I down dress, and too most people I myself am homeless, but once most homeless think your an equal they're quite pleasant and fun to chat with.

So when I talk about 'fear' of the homeless I'm referring to the Burb fear, and NOTE virtually all of Bend lives in the Burb's, and thus they'll fear the coming 'agressive' panhandler, in the past with so few it didn't matter to be aggressive, but with competition, e.g. enormous numbers of beggars comes aggressiveness, especially those so silly to dress-up or drive nice cars. I always bike on old bike or walk when downtown.

Anonymous said...

I go there these days how crowded it is. $3+ beer isn't cheap

###

Wildfire @ KC's for $2/pint everyday 4-6pm.

There's lots of GOOD cheap beer in Bend.

I find that BBC (tue) & CascadeB (wed) really suck compared to DesB(mon). CascadeB is just a weird client'el its like burb-men from BT, but all bachelors, really fucking pathetic, most people at DesB are fun, and haven't given up on life. BBC well the beer is ok, but the food is so fucking greasy, and the bar is so small for those of us who just stand around.

You can always get a stool at CasB, but the problem is nobody is there, the kids don't come until after 8pm, before that its all old farts, and unlike DesB you never see young girls hang-out. CasB trys to 're-invent' itself, its just a loser location, and did I mention that fucking CALI menu.

It's NOT real CasB, the real one in Redmond by the FredMeyer on I97, they got good food and good people 24/7, if Bend had a 'brew-bus' I would go there more often. At CB in Redmond they got meth-heads in the back, cowboys at the bar, rednecks all over, and a few nerds like us, and tons of local gals hang out there so you don't have to look at some fucking beer bellied truck driver. Oh, and good beer. But the CasB in BEND @ chandler&14th, they just fucked that place, and made it CALI people, CALI menu, ... I HATE CALI, if wanted that shit I would go to a TGIF in CALI.

SP&BP need to get a room or a dog, I really think that if these rock pissers couldn't talk behind a curtain they wouldn't say what they think, you become 'buddies' and then you can't say what you think, but hell BP's running for office so he need's to build a little pussy-army, and rally some troops,...

I'm not even drinking this week after mon desB, too much work to do, maybe next week I'll have time to drink.

'KEEP IT FUN, KEEP IT YOUNG'

I remember when micro-brew started given that SP brings up that $3 for a beer is lot, but remember desB is a real 20oz pint, and most places are serving pints in a glass that a 12oz bottle would fill, thus if you want to apple&orange your really paying $1.50 for a mcMen/BBC/Cas COMP.

FUN, back in the early 1980's when micro-brew was legalized in ORYGUN, it was all young guys and gals, it was fun, no old fucking losers feeling sorry for themselves. If you want to hang with a bunch of self-pitying, 'learned helpless Bend hopeless, pre suicide' there's lots of places in Bend for that shit.

The thing is to keep it fun.

Even now with the economy going to shit, most kids will have fun, if they know the good stuff in life is free. It's only the people who are all wrapped up into money and shopping that get really fucked, but those kinds of people weren't having fun in the first place.

So my point is if we're going to talk brew-pubs in BEND, we got to talk fun, another fun place to hang, and haven't done it much this winter is the back-fire pits hidden at mcMenamins in the back the "Kanes" I think they call it, never a tourist back there and always a mix of you guy & gals having fun standing around near the fire pits, happy hour 4-6 cheap pints 7days/wk.

A agree with what Homer said two years ago, when this is all over, and all the shit has blown over that would be a good time for a beer, until then its best that people don't know each other. Homer knows the essential truth that life & health is tenuous.

SP&BP will tell you they fear nothing, but that doesn't allow you to say what you really think in public.

Anonymous said...

Life is good guys life is real good were just going through a nice little cleansing process.

*

So are you really the SP, how did you escape BENDBB?, he usually never lets his flock out alive.

We all know its a 'cleansing process', but its going to take years, and we're only at the beginning.

Above I think Bill Gates said 5-10 years this will take, but given Bend's +2 lag, I would put the nail on the head of about 8years, and start the clock at about 2007 for th top, so 2015; that's ok, I for a long time have said 2016 at the min. That's based on resets ending in 2012, and recovery from that 1-2 years, and then toss in Orygon lag.

One other FUCKING ITEM, I remember when I told my old man back in the late 50's early 60's I was moving to ORYGUN he said "Orygun has NEVER been a working mans town".

There you fucking have it, but I didn't listen to my old man I guess, cuz I didn't care about 'jobs', I was a wheeler-dealer, I didn't like that moniker when I was young, but its true. A social-darwinian can survive anywhere. My point is ALL this fucking crying about jobs in ORYGUN and over +10% employment. The only day they ever had jobs in ORYGUN when is when their was fish at the coast ( now long gone ), and trees in the Valley ( now long gone ).

High-Tech came here in the 80's for cheap power(boneville), cheap water, and cheap white labor. The Fab's are being mothballed today.

ORGYUN always has been and always will be a SHITTY place for people who have to work.

If you MUST work, then leave.

YES, SP 30k population in Bend. I guess we can all dream.

Anonymous said...

OK, back to DOOM&GLOOM, here's something I talk about every once in awhile, but like all subjects, the KUNTS were ready for absorption.

Lot's of city's across the USA have already BK'd from the fact that they SOLD muni-CDO's, cash up front insurance, or bought CDO's as insurance, cuz their 'city manager' told them either way, today its estimated $400B loss, never been able to determine if BEND in anyway BOUGHT&SOLD MUNI-CDO's. If they did it could add a whole other light to BEND's BK, and the ultimate calamity coming to us all.

***

California Probes Muni Derivatives as Deficit Mounts (Update1)

By William Selway and Martin Z. Braun

Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- California is investigating whether Wall Street banks and financial advisers conspired to overcharge local governments for derivative contracts tied to municipal bonds, a state official said.

The antitrust investigation, with Connecticut and Florida launching similar efforts, follows inquiries by the U.S. Justice Department and class action lawsuits by cities from Oakland to Baltimore. They claim banks and advisers cost taxpayers money by rigging bids or fixing prices on financial contracts.

The investigations center on the investments that schools, states and cities buy with the proceeds of some of the $400 billion of municipal bonds they sell annually and on the interest-rate swaps designed to guard against swings in borrowing costs, authorities have said. Financial advisers are hired to solicit bids for the investments and to determine if their government clients pay fair rates in swaps, which are unregulated instruments not traded on exchanges.

States “almost have no choice but to join in because it involves their towns and cities and maybe even the states themselves,” said Christopher “Kit” Taylor, the former executive director of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, the municipal bond industry regulator. “They’re sitting there saying this is a situation where we may have been taken.”

Continuing Probes

Christine Gasparac, a spokeswoman for California Attorney General Jerry Brown, confirmed California’s participation. She declined to comment further. The probe comes as the most- populous U.S. state and the biggest issuer of municipal debt struggles to close a record $42 billion deficit through next year and faces credit rating cuts on $67 billion of debt.

Connecticut has had a continuing probe. “Our investigation is active and ongoing,” Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has sent out 38 subpoenas asking firms for information on sales of derivatives, including guaranteed investment contracts, where governments place money raised from bond sales until it is needed for projects, said Sandi Copes, a spokeswoman for McCollum.

Among the documents Florida requested were bids and communications between the firms and financial advisers related to the purchase or sale of municipal derivatives, according to the subpoena.

Copes declined to comment further, citing the pending investigation.

U.S. prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission have searched for more than two years for evidence of collusion between banks and brokers to overcharge cities, states and local government agencies.

Winning Leniency

In February 2007, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp. was granted leniency by the Justice Department for its cooperation in a national investigation of bid-rigging and price fixing involving municipal derivatives.

In exchange for voluntarily providing information and offering continuing cooperation, the Justice Department agreed not to bring criminal antitrust charges against the bank.

Derivatives are contracts whose value is derived from assets including stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities, or from events such as changes in interest rates or the weather.

“This is a trillion-dollar market, and this goes back to the 1980s,” said Michael D. Hausfeld, an antitrust lawyer representing municipalities, including Fairfax County, Virginia, in a class-action case against 30 banks.

Rigged Bids

Investigators are looking into whether bidding for guaranteed investment contracts was rigged. U.S. Internal Revenue Service rules require that the agreements be awarded by competitive bidding from at least three banks.

Eight California municipalities, including Los Angeles, Fresno and San Diego County, filed civil class-action, or group lawsuits. The suits, most of which were consolidated with others in U.S. District Court in New York City, allege that banks colluded by deliberately losing bids in exchange for winning one in the future, providing so-called courtesy bids, secretly compensating losing bidders and allowing banks to see other bids.

Brokers participated in the collusion by facilitating communication among banks and sharing in illegal profits, the civil class-action suits allege.

Three advisers to local governments, CDR Financial Products Inc., Sound Capital Management Inc. and Investment Management Advisory Group Inc., were searched by the FBI in November 2006. More than a dozen banks and insurers were subpoenaed and former bankers at New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bear Stearns & Cos. and UBS AG of Zurich were advised over the past year that they may face criminal charges.

New Mexico

Now, federal prosecutors are investigating whether New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s administration steered about $1.5 million in bond advisory work to CDR, which donated $100,000 to Richardson’s political committees.

CDR also advised Jefferson County, Alabama, on more than $5 billion of municipal bond and derivative deals. A combination of soaring rates on the bonds and interest-rate swaps is threatening the county with a bankruptcy that would exceed Orange County, California’s default in 1994. Jefferson County paid JPMorgan and a group of banks $120.2 million in fees for derivatives that were supposed to protect it from the risk of rising interest rates.

Those fees were about $100 million more than they should have been based on prevailing rates, according to James White, an adviser the county hired in 2007, after the SEC said it was investigating the deals.

CDR spokesman Allan Ripp has said the company stands by the pricing of the swaps and said White’s estimates were incorrect because they didn’t take into account the county’s credit profile, collateral provisions between the county and the banks and the precise time of the derivative trades.

Anonymous said...

The OREO still stands behind Israel on the issue of Palestinian genocide.

Anonymous said...

p.s. fuck this gold-bug shit, but the guy is right about muni debt,

I don't think this thing will fall below t-bill or FRN, cuz before that happens they'll create a new currency, which is the plan all along, and why they had to have Geithner,

See folks Geithner has been plugging a one world currency ran out of Israel forever, its why OREO put together the team, and why AIPAC load their first US black prez, ...

Hopefully it will not transpire, but so what like I told you all long ago, get out of the fucking dollar, yuan, euro anything, ...

But 'gold' most of this gold these days is paper gold, and thus will also be worthless, as all the paper is MADE-OFF paper. Real gold,what the fuck are you going to do with it? Buy gas?

Canned food, and ammo will buy more commodities than a gold coin, I don't think it will get that bad, but from a survivalist point of view gold in its pure form is not liquid in an area of poor hungry people.

I'm just saying the above, cuz sadly most of the articles like the above are selling something, and these kinds are selling gold ETF's, more folks using the panic to take money from idiots.

But they do have a point and that is its all going down, stocks, muni-debt, bonds, ... all

Anonymous said...

ALERT BLOGGER FODDER - OREO's 'GIANT THEFT ACT'

Feel the love 12% of the $800B will go to 'stimulus' the rest will go to the people who got the OREO elected. Well PUG's, they're just imitating you.

The Democratic Porkfest Bill of 2009

posted at 9:30 am on January 28, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

The Wall Street Journal calls it the “40-year Wish List”. Michelle calls it the “Generational Theft Act”. Others have started calling it the Obama-Pelosi-Reid Debt Act. Whatever name one gives it, the least likely is stimulus. The WSJ calculates that no more than 12 cents on the dollar in the trillion-dollar whale goes to actual economic stimulus, and that the rest go to Democratic wish lists for electoral advantage:

We’ve looked it over, and even we can’t quite believe it. There’s $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn’t turned a profit in 40 years; $2 billion for child-care subsidies; $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts; $400 million for global-warming research and another $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects. There’s even $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons.

In selling the plan, President Obama has said this bill will make “dramatic investments to revive our flagging economy.” Well, you be the judge. Some $30 billion, or less than 5% of the spending in the bill, is for fixing bridges or other highway projects. There’s another $40 billion for broadband and electric grid development, airports and clean water projects that are arguably worthwhile priorities.

Add the roughly $20 billion for business tax cuts, and by our estimate only $90 billion out of $825 billion, or about 12 cents of every $1, is for something that can plausibly be considered a growth stimulus. And even many of these projects aren’t likely to help the economy immediately. As Peter Orszag, the President’s new budget director, told Congress a year ago, “even those [public works] that are ‘on the shelf’ generally cannot be undertaken quickly enough to provide timely stimulus to the economy.”

The bill contains a hefty increase in subsidies for public transportation. Will that stimulate the economy? Not really, but it does protect public-sector jobs, almost all union positions, and that helps Democrats get more union money. It’s the Democratic Party Stimulus Act, not a recipe for economic revival.

The Journal discovers another “lu-lu” in public transportation, but not the kind you’d expect. Congress wants to spend $600 million on new cars for federal agencies. Do you have the money to buy a new car in 2009? Well, you won’t if this bill passes, but apparently a few thousand federal employees will enjoy that luxury, thanks to your tax dollars.

Remember when Barack Obama promised to end ineffective government programs in his inaugural speech? That was just eight days ago. Apparently, we’ve hit the expiration date:

As for the promise of accountability, some $54 billion will go to federal programs that the Office of Management and Budget or the Government Accountability Office have already criticized as “ineffective” or unable to pass basic financial audits. These include the Economic Development Administration, the Small Business Administration, the 10 federal job training programs, and many more.

The Department of Education gets a whopping $66 billion in this bill. In 2001, the federal government spent $35 billion in total in the Department of Education, and by 2006 the Bush administration raised it to $85 billion, almost tripling the outlay. Now Congress wants to add $66 billion on top of what we’ve already budgeted for the DoE, a figure that almost doubles the entire 2001 DoE budget from just eight years ago. Will it stimulate the economy? Not at all. It pays off a Democratic Party constituency.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

In Deschutes County 9,989 people are unemployed and the state employment website only shows 63 jobs in the county

*

Great figures, here's another there are tens of thousands of empty std flippers, and only 12 people in the county who qualify for loans.

I smell squatting and soon, this many un-employed homeless Bend was over 5,000 homeless this summer, imagine now, and all these fucking empty homes.


Remember, my homeless brethern: The snow is your friend. It helps identify the empties... no tire tracks in the driveway, no footprints to the door. Cheap STD quality assures easy entry, cheap doorlocks.

Anonymous said...

So does anyone know what happened to this-- http://crownpointnb.com/--?
Looked like the got a lot of local seed money (even from a guy named Moss) but I haven't heard anything since about Oct. Nice time to start a bank guys. I have a feeling it's gone away.

Anonymous said...

Financing a new bank
Bend startup makes its pitch to investors, saying its timing is ‘extremely fortuitous’
By Andrew Moore / The Bulletin
Published: October 17. 2008 4:00AM PST

In Deschutes County, the five biggest banks by FDIC deposits are, in order:
•Bank of the Cascades
•Chase Bank (formerly Washington Mutual)
•U.S. Bank
•Wells Fargo Bank
•LibertyBank
Source: FDIC

While some in Central Oregon watched the presidential debate Wednesday evening, approximately 100 people were at The Riverhouse Convention Center in Bend debating whether to invest in a new bank.

Crown Point National Bank, a federally chartered community bank currently organizing in Bend, is seeking investors to help it raise the $30 million in capital it requires before its planned opening in mid-February. The bank would be headquartered in Bend, with an additional branch in Portland.

Crown Point would join Bank of the Cascades, founded in 1977, and High Desert Bank, founded in 2007, as the only banks with headquarters in Bend.

After dining on catered appetizers and ordering from the hosted bar Wednesday, the invitees sat down to hear Crown Point’s president and CEO, Andrew Gerlicher, introduce the bank’s management team and explain why — despite the current economic climate — he thinks now is a good time to invest in a bank.

“Right now, everyone is looking for loans, and we’ll have liquidity and a clean balance sheet,” Gerlicher said.

The bank has been in organization since November 2007, founded by Sisters resident Elijah Aldinger and 42 other initial founders who put up $4 million to fund its startup.

Aldinger, a Southern Californian who owned a mortgage company before moving to Sisters, said he had the idea to start the bank and then hired an executive recruiter to find a management team. Most members of Crown Point’s management team are longtime bankers from the Pacific Northwest.

“A clean balance sheet and fresh capital in this market, it pretty much speaks for itself,” Aldinger said.

Gerlicher stressed that the bank is not being formed to take advantage of the current financial situation. But the bank’s timing is “extremely fortuitous,” he said.

“We have the benefit of learning from others who are in trouble today, but this is not a moment-in-time opportunity. We’re about building relationships,” Gerlicher said.

Linda Navarro, president of the Oregon Bankers Association, said that despite the challenges in the current economy, Central Oregon and Portland remain attractive places to grow a community bank and a bank can benefit those communities.

“They are raising funds in the local community, and local investors in the bank are helping a bank get off the ground that can take deposits and lend them back to the local community. It’s a great way to ensure plenty of credit opportunities exist in the community,” Navarro said.

The bank is seeking minimum investments of $25,000, which equates to 2,500 shares, and has no plans for a public stock offering.

In its book of frequently asked questions presented to potential investors, the bank says it wants to build a “financial institution that embodies a personal and responsive banking experience” and doesn’t currently have plans to sell, but “recognizes the opportunity for profit and that consolidation within the industry often generates favorable returns for startup bank shareholders.”

According to Gerlicher and the bank’s prospectus for the offering, available online at www .crownpointnb.com, the investment would be put into an interest-bearing escrow account which would then be rolled into the bank upon opening. Should the bank not open, the money would be returned to investors, with interest, he said.

However, Gerlicher said the bank expects to open as planned and reach profitability by its third year of operation. He said investors should consider their investment long-term and not expect to liquidate their position for roughly five years.

“People shouldn’t come into this if they need all their money back in a few years; it’s not realistic,” Gerlicher said Thursday in an interview with The Bulletin.

‘Absolutely intriguing’

At Wednesday’s event before Gerlicher spoke, Bend resident Guy Coleman discussed why he had come. A marketing director for local company VocalBooth .com as well as a small-business owner, Coleman said he had never invested in a bank before, but he found it “absolutely intriguing someone would take a risk in this environment.”

“I’ve always seen that those who zig when others zag tend to be successful, or come out of trouble with better market share,” Coleman said.

Also in attendance was Philip Hamilton, of Bend. A mortgage banker who has invested in local banks in the past, including Bank of the Cascades, he said new banks are a great investment opportunity.

“You are the new guy, with no history, no debt. It’s all potential,” Hamilton said.

In his presentation, Gerlicher cited a number of banking statistics to sway potential investors. Among these were Sept. 5 data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that said of the 2,479 commercial banks opened nationwide since 1990, only 11 have failed, equal to a 0.4 percent failure rate.

Through Thursday, the FDIC has closed 15 banks nationwide this year.

The FDIC does not insure bank shares.

Citing Deschutes County demographic data, Gerlicher also said the bank would be well-positioned to capitalize on the region’s growth. Gerlicher said FDIC deposits in Deschutes County have grown 169 percent since 1997.

The bank would be a full-service bank with special focus on business customers, including companies with as much as $75 million in revenues. Gerlicher said the bank would have plenty of competition but would distinguish itself by offering exceptional customer service.

It’s about the people

Added board member Mike Peters, “In banking, there’s not a lot of new ideas, so it’s about execution and the people.”

After the presentation, Hamilton wasn’t able to say if he was ready to invest in the bank. He said he had some questions about how a bank can distinguish itself with customer service since most banks attempt that already, but he thought the low bank failure rate was intriguing and that Crown Point had assembled a “pretty compelling” management team.

“That’s the most important thing, when all is said and done,” Hamilton said.

Gerlicher is spending much of his time soliciting potential investors. More presentations are scheduled next week in Sisters, as well as several more in Portland the following week.

Andrew Moore can be reached at 541-617-7820 or amoore@bendbulletin.com.

Anonymous said...

"investors led by Sisters resident Elijah Aldinger"

New bank awaits approval [The Bulletin, Bend, Ore.]

Aug. 11--Pending regulatory approval, Bend could soon be home to a new nationally chartered bank.

A group of investors led by Sisters resident Elijah Aldinger has proposed creating a full-service commercial bank that would be headquartered in downtown Bend with a branch in Portland. The proposed bank, which would be called Crown Point National Bank, would specialize in servicing the banking needs of small businesses, said the bank's president and CEO, Andrew Gerlicher.

"This is a great place to open a bank," Gerlicher said. "People are discovering Bend, have been and continue to, and the opportunities are real and, we think, dependable."

Gerlicher said the bank has 43 founders who have pooled more than $4 million to fund the bank's organization, and that additional capital would likely come from a public stock offering sometime after the bank gains regulatory approval. Gerlicher estimates the bank will open by the first quarter of 2009.

Despite the current economic climate, Gerlicher said, it's a great time to open a bank. While many banks have slashed their lending in the wake of the housing and credit fallout, falling real estate prices have created demand for loans, which presents opportunities for banks with clean balance sheets, he said.

Gerlicher said the bank is not being created to take advantage of the current situation but because it believes in the long-term potential of the Bend and Portland markets.

"The things we're hearing in the news are temporary things ... cycles tend to work their way through issues, so you really want to look beyond that and not hang the whole prospectus of the enterprise on a point of time," Gerlicher said. "It's the overall demographic changes, the continued growth and the people moving in, and, really, in Oregon in general. The same trends can be seen in the Portland market, so this is a long-term business that has a long-term view."

The bank has applied for a national charter with the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which requires the applicant to include the word "national" in its name or the abbreviated suffix "N.A.," which stands for "national association." Banks without a federal charter are chartered by states.

Gerlicher, an attorney with 25 years of experience working for Umpqua Bank, West Coast Trust Co. and First Interstate Bank, said the bank chose a national charter partly due to his and other Crown Point executives' experience in dealing with federal regulatory agencies.

Gerlicher said the differences between federally chartered and state-chartered banks are small.

The bank's headquarters will be in the former Washington Mutual Home Loan Center in downtown Bend, at 956 N.W. Bond St. Washington Mutual closed its home loan centers across the country in March, according to Darcy Donahoe-Wilmot, vice president of national public relations, Northwest bureau, for Washington Mutual.

Renovations on the bank's future home, at the corner of Bond Street and Oregon Avenue, are under way. Gerlicher said dedication to customer service and a community bank mentality will attract customers in a crowded field of banks downtown.

"Local businesses, I've found, prefer to work with people who they can get in touch with in person and who can give them the immediate, intelligent response to their requests," Gerlicher said. "We're going to hire experienced and seasoned bankers, and help these businesses get that level of personal service, to be able to talk to someone on the other end of the line."

Though it plans to specialize in small-business banking, Crown Point also will offer home and personal loans, and checking and savings accounts, and its deposits will be secured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Gerlicher said.

The bank expects to finalize a Portland location in coming months.

Should it be approved, Crown Point will join the Bank of the Cascades, founded in 1977, and High Desert Bank, founded in 2007, as the only banks with headquarters in Bend.

Linda Navarro, president and CEO of the Oregon Bankers Association, isn't surprised a new bank is opening in Bend. The region's demographics make the area attractive, and speak to the fact that there's a strong future for community banking in Bend and elsewhere, she said.

"Banks continue to provide viable services to their communities ... and even with consolidation in the banking industry, new banks continue to organize because there is a place for community banks, especially in local communities where management and employees are centralized in the community," Navarro said. "They truly embody the definition of serving and growing a community."

To see more of The Bulletin, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bendbulletin.com

Anonymous said...

Andy Gerlicher Trustee Attorney for Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt

600 SW Columbia , Suite 3210( 06/00 to Present )

*

This guy is the same guy that put together the double-secret probation 'sales agreement' @ juniper-ridge.

Obviously BEND needs its own bank, ran by its own 'chosen lawyers'. SWW remember that firm, cuz its firm loved by the chosen companys.

Anonymous said...

Umpqua Bank senior vice president and area manager Andy Gerlicher has been overseeing Umpqua's Central Oregon expansion since September 2003.

*

Well ASK no more, CACB is toast and the boyz from UMPQUA have a new regional bank that replaces CACB.

What more needs to be said?

Anonymous said...

Despite the current economic climate, Gerlicher said, it,s a great time to open a bank.While many banks have slashed their lending in the wake of the housing and credit fallout, falling real estate prices have created demand for loans, which presents opportunities for banks with clean balance sheets, he said.

*

HELL YES, bankrupt a city, and the current banks are BK'd, and then create a new bank with a clean balance sheet that can pick and choose, ... this is how the rich got richer, and get richer, and everyone else around here picks their ass and looks for a 'job'.

Anonymous said...

http://crownpointnb.com/

*

Works great, and informative.

Anonymous said...

Aldinger, a Southern Californian who owned a mortgage company before moving to Sisters, said he had the idea to start the bank and then hired an executive recruiter to find a management team. Most members of Crown Point’s management team are longtime bankers from the Pacific Northwest.

“A clean balance sheet and fresh capital in this market, it pretty much speaks for itself,” Aldinger said.

*

yes, another JEFF&RAY show arrives to bend, and says "He this could be the next South-Calif", ... yes we all know.

Anonymous said...

Yep, Gary Moss is on there, hell they have to do something with that $200k/yr they get from MDU aka Knife-River.

http://crownpointnb.com/directors.php

Executive Management

* Andrew J. Gerlicher: President & Chief Executive Officer
* Jesse D. Averette: Chief Credit Officer
* William "Bill" F. Henle: Chief Operating Officer
* Donald Kalkofen: Chief Financial Officer


Together, this management team has over 110 years of professional experience in the banking industry. These four men with their combined knowledge have been directly responsible for the management, safekeeping, and growth of billions of dollars throughout the Oregon banking community. Their experience and dedication to the industry is proven. Their knowledge of the market and financial landscape is prudential. Through perception, learning and reasoning these four visionaries have chosen the dynamic flourishing regions of Central Oregon and Portland to launch their next successful venture, that is Crown Point National Bank (In Organization).
Bank Directors

* Charles D. Brummel: Proposed Chairman of the Board
* Carl E. Berg: Proposed Director
* Kyle D. Cummings: Proposed Director
* Andrew J. Gerlicher: President / C.E.O. / Director
* Robert T. Jett: Proposed Director
* Michael M. Peters: Proposed Director
* Blake N. Weber: Proposed Director
* Gail Woodworth: Proposed Director

Bank Founders

* Elijah Aldinger: Initial Founder
* Lauren Aldinger
* Joanne Andersen
* Frank Aranda
* Russel Bartels
* Carl E. Berg
* Tucker Bierbaum, M.D.
* Drew Bledsoe
* John D. Bradley
* Charles Brock
* Bruce Brothers
* Charles D. Brummel
* Dale Campbell
* Kyle D. Cummings
* John (Jack) W. Cuniff
* Mark Eisenzimmer
* Greg Everson
* Andrew Gerlicher
* Sandy Goodsell
* Robert T. Jett
* Tim and Anne Kizziar

* James Knapp
* Kevin Marks
* Roy Moore
* Gary Moss
* Jason Nelson
* Michael M. Peters
* Quay Richerson
* Barry Rowe
* Jeff and Catherine Saul
* Susan Schildknecht
* Paul Schneider
* Cheryl Scileppi
* Torrey Sharp
* Greta Sorum
* Dale Walker
* Marcus Walker
* Michael Ward
* Blake N. Weber
* Eric Weber
* Jami Lyn Weber
* Todd Weitzman

Anonymous said...

We can place bets, but given that MOSS is an investor, and with the TR over 30 for CACB, its going down. Given that all the 'brains' behind CPNB are UPMQUA, one of gods chosen banks.

My bet, and I'll bet you KUNTS a $1, is that CPNB gets the CACB clients, and UMPQUA pays the bill, or provides credit references.

Just look at the 'players' on this list.

Anonymous said...

* Drew Bledsoe

###

This guy is always there when people are losing money.

Anonymous said...

Added board member Mike Peters, “In banking, there’s not a lot of new ideas, so it’s about execution and the people.”

*

The only new idea, is that today if you lose money on stupid bets, you can pass your loss to the tax payer and keep playing the 'bank lottery' forever.

Heads I win, Tails you lose.

Who would have guessed.

Open a new 'fresh bank' today, and get OREO CARP, $800B coming to you soon.

Did anyone see the caveat? After the $800B, there isn't anymore coming, the USA is BEND BROKE.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Lane D. Lyons (Summit 1031 Exchange Owner Also), (Zip code: 97702) $300 to NATIONAL ... Mr. Elijah G Aldinger (Northwestern Home Loans Incorporate), ...

*

Think about this, NW Home Loans Inc, and the RNC all in one mouthful. Who would have guessed?

Why? HBM how much did you give to the RNC??

Anonymous said...

Superior Pitbulls

21 Ponte Sonata, Lake Elsinore, CA 92532-0236

Contact Phone: (949) 290-0975
URL (web address):
Business Category: Animal Services in Lake Elsinore, CA
Industry (SIC): Animal Specialty Services, Except Veterinary
Business Information

This company profile is for the private company Superior Pitbulls, located in Lake Elsinore, CA. Superior Pitbulls's line of business is animal services.
Company Name: Superior Pitbulls
Is This Your Company?
Address: 21 Ponte Sonata, Lake Elsinore, CA 92532-0236 (Map)
Alt Business Name:
Location Type: Single Location
Est. Annual Sales: $50,000
Est. # of Employees: 1
Est. Empl. at Loc.: 1
Year Started: 2003
State of Incorp:
SIC #Code: 0752
Contact's Name: Elijah G Aldinger
Contact's Title: Owner
NAICS: Support Activities for Animal Production

Anonymous said...

What do you get when you mix banks, pitbulls, nfl-footballers, money, calis, and pugs, and throw tons of 1031 money to the RNC?? YOU get a new bank.

St Paddy said...

O'kanes (back bar/pub) McMennamins is definitely one of my favorites of anywhere I've ever drank, my next favorite is a little place in old city Philadelphia called Monks tavern it's been there for 175 years and they only tap Belgium brews floated freshly across the pond.
What I meant about the $3+ beers at Deschutes is that it's surprising that so many people are up for spending that kind of money in such desperate times.I guess more people are medicating. Deschutes is the best beer in town, as far as atmosphere it's so so. I go there because it's just what I've been doing since I lived in a tent out in Tumalo and I'd ride my bike to town and have someone to talk to. I do tend to gravitate toward the east end of the bar near the tanks, where all the lifer deschutes drinkers hang out. I have to say 7th street is the coolest pub in CO hands down, when I'm in Redmond I always pay homage to the place. If you want to look at chicks deschutes isn't really the place, think JC's on the right night and that's where the local talent can be found and when I say talent I definitely am not referring to the brewer of Ten Barrel/Wildfire.

I have to confess guy's, I'm slightly addicted to this blog for several reasons, it's definitely educational on many levels as well as disfunctional with all the whacked out personalities (reminds me of growing up at grandma's house with my 5 fucked up uncles outside philly, depending on what drugs they were on you never knew who you were gonna get on any given day) I despise politcal correctness and feel there is very little of it here. I'm behind you Doh' on no fucking control of posting ,beautiful things are born of pain and disfunction it's fuckin called "Nature" Even the AIPAC shit, I bet there's some fukkers on here who were enlightened by it just a bit. You'll never hear any of that shit on the nightly news. It's funny though, all of my relatives in the old country(Europe; Holland Germany) have known for years about all of that shit. Us dumb Americans have been too busy with our heads up our own asses getting spoon fed dynamic nightly news for too, long. Hopefully they don't figure out how to control the blogosphere anytime soon.

You guys talking about dangerous neighborhoods in Bend or Portland give away the fact that you've never spent much time in any cities east of the Mississippi. Just like Doh' was talking about, Native Oregonians have no clue what racism or racial tension means, other than what you read or saw on the news, this place in it's most desperate times is a walk in the park for any east coaster, the culture is soft and passive (passive aggressive in some instances) but nevertheless soft, and I like it that way. Bend is a friendly place. I don't give a shit what the fukkers at the city do, they're politicians they fuck things up, isn't that what their purpose is? To the parnoid dude afraid to meet anyone on here, there is medication available to help you with that problem. The concept of community is no accident, it's a form of survival, strength in numbers. If you've been in Bend your entire life you need to get out for a while and gain some introspect on the world.

Flame on boys.

Cascade at 5pm tonight!
role call

St Paddy in

(as long as the wife doesn't pull my hall pass lol)

Anonymous said...

SP,

The problem is you haven't been here for 2-1/2 years, I was raised in the 50's in all black east-la near watts, I went to an all black high school. I know all about the east coast, and all the good hoods near philly and boston. I think homer is from the east-coast.

We try to stick to Bend. I agree BEND & PDX are fucking safe, hell when I first moved to ORYGUN it just blew me away you could walk around at night ANYWHERE, and its still that way. It's all relative, yes, where I grew up there were streets of certain death after dark.


I don't think of any of 'us' are afraid, again I'm speaking more for the ten's of thousands of Burb people in Bend who live in fear of color ...

Yes, its refreshing that we can talk about anything, like the wife, where I'm limited to talking about nothing, given that she's extremely politically correct, I guess that is why in this virtual environment its fun to be so fucking non-politically correct.

Good that nobody this week is demanding that homer be like BEBB and lock the comments down.

So we don't talk about race and night fear much in other places, cuz its all been hashed before.

Anonymous said...

Nine reasons why OREO is MORE BUSH THAN BUSH.

***

1. Obama’s silence during and after US made planes and bombs were used against civilians and children in Gaza. The Israelis broke a signed obligation to respect a US law which restricts the use of military aid to defensive employ. Representative Dennis Kucinich brought this to the attention of Congress.

2. Obama insulted the Vietnamese, angry U.S. veterans, and the millions of decent Americans who opposed what Martin Luther King Jr. called "a crime against humanity, referring in his inaugural address to "those who fought and died for us at Khe Sahn", Vietnam. (see OpEdNews, Jan. 23, 2009)

Mr. President, They Did Not Die For Us When Killing Vietnamese in Khe Sahn, Vietnam

3. Also in his inaugural address, grossly slighting Native-Americans by hailing the the march westward of early Europeans who came to this continent as having done it “for us”, insensitively discounting the racist, savage and homicidal conduct of those Europeans, who in their ignorance too often sought to exterminate the noble nations of the indigenous population of America, stealing their land and forcing them on to reservations.

4. At the State Department, while speaking of security for the state of Israel, Obama made no mention of the dire state of Arab Palestinians over the last sixty years since an unfair partition of the British mandate was forced upon them - nor recognition of the history of Palestinian Arab suffering to this day from the occupations, blockades, illegal settlements and Israeli irresponsibility as an occupying power. No change yet from the one sided and unfair stance of earlier administrations.

5.. Obama's stimulus package is being ridiculed by some of his greatest promoters. MSNBC prime time commentator Rachel Maddow gave detailed satiric and graphic attention to its large tax breaks and much smaller infrastructure spending.

China reacted quickly to the economic collapse of the West on November 9th, at a time when major infrastructure projects were being put off around the world. The New York Stock Market climbed approvingly as China announced it would spend an estimated $586 billion over the next two years — roughly 7 percent of its gross domestic product each year — to construct new railways, subways and airports and to rebuild communities.

Most Americans were expecting Obama to immediately create an infrastructure plan reminiscent of FDR’s Works Projects Administration during the great depression of the 1930s.

6. New York Times, Jan. 24, reports Obama's Secretary of Treasury Geithner accusing China of currency manipulation, as has Obama, and getting a sharp answer from the Chinese. Blaming China for America's malfeasance in managing its own economy does not sound intelligent, especially when China is also suffering, but less, for the U.S. and European fraudulent banking debacle. Confronting China while asking for her help?

7. Even more heartbreaking and disappointing is the continuing of U.S. air attacks on Pakistan territory, a supposed ally, whose president and legislature have in the past angrily condemned the strikes as a criminal and merciless taking of civilian lives, and as counterproductive to both countries aims. No change from Bush. (We had hoped candidate Obama was only just talking tough about bombing Pakistan, confronting a militarist John McCain.

"President orders air strikes on villages in tribal area" Ewen MacAskill in Washington, The Guardian, Saturday 24 January 2009

"Barack Obama gave the go-ahead for his first military action yesterday, missile strikes against suspected militants in Pakistan which killed at least 18 people."

Is it now Obama who has set himself up for war crime charges - violating the U.S. Constitution, U.N. Charter, International Treaties, etc.?

8. "Afghan president: 'US forces killed 16 civilians'” by Jason Straziuso and Rahim Faiez, Associated Press Writers Jan 25

'KABUL, Afghanistan – President Hamid Karzai condemned a U.S. operation he said killed 16 Afghan civilians, while hundreds of villagers denounced the American military during an angry demonstration Sunday."

“Karzai said the killing of innocent Afghans during U.S. military operations "is strengthening the terrorists." He also announced that his Ministry of Defense sent Washington a draft technical agreement that seeks to give Afghanistan more oversight over U.S. military operations. The same letter has also been sent to NATO headquarters.
Karzai in recent weeks has increasingly lashed out at his Western backers over the issue of civilian casualties, ...
Karzai's latest criticism follows a Saturday raid in Laghman province. ... The U.S. military said '"We are sorry for this incident and after this we are going to coordinate our operations with Afghan forces,"
Karzai last week told parliament that the U.S. and NATO have not heeded his calls to stop air strikes in civilian areas. Karzai has recently sought to have more control over what kinds of activities U.S. and NATO forces can carry out. According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press last week, the draft technical agreement Karzai's government sent to Washington and NATO headquarters calls for:
• The deployment of additional U.S. or NATO troops and their location carried out only with Afghan government approval.
• Full coordination between Afghan and NATO defense authorities "at the highest possible level for all phases of military and ground operations."
• House searches and detention operations to be carried out only by Afghan security forces.

... the U.S. military has also been known to not fully acknowledge when it killed civilians. After a battle in August in the village of Azizabad ... The Afghan government and the U.N. said 90 civilians were killed."

But we were hoping Obama would respect the Afghan legislature years old call for negotiations with the former governing Taliban (still governing most of the land), a thirty-five year back amnesty for all fighters, and the withdrawal of all foreign forces. There has been talk of negotiations in media recently, and Obama had said Afghanistan would take more than a military solution.

Will Obama continue the Bush directive that if less than thirty civilians deaths are anticipated in a strike targeting insurgent leaders, no White House approval is required?

9. “We will not apologize for our way of life”, aggressively intoned Obama in his inaugural address - sounding threatening, just like Bush did. Is it not an arrogant statement? Is mindless consumption pushed by a cartelized commercial media, a way of life in which the U.S. with 5% of the world’s population consumes 25% of the world’s resources not deplorable. Has not the America way of life included world dominance? Is it not our way of life that produces a majority of the world’s weapons and is responsible for a war in Iraq that has caused the death of hundreds of thousands and the wounding/maiming of millions plus 3 million refugees - which Obama already denounced without however apologizing to Iraqis. There is plenty to apologize for - imperialist wars and CIA assassinations and destabilization of democratic governments.

Let’s don’t be silent, neither about Obama’s accomplishments nor, and especially, about what is disappointing and scary.

Anonymous said...

"investors led by Sisters resident Elijah Aldinger"

*

Except for the pitbull and a realtor there is nothing on this guy in cali, ... I wonder if this is a pseudonym for the famous william aldinger of hsbc?

Anonymous said...

This is a who's who in Sisters and specifically at Sisters Community Church

-----


* Charles D. Brummel: Proposed Chairman of the Board
* Carl E. Berg: Proposed Director
* Kyle D. Cummings: Proposed Director
* Andrew J. Gerlicher: President / C.E.O. / Director
* Robert T. Jett: Proposed Director
* Michael M. Peters: Proposed Director
* Blake N. Weber: Proposed Director
* Gail Woodworth: Proposed Director

Bank Founders

* Elijah Aldinger: Initial Founder
* Lauren Aldinger
* Joanne Andersen
* Frank Aranda
* Russel Bartels
* Carl E. Berg
* Tucker Bierbaum, M.D.
* Drew Bledsoe
* John D. Bradley
* Charles Brock
* Bruce Brothers
* Charles D. Brummel
* Dale Campbell
* Kyle D. Cummings
* John (Jack) W. Cuniff
* Mark Eisenzimmer
* Greg Everson
* Andrew Gerlicher
* Sandy Goodsell
* Robert T. Jett

* Tim and Anne Kizziar

* James Knapp
* Kevin Marks
* Roy Moore
* Gary Moss
* Jason Nelson
* Michael M. Peters
* Quay Richerson
* Barry Rowe
* Jeff and Catherine Saul
* Susan Schildknecht
* Paul Schneider
* Cheryl Scileppi
* Torrey Sharp
* Greta Sorum
* Dale Walker
* Marcus Walker
* Michael Ward
* Blake N. Weber
* Eric Weber
* Jami Lyn Weber
* Todd Weitzman

Anonymous said...

This is a who's who in Sisters and specifically at Sisters Community Church

*

Pug's and baby jeebus,

B1031 was a who's-who in westside church, ...

who would have guessed?

Pugs, RNC, jeebus, banks, ...

Moss runs' the 'christian home school network' a vast right-wing collection of national nutcases.

When you see a banker with a bible, hide your fucking money.

Bewert said...

Re: Ewert told the audience you didn't even have to be near the foothills to use his device.

###

Nope, all you need is a big enough pile of shit. Literally ;)

Anonymous said...

my next favorite is a little place in old city Philadelphia called Monks tavern it's been there for 175 years and they only tap Belgium brews floated freshly across the pond.

Hell, I remember Monk's -- it used to be a newspaperman's bar. Guys from the Philly Inquirer and Daily News would hang there. They didn't have fancy Belgian brew back in those days, though.

Anonymous said...

When you see a banker with a bible, hide your fucking money.

LOL! You got THAT right, bro.

I love the way these "Christians' cherry-pick the Bible, selecting the bits that they want to follow and discarding those they don't.

Like the Leviticus edicts against homosexuality, for example. They cite those, but ignore the fact that Leviticus also stringently prohibits lending money at interest (usury).

The foundation of the whole fucking capitalist system goes against the Bible. But you'll never hear the Bible-thumpers acknowledge that.

Anonymous said...

This is a who's who in Sisters and specifically at Sisters Community Church

##

The rapture is coming. Jeebus is going to take us away from this hell hole.

The entire program, whether it be B1031, or Central-Orygun banking can be reduced to 'christian zionist' funding the idea if you accelerate the killing in Palestine, the the end times come quicker, and jeebus takes all us christians to heaven at night.

The trouble of course is that this mentality is behind all that is BEND.

The good news is that Haggard's wife outed him this week. We need more good Christian women to come forward, and declare the end to the hypocrisy, its so extremely sad, that behind every fucking criminal in BEND, there stands a church.

Anonymous said...

There are lots of COOL bars in Philly, but we're in BEND, and we're debating the Bend economy.

Anonymous said...

>>>>Canned food, and ammo will buy more commodities than a gold coin, I don't think it will get that bad, but from a survivalist point of view gold in its pure form is not liquid in an area of poor hungry people.<<<<
I agree whole heartedly.

Agressive panhandlers will get my 9mm Bersa up their A$$.

Anonymous said...

I'll bet you the collapse of B1031 has bitch slapped these christian bankers of Sisters ( what an oxymoron ).


There does seem to be a consistent theme in Central Orygun to financially cleanse christian's, well their taught to except the implausible, and to NOT doubt the ridiculous.

BT-BARNUM, or WC FIELDS, or Groucho Marx would have loved central orygun christians.

Anonymous said...

Just no stopping power with 9mm, hell you can get more from a 38-special.

Why 9mm marge? You a semi-auto gal?

Best guns up the ass are revolvers with no external hammer, the semi's will jam on clothing, Smith sells lots of high-caliber internal-hammer revolvers that make great personal carry.

FYI, for KUNTS that don't know MOB killing technique, when you blow round up the love canal there is no sound, and no recovery. The ultimate muffler.

Anonymous said...

The Bullshittin reprinted William Kristol's last column for the Times today and put a richly ironic headline on it: "Will Obama save liberalism?"

Seems to me it's conservatism that's more in need of saving from the likes of Kristol. What a flaming asshole.

Anonymous said...

There are lots of COOL bars in Philly, but we're in BEND, and we're debating the Bend economy.

The Bend economy, like the American economy, is totally fucked. What's to debate?

Anonymous said...

The Bend economy, like the American economy, is totally fucked. What's to debate?

*

For historical purposes its important to record WHO stole the money and WHY.

I know that BP&HBM don't care about WHO&WHY, but others do.

BEND is MORE fucked than other places.

We live in Bend and can do something about it, the other places we can do nothing.

Think Global, Act Local.

Anonymous said...

FYI, for KUNTS that don't know MOB killing technique

Classic Mafia technique is two slugs in the head. Quick and certain. Shoot somebody up the ass and he could linger for hours, maybe days.

Are you talking about the Mexican mob or the Russian mob, maybe?

Anonymous said...

>>>Best guns up the ass are revolvers with no external hammer, the semi's will jam on clothing, Smith sells lots of high-caliber internal-hammer revolvers that make great personal carry.<<<

My EDC is a SW 642 38mm and hammerless :)

Anonymous said...

For historical purposes its important to record WHO stole the money and WHY.

The money was not stolen because it never really existed to begin with. It's like asking who got all those trillions "invested" in subprime mortgages. The "money" existed only in people's imaginations, in the form of "equity" that wasn't there.

Anonymous said...

The Bullshittin reprinted William Kristol's last column for the Times today and put a richly ironic headline on it: "Will Obama save liberalism?"

Seems to me it's conservatism that's more in need of saving from the likes of Kristol. What a flaming asshole.

*

OBAMA is MORE BUSH-THAN-BUSH, so hell yes, its a damn good question.

Will OBAMA be able to lead the lemmings off the cliff with Trillions of Bailout like Bush did?

That is the question? And like the list of '9' above the OREO is doing a damn-good job in his first 9 days of being more bush-than-bush.

Clinton was the best PUG the PUG's ever had, he got through nafta & gatt, something the PUG's could have never done.

The OREO will restart the draft, something the PUG's could have never done.

The BULL printed this article to give the RNC-jeebus-thumpers hope, what 'hope' really means, what 'change' really means.

Now with tax-cheat GEITHNER in charge of treasure OREO can accelerate the BAIL-OUT, like BUSH could not have imagined.

Lastly, HBM remember the PUG's want to BK the USA, in order to KILL social-securtiy, medi-care, and all government programs.

OREO will BK the USA, that is clear.

Anonymous said...

For historical purposes its important to record WHO stole the money and WHY.

The money was not stolen because it never really existed to begin with.

*

FUCK YOU HBM, you god damn fucking PUG KUNT, $200M in BEND money was stolen, the debt is sitting there and now there ain't enough revenue to even pay the payments.

Those loans were real fucking money, and it was all funneled to real fucking people.

The debate here is about BEND, but I know that you want to change the subject, but its not going to HAPPEN, its about Bend, and its about $200M in real debt, that was stolen.

Anonymous said...

For historical purposes its important to record WHO stole the money and WHY.

The money was not stolen because it never really existed to begin with.

###

$3M to Kuratek

$200k/yr payoff to Moss from Knife-River, ...

$200M in debt today, most since 2005

HBM, the money exists cuz the debt is there to prove it,

Where did the money go?

Who got the $200M?

Why did they steal the money?

These are real fucking questions about BEND?

If HBM has such a hard-on for PUG's, then why doesn't he write about RNC getting Summit-1031 money??

Anonymous said...

"Will Obama save liberalism?"

[ liberalism is now 'code' for banker bail-outs ]

Seems to me it's conservatism that's more in need of saving from the likes of Kristol.

[ conservatism is just fine, newt gingrich at this hour is planning a 2010 comeback, they're going to blame OREO for the mega-bailout that makes the dollar worthless, and take back over congress, all this shit is quid-pro-quo ]

LavaBear said...

>>>The debate here is about BEND, but I know that you want to change the subject, but its not going to HAPPEN, its about Bend, and its about $200M in real debt, that was stolen.


That is one way to look at it. Another way is being a city they are in charge of providing a certain amount of infrastructure. Lots and lots of up front costs with that shit so they borrow to pay for it. Then they supposedly charge fees and collect taxes to pay it back. We can argue all day about if the fees they charge are even close to paying for the proposed infrastructure they are getting but we are getting SOMETHING for the debt. The debate should be whether we actually need that something and if we are charging enough for it. I agree we aren't charging near enough for it and now that the population has changed we probably don't need the project that they borrowed for. It's not theft or stealing it's more seriously stupid planning. See once again you see Machevelian plots where I see government stupidity.

Anonymous said...

>$200M stolen.

I'll fourth or fifth that it wasn't stolen. Roads cost money. Sewers cost money. Hiring people costs money. A city can go into debt quite quickly with shitty planning and not charging enough fees.

Anonymous said...

FUCK... I just looked at my credit card statement and I owe $20,000. Someone must have STOLEN my card and ran it up.

Except that $3k I spent on the big screen TV. And the $2.5k I spent on the big rims and lift kit on my truck. And the new boobs for my wife. And the Bachelor ski passes for the full family I couldn't afford. Oh, and I took that vacation. There was a new leather couch too.

But other than that... where did that $20k go?

That's what happened to Bend. Nobody stole $200m.

Quimby said...

>> The money was not stolen because it never really existed to begin with. It's like asking who got all those trillions "invested" in subprime mortgages. The "money" existed only in people's imaginations, in the form of "equity" that wasn't there.

A fantastic point hbm. All this "equity" and "wealth" was bullshit. Bits in a computer is all...unless you actualized that gain by selling, it don't mean shit. People wax on about how these TRILLIONS of dollars of wealth have been destroyed. HELLO folks, it was an illusion to begin with. Except now we're left with a REAL and HUGE debt to pay back to China and friends.

Great job fucknuts. I hope you can eat those granite countertops.

Anonymous said...

"I hope you can eat those granite countertops"

As Bruce would say, this is the comment of the day.

Although there's been a lot of good shit here today.

Anonymous said...

I'll bet you the collapse of B1031 has bitch slapped these christian bankers of Sisters ( what an oxymoron ).

*

I think you meant Westside in Bend. Sisters crowd is Crown Point National Bank.

Quimby said...

>> Although there's been a lot of good shit here today.

Yes, the good Buster of old is back.

Anonymous said...

Obama will ruin liberalism.

Anonymous said...

Deschutes Brewing is expanding elsewhere, most likely near Portland.

It's over folks soon there will be no jobs in Bend.

Bewert said...

Memories of when everything looked so bright.

Amazing. It's like the only thing the movers and shakers around here know how to do is build.

Anonymous said...

Brewing ambition
Deschutes Brewery plans to expand its beer production – the only question is where to do it
By Jeff McDonald / The Bulletin
Published: January 28. 2009 4:00AM PST
advertisement:

2 million: Maximum number of barrels per year allowed to qualify as craft brewer
180,000: Number of barrels that Deschutes Brewery produced in 2008
220,000: Peak capacity of barrels per year at Deschutes Brewery’s current facilities
Top 10 craft brewing companies by beer sales volume
1. Boston Beer Co., Boston
2. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, Calif.
3. New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, Colo.
4. Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner, Texas
5. Pyramid Breweries, Seattle
6. Matt Brewing Co., Utica, N.Y.
7. Deschutes Brewery, Bend
8. Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, Mo.
9. Full Sail Brewing Co., Hood River
10. Harpoon Brewery, Boston
(Based on 2007 sales. Revised numbers are due out in April)
Source: Brewers Association, Boulder, Colo.
Comment on this article:

We welcome comments from subscribers (E-Edition or print). Comments are solely the responsibility of those who post them; their viewpoints are not endorsed by The Bulletin or bendbulletin.com. The Bulletin and bendbulletin.com reserve the right to refrain from publishing or to remove posts that include foul language, personal or abusive attacks, or are off-topic. Posts will be signed with the first and last initial and home city associated with the subscriber's account; the subscriber's address, phone and e-mail address will remain private, as noted in our privacy policy. Read the full commenting policy before you post.
Click here to comment

In order to become the best-selling craft brewery in the country, Deschutes Brewery Inc. needs to make more beer. That’s the obvious part. Less obvious is how — or where — to make that happen, said Gary Fish, the president of the company, which started in 1987 in Bend.

Expansion plans, which will be decided within the next six to 12 months, include adding 10 new 45-foot-tall fermentation tanks outside the existing facility near the roundabout for Colorado and Simpson avenues, Fish said. While expanding in Bend is the preferred and most likely option, the company also is considering expanding beer-making out of state, he said.

The 35 to 40 existing tanks, which produced about 180,000 barrels of beer in 2008, are nearing full capacity, he said.

“We’re getting to the point where we have to make the decision — because if we continue to grow at our current pace, we will be out of capacity within two years,” he said.

Deschutes Brewery’s beer production increased from 162,000 barrels in 2007 to 180,000 barrels in 2008, Fish said. Peak capacity at the Bend facility is about 220,000 barrels per year, he said. One barrel is equal to 31 gallons.

Production will grow more slowly this year with the economic downturn. Fish projects about 185,000 barrels will be brewed in 2009.

But the nature of the economy, and the rising costs of beer production and distribution, could mean the brewery expands its production facilities closer to markets outside of Bend, Fish said.

The timing of the expansion also could depend on a variety of factors, including interest rates and exchange rates, because new fermentation tanks would be bought from a German company. The company is keeping its options open before proceeding with plans to build the first phase of the project, which would include four of the 10 tanks, Fish said.

“A lot will be contingent upon market conditions when we order the tanks,” Fish said. “The market is in flux. The good news is that interest rates are great and exchange rates are even better.”

While a Bend expansion is preferred, other options under consideration include: acquiring another facility on the West Coast, building a new facility somewhere else, or contracting with another company to make beer outside Bend, Fish said.

“We would be foolish if we didn’t keep our eyes and ears open to other options if things don’t go as we expect,” he said.

The company’s own growth also could factor into the decision. Deschutes Brewery currently sells its craft brews in 13 states, including Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Alaska, California and Texas.

The company plans expansion this year into Utah and possibly British Columbia, Fish said. Ultimately, the company plans to sell its beer in all 50 states, he said.

“Does it make sense to make beer here in Bend and ship it off to Florida?” he asked, adding that expansion to the East Coast is not in the company’s immediate plans. “We want to be the best-selling craft brewery in the country. Currently, that is a goal that is still far off.”

Deschutes Brewery currently ranks No. 7 in terms of total volume of beer sold among the nation’s craft brewers. To be considered a craft brewer, production must not exceed 2 million barrels of beer annually, according to the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association, the industry’s nonprofit trade association.

“Deschutes (Brewery) is one of the more established craft brewers in the industry,” said Julia Herz, a spokeswoman for the association. “If they are expanding, it’s probably a very well-thought-out decision. You go anywhere in the country and there are beer lovers clamoring for more flavorful craft beers.”

Deschutes Brewery opened its Public House in Bend in 1988, brewing beers on-site.

Six years later, Fish built the first phase of the Southwest Simpson Avenue brewery. Later, the brewery acquired more property behind the facility, building a warehouse and expanding the production facilities on the site in 2004.

The company employs about 280 workers, including 150 in Bend, Fish said. The rest are in Portland, where the company opened a brewpub last year, and other markets, he said.

Other growth within the next five to 10 years could include building a new packaging and warehouse facility on 7 acres immediately east of the existing brewery building, Fish said.

Company officials have met with city of Bend’s planning officials to discuss their options.

“What they are proposing is keeping with what’s already there and would comply with the height limits that are already there in the industrial zone,” said Aaron Hanson, senior planner for the city.

Jeff McDonald can be reached at 541-383-0323 or at jmcdonald@bendbulletin.com.
ARTICLE ACCESS: This article is among those available to all readers. Many more articles are available only to E-Edition members. Sign up today!
Redmond
January 28, 2009
08:01 AM
Vote On Comment
+ 0
- 0
A. S. Says...

I sure hope Mr. Fish expands here in Central Oregon and keeps jobs in the community.

You can 'hope' that Obama's bring change, your ass, its fucking BEND-OVER Deschutes is GONE.

Anonymous said...

Deschutes Brewing is expanding elsewhere, most likely near Portland.

It's over folks soon there will be no jobs in Bend.

...
...

Brewing ambition
Deschutes Brewery plans to expand its beer production – the only question is where to do it
By Jeff McDonald / The Bulletin
Published: January 28. 2009 4:00AM PST
advertisement:

2 million: Maximum number of barrels per year allowed to qualify as craft brewer
180,000: Number of barrels that Deschutes Brewery produced in 2008
220,000: Peak capacity of barrels per year at Deschutes Brewery’s current facilities
Top 10 craft brewing companies by beer sales volume
1. Boston Beer Co., Boston
2. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, Calif.
3. New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, Colo.
4. Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner, Texas
5. Pyramid Breweries, Seattle
6. Matt Brewing Co., Utica, N.Y.
7. Deschutes Brewery, Bend
8. Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, Mo.
9. Full Sail Brewing Co., Hood River
10. Harpoon Brewery, Boston
(Based on 2007 sales. Revised numbers are due out in April)
Source: Brewers Association, Boulder, Colo.
Comment on this article:

We welcome comments from subscribers (E-Edition or print). Comments are solely the responsibility of those who post them; their viewpoints are not endorsed by The Bulletin or bendbulletin.com. The Bulletin and bendbulletin.com reserve the right to refrain from publishing or to remove posts that include foul language, personal or abusive attacks, or are off-topic. Posts will be signed with the first and last initial and home city associated with the subscriber's account; the subscriber's address, phone and e-mail address will remain private, as noted in our privacy policy. Read the full commenting policy before you post.
Click here to comment

In order to become the best-selling craft brewery in the country, Deschutes Brewery Inc. needs to make more beer. That’s the obvious part. Less obvious is how — or where — to make that happen, said Gary Fish, the president of the company, which started in 1987 in Bend.

Expansion plans, which will be decided within the next six to 12 months, include adding 10 new 45-foot-tall fermentation tanks outside the existing facility near the roundabout for Colorado and Simpson avenues, Fish said. While expanding in Bend is the preferred and most likely option, the company also is considering expanding beer-making out of state, he said.

The 35 to 40 existing tanks, which produced about 180,000 barrels of beer in 2008, are nearing full capacity, he said.

“We’re getting to the point where we have to make the decision — because if we continue to grow at our current pace, we will be out of capacity within two years,” he said.

Deschutes Brewery’s beer production increased from 162,000 barrels in 2007 to 180,000 barrels in 2008, Fish said. Peak capacity at the Bend facility is about 220,000 barrels per year, he said. One barrel is equal to 31 gallons.

Production will grow more slowly this year with the economic downturn. Fish projects about 185,000 barrels will be brewed in 2009.

But the nature of the economy, and the rising costs of beer production and distribution, could mean the brewery expands its production facilities closer to markets outside of Bend, Fish said.

The timing of the expansion also could depend on a variety of factors, including interest rates and exchange rates, because new fermentation tanks would be bought from a German company. The company is keeping its options open before proceeding with plans to build the first phase of the project, which would include four of the 10 tanks, Fish said.

“A lot will be contingent upon market conditions when we order the tanks,” Fish said. “The market is in flux. The good news is that interest rates are great and exchange rates are even better.”

While a Bend expansion is preferred, other options under consideration include: acquiring another facility on the West Coast, building a new facility somewhere else, or contracting with another company to make beer outside Bend, Fish said.

“We would be foolish if we didn’t keep our eyes and ears open to other options if things don’t go as we expect,” he said.

The company’s own growth also could factor into the decision. Deschutes Brewery currently sells its craft brews in 13 states, including Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Alaska, California and Texas.

The company plans expansion this year into Utah and possibly British Columbia, Fish said. Ultimately, the company plans to sell its beer in all 50 states, he said.

“Does it make sense to make beer here in Bend and ship it off to Florida?” he asked, adding that expansion to the East Coast is not in the company’s immediate plans. “We want to be the best-selling craft brewery in the country. Currently, that is a goal that is still far off.”

Deschutes Brewery currently ranks No. 7 in terms of total volume of beer sold among the nation’s craft brewers. To be considered a craft brewer, production must not exceed 2 million barrels of beer annually, according to the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association, the industry’s nonprofit trade association.

“Deschutes (Brewery) is one of the more established craft brewers in the industry,” said Julia Herz, a spokeswoman for the association. “If they are expanding, it’s probably a very well-thought-out decision. You go anywhere in the country and there are beer lovers clamoring for more flavorful craft beers.”

Deschutes Brewery opened its Public House in Bend in 1988, brewing beers on-site.

Six years later, Fish built the first phase of the Southwest Simpson Avenue brewery. Later, the brewery acquired more property behind the facility, building a warehouse and expanding the production facilities on the site in 2004.

The company employs about 280 workers, including 150 in Bend, Fish said. The rest are in Portland, where the company opened a brewpub last year, and other markets, he said.

Other growth within the next five to 10 years could include building a new packaging and warehouse facility on 7 acres immediately east of the existing brewery building, Fish said.

Company officials have met with city of Bend’s planning officials to discuss their options.

“What they are proposing is keeping with what’s already there and would comply with the height limits that are already there in the industrial zone,” said Aaron Hanson, senior planner for the city.

Jeff McDonald can be reached at 541-383-0323 or at jmcdonald@bendbulletin.com.
ARTICLE ACCESS: This article is among those available to all readers. Many more articles are available only to E-Edition members. Sign up today!
Redmond
January 28, 2009
08:01 AM
Vote On Comment
+ 0
- 0
A. S. Says...

I sure hope Mr. Fish expands here in Central Oregon and keeps jobs in the community.

You can 'hope' that Obama's bring change, your ass, its fucking BEND-OVER Deschutes is GONE.

«Oldest ‹Older   201 – 400 of 727   Newer› Newest»