Jared Rasic has lived in Bend since 1999, when he moved here for college. Since then he’s worked at Westside Video, Boomtown, Hollywood Video, Cascades Theatrical Company, Tin Pan Theater and, on and off since 2010, The Source. Now he divides his time between The Source and helping program films for Tin Pan Theater and shorts for the BendFilm Festival. In this edition of Bend Don't Break, Rasic talks about his love for film, memories of the 1000 articles he has now written for the Source Weekly and more.

Amanda Stuermer has been producing events, creative projects, and cultural travel experiences for over two decades. She is the Founder of World Muse and Muse Conference and London Editor for Origin Magazine. She has recently co-produced a series of documentary films and her writing has been featured in Origin, Mantra, and Outside Magazines.

Ellen Waterston has published four poetry and three literary nonfiction titles, including, most recently, "Walking the High Desert: Encounters with Rural America Along the Oregon Desert Trail."

"Hotel Domilocos" is her most recent collection of poetry. She serves on the faculty of OSU-Cascades Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing, and is founder of the Writing Ranch, which conducts writing workshops and retreats, and of the annual Waterston Desert Writing Prize, recently adopted as a program of the High Desert Museum. She lives in central Oregon.

In this edition of Bend Don't Break, we chat with Waterston about the writer's life, her column, The Third Act, on ageism and aging (that appears in the Source Weekly), the Waterston Desert Writing prize and more.

Since moving to Bend in 1995, John Hummel has worked as a public defender, started a defense firm and served six years on the Bend City Council before being elected as District Attorney in 2014. The self-described progressive prosecutor took a different approach than many DAs, taking public stances on injustice and what he views as flaws in the legal system. Hummel declined to seek a third term, and just days before his departure he sat down with the Source Weekly for a chat about his time in office.

Bend will have a new mayor at the start of 2023, with the election of Melanie Kebler to the position. Kebler, elected in 2022, first served for two years as a Bend City Councilor. She is an attorney with a background as a prosecutor and victims’ rights advocate. A Bend High grad, she grew up on the east side of Bend and has always been interested in civic leadership, starting with being elected to the BSH Student Council. Melanie is excited to lead Bend into the future.

In this podcast we chat about her goals for the coming year, her thoughts on the outcome of the recent election, ideas around moving City Hall and creating a public town square and more.

Clifford B Evelyn was born and raised in Harlem, New York by his Caribbean parents. Clifford attended New York University where he studied Business Administration. He later attended Los Angeles Trade Tech where he studied Business Management.

Clifford enlisted in the US Navy in 1977 and received an Honorable Discharge as a Petty Officer 2nd Class in 1985. In 1989, Clifford was hired by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, serving as Correctional Deputy, and then Sergeant, Lieutenant, and finally Commander.

In 2017, Clifford was asked to be the Executive Board President for New Priorities Family Services, a (501) C3 non-profit counseling service located in Redmond, Oregon. In 2021, Clifford ran and was elected as the first Black person on the Redmond City Council.

In this podcast, Evelyn chats about his hopes for the future of Redmond following the 2022 election, reasons to visit Redmond and much more.

See more of our work at https://www.bendsource.com

Shannon Monihan is the New Executive director of the Downtown Bend Business Association that makes up approximately 400 businesses downtown.

With a 25+ year history in business development, branding and marketing she is focused on applying some of her learned knowledge and wealth of experience to the Downtown Bend district.

Prior to her forming her own company she spent 15 + years working with startups in the medical aesthetics industry. With her kids all grown up and after spending a lifetime of just embracing Bend seasonally, she decided to make it her permanent home in spring of 2020.

Shannon is a Bend resident and lifetime Oregonian from the Portland area. While Executive director is her full-time (actually more than full time)focus she also comes from the world of tactical training and has owned and operated a women owned small business called Red Frog Team which is a tactical apparel brand and focuses on educating folks on gun safety.

In this podcast, the Source Weekly chats with Monihan about her goals for the DBBA, how she works with other partners and more. Find more of our stories and coverage at https://www.bendsource.com.

We got to speak with Marcus LeGrand and Anthony Broadman, founders of "The State of Bend" podcast, about being a platform through podcasting and being involved in the city of Bend.

Riccardo Waites is a local leader dedicated to unifying and empowering the black/BIPOC community of Central Oregon. He is the founder and executive director of the Central Oregon Black Leaders Assembly (C.O.B.L.A.), founder of We Black Radio (WBR), Navy submarine veteran, father of nine, and Central Oregon resident of 22 years. Waites was compelled to organize his efforts in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

This Episode, Waites discusses C.O.B.L.A. programs, WBR, and the fight for racial equality in Central Oregon.

Eric Lint has worked in politics across the Northwest, approaching it from a variety of perspectives. From newsroom to lobbyist, congressional office to campaign trail, Lint now informally consults for civic groups and candidates across Central Oregon with a focus on data and outreach. He maintains the local politics blog Bend Votes at bendvotes.com. In this podcast, Lint talks about the landscape of politics in Bend and Deschutes County and what trends he sees emerging during this 2022 election season.