Les Schwab headquarters in Juniper Ridge a green wonder

At Monday’s Bend City Council meeting, architects designing the new Les Schwab Tire Company headquarters at Juniper Ridge presented plans for the building, which they say will be “far above” standards for a “green” structure. The building, the first to be built in the city’s Juniper Ridge development, will be on a 20-acre parcel Les Schwab purchased at the corner of Cooley Road and 18^th Street. The building is being designed to be worker-friendly, with such features as mountain views, individual heat and light controls and a rooftop cafeteria area. City councilors raved about the design after the presentation. Les Schwab plans to break ground this fall, with construction scheduled to be completed by November 2008.

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Deschutes County Commission approves noise permit for airport

Construction of a new runway at the Bend Airport has bothered some neighbors, but the Deschutes County Commission on Monday approved a noise permit allowing the work to continue. Airport Manager Greg Phillips (who is leaving Bend to take a job as an assistant airport manager in Missoula, Montana) told commissioners contractors are doing everything they can to mitigate the noise while construction goes on mostly at night, but FAA regulations require the existing runway be kept open while the new one is being built. The new, longer runway will allow larger planes to take off and land at the airport, which has seen a spike in activity the past few years. The city is accepting applications for a new airport manager.

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Legislature’s performance rated about C-minus

Last week’s survey question was, “On a scale of A-F, how would you rate the performance of the Oregon Legislature this year?” Respondents didn’t have high marks for their lawmakers. Some comments:

“The Legislature will continue to do fine as long as they don’t pass any new taxes.”

“The Legislature focuses on the frosting right up until the end of the session, then the cake gets attention. The result is the really critical issues, such as budgets and major initiatives, get a knee-jerk reaction. The budgets get passed at midnight and the big issues get referred to the people. This is not leadership. The true goals of the Legislature are seen through the budget and should set the tone for subsequent legislation, not vice versa.

“At least the Legislature got it right by putting more state cops on the road. I can’t remember the last time I saw a trooper on the highway. It’s not their fault, their budgets have been cut year after year. Maybe that will slow the speeders down on the highways!”

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Watch for these coming events

     The Chamber’s July 13 Legislative Council Breakfast will feature Deschutes County Administrator Dave Kanner, who will talk about the county’s proposal for a new jail, and Connie Marshall, the federal Small Business Administration regional representative in Seattle. She’ll give a presentation on the SBA’s many programs to help small businesses.  Register Online Here! The Chamber’s next Professional Development Series event, from 7-8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 11, will be “Understanding Financial Statements.”  Register Online Here! or call 382-3221 to register or for more information.

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July 7 lucky for caterers, casinos

From the world wide weird file: Saturday, July 7 is shaping up to be one of the busiest days for weddings and gamblers. That’s because the day is 7-07-07, and as everyone knows, the number 7 is widely considered to be lucky. The director of the Association for Wedding Professionals International said between 75,000 and 80,000 wedding are scheduled for Saturday, which is 25 to 30 percent more than normal for a Saturday in July. Casinos in Las Vegas also are reporting near-record numbers of bookings for the day – even though three “7s” is the hard way to hit 21 in blackjack.

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This week’s survey question 

     Is Bend’s housing market going to turn around anytime soon? Are prices going to go down, go up or stay level?  If not, how should it be changed?   Please e-mail your responses to:  jeff@bendchamber.org.