Pro tips on the best snowshoeing this season Some outdoor winter staples look decidedly different this year, and others were just canceled. Not so for self-guided snowshoeing. It s pretty easy to socially distance on snowshoe trails, and they re often less crowded than skiing trails. To help everyone make the most of the trails this year, we reached out to local snowshoer and Snowshoe Trail Coordinator for the Central Oregon Nordic Club, Bob Timmer, to get tips for newbies and seasoned snowshoe enthusiasts alike. Timmer has seen a lot of what Central Oregon snowshoeing has to offer. Since the CONC has a volunteer service agreement with the Forest Service, he s coordinated snowshoe trail maintenance at trails including Edison Butte Sno-Park and the sno-parks off Century Drive since 2013.
Teletherapy: Will it survive the pandemic?, Riot at the Capitol, U.S Representative Cliff Bentz & Pro Trump Mob As journalists, we are advised to keep ourselves out of the story and to focus instead on the people affected by any given issue. This week, in our nation s Capitol, the focus of the ire (and outright insurrection) was lawmakers but also affected by the fear and chaos were the many journalists covering the certification of the Electoral College votes. They, too, hunkered down in terror, and some even found themselves targets of people who, for the past four years, have ascribed to the belief that we are enemies of the people out to spread fake news. If you re reading this, I hope you re among the many who have paused this week to consider the importance of real, trusted and verified information, because the information that spurred the Capitol riots was anything but that. When journalists become part of the story, something has often gone terribly wrong.
Roasted chicken recipes to spice up a scaled-down holiday dinner Crook, Jefferson and Deschutes counties are among the 25 counties falling under COVID-19 extreme risk status, which means holiday gatherings indoors and out must be kept to six or fewer people from no more than two households. But people can still stay safe this season without going full Scrooge. Keep this year s holiday guest list tight and the season bright with a scaled down main dish of roasted chicken. I like to dry-brine my chicken, spatchcock it (a hilarious and fancy way to say butterfly it ) and then roast it in a cast-iron skillet following the roasting method in America s Test Kitchen s recipe for Crisp Roast Butterflied Chicken. To dry brine: Pat a fresh whole chicken dry with paper towels and then rub it down with salt getting under the skin on the breast and thighs. For a 4- to 5-pound chicken, use about 2 or 3 tablespoons of kosher salt. Then let it brine for two days in a co