Month: August 2025

Harley Coldiron

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Galveston Avenue corridor on Bend’s westside has blown up with businesses and visitors. Now, major upgrades to two buildings are sparking more debate on issues relating to traffic, parking and street safety.

The Problem Solvers have previously reported on parking issues in the area, which have led to missed mail deliveries, and neighbors to put up dozens of illegal signs to prevent people from parking in front of their mailboxes.

In recent weeks, the debate over growth has heated up after a local family company bought the building that houses Boss Rambler, which they plan to turn into a two-story building with three restaurants and office space on top.

Side by side of the current Boss Rambler building (left), and a rendering of the upgrades (right).

The company, RSM Investments, also bought the Bakery Building on Galveston and plans to improve the interior and exterior. The construction will also include adding a new restaurant space in the back of Bosa, which includes a covered year-round patio.

Rendering of the new restaurant space in the back of Bosa, which includes a year-round covered patio.

Rendering of the interior of the new restaurant space in the back of Bosa on Columbia Street.

The Problem Solvers spoke to Ty, who grew up blocks away and now works at Blue Eyed Burgers and Fries, located at the Boss Rambler building. He says while it’s been growing for over a decade, it has become really busy since COVID: “There’s constant traffic. It’s a bustling street, and it never really used to be like that.”  

Piper, who works in the corridor and was also raised in Bend, echoed the same sentiment: “Galveston has become the spot to go to. I mean, being in high school a few years ago, kids would come to Taco Salsa at night.”

McKenna Mikesell with RSM Investments said they wanted to upgrade the buildings to better benefit the community: “We wanted to design something that we want to go to. We are local. We live here. We’ve been here for a while, and we want something fun and exciting.”

But to make the project work, the 16 current parking spaces had to go. While many like Piper can’t wait for the new businesses, saying, “Growth is super important, especially for Bend, because it just keeps getting better and better.”

The Problem Solvers also talked to a neighbor, Gail Ngo, who says she and many others are up in arms: “The big concern is parking, because I live right around the corner. I live on the same block, and as it is, there’s never any parking.”

The owner of RSM Investments told the Problem Solvers there’s a reason they had to remove the parking.

“The only way to pay what we paid for the building is to demo it and to take advantage of the entire lot and build one larger building,” Rick Mikesell said in an interview at their downtown Bend office.

It’s exactly why the Oregon Legislature passed the state law forbidding minimum parking requirements for certain developments. But some neighbors like Gail say it’s a slap in the face: “I don’t think that it’s being respectful of the city, and the neighborhood needs of the residents to do such a thing.”

But Rick and McKenna of RSM Investments say they’re committed to a solution, already working with the city and neighbors.

“There are lots of alternate ways of transportation, and Bend is moving towards that. And hopefully we can enhance that with some sort of trolley system or bus routes,” Rick told the Problem Solvers.  

One thing the City of Bend wants to do is make it safer for people walking, biking and rolling on the corridor. It’s a long-standing issue that’s only been exacerbated with the increased traffic. Along with new pavement, the bike lanes will also be made bigger, with painted buffers helping create more space between people riding and driving.

The city also plans to put in more street lighting and a raised crosswalk on 12th Street to help people cross the road. The Problem Solvers observed many close calls between drivers and pedestrians while preparing this report.

Pedestrians and bikers said crossing Galveston is often scary, and creates close calls with drivers.

Many people we spoke with say the street infrastructure upgrades are long overdue. “I would get on a bike ,if it were that much more bike-friendly,” Ty said in an interview.

But others like Gail are skeptical that it’s a solution to the parking problem: “You know, they’re imagining that people are going to bike, they’re going to carpool, they’re going to commute. But the bottom line is we don’t have a good infrastructure for that here in the city.”

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Harley Coldiron

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — While reporting on the growth and gridlock on Bend’s Galveston Avenue corridor, the Problem Solvers learned from the owners of the Bakery Building that major upgrades are planned, including adding a third restaurant space, which includes a back patio. The historic building currently houses Sunriver Brewing and Bosa.

The local family company that owns the building, RSM Investments, says they plan to knock down the duplexes on the back side of the building. The owners plan to create a more inviting back patio for the space that hosts Sunriver Brewing, which will be able to be utilized year-round.

Exterior rendering of the back patio space that currently houses Sunriver Brewing.

Interior renderings of the upgrades to one restaurant space at the Bakery Building, which currently hosts Sunriver Brewing. (Courtesy of RSM Investments)

Next door in the Bakery Building, the space that hosts Bosa will also see a refresh of the inside, along with new private restrooms.

The duplexes in the back of Bosa will be knocked down and turned into a new restaurant space on Columbia Street. You can see from the rendering below that they plan to build a covered terrace that can be used year-round.

Rendering of the new restaurant space in the back of Bosa, which includes a year-round covered patio.

Rendering of the interior of the new restaurant space in the back of Bosa on Columbia Street.

The owner, Rick Mikesell, tells the Problem Solvers that, unfortunately, Sunriver Brewing will be moving out at the end of the year, due to construction. However, the plan is to work with Bosa to keep them as tenants, as they undergo construction for the private bathrooms. Office space is also planned for the second story.

The Galveston corridor has been at the center of several exclusive Problem Solver reports. The growing neighborhood has seen major parking problems, which have led to missed mail deliveries and prompted neighbors to put up dozens of illegal signs, saying people can’t park outside their neighborhood.

While many people who live and work nearby support the growth and changes, many other neighbors are up in arms, especially when it comes to parking.

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Harley Coldiron

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Prineville Police are asking for the public’s help in an early–morning break-in and theft from several vendors at the Crook County Fair.

Police say a security guard reported that two people had broken into a vendor’s booth at 3:35 AM Friday.

Sergeant Daniel Pelayo told KTVZ News that several other vendors reported later in the morning that they were also broken into, and had items taken from them.

The Prineville Review, which first broke the news, reported that a security guard injured himself while engaging in a foot pursuit of the suspects. The security guard’s boss said the employee is feeling better today.

Amanda was one of the vendors who was broken into and told the Prineville Review, “I’m just really frustrated…but what’s really frustrating to me is that my kids, who are 10 and 7, they saved their own money into starting their business, and they had $50 worth of products stolen.”

Crook County Sheriff John Gautney told the Prineville Review that they plan to increase foot patrols at the fairgrounds.

Prineville Police are working to get video of the suspects, and could not provide identifying characteristics. Fair organizers have not yet issued a statement.

The news rocked residents and vendors, who took to social media to share their frustration, but also to offer support to the vendors who were victimized. The historic Crook County Fair brings immense pride to the small town, which is known for its Western values and cowboy way of life.

Police are asking for the public’s help with any related information. If you know anything, you’re asked to call the Prineville Police Department at 541-447-4168,and ask for Officer Mitch Merrit.

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