Latest news with #Bend
Associated Press
7 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Sunset Plumbing Discusses Water Heater Options for Bend, Oregon, Residential and Commercial Clients
This locally owned and operated company offering more than four decades of experience in Central Oregon water heater repair and replacement The professionals at Sunset Plumbing are offering advice regarding water heater options for local home and business owners. This locally owned and operated business has become known as a reputable leader in local plumbing solutions and has more than forty years of expertise in areas including backflow testing, water heaters, fixtures, drain cleaning, leak repairs, whole house piping, gas lines, and commercial plumbing. Choosing a new water heater can be a challenging task because there are many factors to consider. For instance, consumers are faced with balancing out practicality with energy efficiency. Water heaters are a major energy consumer, typically accounting for an average of 18% of total energy usage. Consumers must also balance out cost with longevity; the average tank water heater is rated for up to 13 years of use, while tankless water heaters are rated for up to 20 years of use. The Sunset Plumbing team has been helping Bend, Oregon, residents and homeowners with all their water heater needs since launching in 1982. 'Our Central Oregon water heater repair and replacement services have been trusted by local clients for many years,' said a spokesperson for the company. 'Having options is important, which is why we offer gas water heaters, electric water heaters, and tankless water heater repair and replacement services.' Sunset Plumbing offers a variety of water heater options for all needs, with an emphasis on Energy Star certification to ensure energy efficiency, durable tanks for longevity, and special efficiency features for households and businesses of all sizes. While focusing on 100% customer satisfaction, Sunset Plumbing's team strives to offer affordable and reliable services to customers in and around Bend, Black Butte Ranch, Crooked River Ranch, La Pine, Prineville, Redmond, Sisters, Sunriver, Terrebonne, Tumalo, and surrounding areas. Plus, Sunset Plumbing's water heater services are all in alignment with Oregon's water heater regulations on energy efficiency and safety. Efficient water heaters use far less energy than traditional ones, and Sunset Plumbing provides a wealth of options for its customers who are interested in ensuring the height of cost and energy savings with their water heater choice. The team at Sunset Plumbing is now accepting new clients for water heater services. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8am-4pm to coordinate new and existing clients for appointments. Learn more about water heater services in Oregon from Sunset Plumbing by visiting ABOUT SUNSET PLUMBING Sunset Plumbing provides full-scale residential and commercial plumbing services for clients in Bend, Oregon, and the surrounding areas. Location: Media Contact Company Name: Sunset Plumbing of Bend Contact Person: Jeff Cook Email: Send Email Address:62979 Plateau Dr #1 City: Bend State: OR 97701 Country: United States Website: Source: Oregon Web Solutions
Tom's Guide
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
I just beat Days Gone Remastered on PS5 Pro — and it's one of the most underrated PlayStation games
In a lot of ways, Days Gone is the black sheep of the PS4 library. Released in 2019, at a time when PlayStation Studios was dropping critically acclaimed gems on the regular, it landed with a bit of a dull thud. The Bend Studio-developed open-world zombie game didn't reach the same heights as its contemporaries like God of War, The Last of Us and Ghost of Tsushima. But Days Gone Remastered has now arrived on PS5, and represents something of a second chance for the game to find a bigger audience. While I doubt this remastering points to a full sequel (reportedly, plans for one were scrapped after the underwhelming reception of the first game), it does offer gamers who skipped Days Gone the first time a perfect excuse to see what they missed. And if you were one of the many who glossed over the game upon its initial release, I implore you to circle back, because Days Gone Remastered really is worth experiencing. The best way I can describe Days Gone is that it's pretty much 'Sons of Anarchy' mashed with 'The Walking Dead' in video game form. And come on, try and tell me that doesn't sound appealing! You play a drifter named Deacon St John, who trudles around a zombie-infested Pacific Northwest, taking on bounties and trying to find out what happened to his missing wife. Your main means of traversing the game's sizeable open-world setting is via a motorbike, and it's this inclusion that really makes Days Gone so compelling. Your bike is essentially a roving base; you can only save when you're nearby, and you can store additional supplies in its various compartments. The bike is also upgradable. It starts barely roadworthy, but by the endgame, you have a powerful hog that purrs with ferocity. Getting the additional reputation points required to unlock each new series of bike upgrades made me want to complete as much side content as possible. But outside of its predictable open-world trapping — you'll find the usual assortment of bandit camps and zombie (called 'Freakers' here) nests — Days Gone's meaty main campaign is the real draw. You get plenty of bang for your buck. Even a rushed run will take you 30 hours. If you want to see everything on offer, expect to double that playtime. A common complaint at launch was that the story meanders in its first act. I can't counter this. The core narrative takes a while to get going, but once you unlock the second region, things start to click into gear, and the finale builds to something quite exciting. I do wish my companions would cool it with the radio calls, though, as you're constantly interrupted, which gets annoying. Admittedly, there's a slightly generic quality to Days Gone. It's third-person action combat, which mixes stealth with melee brawls and shoot-outs, is routine, and it launched into a media landscape oversaturated with zombies. Nevertheless, generic doesn't mean bad, and I maintain that Days Gone remains just as enjoyable to play in 2025 on PS5 as it did back in 2019 on PS4. Perhaps the bigger question with Days Gone is whether it even needed remastering in the first place. Sony has taken plenty of online flak in recent years for its habit of remastering titles that still hold up to a modern standard (Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered is the most egregious example). Days Gone probably falls into the category of games where a remastering was largely unnecessary. While it was a native PS4 release, it was fully playable on PS5 via backwards compatibility, and its original visuals hold up extremely well. Plus, it already received a free update that enabled the game to run at a smooth 60 fps on the PS5 console. The Remastered edition does at least add a small smattering of additional content, including a permadeath option and new mode called Horde Assault (though to be honest, the battles with vast hordes of zombies never quite appealed to be in the base game). It also beefs up the game's accessibility settings (always a good thing) and adds full DualSense controller support. If you're playing on PS5 Pro, the remaster adds a new visual mode and takes advantage of the premium console's PSSR capabilities. So while I doubt many players were crying out for the remaster, it's now the definitive way to play the game, and it gave me an excuse to return to a title that had been in 'I really need to replay this' backlog for more than five years. Which is enough for me. I'll also give Sony credit for creating an upgrade path for pre-existing owners of the original. If you already own Days Gone on PS4, you can upgrade to the Remastered edition for just $10, which feels like a pretty reasonable price point for the extra bells and whistles. Whether you're returning to the broken road or you've never driven down these apocalyptic streets before, I encourage you to give Days Gone Remastered a shot. Who knows, perhaps if this remastering sparks enough renewed interest in the IP, we'll get that sequel after all. I certainly hope so.
The Independent
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Former US Census Bureau director John Thompson, who guided preparations for 2020 head count, dies
John Thompson, who guided preparations for the 2020 census as director of the U.S. Census Bureau, has died. Thompson died May 9 at his home in Bend, Oregon. He was 73. Thompson was confirmed in 2013 as the Census Bureau's 24th director after being nominated by President Barack Obama. He departed in 2017 following the election of President Donald Trump to his first term but helped lay the groundwork for many of the innovations implemented in the 2020 head count. Those included the utilization of smart phones and the widespread use of online responses, which were instrumental in helping the bureau to navigate one of the most difficult censuses in U.S. history during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'He guided preparations for the 2020 census, which became our nation's most automated and technically advanced ever,' Ron Jarmin, the current acting director of the Census Bureau, said in a statement. 'With his decades of experience as a public servant, he understood the importance of our agency's organizational health and made it a priority.' After earning bachelor's and master's degrees at Virginia Tech, Thompson joined the Census Bureau in 1975 and rose to the position of associate director for decennial census programs, which put him in charge of all aspects of the 2000 census. He helped pioneer optical scanning and intelligent character recognition, which allowed handwritten items on census forms to be converted into responses, according to the statistical agency. The head count figures collected during the once-a-decade census are used to allocate states' congressional seats and Electoral College votes, and help determine the distribution of federal funding. Thompson left the Census Bureau in 2002 for more than a decade to work at the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center, eventually becoming its president and CEO. At NORC, Thompson was the project manager for the National Immunization Surveys, which was the the largest telephone social science survey in the United States at the time. 'It would be hard to overstate John's influence on NORC and its people,' Dan Gaylin, president and CEO of NORC, said in a statement. 'John's confident, empowering, values-driven leadership enabled the people of NORC to see that future and make it a reality.' After leaving the Census Bureau in 2017, Thompson became executive director of the Council of Professional Associations for Federal Statistics for a year before retiring in 2018. Thompson is survived by his wife, Bonnie, and three children. ___ The Associated Press and NORC are partners in the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which conducts survey research on a variety of topics.
Washington Post
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Former US Census Bureau director John Thompson, who guided preparations for 2020 head count, dies
BEND, Ore. — John Thompson, who guided preparations for the 2020 census as director of the U.S. Census Bureau, has died. Thompson died May 9 at his home in Bend, Oregon. He was 73. Thompson was confirmed in 2013 as the Census Bureau's 24th director after being nominated by President Barack Obama. He departed in 2017 following the election of President Donald Trump to his first term but helped lay the groundwork for many of the innovations implemented in the 2020 head count.
Associated Press
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Former US Census Bureau director John Thompson, who guided preparations for 2020 survey, dies at 73
BEND, Ore. (AP) — John Thompson, who guided preparations for the 2020 census as director of the U.S. Census Bureau, has died. Thompson died May 9 at his home in Bend, Oregon. He was 73. Thompson was confirmed in 2013 as the Census Bureau's 24th director after being nominated by President Barack Obama. He departed in 2017 following the election of President Donald Trump to his first term but helped lay the groundwork for many of the innovations implemented in the 2020 head count. Those included the utilization of smart phones and the widespread use of online responses, which were instrumental in helping the bureau to navigate one of the most difficult censuses in U.S. history during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'He guided preparations for the 2020 census, which became our nation's most automated and technically advanced ever,' Ron Jarmin, the current acting director of the Census Bureau, said in a statement. 'With his decades of experience as a public servant, he understood the importance of our agency's organizational health and made it a priority.' After earning bachelor's and master's degrees at Virginia Tech, Thompson joined the Census Bureau in 1975 and rose to the position of associate director for decennial census programs, which put him in charge of all aspects of the 2000 census. He helped pioneer optical scanning and intelligent character recognition, which allowed handwritten items on census forms to be converted into responses, according to the statistical agency. The head count figures collected during the once-a-decade census are used to allocate states' congressional seats and Electoral College votes, and help determine the distribution of federal funding. Thompson left the Census Bureau in 2002 for more than a decade to work at the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center, eventually becoming its president and CEO. At NORC, Thompson was the project manager for the National Immunization Surveys, which was the the largest telephone social science survey in the United States at the time. 'It would be hard to overstate John's influence on NORC and its people,' Dan Gaylin, president and CEO of NORC, said in a statement. 'John's confident, empowering, values-driven leadership enabled the people of NORC to see that future and make it a reality.' After leaving the Census Bureau in 2017, Thompson became executive director of the Council of Professional Associations for Federal Statistics for a year before retiring in 2018. Thompson is survived by his wife, Bonnie, and three children. ___ The Associated Press and NORC are partners in the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which conducts survey research on a variety of topics.
