Author Archive

Phil Busse

Phil Busse

Phil Busse has spent the past 20 years as a journalist, attorney and educator—and doing his tour of duty with alt-weeklies.

He has served as the Editor for the Source, a popular weekly newspaper in Bend, Oregon and was the founding Managing Editor for the Portland Mercury. While in law school, he wrote crime and legal stories for the Eugene Weekly and started his writing career as the first environmental beat reporter for San Francisco Weekly.

In 2006, Phil started the Media Institute for Social Change (MediaMakingChange.org), an educational non-profit. Based in Portland, Oregon, the organization hosts college students each summer to teach them how to produce public interest film and radio documentaries—and, in 2013, helped launch XRAY.FM, a talk and music radio station that won Willamette Week’s readers choice for Best Local Radio Station in 2015.

Phil is truly surprised that he ended up as a newspaperman; as a kid, he believed that he would grow up to be a spy, and has spent a lifetime acquiring the proper skills—he is certified SCUBA diver, knows how to tie a bow tie and can mix (shake) a mean martini.

Phil graduated from Middlebury College in 1992 and earned his law degree from the University of Oregon in 1997.

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On a recent stop in downtown Ashland, I popped into Ashland Art Center—and was immediately greeted by a painting of a cow (what you see on this issue’s cover). I was smitten. Something about the creature’s smirk was infectious.  That sly smile—and the painting—are a window to a larger story,

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  Joel Hodgson is in Little Rock, Arkansas when I finally reach him on the phone. The creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000—the cult classic and a currently top ranked as one of Netflix’s most popular shows—is on the move, and it has taken nearly two weeks to set up

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On Tuesday, December 3, 6 – 9 pm, Art Building: Meese Auditorium, there is a short film, multimedia presentation, and exhibit by 12 SOU graduate students who recently returned from a 35-day backpacking and cultural expedition taking them through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Albania.   Chad Thatcher is the professor

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This past summer, I traveled to Amsterdam with my daughters, and on our first day visited Anne Frank’s house. My girls are 11 and 13 years old, the same ages that Anne Frank was when her family first hid from Nazis and then when she was discovered and taken to

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The shapes, molds and purposes that clay can become are really only limited by imagination—and at the 44th annual Clayfolk Show & Sale, that seems to be boundless. The artists participating are almost giddy about their experimentation and expressions with clay—from tea sets to outer-worldly beings, from earthen tones to

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A good skin care regimen, sun protection and daily cleansing is all you need to maintain a healthy skin. However, the internet is awash with sources that leave you more confused than informed in this context. While some people will stick to a fad diet, others will drink 8 glasses

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On Sunday September 22, on a calm, windless day, eight horses thundered out of the gates at Grants Pass Downs. It was the first race for a new chapter at the race track, as Grants Pass Downs grabbed the mantel as Oregon’s new home for commercial racing in the state.

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Is the thought of putting your home up for sale giving you jitters? Best believe you aren’t the only homeowner that has felt this way. It’s time to put on those big girl/ big boy pants; and close in on your home. Your new home calls out to you! Here

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If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to get fit without putting undue strain on your existing aches and pains, then an exercise bike might be just the thing. Because you’re technically sitting down during a bike workout, you’re not placing additional pressure onto your joints, and you

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A keen runner shouldn’t be discouraged to head out for his regular run even when the temperatures fall below zero. As the cold, long and dark winter months are approaching it should be every active runner’s top priority to gear up adequately and go for his or her regular run