Editor’s note: Pick up a copy of the Source Weekly on any given week and you’re likely to find stories, Picks and calendar listings from all around Central Oregon—including Redmond. Even with our newsroom located in downtown Bend, it’s our goal to cover news and events of interest region- and state-wide to local readers year-round. But in considering the fact that in the 1990s, Bend had the population that Redmond has today, it became clear that the Hub City’s influence in the region is rising and will only continue to do so.
Redmond is on the rise on a number of fronts, including in its downtown revitalization, its arts scene, its growing brew culture and its increase in diversity. There are only so many pages in a single issue of the Source, but inside this special Redmond Issue, we hope we’ve captured at least some of the spirit of Redmond’s “renaissance,” as the town’s mayor calls it in this week’s feature story. We hope you enjoy this special moment when we highlight some of what makes Redmond special—and that you’ll continue to read us year-round for other happenings of note in Bend, Redmond and wider Central Oregon. Thanks for reading!
POETRY CONTEST PREVIEW?
Frost bite, bites.
Cars filled with gear,
blankets and pillows
Parked under willows
Trees in the summer, shade
Parking lots of big box stores
Bathrooms, Wi-Fi, shut eye
Sam Walton what a guy
If for nothing else
Exposing a culture,
Camping is what they call it
The percentage that works
Does it matter?
As the fat cats get fatter?
The dollar store, Wally world Convenience kill screams The ether
They eat the poison
Processed cardboard
is all they can afford
Cheap shit from China
disposable like them
Creates trash mountains
There will be no skiing
The colder it gets,
The older it gets
How many toes have to go?
Frostbite, bites!
—Cheri Swenson
YOUTH HOCKEY
Our family has just discovered that Bend Park and Recreation loses interest in young adults ages 15-18, just at the point when they need positive group activities more than ever. When we attempted to sign up our child to play hockey through Bend Park and Rec again this year, we were told there are no options for classes or team play after age 14 and before age 18. Fifteen-, 16-, and 17-year olds are, in other words, out of luck—unless they have the skills and financial backing to participate on the Bend Rapids intrastate traveling club team, which is not affiliated with Bend Park and Rec but does contract to use their facilities. We are astonished and deeply disappointed that an otherwise laudable public recreation agency—with its beautiful new skating rink and much hype about getting everyone out on the ice—would abandon teenagers in this way.
—Allison Hart
RE: NEW HIGH SCHOOL NAME, Letters, 10/10
Kaye Ballard asks about the process. Prior to North Star being named, public input was sought by the Bend-La Pine School Board. Several names where brought forth by the community, but then the board stated that to name a school after someone might backfire in the future if a cloud was discovered about said person.
Such delusional thinking would have wiped out schools named after M.L. King, Kennedy, Washington, Jefferson and the like not to mention local Bend people who have contributed so much to building this wonderful city.
—Richard Asadoorian
BEND ICE SCULPTURES
Hey Bend- It's officially Fall, which means it's getting colder... My request is to please turn off your automatic sprinkler systems! The temperature at which water freezes hasn't changed in awhile and so while I do enjoy seeing the ice sculptures that your sprinklers create when they water those desert plants overnight, it's about time to turn them off. While I'm not a huge fan of the way Bend preserves patches of green lawn throughout town all summer long (we live in a desert folks...), what I really want is to ensure that on my bike commute to work every day I'm not about to wipe out on a sheet of ice that watering in sub 32 degree temperature naturally creates on the roads and sidewalks. - Sincerely "Not tryin' to be ice cold..."
—Lauren Glass
UNVACCINATED PUPPY TRAGEDY
To the irresponsible, selfish Boxer Pit Bull Unspayed Unvaccinated dog owner,
Over the past week I fostered two of the pups from your latest unwanted litter. I watched them both die from parvo. I scrubbed shit-covered floors for hours, but I still cuddled and slept with and kissed those puppies. Gorgeous, intelligent animals, doomed from birth because of your neglect. Soul Sister's last moments before euthanasia were watching a crow fly and giving my family puppy kisses. You should be criminally prosecuted for allowing an unvaccinated female to breed repeatedly, then dropping the unwanted pups at the shelter for society to care for, and exposing my dogs to a deadly virus, requiring me to pay $250 for parvo boosters and immune support supplements. My senior dog, who walked on the same floors as your unwanted puppies, is now ill. You wrecked so many dog and human lives, yet refuse to take responsibility. Where is the law enforcement to stop this tragic and heartbreaking breeding?
—Donna Skemp
Letter of the Week:
Donna—My heart goes out to you and those puppies. Thanks for doing what you could. Enjoy a gift card from Palate on us!
—Nicole Vulcan
