THE SPOKESMAN • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2021 P3
FLASHBACK
Roberts Field reestablished
as a civilian airport in 1946
100 years ago
Feb. 24, 1921 — City Jail
Capacity Is Doubled; $1.75 As-
sures Comfort
Something had to be done.
Redmond ordinarily has had
but few prisoners in the city
jail, but last week four were
registered and taxed accom-
modations so heavily that
some conveniences had to be
borrowed for the night.
So the matter has been fixed.
Albert Julian, city marshal, and
M.A. Cunning, city recorder,
were in attendance at an auc-
tion sale and bought a double
bed and springs for $1.25 and
paid fifty cents cartage. This
was upon their own responsi-
bility, but the council Tuesday
night placed the “okeh” on the
transaction and ordered the
$1.75 be paid.
With the equipment in place
today the jail is able to accommo-
date double the former capacity
permitted by two single beds.
75 years ago
Feb. 28, 1946 — Airport En-
try Granted
It’s Roberts field again. the
city of Redmond received right
of entry Tuesday afternoon to
Redmond army air field, and
within an hour flying activi-
ties had been moved from the
CAP airport four miles west of
town to the big base. Piloting
his Fairchild PT-23, Mayor T.J.
Wells made the first landing
on Roberts field, his passenger
being J.R. Roberts, in whose
honor the city’s municipal air-
port was named.
The army engineers in Port-
land received authority Tuesday
to grant an interim permit to the
city, Roberts was advised by tele-
gram from E.W. Barnes, chief of
the sub-office. Barnes stated that
Capt. Olson of Portland army
air base will be in Redmond this
afternoon or Friday morning to
deliver possession of buildings
and equipment.
Dick Ballantine, who has
operated Redmond CAP air-
port since August, 1944, im-
mediately moved his planes
and operations to the army
field. Calvin Butler, who also
will operate from Roberts field,
flew his Piper Cub there from
Prineville later in the after-
noon. The Civil Aeronautics
administration was notified
and designation has been re-
moved from the CAP airport,
which attained nation-wide
publicity when it was built and
used the same day through the
efforts of Redmond squadron
of the Civil Air patrol and Red-
mond townsfolk.
At present five planes are in
one of the gigantic hangars, the
Wells Fairchild, Ballantine’s two
Interstates, Butler’s Cub and Al
Miller’s Taylorcraft, but it is ex-
pected other aircraft will be there
soon, including a plan to be used
by the CAA safety regulations
district office to be opened, with
J.T. Feeney as senior inspector.
Until Friday, permits will
be required to enter the field,
Mayor Wells has announced.
This will be for business pur-
poses and may be obtained
from J.R. Roberts or Wells. Ar-
rangements for telephone, wa-
ter and lights cannot be made
until Capt. Olson arrives to
deliver officially possession of
buildings and equipment.
Roberts field has two 7000-
foot paved runways, two large
hangars which formerly housed
B-17 bombers and later fighter
planes, taxiways, parking aprons,
scores of buildings and other
extensive operational facilities.
With L.E. Davis in charge, the
CAA already has a communi-
cations office on the field, which
takes weather observations.
50 years ago
Feb. 24, 1971 — COCC to
sponsor first intercollegiate
rodeo at Madras
The First Annual Central Or-
egon Community College In-
tercollegiate Rodeo will be held
April 2-4 in the Madras indoor
arena, according to Valerie Holt,
Redmond-area chairman.
The National Intercollegiate
Rodeo Association event is
Spokesman file photo
Damon Folk, left, and Crystal Attenberry with art project at Redmond High School in 1996.
expected to draw participants
from Oregon State University,
Eastern Oregon College, Trea-
sure Valley Community Col-
lege and possibly Oregon Tech-
nical Institute and Southern
Oregon College.
Teams, composed of six boys
and three girls, also will be
competing from Washington,
Montana and Idaho. Stock for
all events will be provided by
Ronnie Raymond of Double R
Rodeo Co.
Boys will compete in bare-
back riding, saddle bronc rid-
ing, bull riding, ribbon roping,
bulldogging and calf roping.
For girls, there will be barrel
racing and the special female
versions of goat tying and
breakaway calf roping.
Buckles will be given in each
event, plus special buckles to
all-around boy and girl, and a
high point team trophy.
The Friday performance will
begin at 7:30 p.m., with Satur-
day and Sunday shows sched-
uled for 1:30 p.m. Highlight
Saturday night will be a rodeo
dance.
25 years ago
Feb. 28, 1996 — Art stu-
dents study human character
Some unusual and even star-
tling art projects are popping
up at Redmond High School.
The life-sized cardboard fig-
ures of people often get second
and third glances as they stand
quietly between bookshelves or
near counters.
The “people” are part of
a study of color and human
characteristics in basic design
classes at the high school. Stu-
dents created characters from
all walks of life, including an
unemployed police officer, a
hillbilly waitress and a flower
child.
Students developed compre-
hensive biographies — with
relatives and occupations —
for their people. From those bi-
ographies came such details as
balding heads, beards and crop
tops for the characters.
Some, like Ivan Foster’s
group, went for more of a car-
toon style. Foster worked on the
waitress character, “Dolores.” In
addition to coffee stains and egg
smears on her apron, she sports
toothpick-thin arms and black
combat boots.
For several students, adding
color to the figures was their
first attempt at painting. Nikki
Holm learned, “it’s really hard
to make a good skin color.” she
said.
The distinctive “people” are
now accepting visitors and can
be seen in the school library.
Bentz named ranking
member of House
water subcommittee
BY GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
While Oregon’s freshman
Republican congressman,
Rep. Cliff Bentz, has only
been in office for less than
two months, he will serve as
the GOP’s ranking member
of the House Natu-
ral Resources Sub-
committee on Water,
Oceans and Wildlife.
The subcommit-
tee oversees federal
agencies in charge
of managing water
Bentz
resources for irriga-
tion, hydroelectricity,
navigation and conservation
— including the Bureau of
Reclamation and U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers.
In a statement, Bentz said
he will provide a “thought-
ful check and balance to the
Biden Administration and
the Democrat majority in
Congress,” pushing back
against burdensome regu-
lations that have hindered
farms and rural communities
across the West.
“For more than half of my
professional and political
career I have stood up and
fought for agriculture and
communities that rely on our
water resources and are feeling
the effects of a real and regula-
tory drought,” Bentz said.
Arkansas Rep. Bruce Wes-
terman, the ranking Repub-
lican on the House Natural
Resources Committee, said
that while Bentz may be new
to Congress, his experiences
as an attorney specializing in
water law have equipped him
to be a strong voice on water
issues.
“As we begin this new Con-
gress,” Westerman said, “I be-
lieve we have the best possi-
ble team ready to take on any
challenge and show Ameri-
cans that conservation is in-
herently conservative.”
Bentz was elected to the
House in November, replac-
ing Rep. Greg Walden, who
retired after 22 years in office.
As Oregon’s only congressio-
nal Republican, Bentz rep-
resents District 2, covering
the majority of the eastern,
central and southern portions
of the state.
During his 43 years as an
attorney in Ontario, Bentz
said he represented numerous
farmers, ranchers and small
businesses that depend on a
thriving agricultural economy.
“I understand their prob-
lems,” he said. “They will
have someone at the table to
fight for what they need, if
they are going to survive as
families and communities.”
Specifically, Bentz said the
committee may be
able to help fund ad-
ditional water storage
projects to provide
greater certainty for
farms feeling the ef-
fects of drought, while
“hopefully not putting
senseless regulations
back in place.”
“There are lots of Clean
Water Act and ESA (regu-
lations) that can be brought
into play,” he said. “To the ex-
tent that they are, it generally
plays out badly for farmers.”
When asked about Idaho
Rep. Mike Simpson’s proposal
to breach four dams along
the lower Snake River as part
of a plan to save endangered
salmon runs, Bentz said he is
generally opposed to remov-
ing dams, but looks forward
to listening to communities
and businesses that would be
affected.
“Dam removal, it’s com-
munity-changing, and many
would say community-de-
structive,” Bentz said. “I’m
anxious to listen to what the
people who would be most
impacted want.”
Agricultural groups in Or-
egon largely praised Bentz’s
appointment to the water
subcommittee.
Barb Iverson, president of
the Oregon Farm Bureau,
said Bentz brings extensive
expertise on water issues to
the national level.
April Snell, executive direc-
tor of the Oregon Water Re-
sources Congress, which rep-
resents irrigation districts and
agricultural water suppliers,
said the committee will bene-
fit from Bentz’s knowledge of
western water law. “Through
his many years in the Oregon
Legislature, Congressman
Bentz knows first-hand the
importance of bridging the ur-
ban-rural divide and support-
ing common-sense solutions
regardless of party,” Snell said.
“His thoughtful and delibera-
tive approach to complex pol-
icy is needed now more than
ever and we are grateful to
have him in Congress working
on Oregon’s behalf.”