WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2021
Redmond, Oregon • $1
Inside: Flashback 1971: Pilot auto course at COCC »
PHOTO: DC generators get the eagle eye from 1971 Redmond High School students.
redmondspokesman.com
A special good morning to subscriber Debra McCarthy
@RedmondSpox
OREGON’S NEW REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN
Bentz visits local veterans in first Oregon trip
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
In his first trip back to Oregon
since being sworn in early this year,
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario,
came to speak at the Central Oregon
Veterans Ranch between Bend and
Redmond in honor of Vietnam War
Veterans Day.
Dozens of veterans, their friends
and families gathered Monday at the
ranch, which supports veterans by
offering peer support and agricul-
ture-related therapy.
“We’re here to honor you for your
sacrifice and your suffering,” Alison
Perry, Founder of Central Oregon
Veterans Ranch, said at the event.
When addressing the crowd, Bentz
recounted his own experience huddling
by a radio, waiting to hear whether his
draft number was going to be called.
He committed to learning more
about and advocating for veterans’ is-
sues.
“We’ll do our best to fight for you
just like you fought for us,” Bentz said.
In his statement, Bentz briefly men-
tioned to the crowd he co-sponsored
H.R. 1448, which directs the Secretary
of Veteran Affairs to carry out a pilot
program on dog training therapies to
provide service dogs to veterans who
do not have mobility impairments. He
is one of 308 to co-sponsor the bill.
Bentz said in general, however, the
world of veterans issues is new to him,
and said he is thankful he still has
people who worked for his predeces-
sor, Greg Walden, to help him.
His goal this week back home in
Oregon is to listen and learn from
constituents about what issues need
to be addressed, he said. At this event,
a handful of veterans made one issue
clear: Too many veterans are not get-
ting the benefits — or have trouble
getting the benefits — they deserve
from Veterans Affairs.
See Bentz / P5
4 running
for vacant
Redmond
School
Board seat
County clerk scrapped
plan to appoint member;
race now on May ballot
BY JACKSON HOGAN
The Bulletin
Earth’s
Art
A vacant seat on the Red-
mond School Board, initially
to be filled by appointment,
is now one of the most hotly
contested races in the May 18
election.
Four candidates have filed to
fill the seat of board chair Tim
Carpenter , who abruptly re-
signed from his seat on March
17. It’s the second Redmond
School Board seat to have four
candidates, and no other Cen-
tral Oregon school board race
has more than three this year.
Although the school board
planned to appoint someone
to serve the remaining two
years of Carpenter’s term, De-
schutes County Clerk Nancy
Blankenship ruled that the seat
must be filled by election, as
Carpenter left the board with
enough time between then and
May 18.
After a slightly extended
candidate filing period, the
dust has settled, and voters in
Redmond, Terrebonne and
Tumalo will have four school
board candidates to choose
from for Carpenter’s seat.
Redmond resident Oscar
Gonzalez is the family empow-
erment programs manager at
Bend-based nonprofit Latino
Community Association, ac-
cording to county filings. He
has held other education-fo-
cused positions in the past, in-
cluding academic advising at
community colleges in Salem,
Eugene, and Houston.
Remodeled gas station grows a second life
BY LYDIA VALENTI • The Spokesman
R
PHOTO: Earth’s Art, owned by Michael Ludeman,
features a wide array of tropical plants.
EDMOND — Walking into Earth’s Art is like walking into a
tropical forest. The remodeled gas station building on the corner
of SW Fifth Street and Forest Avenue is filled with beautiful ma-
ture greenery and folks who have put time, effort and knowledge into
helping the plants flourish.
The garden store, which specializes in plants and pottery, will have
been open a year at the end of April, but owner Michael Ludeman
comes with many years of experience. Ludeman previously owned
Tumalo Garden Market, which was founded under the parent com-
pany of Earth’s Art LLC, a name which came out of his appreciation for
plants as “God’s art.”
Lydia Valenti/Spokesman
See Earth’s Art / P6
See Board / P4
The Spokesman uses
recycled newsprint
Events in and around Redmond
The Redmond Spokesman welcomes event information for
its community calendar. Submissions are limited to nonprofit,
free and live entertainment events. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday
for the following Wednesday’s paper. Items are published on a
space-available basis and may be edited. Contact us at
news@redmondspokesman.com or fax 541-548-3203.
ONGOING
WEDNESDAY 3/31
Big Butte Challenge: Hikers and runners will
summit five buttes in Central Oregon, going
at their own pace whenever their schedule
allows using a GPS-enabled activity tracker to
submit efforts before the deadline; through
May 31; $60; online; go.evvnt.com/752281-1
or 541-350-4635.
Deschutes Public Library Special District
Board Meeting: The board will discuss a
resolution authorizing the sale of general
obligation bonds and related matters;
noon-1 p.m.; online; go.evvnt.com/758737-0
or 541-312-1025.
MBSEF Spring Online Auction: The virtual
fundraiser for the sports education foundation
features local gift cards, airline tickets, art,
vacation packages and more; through 10 a.m.
April 5; online; go.evvnt.com/758762-0 or 541-
388-0002.
Women Artists Respond to Place: The
significance of landscapes, places and
narratives of all kinds will be examined
through the works of contemporary women
artists in Smithsonian collections; 2-3 p.m.;
registration required; online; go.evvnt.
com/758753-1 or 541-382-4754.
Virtual Q&A Sessions for Growing
Vegetables in Central Oregon: OSU Master
Gardners will answer questions regarding the
free video class “Growing Vegetables in Central
Oregon” covering climate, soil, site selection and
more; 6-7 p.m.; registration required; online;
go.evvnt.com/756112-2 or 541-548-6088.
Know Wild — Changing Climates and
Wildlife, A Climate-Altered Future:
Consider ways that changing climates are
affecting wildlife and effects we can anticipate
as climate change continues; 6-7 p.m.;
registration required; online; go.evvnt.
com/755406-1 or 541-312-1029.
See Calendar / P4
INDEX
Puzzles ............. 2 Obituaries ....... 6
Police log ........ 2 Classifieds ....... 7
Volume 111, No. 31
USPS 778-040
U|xaIICGHy02326kzU