WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2021 Redmond, Oregon • $1 Inside: Waiting for a vaccine? Mark April 19 on the calendar » redmondspokesman.com A special good morning to subscriber Lisa Edmondson @RedmondSpox Honor Flights to resume after yearlong wait Marine Dane Prevatt, right, one of the organizers for this year’s Honor Flight, sports an Honor Flight T-shirt and answers questions from vets about to travel to Washington, D.C., at the VFW hall in this archive photo. BY GERRY O’BRIEN The Spokesman REDMOND — The Honor Flights for armed forces veterans to visit national war memorials is on once again. Some 25 veterans from Central Oregon, their guardians and ad- ministrative people plan to fly out of Redmond Airport on Sept. 22, after a yearlong delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be the long-promised inaugural flight from Redmond, or- ganizers say. “We are going to fly out of our Spokesman file Redmond City Council discusses marijuana dispensaries BY JACKSON HOGAN The Bulletin Marijuana dispensaries are still illegal within Red- mond city limits. But the City Council is already moving ahead on creating regulations for where they can be located, in case that changes. The Redmond City Council was scheduled to discuss time, place and manner regulations for marijuana dispensaries at a special meeting Tuesday night. Dispensaries is a topic that has been hotly debated among city councilors. (See updates to this story at redmondspokesman.com) Mayor George Endicott said he asked city staff to draft dispensary regula- tions, despite the marijuana outlets being illegal in Red- mond, as he believes the federal government will le- galize the drug nationwide soon. Redmond city code for- bids giving business licenses to companies that violate federal or state law, and marijuana is still illegal fed- erally, despite being allowed within Oregon. “If the feds legalize mari- juana, then guess what? We no longer have a prohibi- tion against giving them a business license,” Endicott told The Bulletin before the meeting. “Then it’s, where do you put a marijuana business?” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, told Polit- ico this month that the U.S. Senate will push to legalize cannabis nationwide. See Marijuana / P4 UPDATES ONLINE • The City Council meeting was after The Spokesman’s print deadline. See updates at redmondspokesman.com home town of Redmond, Oregon,” declared Dane Prevatt, Honor Flight of Central Oregon organizer. “We reserved dates with Alaska Airlines for Sept. 22 to D.C., re- turning on Sept. 25. We had to make a hasty decision on flight dates, we don’t usually fly in the fall, so we tried to pick the best dates based on weather, kids back in school, and hopefully we got around other major events that happen in the D.C. area in the fall.” The group plans to visit the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Me- morial, the Korean War and Viet- nam War memorials as well as the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps memorials and Arlington National Cemetery. Visitors will also witness the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Tours include the Pentagon, the National Archives and possibly a private tour of the U.S. Capitol. “The Capitol could be tricky due to the recent security issues,” Prevatt said. “However, if we are not able to, we may visit Mount Vernon instead.” A media person will be onboard to document the event. See Flights / P4 ‘IT’S ALMOST LIKE OPENING UP IN THE FALL’ Redmond schools, others prepare for return to full-time classes BY JACKSON HOGAN The Bulletin A fter more than a year of school being fully online or only partly in-person, thousands of students in Redmond and Bend-La Pine school districts will soon return to full-time, in-person classes five days a week. This change — which only became possi- ble after the Oregon Department of Education shrunk the mandatory 6-feet social distancing rule for students to 3 feet in late March — is good news to educators in Central Oregon’s two largest school districts. “I’ve got a great class — they’re super excited to be back,” said Carrie Price, a fourth grade teacher at Juniper Elementary School in north- east Bend. “This is what they need.” But transitioning the majority of students — grades 4-12 in Bend-La Pine, grades 6-12 in Redmond — from part-online to full-time classroom settings isn’t as simple as moving desks closer together. Completely shifting the logistics of school operations in the middle of the school year is difficult but worth it to get all students back full time, said Redmond Archie Bailey, a maintenance technician with the Redmond School District, assembles a table Friday in preparation for students re- turning to classrooms full-time this month. Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin Superintendent Charan Cline.“We know this is good for kids, and frankly it’s good for our staff,” Cline said. “It’s just that it takes time to make the switch.” See Schools / P5 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. WEDNESDAY 4/7 Christy Lefteri; 6-7 p.m.; online; go.evvnt.com/744158-0 or 541-306- 6564. District Library Board Work Session: The board will discuss governance process policies including authorizing bank accounts, bond capital and debt service funds and more; 1-4 p.m.; online; go.evvnt. com/761991-0 or 541-312-1025. Poetry Together — A Conversation and Reading with Anis Mojgani, Oregon Poet Laureate: The COCC Barber Library will host an evening consisting of a discussion facilitated by local students, a performance of Mojgani’s work and an audience Q&A session; 6:30-8 p.m.; registration required; Bend; go.evvnt.com/758733-1 or 541- 383-7560. 1981 Casablanca & Contemporary Morocco: Hear past events in Casablanca put into context for today from Dr. Mahmood Ibrahim, professor emeritus of history at Cal Poly Pomona; 6-7 p.m.; registration required; online; go.evvnt.com/762030-1 or 541-312-1029. A Novel Idea 2021 Quilt Show: Quilts inspired by the Deschutes Public Library’s Novel Idea and designed by local quilters will be displayed virtually; 6-7 p.m.; online; go.evvnt.com/758667-0 or 541-312-1032. Current Fiction Book Club: Discussing “The Beekeeper of Aleppo” by THURSDAY 4/8 Redmond Historic Landmarks Commission Meeting: The commission will discuss activities for Historic Preservation Month and more; 4:30-6 p.m.; online; go.evvnt.com/761962-0 or 541-923-7758. See Calendar / P5 INDEX Puzzles ............. 2 Obituaries ....... 5 Police log ........ 2 Classifieds ....... 6 Volume 111, No. 32 USPS 778-040 U|xaIICGHy02326kzU