The Redmond spokesman., June 23, 2021, Page 5, Image 5

THE SPOKESMAN • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2021 P5
Seniors
Continued from P1
The 18-year-old graduates with a
4.333 grade point average and will
attend Oregon State University-Cas-
cades, where she intends to major in
engineering sciences and minor in
outdoor products. The idea, she said,
is to combine her creativity with her
love of math and the outdoors.
“I’ve just always loved to be outside.
That’s my happy place,” she said. “And
I’ve always just loved math. That’s been
my strong suit. And then I’ve always
been super creative. So these degrees
are a perfect mesh of those things.”
Rebekah chose OSU-Cascades be-
cause of its specific offerings, as well
as a simple truth she’s learned while
traveling the country with her par-
ents, both of whom are teachers.
“I’ve been blessed enough to travel,
and we live in a pretty awesome spot,”
she said. “So moving to Bend doesn’t
seem like a bad thing at all.”
It doesn’t hurt that by going to col-
lege in Bend, she’ll be able to see her
puppy, Pepper, on weekends.
Until fourth grade, Rebekah at-
tended Central Christian School.
Then she moved to Terrebonne Com-
munity School before coming to Rid-
geview High School, where she played
soccer for two years, was on the Nor-
dic ski team, ran track and played ten-
nis. Oh, she was also the president of
Key Club for two years.
Rebekah credits the teachers at Rid-
geview for helping her stay motivated,
and to the cohort of like-minded stu-
dents she shared most of her advanced
courses with for pushing her to be at
her best.
“The teachers are absolutely incred-
ible here,” she said. “I didn’t have a bad
teacher, honestly.”
It hasn’t been easy since school was
turned upside down by COVID-19
in March 2020. But like seemingly ev-
erything else, Rebekah finds a positive
spin to it. She had more time to apply
for scholarships and iron out her col-
lege plans, and she also had to learn
time and schedule management in a
way that many students don’t learn
until their freshman year, when they
discover the allures of skipping Intro
to Bio to sleep in or play video games
with their roommate.
“It definitely prepared me for college
in the sense that I had to manage my
time,” she said. “I had to stay on top of
things and … I learned a lot about time
and schedule management this year.”
Central Oregon
becoming wildfire
staging point
From Central Oregon Daily News
With lightning in the fore-
cast and several parts of the
state under a Red Flag Warn-
ing or a Fire Weather Watch,
the Oregon Office of State Fire
Marshal is staging firefighting
resources in Central Oregon.
This is a proactive move
for the region to be better
prepared and bolster any ini-
tial fire attack, according to a
press release.
These firefighters are not
being assigned to a specific
incident but will be an added
resource and increase the
state’s readiness if there is a
fire.
Two firefighting task
forces, one from Marion
County and one from Wash-
ington County, will be sta-
tioned in Central Oregon,
ready to respond and help
local resources in the event a
wildfire erupts and threatens
structures.
These teams will be prepo-
sitioned for 72-hours but may
stay longer if they are needed.
“We know the conditions
across the state are dry, and
with thunderstorms in the
forecast, even the smallest
spark could trigger a wildfire,
that is why we are preposi-
tioning these resources,” said
Oregon State Fire Marshal
Mariana Ruiz-Temple. “We
can’t control the weather, but
we can plan for what we can
control, and that is strategi-
cally placing resources ahead
of this weather event.”
At this time, the OSFM is
not deploying any of its Inci-
dent Management Teams, but
they are ready in the event
they need to be activated and
deployed.
The OSFM encourages all
Oregonians to be aware of
the dry conditions and take
the necessary precautions to
avoid sparking a fire
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Email: classified@redmondspokesman.com
REDI
Continued from P1
Francis Kentura/Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Fire Management
The S-503 Fire burns on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation on Sunday.
Fire
Continued from P1
Meanwhile, the S-503 Fire
burning on the north edge of
the Warm Springs Indian Res-
ervation grew to 6,200 acres
overnight Sunday.
That fire threatens resi-
dences and structures in the
Pine Grove community along
Highway 216. Cultural and ar-
chaeological resources are also
at risk. Shifting winds kept the
fire away from Pine Grove, but
a Level 2 “get set” evacuation
order remained in place Mon-
day afternoon for people west
of Reservation Road.
The western edge of the fire
has inched toward Highway
26, but remained about 2 miles
away as of Monday midday.
Public information officer
Pam Sichting said crews expect
possible lightning and winds
in the area, which could also
contribute to the fire’s growth.
However, the NWS has not is-
sued any watches or warnings
for the area.
“We do have structure pro-
tection groups out there assess-
ing homes and prepping them
just in case something were to
happen,” Sichting said. “That’s
always our priority.”
The NWS on Monday after-
noon issued a red flag warn-
ing for Deschutes and Crook
counties, as well as portions
of Jefferson, Wheeler and
Wasco counties. That warn-
ing lasted until 11 p.m. Mon-
day. A fire weather watch for
a large chunk of Eastern Or-
egon extending northeast to
La Grande and Enterprise was
also issued. Isolated and scat-
tered thunderstorms there
could bring lightning strikes.
An excessive heat warning
is in place for the southwest
corner of the state. A heat advi-
sory is in place for the Portland
metro area into the Columbia
River Gorge.
The air quality index from
the Oregon Department of En-
vironmental Quality indicated
minimal impacts to air quality
from wildfires around the state
as of Monday afternoon.
“I hope you all feel that
you’ve done your part in
contributing to these num-
bers — let’s give yourselves
a round of applause. Things
are defiantly looking up.
Doesn’t it feel good to be
around people again and
not wearing a mask? Hope-
fully, there will be more of
that to come.
“What I can say is that
this Board of Directors and
it’s staff, yours truly, Mary
Knight and John Charles
are committed to our work
to keep this momentum
going. But we cannot do it
without you.”
Guests also heard from
three Redmond manu-
facturing companies that
accelerated, survived and
withstood everything this
past year presented to them.
And Josh Lehner, econo-
mist with the Oregon Of-
fice of Economic Analysis,
provided insights and an
overall perspective of the
state economy and what lies
ahead for pandemic recov-
ery in Oregon. (The Spokes-
man will be featuring the
businesses’ success stories in
the weeks to come).
Pacific Power, Hooker
Creek and Redmond Mu-
nicipal Airport sponsored
the event.
Find what’s waiting for
you in the classifieds
Please join us for a celebration of the life of
Phil Swee
Owner of Redmond Electric
Saturday, June 26th • 1:00 PM
American Legion Park • 850 SW Rimrock Way, Redmond