A6 THE SPOKESMAN • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2022
Redm ond Library is getting an upgrade
Building to close for
renovations January 2023
through fall 2024
BY LEO BAUDHUIN
Redmond Spokesman
From updated meeting
rooms and book displays to
collaborative work spaces, the
Redmond Library is up for an
upgrade.
With construction set to run
from January 2023 through the
fall of 2024, Deschutes Public
Library staff is hoping to trans-
form the Redmond location into
a “much more dynamic commu-
nity center,” according to com-
munications and development
manager Chantal Strobel.
Although the library will
close for construction, it will
open a temporary location at
2127 South Highway 97 from
January 2023 to September
2024, Strobel said. This means
patrons will still be able to ac-
cess materials and work in a
smaller space while renovations
are in progress.
The project will be funded
by the $195 million bond that
Deschutes County voters ap-
proved in 2020. Strobel said the
Redmond branch construction
will draw on 20% of the library
system’s bond funds, with other
portions going toward revamp-
ing libraries in Sisters and La
Pine and building a new central
library in Bend.
Leo Baudhuin/Spokesman
The Redmond Library is set to undergo construction beginning January 2023. The Deschutes County Library hopes to expand the building and
provide more community spaces.
Strobel said controversy sur-
rounding the central library
location — in which the city of
Bend declined an exemption for
the the initial site — prompted
a divided library board to select
a new space. It did not impact
the timeline for the Redmond
project. The library sits just off
downtown’s main arteries, 827
SW Deschutes Ave.
“We have experienced won-
derful support and partner-
ship from the city of Redmond,
Redmond City Council and the
Downtown Urban Renewal Ad-
visory Committee,” she said.
Urban renewal program
manager Chuck Arnold said the
project ties into the committee’s
goal of increasing community
Parking
Continued from A1
Yet while the city council
argues, the problems of home-
lessness is only increasing in
Redmond.
In spring, Redmond Police
Department counted 17 ve-
hicles in the sage east of 17th
Street and north of Highway
126, near some of the largest
employers in the city. By sum-
mer, that number had grown
to 26. And just in the last few
weeks, three RVs have ap-
use of the downtown area — es-
pecially as Redmond continues
to grow.
“We really wanted to make
sure that the library remains a
central gathering point for our
community and a central part of
peared near the Redmond Ath-
letic Club.
Law forbids law enforce-
ment and city crews from
towing or removing homes
though once they set up shop
on public property, so there
are few options once home-
less camps are set up. That’s
why Witcosky encouraged city
council to take a proactive ap-
proach and set their own rules
on how the camps would op-
erate.
— The city also approved
adding two questions to the
our community,” he said.
For Strobel, that means ren-
ovations extend beyond simply
expanding the Redmond Li-
brary’s book collection. She said
many people in Redmond need
a space to do work, but that the
town doesn’t have many spots
that people can access for free.
The new plan features study
rooms, collaborative spaces, two
meeting rooms that can remain
open beyond the library’s hours
of operation and creative spaces
where community members
can engage in crafts like paint-
ing, quilting or 3-D printing.
The first floor will also give
room to a children’s discovery
center, where kids can play with
materials that foster learning
and development, Strobel said.
Youth will be able to access a
dedicated teen space on the li-
brary’s new second floor.
The library redesign also in-
cludes a patio outdoor gathering
space, a drive-up window for
holds and drop-offs, solar pan-
els and electric vehicle charging
stations.
Samantha Korich, a library
patron who recently moved to
Redmond from Bend, said she
enjoys the resources and events
the library offers. She said it’s a
great space within walking dis-
tance of her home for kids to
hang out and to access movies
and the internet.
█
Reporter:
lbaudhuin@redmondspokesman.com
November ballot.
The first question is whether
or not place a permanent ban
on the manufacture of psilo-
cybin products. The second
question would put a two-year
ban in place against psilocybin
service centers.
— Council also made proc-
lamations to recognize POW-
MIA Awareness Day, Suicide
Prevention Month and the
21st anniversary of Sept. 11,
2001.
█
Reporter:
ttrainor@redmondspokesman.com
Plan your 2023 Getaway!
Nick Rosenberger/Spokesman
An employee at Oregon’s Wild Harvest in Redmond inspects bottles on Sept. 2 to be used for herbal sup-
plements.
Wild Harvest
Continued from A1
CONTAMINATION
Records indicated that, in
some cases, if the raw ingredi-
ents came to the Wild Harvests
facility in multiple bags of the
same lot, the quality control
team would reject the bags with
visible foreign materials, yet ap-
prove other bags. In other cases,
the FDA wrote, the company
appeared to approve bags after
quality control used visual con-
firmation that foreign material
was removed.
“Removing the visible for-
eign material may not ensure
the absence of contaminants,”
noted the FDA.
They highlighted one of Wild
Harvest’s lots which was con-
taminated with wheat grains
and how, even after removing
the visible allergen from it, the
material still tested positive for
gluten.
The company, which man-
ufactures dietary supplements
like milk thistle, ginger and
ginkgo capsules, uses whole ag-
ricultural crops in their prod-
ucts rather than powders — un-
like most of their competitors.
Because of this, and like in
the food processing industry,
contaminants are common.
“The FDA acknowledges
that this is unavoidable,” Vieceli
said.
For example, peanut butter is
allowed to contain an average
of one rodent hair or 30 insect
fragments per 3.5 ounces. Even
the US pharmacopeia, an inde-
pendent organization that sets
quality standards for medicines
and dietary supplements, allows
up to 2 percent of foreign or-
ganic matter, Blumenthal said.
“Yes, we do find things,” Bu-
resh said. “We do not send it
out to our customers. We do
not put it in our end product.
We absolutely do not.”
According to Buresh, prod-
ucts at Oregon’s Wild Harvest
get tested every step of the way.
First when it arrives on the
premises, then when it is sorted,
milled, processed and packed
into capsules. All machines
used are disassembled, cleaned,
sanitized and inspected. If at
any point during the process
a product does not meet their
specifications, it is rejected.
Oregon’s Wild Harvest has
been inspected three times by
the FDA, but only found prob-
lems in its most recent inspec-
tion. In 2019, Wild Harvest was
ranked as the Portland Business
Journal’s Manufacturer of the
year for an organization of 51-
100 employees.
OTHER ISSUES
The company has responded
six times since the first inspec-
tion, but the FDA said the re-
sponses have been insufficient
and that Wild Harvest has
failed to address a laundry list
of issues outlined in the last
year.
One such issue was an
over-reliance on FTIR testing
— a form of testing that ana-
lyzes the composition of their
products on a molecular level.
While FTIR is widely used, it
cannot detect individual dietary
ingredients in the company’s
bulk blends.
Since then, the company says
it has purchased and integrated
a more powerful testing process
that separates components in
a liquid mixture and can bet-
ter identify the composition of
products.
Other violations included
failure to use appropriate test-
ing for microbial contamina-
tion and growth, placing “best
buy” and “use by” dates on their
products without data to back
up these dates and failing to
give specifications on the iden-
tity, purity, strength and com-
position of their products.
Oregon’s Wild Harvest men-
tioned that while the FDA was
misleading with their quality
control practices, the company
acknowledged that paperwork
was a stumbling block and
something they needed to work
on.
“It was really around our
documentation that we had to
be more clear on,” Vieceli said.
“Our paperwork was a fail-
ure,” Buresh said. “It really sums
up the whole majority of it. It
was our paperwork.”
Buresh and Vieceli added
that they are working on fixing
their documentation processes
to meet the FDA requests.
According to Blumenthal,
dietary supplements require an
extremely detailed amount of
paperwork with very technical
documentation required for ev-
ery piece of the process.
“Small businesses have a dif-
ficult time with this,” he said.
“It’s extremely taxing from an
overhead and time perspective.”
█
Reporter: nrosenberger@
redmondspokesman.com
BURGUNDY & PROVENCE FRANCE RIVER CRUISE
9 DAYS
OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 2, 2023
DAY 1 & 2: DEPART US, OVERNIGHT FLIGHT TO EUROPE,
ARRIVE LYON, BOARD SHIP
DAY 3: MÂCON
DAY 4: CHALON SUR SAONE, BEAUNE, TOURNUS
DAY 5: LYON
DAY 6: AVIGNON
DAY 7: ARLES
DAY 8: LEISURE DAY WITH CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-RHÔNE/
ARDECHE, LE POUZIN
DAY 9: FLIGHT HOME
OPTIONAL 2 - NIGHT PARIS POST CRUISE
EXTENSION AVAILABLE
INCLUSIONS:
Roundtrip Airfare - PDX or RDM
(+$250pp)
7 Night Cruise - Outside Cabin
20 Meals (7-B, 6-L, 7-D)
PWD Tour Manager
Wine & Beer with Dinners
Welcome & Farewell Dinners
Wifi Onboard
English Speaking Ship Staff
Baggage Handling
Int’l Air Taxes/Fees & Port Charges
Hotel & Ship Transfers
EXCURSIONS/TOURS:
Beaune Tour with Hotel-Dieu &
Burgundy Wine Tasting Experience
Macon Walking Tour
Lyon City Tour
Avignon Walking Tour with
Avignon Palace of Popes
Arles Walking Tour with Roman
Amphitheater
Visit www.bendbulletin.com/offers/travel
for a more detailed look at all trip itineraries.
For more information or to book, call (877) 953-8687 x 276