A4 The BulleTin • Tuesday, May 4, 2021
April
Continued from A1
Marc Austin, a weather ser-
vice meteorologist in Pend-
leton, said it is not unusual
to have such a dry April, be-
cause some years no rainfall
is recorded during the month.
But the lack of precipitation
does add to the drought con-
ditions in Central Oregon. So
far this year, precipitation in
Bend has reached 2.45 inches,
which is 1.68 inches below
normal, according to the
weather service.
“You get into March and
April and days are getting
longer and warmer and you
start to dry out the vegeta-
tion,” Austin said. “You start
to worry about what implica-
tions that has for fire season.”
The average temperature for
April in Bend was 46 degrees,
which was 2.4 degrees above
normal. High temperatures
last month averaged 61.2 de-
grees, which was 4.5 degrees
above normal.
The highest temperature
recorded last month in Bend
was 84 degrees on April 30.
The record high temperature
for April in Bend was 93 de-
Keychain
Continued from A1
The “molon labe” item and
its letters appear to be larger
than Spano’s nametag on his
vest.
“I’m aware of the allega-
tions posted around social
media regarding one of our
employees displaying an item
that was inconsistent with our
uniform, an item believed to
be supportive of extremist
ideologies” Krantz told The
Bulletin.
Spano, 35, told The Bulle-
tin the item in question is a
keychain he has used while on
duty throughout his 13-year
career. He said he wears it to
honor the oath of enlistment
grees on April 13, 1904, ac-
cording to weather service
data.
Low temperatures last
month in Bend averaged 30.7
degrees, which was 0.3 of a de-
gree above normal. A total of
18 days last month had a low
he took when he joined the
military, and his fellow sol-
diers. He said before the re-
cent uproar, no one had ever
said anything about it.
He denied being part of the
Three Percenters or any other
anti-government group.
“I support none of it,” he
said. “And if it wasn’t for peo-
ple defending against that
we’d have a whole lot more
disorder right now than we
already do.”
Spano said if the internal
investigation determines his
keychain is inappropriate to
wear on duty, he will switch to
using it for the keyring for his
personal vehicle.
Spano was hired by the
Medford Police Department
Sisters
Continued from A1
“I think the students have
had a lot more say and they
have had a stronger voice in
the last year,” Cogdill said.
“There have been a lot of sur-
veys and getting feedback from
the kids. I would like to see that
continue. It’s so important to
have that connection with their
viewpoints.”
Rodney Cooper
Cooper, a 66-year-old retired
grade school teacher, works as
a substitute teacher for the Sis-
ters School District.
Cooper said he wanted to
take his 32-year teaching expe-
rience in Lane County, plus 11
years of substitute teaching, and
bring that to the school board.
He spent his entire career
teaching kindergarten through
eighth grade in the small town
of Crow, west of Eugene. He
moved to Sisters in 2019 and
has been substitute teaching
in kindergarten through 12th
grade.
“Education has been my
life,” Cooper said. “Just the fact
that I have all that experience
about education from the in-
side. And most school board
members I’ve ever met were al-
ways people from the outside.”
During his teaching career,
Cooper also owned a trophy,
T-shirt and hat business and
grew and sold Christmas trees.
The mix of teaching and own-
ing small businesses is good
experience for being on the
school board because members
have to balance the district
budget and hire staff, Cooper
said.
“I think I have a unique skill
set in that manner,” he said.
Working directly inside the
classrooms at the Sisters School
District gives Cooper a direct
perspective to what the stu-
dents need, he said.
“If something comes up
that is just wrong, I’ll know it,”
Cooper said. “I think we have
good schools here. The teach-
ers are great and all dedicated.
I’m not in this race because I
think there’s a problem in our
schools. I just want to make
sure we don’t have problems.”
Position 5
Kevin Eckert
Eckert, 48, an architect and
builder who owns Build LLC,
based in Seattle and Sisters,
Cogdill
Eckert
Cooper
Jones
is running for the first time
to share his professional ex-
perience with the board, es-
pecially because a bond is on
the ballot this year to build a
new elementary school in the
district.
“My professional experience
would really serve the board
well,” Eckert said. “I can of-
fer some planning and some
expertise that is currently not
represented on the board.”
As the population of Sis-
ters continues to grow and the
school district keeps building
new schools, it is an import-
ant time for the school board
to help guide that growth,
Eckert said.
“The reason I jumped in
is our little town is going
through a lot of change, and
that brings with it some con-
cerns, and what I see more as
opportunities,” Eckert said.
“For better or worse, our
town is going to undergo even
more change and more accel-
eration of growth.”
Eckert has one child who
graduated high school last
year and another who is a
sophomore. He is invested in
opportunities for high school
students, such as more voca-
tional programs. He envisions
having more builders and
construction companies offer
lessons to students and pre-
pare them for various careers.
“There are a lot of folks
around who could help with
internships,” Eckert said. “But
there just hasn’t been band-
width or interest in accelerat-
ing that.”
A majority of the current
school board members are
retired from careers in educa-
tion. Eckert said he believes
there is value in having other
backgrounds on the board.
temperature below 32 degrees.
The coldest temperature re-
corded last month was 20 de-
grees on April 16. The record
low temperature for April in
Bend was 8 degrees on April
10, 1903, according to the
data.
The outlook for May calls
for near normal temperatures
and near normal precipitation.
The month of May is start-
ing out with rain in the fore-
cast, but the precipitation is
not expected to last, Austin
said.
“We stress there is no place in policing for extremism or
violent ideologies. Those beliefs are incompatible with law
enforcement. … Again, I don’t know if that’s what was going
on in this case.”
— Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz
in 2008, according to Oregon
police records. In 2015, he
transferred to the Bend Po-
lice Department and was pro-
moted to corporal in 2019.
He is a former Army medic
who served in combat in Iraq.
The Ancient Greek phrase
“molon labe,” meaning “come
and take them,” is often at-
tributed to the Spartan King
Leonidas when the Persian
“I think the balance of hav-
ing a couple board members
who don’t have an educational
background just helps fill out
a board,” he said. “Let voters
have a choice and see what
composition they want for the
board.”
Edie Jones
Jones, 82, was appointed to
the school board in February
2020.
The 30-year resident of
Sisters said she was called to
public service last year after a
long career in early childhood
education. She served as the
executive director of Together
for Children, a nonprofit
organization in Sisters that
serves children and their fam-
ilies. She is the current board
chair for the organization.
“My entire adult life has
been in education,” Jones said.
“I understand the importance
of real quality preschools and
kindergartens.”
Jones felt her expertise in
early childhood education
was especially important last
year when the school district
received funding for a pre-
school inside the elementary
school.
“I’m really so excited that
Sisters School District can of-
fer that to kids, especially in
the lower income groups that
cannot afford the cost of pre-
school,” Jones said. “That’s
what really drove me to run
again and be a part of it again.”
Prior to joining the school
board, Jones served on several
boards and committees for
the Girl Scouts and Bend In-
ternational School.
“That gives me a unique
position of understanding the
role of the board and the rela-
tionship with the superinten-
dent and staff, which I think
is a really important piece to
know,” Jones said.
In addition to supporting
early childhood education,
Jones hopes to guide more
civic education in the school
district to teach children
about local elections and how
governments function.
“I think that is one of the
things that has been missing
from education,” Jones said.
“It needs to be something all
kids learn about. That’s an-
other piece I would really be
encouraging.”
e e
Reporter: 541-617-7820,
kspurr@bendbulletin.com
King called on the Spartan
soldiers to lay down their
arms. It has more recently
been co-opted by pro-gun
and extremist anti-govern-
ment groups.
It’s also favored among
some in law enforcement.
Douglas County Sheriff John
Hanlin drew attention to it in
2015 when he set the phrase as
his Facebook profile picture.
“It’s not looking like anything
that is going to erase what we
are dealing with in terms of the
drought,” Austin said.
Normal high temperatures
for May in Bend rise from
61 degrees at the start of the
month to 68 degrees at the
end of the month. Normal low
temperatures rise from 33 de-
grees to 40 degrees through-
out the month.
Normal precipitation for
May in Bend is 0.89 of an inch.
According to the Bend Po-
lice policy handbook, Bend
officers are forbidden from
wearing unauthorized items
on their uniforms, as well as
openly supporting political
and social causes while on
duty.
The officer uniform is
meant to identify the wearer
as a law enforcement officer
and also a source of assistance
in an emergency, the hand-
book states.
Krantz said ideologies that
advocate for the violent over-
throw of the U.S. government
do not fall within the range of
acceptable political beliefs an
officer may hold.
“We stress there is no place
in policing for extremism or
violent ideologies,” Krantz
said. “Those beliefs are in-
compatible with law enforce-
ment. … Again, I don’t know
if that’s what was going on in
this case.”
Mayor Sally Russell said
she’s aware of the matter and
is glad human resources is
looking into it.
“We should be cautious and
not too quick to judge,” she
said.
Spano recently applied to
work at the Deschutes County
Sheriff ’s Office. He requested
a meeting with Sheriff Shane
Nelson and met with him
in late 2020, the office con-
firmed.
e e
e e
Reporter: 541-617-7820,
kspurr@bendbulletin.com
Reporter: 541-383-0325,
gandrews@bendbulletin.com
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