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Bend company powers forward
HYDROGEN FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY FROM ELEMENT 1 IS READY TO HIT THE MARKET • BUSINESS, C1
MOTHER’S DAY | PARENTING DURING A PANDEMIC
BEND PARK & REC BOARD
The importance of family
becomes more meaningful
Diverse
group
contends
for seats
By MICHaEL KOHn
The Bulletin
Three seats on the Bend Park & Recre-
ation District board are on the ballot in the
May 18 special district election.
Two of the races feature newcomers fac-
ing incumbents. The third seat, Position 4,
sees two new candidates square off against
each other following the retirement of Ted
Schoenberg, who served on the board since
2003.
Position 4
The Position 4 candidates are Zavier
Borja and Robin Vora. Both come at the job
with different professional backgrounds, but
both are passionate about the outdoors.
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin photos
Erica Kite smiles as her daughter Olive Johnson giggles while pushing her on a swing Wednesday at their La Pine home.
Mothers say pandemic taught them to be creative with their time, children
By BREnna VISSER • The Bulletin
J
ust about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Erica Kite when the pandemic began. First, she was
let go from her job for electing to stay home out of fear of how COVID-19 could affect her pregnancy. She filed for
unemployment, but her payments were delayed — a delay that ended up lasting nearly a year.
Madeline
drescher
smiles while
comparing a
leaf with her
son Max out-
side of their
Bend home
Thursday.
And then, just about a week
before Kite was supposed to
have her baby, the well on her
La Pine property ran dry, leav-
ing her and her family of three
without water just a few days
before the arrival of her new
daughter. Despite the chal-
lenges, the 38-year-old Kite said
she wouldn’t change a thing.
The pandemic reminded her of
something valuable: Nothing
is more important than family,
and her family is more resilient
than she thought.
“We’re kind of ready for
whatever comes in the future.
Hopefully, that was the worst of
it we’re going to see in our life-
time,” Kite said. “It’s kind of like,
we can survive anything at this
point.”
Zavier Borja
Borja, 27, is a native Central Oregonian
and first-generation Mexican American.
He is also a self-described “extreme” ex-
trovert.
“I love connecting with and being
around people; it gives me a lot of energy,”
he said.
Borja works for Children’s Forest of Cen-
tral Oregon, where he serves as the Latino
Outdoor Engagement Coordinator. He is
also the founder of the Vamanos Outside
Program, which encourages members of the
Latino community to spend more time out-
doors in Central Oregon.
Borja says his goal for the Bend Park &
Recreation District is to increase trail access
and trail connectivity in Bend.
“I see it as a project that would benefit the
district in a multitude of ways including ex-
panding park access, supporting park main-
tenance, and diversifying park space usage,”
said Borja.
See Park & Rec / A6
Pacific Power
consolidates,
to build on land
in Juniper Ridge
By SuZannE ROIG
The Bulletin
See Mothers / A4
“It just reminds me there is still beauty in the world. It’s really easy to focus on the doom
and gloom, but my kids are over here looking at frogs and worms, and it reminds you
there is still a beautiful world going on.” — Madeline drescher, who gave birth to her daughter Mae at home in late May
The power company serving Central Or-
egon is consolidating its offices and moving
to the Juniper Ridge area to centralize its
training and maintenance services.
Pacific Power, which serves 600,000 cus-
tomers in Oregon alone, applied for build-
ing permits April 30, said Tom Gaunet,
Pacific Power spokesman. Its new facility
will consolidate three buildings spread out
around Bend.
“It’s indicative of the growth in Bend,”
Gaunet said. “It’s time to say we need a ma-
jor facility.”
See Power / A7
By KyLE SPuRR
The Bulletin
Eloise, the most prolific trumpeter
swan in Oregon’s breeding program, has
died of natural causes at her home at the
Lake Aspen Golf Course in Sisters.
Golf course staff found Eloise’s body
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Monday, less than four months after her
mate, Pete, died unexpectedly from a
bacterial infection.
“I’m personally convinced she died of
a broken heart,” said Robin Gold, a wild-
life rehabilitation expert who lives in the
Aspen Lakes neighborhood and cared
Mostly cloudy
High 61, Low 33
Page B6
INDEX
Business/Life
Classifieds
Dear Abby
C1-8
B5
C3
for the swan pair.
Eloise and Pete produced 15 young in
the past three years. The pair boosted the
state’s effort to repopulate the threatened
species, which is still recovering from near
extinction at the turn of the 20th century.
Editorial
Horoscope
Local/State
See Eloise / A7
A8
C3
A2-3, 9
Lottery
Market Recap
Mon. Comics
B2
B4
C5-6
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A9
C4
B1-4
In an article headlined “School
board race sees unusual division,”
which appeared Saturday, May 8, on
Page A1, a group that contributed to
Carrie McPherson Douglass’ Bend-La
Pine School Board campaign was mis-
stated. The Oregon School Employees
Association donated $2,000 to her
campaign. And that donation, along
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
We use
recycled
newsprint
Vol. 117, No. 329, 28 pages, 4 sections
SUN/THU
Death of Eloise hurts swan breeding program
with the more than $2,000 from the
Oregon Education Association, was
donated in 2017.
Also, when Bend-La Pine School
Board candidate Marcus LeGrand dis-
cusses “wokeness” and “white guilt,” he
said the phrases were meant to shut
down dialogue — not the concepts
themselves.
The Bulletin regrets the errors.
Correction
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