Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2022)
A4 The BulleTin • Friday, January 21, 2022 Graduation Continued from A1 Crook County High School tops Central Oregon graduation rates Central Oregon’s two larg- est districts — Bend-La Pine Schools and Redmond School District — reported lower graduation rates compared to the 2020 class, but each re- ported its second-highest grad- uation rate ever. Culver School District also reported a slight drop of just over 2% to roughly 91.8% of seniors graduating. But in the Jefferson County, Crook County and Sisters school districts, graduation rates increased. Crook County High School reported the highest gradu- ation rate in Central Oregon with a 7% leap to roughly 98.2%, a new school record. In all, 161 of the school’s 164-stu- dent senior class earned their diplomas on time. “When I saw the outcome, I was so happy for everyone to see the payoff,” said Crook County Superintendent Sara E. Johnson. “It was really hard work, like climbing a moun- tain.” Johnson said the school dis- trict developed a strategy for reaching students who were struggling or dropping out of school last year. After drawing up databases to assess barriers among at-risk students who hadn’t been at school, educa- tors traveled across towns to help those students and entice them back into the classroom, sometimes using gift cards. Johnson also attributed the high graduation rate to the dis- trict’s willingness to bring stu- dents back into the classroom, even while other schools stayed remote in effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Gill pointed specifically to rural schools in Jefferson and Crook counties as having shown resilience in the face of the pandemic. Jon Wiens, Ore- gon Department of Education’s director of accountability and reporting, also remarked on how Jefferson County’s grad- uation rate was especially im- “It says to me that all our staff members are working extremely hard to help students succeed in special circumstances.” School saw its graduation rate among four-year students de- cline by more than 17% to 59%. Mountain View High School’s decline was nearly 7%, to 85% of seniors graduating. Bend-La Pine school im- provement director Dave VanLoo said he was “really pleased” that last year’s grad- uation rate remained above pre-pandemic levels, continu- ing more than a decade of im- proving rates. And he noted that rates among English language learners and historically un- derserved students improved compared to 2019. But VanLoo said there is more to do to improve grad- uation rates among economi- cally disadvantaged students. That includes La Pine High students, many of whom are on free or reduced lunches and experience higher rates of pov- erty and internet connectivity issues. Redmond schools also saw slight declines, but the dis- trict posted its second-highest — Charan Cline, superintendent of Redmond School District pressive given its high poverty rates. Madras High School Prin- cipal Brian Crook described a similar on-the-ground strategy to Crook County’s. Liaisons traveled to underserved fam- ilies in Latino communities across Jefferson County and on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, helping them get connected to online classes by checking Wi-Fi hotspots, Chromebooks and helping stu- dents engage with classwork. Madras High reported a slight drop of 0.3%, but remained above a 90% graduation rate. “We have resilient kids who deal with a lot of adversity,” said Crook, pointing to gradu- ation rates among the school’s Latino and Native American students, groups that reported graduation rates upwards of 94%. Central Oregon’s largest districts report slight decline After a year in which ev- ery noncharter, nonalterna- tive public high school in De- schutes County saw a bump in graduation rates in 2020, all high schools in Bend-La Pine Schools saw graduation rates decline among students who graduated on time. But the district still posted its sec- ond-highest graduation rate on record. “These rates are reflective of the collective hard work of our students and our staff,” Super- intendent Steven Cook said in a press release. “We know the positive relationships staff built with students make all the dif- ference.” Some schools, such as Bend High School and Summit High School, saw declines of less than 2%. But La Pine High Motel Continued from A1 ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin A new development is being proposed for the existing parking lot east of Lava Road and the Box Factory, top left, that includes Spoken Moto, bottom right, and the food cart pod. Box Factory Continued from A1 In a virtual meeting with the Southern Crossing and Old Bend neighborhood as- sociations, some neighbors expressed excitement for the general idea of the develop- ment, but some raised con- cerns about traffic congestion and parking. Richard Ross, of the Old Bend Neighborhood Associa- tion, said while he was pleased with the housing the devel- opment would provide, he wanted to know more about the cumulative traffic impacts that would come from this de- velopment and another devel- opment in the works at the 21- acre Korpine site next door. “Old Bend is already stressed out from growing, unmanaged, cut-through traffic through our streets,” Ross said in the meeting. While there will definitely be an increase in traffic in the area from the project, one ele- ment of the project is designed to address some of that con- cern. If approved, NW Lava Road — which is the road that sep- arates the Box Factory from the adjacent parking lot and connects to Industrial Way — would become something called a “woonerf,” which in Dutch loosely translates to “liv- ing street.” “It’s a street that values the quality of life over the speed of cars,” said Kurt Schultz, a prin- cipal architect with Sera Ar- chitects. This kind of street, which is popular in Europe, is designed in a way to allow cars and peo- ple to share the roadway to- gether, but encourages cars to move slower than they would on a regular road, Schultz said. Developers also plan to in- corporate roughly 470 park- ing spots on the property by creating a two-level parking structure, as well as some sur- face parking spots to replace the parking lot that currently exists, Schultz said. Developers also hope to create bike storage that would accommodate one bike per residential unit. Other aspects of the project, like whether any of the units will be affordable, remain to be seen, though it is the company’s intent to include at least some in the project, according to Michi Slick, Killian Pacific’s di- rector of development. The in- tent is also to gear some of the townhomes toward providing child care services, Slick said. She also said the company will ensure the townhomes in the project will not become va- cation rentals by banning that use in the lease they would of- fer tenants. Currently, the developers are in a pre-application stage with the city. The goal is to submit official land use applications by March, according to Schultz. e The City Council consid- ered purchasing the Rainbow Motel in the spring with state funding from the Turnkey Program, which allows cities to buy hotels and turn them into homeless shelters, but de- cided to not buy it at the time because another hotel — the Bend Value Inn — was more affordable. The change since then is that the homeless problem has grown more acute, Broad- man said. “We have an increasing need from a regulation of right of way standpoint, from a human rights standpoint that we are providing shelter for everyone in our commu- nity,” Broadman said. “In- creasing need has affected how we look at shelter and housing policy.” The City Council has a goal to create shelter for 500 homeless residents by mid 2023, as well as 1,000 rent- and price-restricted housing units. This project has the potential to add between 40 and 60 beds for homeless resi- dents, Broadman said. The Bend Chamber of Commerce in the past has argued against this property turning into a transitional shelter. The chamber has argued that given its location at the gateway to downtown, the site has more potential as housing and could generate tax rev- enue in a district the city is trying to revitalize. Broadman said he sees the city purchasing public space like this as an important in- vestment in the area. “Investing to make sure people are safe is an import- ant step in revitalization,” graduation rate ever reported. Redmond High School re- ported a 2.5% decline to 80%. Ridgeview High School saw a steeper drop from about 91% in 2020 to 83% in 2021. For Redmond School Dis- trict Superintendent Charan Cline, the data is promising. Cline and VanLoo each said graduation rates may have been artificially high in 2020 due to the state-issued pass/fail option, which allowed students who were passing their classes prior to the pandemic to auto- matically receive class credit. Gill said the two years were comparable. With the district’s five-year graduation rate continuing an upward trend, Cline said last year’s data shows how staff helped students who may have lost touch with the value of school. “It says to me that all our staff members are working ex- tremely hard to help students succeed in special circum- stances,” Cline said. e Reporter: 541-660-9844, bdole@bendbulletin.com Broadman said. “Having the city play this kind of develop- ment role for potential hous- ing or civic opportunity is an important part of the revital- ization.” Broadman said his goal would be for the transitional shelter to open this spring, and then work together with Deschutes County and other jurisdictions to come up with more long term homelessness solutions. He does not envi- sion this property being used as a shelter for more than two to three years. A nonprofit would be cho- sen through a competitive process to run the shelter, like the city has done with other shelter projects, but a plan for continual operations funding is something the city “needs to work on,” according to Broadman. e Reporter: 541-633-2160, bvisser@bendbulletin.com OBITUARY Reporter: 541-633-2160, bvisser@bendbulletin.com Stewart Weitzman Donald Scott Berry of Sisters April 11, 1953 - January 13, 2022 Arrangements: Sweet Home Funeral Chapel is handling arrangements. www.sweethomefuneral. com OBITUARY DEADLINE Call to ask about our deadlines 541-385-5809 Monday - Friday 10am - 3pm Email: obits@bendbulletin.com OBITUARY Martha Christenson August 20, 1933 - January 13, 2022 Born in Shawnee Oklahoma, at three years old, her family migrated across the country, picking crops and living in farm camps along the way. The family sett led in Tulare California, picked cott on and lived in a farm camp unti l she was in 4th grade when they could aff ord their own home. Martha grew up in Tulare, sang on the radio, earning the nickname, “The Nighti ngale of Tulare.” She raised her family in Beaverton Oregon, att ended the First Congregati onal Church, and worked for the school district. Living in Bend since 1981, she was known for her Luau parti es and was very involved in The Ladies of the Elks. Martha was preceded by her husband of 58 years, Norman Chester Christenson in 2013. She is survived by her 4 children, Jocelyn Simmons (Randy), Stacey Simons (Robb), Shelley Dunagan (Jim), Russell Christenson, 7 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. Martha was well loved by all her friends and family. Arrangements by Baird Funeral Home, Bend. April 25, 1935 - December 29, 2021 Stewart was born April 25, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois, and aft er a life well lived, passed away December 29, 2021 in Bend at the age of 86. Stewart was raised in Southern California by his parents Louis and Fanny Weitzman. This is where his lifelong love of educati on, hard work, and cars started. In 1953 he was accepted to Stanford University and graduated with a degree in Politi cal Science in 1957. At Stanford, he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Aft er college, he served in the Marine Corps for two years being honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant (later promoted to Captain in the reserves). He met Verle Pilling through mutual friends in San Francisco in 1959 and their 62 year romance began at that ti me. They were married on January 23, 1960, in Palo Alto, California. They later moved to Portland, where they raised their two sons, Marcus, and Todd. Stewart worked in several sales- related jobs in the early 1960’s, primarily in the pharmaceuti cal industry, before starti ng to pursue his MBA at Portland State in 1967. While in the MBA program, his entrepreneurial spirit was born as he started his fi rst company, Pacemaker Corporati on, a manufacturer of preventi ve dental products including fl uoride gels. Pacemaker grew rapidly and aft er developing several products that earned US patents, the company was sold in 1978. Aft er consulti ng and working for several startups, he founded Weitech in Sisters in 1989. Weitech was a manufacturer of electronic pest control products. At this ti me, he and Verle moved full ti me to Black Butt e Ranch. Stewart served as the Chairman of the BBR homeowner’s board and as the President of the Sisters Chamber of Commerce. Weitech experienced rapid growth and his son Todd soon joined the company. Weitech was sold in 2002 and Stewart reti red. Stewart and Verle enjoyed soaking up the sunshine in Indian Wells, California during the winters. Stewart also enjoyed reading, classical music, travel, politi cs, car magazines, golfi ng, tennis, playing Shanghai, and was always scanning the classifi eds for a new business opportunity. He was a decisive leader, a very generous man, and those who knew him appreciated his witt y sense of humor. Aft er 24 years living at Black Butt e Ranch, he and Verle moved to Touchmark in Bend, where they have happily lived for the past 9 years. Stewart had struggled with Parkinson’s Disease for the past several years, but ulti mately succumbed to colon cancer. Preceded in death by his parents Louis Weitzman and Fanny Weitzman, and his brother Morrel Weitzman. Survived by his wife of 61 years, Verle; brother Ronald (Morley) of Carmel, California; son Marcus (Chelley) of Mesa, Arizona; son Todd (Diane) of Sisters; and fi ve grandchildren, Joshua, Christopher, Sarah (Matt ), Abigail (Jared) and Becky (James). A celebrati on of life will be held in late spring. Memorial contributi ons can be made to Partners In Care Hospice House at 2075 NE Wyatt Court, Bend, Oregon 97701 or Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon at 8880 SW Nimbus Avenue, Suite B, Beaverton, Oregon 97008.
