It was fun to be part of Thursday night’s public discussion about homelessness in Redmond. I had the easy job — asking questions of a really engaged and perceptive panel, who treated each other and the 150 people in the audience with respect.

I hope you’ll rewatch the video of the whole conversation here. And read our recap of the discussion here.

I, along with the panelists and co-moderator Louise Kaplan, got to arrive at Mountain View Fellowship early and share a meal with folks sleeping overnight in their gymnasium. It was neat to see how much having a place to go — if only for a few hours each night — meant to folks. Everyone was in good spirits and mentioned how Redmond had treated them well. The food was good but many clients expressed nervousness about the discussion later — many said they’ve heard talk, talk and talk for many years. None that I chatted with it thought any breakthroughs would come, that money and followthrough was always lacking.

But for many in Redmond, the discussion felt revelatory. No gigantic decisions were made, but we all got a better idea of the scope of the problem, some things in the works that could make it much worse, and some things in the works that could help make things better. I benefited from hearing about it and I think many in the audience did, too.

There were plenty of other things going on in Redmond this week, including a groundbreaking at a $5.5 million warehouse, which will benefit local food banks.

There was also some tough news for local prep basketball star Evan Otten, who will miss time with a broken wrist.

And a summer construction project to replace the pedestrian bridge over the Crooked River in Smith Rock State Park will cut access to the majority of the park for about four weeks this summer.

Check out Portermania today at Wild Ride — looks like it’ll be a perfect weekend for some dark, wintry beers.

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— Tim Trainor is editor of the Redmond Spokesman.