If you have time today, stop by El Patron at lunch and help support a worthy cause. All the funds raised on Saturday at the Redmond food cart will go to the Saldana family, who lost five members in an icy crash outside Bend last week. 11-year-old Emily Ochoa-Saldana survived the crash, but continues to fight for her life and has incurred significant medical bills. A stop to pick up good food and leave some extra money in the tip jar will surely help a family in need.

Redmond city council last week approved a new 12.5 percent tax on cars rented in the city, including at the Redmond Airport. Read about why councilors did it and what effect the tax will have on rental prices.

We checked in with 2023 citizen of the year Jerry Keller, who you will surely recognize if you’ve gone to a Redmond Chamber coffee clatter anytime in the last 30 or so years. Incredibly, Jerry has been to about 1,500 of them over those decades, and he still has a few jokes left over. Be sure to read about him and the other winners of awards presented by the Redmond Chamber of Commerce.

I’m always on the lookout for $100 bills, but everyone these days should do the same after Redmond police sounded the alarm about a man trying to pass some counterfeit bills this past week. Keep an eye out and call the non-emergency dispatch line at 541-693-6911 if you come across some fake bills or a person trying to pass them off.

Some bad news on the weather front for Oregon as 2023 proved to be warmer and drier than normal. It certainly wasn’t warm and dry in Redmond this past week, but we’ll see how the rest of the winter pans out. But some good news on the education front as the Redmond School District saw graduation rates stay above state averages.

Next week’s edition will include a peek at plans for the upcoming police station, which was approved by voters in 2023. Construction is set to begin soon but the public can get a sneak peek on Monday. We also plan to cover Mayor Fitch’s “State of the City” speech scheduled for Feb. 1.

In case you missed it last week, we got inside the Redmond Library, which is rising over Centennial Park as we speak. Get an update on construction here.

Last week’s rough winter weather reminded longtime Redmond journalist Carl Vertrees about his most memorable experiences driving in the snow. We love getting community columnists in the paper!

Quote of the Week

“As a city grows, it usually becomes a little colder, less friendly. I wanted to keep Redmond a friendly place.”

— Jerry Keller, Redmond’s 2023 Citizen of the Year

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— Tim Trainor is editor of the Redmond Spokesman.