100 Years Ago

March 19, 1925 — From ‘Local Happenings’

Mrs. Tribou had a very pleasant surprise for those lucky enough to be her guests Tuesday evening. The guests were shown to a large table lighted by green candles where they found their places by pretty place cards tied with green ribbon. To carry out the St. Patrick idea further, among other delicious things she served stuffed green peppers, mint jello dessert and small cakes with green frosting. Her guests all voted her a royal entertainer.

75 Years Ago

March 16, 1950 — City Wary Of Daylight Saving Time

Redmond Waits For Bend-Bend Delays Decision

Redmond and Bend city fathers looked longingly at daylight saving time this week but stalled on being the first to stick out their official necks.

The issue was not brought up at the Prineville council, which also met. However, the Prineville group’s official stand has been to follow the lead of Portland, according to Remey Cox. Portland is scheduled to make the time shift in April.

Final Decision Later

The Redmond council voted down a motion for adoption of daylight saving time Tuesday night but let it be known that the vote was just a delaying action. The final decision will be made at the next meeting, the dads indicated.

Mayor Marion Coyner, whose “no” vote broke a 2-2 tie, cast his vote with the comment, “Let Bend set the precedent.”

Councilmen Dale Charlton and Ken Vadnais said they wanted Prineville to go first, too.

The hint that the situation might turn into an “after you, Alfonso” routine developed Wednesday night, when Bend commissioners also delayed final action until their next meeting. The city fathers to the south don’t have another regular meeting until April 5.

The Redmond dads are scheduled to meet again March 28.

Both Redmond and Bend stayed on standard time last summer, but Prineville has gone on the daylight saving schedule the past two years, Cox said.

Bend Favorable

A report on the Bend meeting said the commissioners favored the time shift, but that two commissioners were absent, and the rest wanted them to have their say.

A similar situation, the absence of Fred Hodecker, was given as one reason for the Redmond council’s postponement.

The main argument against Redmond’s leading the procession was the farmer’s traditional opposition to daylight saving time.

Councilman Chariton declared that the farmers deserve consideration and “if we don’t get them to Redmond, we haven’t got much left.”

50 Years Ago

March 19, 1975 — Study confirms Redmond need for air service

“Redmond is far and away the most potentially viable air commuter area in the state” is the finding of a statewide commuter air service project being wrapped up in Salem.

Project director Ray Costello made the assessment last week of the study which has been a joint project between the planning staff of the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Los Angeles consulting firm, The Aerospace Corp.

The study has been completed and draft copies of the final report were being mailed last week to two statewide committees that had been involved in the early planning. The planning coordination committee had provided overall guidance for the project. A technical advisory committee had afforded input from a wide cross section of citizens, including representatives of aviation, transportation, consumer, environmental, land use and local government groups.

Costello declined to discuss specific recommendations contained in the study, but said a briefing meeting would be held in Central Oregon, probably in May, to discuss the findings with local citizens. Preliminary findings of the study in December had demonstrated a need for at least three round trips daily to Portland by 15-passenger aircraft and two round trips daily by eight-passenger aircraft to Salem and Portland.

Costello said the study would enable ODOT to develop a realistic intrastate system of air commuter travel tying in many communities that had not been served in the past. The study also looked at a broad range of assistance programs, both state and federal, that would supplement local and private financing.

Costello cautioned, however, that for the study to be meaningful, support would be needed from the Oregon Legislature. The department is proposing legislation that would make possible service to transportation-disadvantaged areas in the state.

25 Years Ago

March 16, 2000 — Schools’ price tag could pass $51 million

Voters may face a $51.1 million school bond levy in November if the Redmond school board adopts a plan proposed last week.

The 33-member District Facilities Planning Committee on Wednesday recommended the bond to build four new schools.

The committee a group of school officials, business leaders and citizens will officially present its recommendation at the April 4 school board meeting. The board is scheduled to set the final content and amount of the bond levy at its April 18 meeting.

The levy will be on the ballot for the Nov. 7 general election.

Under the plan proposed last Wednesday, the bond will include:

• Two new elementary schools at a cost of $16.6 million. The two schools — one on the north side of the district, the other to the south — will each house 450 students at first, but can be expanded to 600 students.

• A middle school, probably on the north side of the district, that will open with 450 students, but can be upgraded to fit 680 students. The cost of that school is estimated at $9.6 million.

• A $22 million “starter” high school that will house 700 students when built but which can be expanded to hold up to 1,400 students. Committee members recommended that school include all facilities now at Redmond High School, excluding a new football stadium. Although the committee did not recommend a site for the high school, school district officials are eyeing land on the east side of the district near Juniper Golf Course.

• About 90 acres of land for the schools at a cost of $2.9 million. However the committee also recommended building an elementary and middle school on one site to cut land costs.

Jeff Rola, the committee member who will also head the citizen campaign to pass the bond, said after the meeting he expects to fight an uphill battle to win support for the bond in a community already saddled with one of the highest property tax rates in the state.

“It’s going to be tough,” he said. “What I’m going to try to impress on voters is not the cost of the schools, but the value of that cost. That’s the key. We need the schools.”

If passed, a $51 million bond levy will mean roughly an extra $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value, or $250 for a $100,000 home.

Residents are still paying off the debt from the $25.6 million school bond passed in 1993. That bond levy, which will not be retired until 2009, was initially voted down and was approved only after the amount was cut.

Although the price tag of the plan proposed last week almost doubles that of the ‘93 bond, committee members said they chose to ask for enough money to last roughly nine years without another bond request.

“The people are screaming ‘do it right,” said committee member Del Abbott.

Other members, however, left the meeting disappointed.

“I will support this plan fully, but my personal opinion is that it’s not nearly enough,” said committee member Alicia Tolke. “We’re putting a Band-Aid on the situation. But to fix everything, it would have been around $60 million.”

Options cut out of the proposal include kindergarten through eighth-grade programs in Tumalo and Crooked River Ranch, renovations at Evergreen Elementary and additions to Vern Patrick Elementary and Hugh Hartman Middle School.