A Bend grocer came to town this week, opening a convenience store in a southwest Redmond neighborhood.

Reporter Joe Siess stopped by Ollie’s Kitchen on its second day in business and found it already humming with activity. I guess a morning delivery of famed ocean rolls from The Sparrow Bakery in Bend can do that. According to the store’s owners, small bodega-style groceries and grab-and-go food options may be part of the company’s plan going forward. Give a read about what Ollie’s has to offer, then stop in and check it out yourself.

One of the most popular fundraisers in Redmond is set for tonight: REA’s Crab Crack. All-you-can-eat crab festival about 200 miles from the Pacific has proven a big draw for the town — even in the dead of winter. And funds brought in each year go to a good cause: They help support internship opportunities for area high school students. You’re too late to get a ticket for this year’s event, but those lucky enough to have already secured one should start saving some stomach space for an unlimited supply of savory crustaceans served up tonight just off Centennial Park in downtown Redmond.

Back east, Feb. 2 is Groundhog Day. In Redmond, it’s Rock Chuck Day. On a cloudy Friday morning, “Frank” the statue in Centennial Park did not see his shadow, forecasting six more weeks of winter here in Central Oregon. Good news for skiers, bad news for gardeners hoping for an early start to planting season. It also has some folks confused because apparently in Redmond we use an opposite system than they do in Punxsutawney — when Frank sees his shadow it means early spring, and when doesn’t that means long winter. I guess Phil sees it the other way around! Perhaps that’s because he has eyes and Frank, well, is a statue.

Two law enforcement actions made headlines this week. First, police stopped a vehicle in Terrebonne that investigators tailed from Bend homeless shelter. Under surveillance for a couple of weeks, the passengers in the vehicle were suspected of dealing fentanyl and other drugs out of their apartment in Bend. The traffic stop netted a significant amount of fentanyl, according to police and all three people in the car were jailed.

Redmond Police also had a significant bust of their own as they pulled strings to find a work trailer and recover roughly $50,000 worth of tools that had been stolen from an out-of-state contractor. Theft cases are hard to solve, but Redmond PD first found the broken and busted trailer, then much of the tools still in working condition at a homeless camp on Bureau of Land Management property east of town.

Longtime readers of the Spokesman recall award-winning columnist Lee Barker. The instrument inventor and recent memoirist took up the pen again, this time to write an ode to walking and talking to strangers. Check it out, and submit your own! Our fine stable of community columnists can always use some new perspectives.

There’s a lot more we’ve been working on, including coverage of Mayor Ed Fitch’s “State of the City” address on Feb. 1. Read about it here and keep an eye out for follow up coverage in future editions. There was almost too much news in that address.

Quote of the Week

“The seven guys that work for me … their entire livelihood depends on that trailer and those tools. Without that they can’t pay their rent, they can’t feed their kids.”

— Cory Fletcher, business owner who saw his trailer and $50,000 worth of tools stolen — and then recovered — in Redmond.

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— Tim Trainor is editor of the Redmond Spokesman.