My name is Tim Trainor. I’m the new editor of what will be a new Redmond Spokesman.

I’ve been hired to reimagine this newspaper and give it a renewed focus on local issues, events and people. And I’m not the only change. EO Media Group, which owns 15 papers across the state, will bring on more journalists to write stories that matter to you.

We will also open a brand new downtown location where readers can stop by and pull our ear any time — whether it be a hot tip about a new restaurant or to give us guff about a typo.

That door will always be open to feedback and ideas, criticism and support.

It will be fun to bring a hometown perspective to Redmond journalism as the city hones its identity. This is a place distinct from its neighbors, worthy of its own coverage and confronting its own challenges.

Sometimes that may prove difficult, thanks to that cultural behemoth down the highway and the worldwide pressures on local journalism. But from our perspective, there’s a real opportunity here to serve readers who want Redmond news and want it to come from folks who live and work alongside them — folks who are as invested in the town and its success as you are.

That’s not to say we’re going to be a cheerleader for the chamber of commerce, city government or schools. We’re going to celebrate our success and our eccentricities when it’s appropriate, but we’re also going to take a look at the warts that hold us back. As the saying goes, sunshine can be a great disinfectant. We hope to add a bunch of sunshine to how local municipalities operate, while also convincing the weather to add snow to our mountains and water to our irrigation canals. Sunshine and storm clouds, coming right up thanks to the new Spokesman.

This is a great opportunity for reinventing the paper — in print, online and in social media — so I ask you for thoughts and ideas about what you’d like to see covered in these pages. If there’s some longtime staple of the Spokesman that you adore (or one that long ago has gone stale) let me know. I’ll have my axe sharpened for getting rid of things that no longer serve readers, while protecting those that are longtime favorites.

If you know a great writer full of tales of old Redmond, put them in touch. We’d love to have their voice become a regular part of the paper.

If you have recommendations about where we should direct our limited reporting capacity, shoot me a line.

If there’s always something you wanted to know about your town, tell me. If you’re wondering how a street got its name, or what line at Smith Rock offers climbers the best view of a Central Oregon sunset, we can help answer that. I won’t know everything, but I get paid to find stuff out.

A bit about me: I grew up in Ohio and moved west right after graduation, working first in the Idaho timber town of St. Maries then in the Montana mining town of Butte. After that, I spent five years as an editor in Pendleton, working for our sister paper the East Oregonian. While there, I certainly let ‘er buck. I then made a quick dip back into academia, picking up a master’s degree in multimedia journalism from the University of Oregon, then putting that into practice for the past year at the Herald and News in Klamath Falls.

Which brings me here to this fine town and this opportunity. The Spokesman is Redmond’s oldest business, which means it has been around a long time but also that it needs to change to adapt to 2022. I’m here to help do that.

And, hopefully, you can help me succeed in that task.

For now, the best way to get in touch with me is via email at ttrainor@redmondspokesman.com. Once the details are ironed out and all our tack is hung, I’ll invite you to our new storefront downtown.

There, you’ll be able to see where the sausage gets made and be welcome to add your own spices to the recipe. Something exciting is brewing in Redmond and I’m happy to be a part of it.

— Tim Trainor can be reached at ttrainor@redmondspokesman.com