The Redmond Spokesman is a weekly newspaper published in Redmond, Oregon, United States. It serves the city of Redmond and neighboring communities in northern Deschutes County, focusing on local news and events. The Spokesman was founded in 1910 by Henry H. Palmer. Today, the paper is owned by EO Media Group.
The Spokesman is a weekly newspaper that serves the city of Redmond and northern Deschutes County. It is published every Tuesday. It is a community newspaper that primarily covers local area news, sports, business, and events. Most of its advertising is local as well.[2][3][4] The paper maintains an online presence through redmondspokesman.com, a website that has feature articles, local announcements, a current events calendar, and obituaries.[5]
History
The Spokesman is the oldest continuously operated business in the city of Redmond. It was first published on 14 July 1910. Its first publisher was Henry H. Palmer. He had previously published a newspaper in the neighboring town of Tumalo. He operated the newspaper with his wife Clara, who was also an experienced journalist.[5][6]
In September 1911, the Palmers announced that The Spokesman had acquired a new press and paper cutter to improve newspaper printing and production. A typesetting machine was soon added. In January 1912, a new 1,200-pound linotype machine was installed to further improve the operation. However, on 26 February 1912 a fire started in a neighboring hardware store. It spread to adjacent buildings, burning down a grocery store, a bakery, a furniture store, and The Spokesman's office. Despite the fact that the loss exceeded their insurance coverage by $4,000, the Palmers were able to keep the newspaper going by using the presses at Redmond's other newspaper, The Oregon Hub and at The Bulletin in nearby Bend to print The Spokesman while new equipment was ordered.[6]
After several months in temporary quarters, the paper moved into a new stone building on the old office site. When new equipment, including another modern linotype machine, was installed, the Palmers began printing The Spokesman in their own production facility again. The sign atop the new office building announcing the home of The Redmond Spokesman was 3 feet (0.91m) high and 24 feet (7.3m) long.[6]
The Spokesman was Redmond's second paper. Its competition was The Oregon Hub, which was founded in 1909. A third community paper, the Redmond Enterprise, began publication in 1913. In 1914, the Palmers bought out the other two newspapers, leaving The Spokesman as Redmond's only newspaper.[5][6]
The Palmers sold The Spokesman to M.W. Pettigrew in 1916. The change in ownership was announced in the 17 February edition of the paper that year. Pettigrew had been in the newspaper business in Kansas, but had moved to central Oregon to become a farmer. He was the publisher and editor of the paper until 1920, when he sold the business to Douglas Mullarky.[6][7]
Mullarky was an experienced newspaperman, having been a reporter for The Hub and the founder of the short-live Redmond Enterprise. He published The Spokesman until 1922.[8][9] He sold the newspaper to W.B. Russell and Edgar Bloom. Bloom and his wife bought Russell's share in the newspaper in 1925.[10][11] The Blooms ran the business until November 1931, when they sold it to Joe and Mary Brown.[7]
The Browns owned and published The Spokesman for the next 40 years, first as a couple and then Mary alone. Both of the Browns were graduates of the University of Oregon.[5][10] Under their leadership the paper won the prestigious Hal E. Hoss memorial trophy three times in five years in the mid-1930s. Sponsored by the University of Oregon School of Journalism, the Hoss trophy honored the best weekly newspaper in the state of Oregon. After The Spokesman won it for the third time, the trophy was retired and presented to Joe Brown at a ceremony in Redmond.[12]
In 1939, the Browns built a new facility to house their newspaper operation. The building was constructed on two adjoining lots on 6th Street between C and D streets in downtown Redmond. The new building was one-story, built in the streamline moderne style. It had a 50 feet (15m) façade and was 60 feet (18m) front to back. The building provided office space for the newspaper staff as well as housing the print shop.[13][14]
In 1942, Mary Brown was elected president of the Oregon Press Conference while her husband was serving in the United States Navy.[10] In 1955, she became sole owner of The Spokesman. She continued to run the business until 1971.[7]
In June 1971, Mary Brown sold The Spokesman to Western Communications, Inc.[7][15] The first publisher after Western Communications took ownership of the paper was Robert Moody.[16] He stayed until 1975, when Carl Vertrees became publisher. Vertrees ran the paper for 26 years, winning the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association's Carl C. Webb award for long-term public service in 1992.[8][17] When Vertrees retired in February 2001, Gary Husman moved from general manager to publisher. In 2010, Husman was elected president of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.[18]
In November 2012, Western Communications laid off a significant portion of the Redmond Spokesman staff and announced they would no longer be reporting "hard news" for the Redmond community.
It was reported in 2017 that Western Communications had recently experienced difficulty paying employees on their regularly scheduled paydays. This was positioned by management as a prioritization of funds for other financial obligations.[citation needed]
The Spokesman was purchased by EO Media Group in a bankruptcy auction in August 2019. It was part of the sale of the Bend Bulletin to EO Media Group. Tim Trainor became the paper's editor in early 2022.[19] The paper launched a new layout and hired additional staff the same year.
On Oct. 20, 2023, staff at the Bend Bulletin and Redmond Spokesman announced plans to form a union. The 11 members of union, dubbed the Central Oregon NewsGuild, consists of reporters, news assistants and photographers. On Friday, the union sent a letter to parent company EO Media Group asking it to voluntarily recognize the union. If the company declines, a vote to unionize will be set at a later date.[20]
On Dec. 19, 2023, the writers, photographers and news assistants at The Bulletin and The Redmond Spokesman voted 12-1 in favor of unionizing.[21]
Publishers
Henry H. Palmer and Clara L. Palmer, 1910–1916[6][8]
Redmond is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. Incorporated on July 6, 1910, the city is on the eastern side of Oregon's Cascade Range, in the High Desert in Central Oregon. From Redmond there is access to recreational opportunities. Redmond is a full-service municipality and one of the fastest-growing industrial and residential communities in Oregon. Redmond had a population of 32,421 in 2019, and the population continues to grow at a rate of about 6.7 percent each year.
The Seaside Signal is a weekly newspaper published for the community of Seaside, Oregon, United States.
Robert William Sawyer was an Oregon journalist and well known conservationist. He was publisher of the Bend Bulletin newspaper for 34 years. Sawyer supported free enterprise, low taxes, limited government, and the Republican Party. He was elected Deschutes County judge shortly after the county was created, and later served on numerous national boards and commission. To recognize his outstanding contribution to journalism, Sawyer was inducted into the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame.
Cline Falls State Scenic Viewpoint is a state park near Redmond, Oregon, United States. It is located on the Deschutes River. The park covers 9 acres (36,000 m2). It is administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
The Bulletin is a daily newspaper in Bend, Oregon, United States. The Bulletin is owned by EO Media Group.
Eagle Crest Resort is a destination resort complex in the U.S. state of Oregon. The resort has a large hotel, a conference center, three golf courses, and three major housing developments each with multiple subdivisions. The resort is located west of Redmond in Central Oregon. The development covers 1,700 acres (6.9 km2) on the east slopes of Cline Buttes running eastward to the Deschutes River plus a separate area on the northwest side of the butte.
The New Redmond Hotel is a historic commercial hotel in Redmond, Oregon, United States. The hotel was built in 1928 after the original Redmond Hotel, was destroyed in a fire. It is a three-story Georgian-style brick masonry building located on 6th Street in downtown Redmond. It has been in continuous use as a commercial hotel since it first opened. Today, the New Redmond Hotel is a major landmark in downtown Redmond. Because of its importance to the history of Redmond, the New Redmond Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On August 1, 2019, Soul Community Planet announced that after a two-year, $7 million renovation, The New Hotel Redmond by SCP opened in the Fall of 2019. The 41,000 square-foot, 49-room hotel, was redeveloped in partnership with the city of Redmond. The Rooftop, a 1,500 square-foot rooftop social garden, was added, opened in August. The redevelopment was made possible through a public-private partnership between the city of Redmond and the developer – a partnership managed by Alpha Wave Investors and RevOZ Capital. The city of Redmond, through its Redmond Urban Renewal Agency, provided a $3.53 million investment in the project.
Built in 1912, the First Presbyterian Church of Redmond is the oldest standing church structure in the city of Redmond, Oregon, United States. It is also the second-oldest religious building in Deschutes County. The church was built in the Gothic Revival style with Queen Anne architectural detailing. It was the home of Protestant congregations from 1912 until 1979. Today, the building is privately owned and used as a special events venue. The First Presbyterian Church of Redmond was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
The Redmond Caves are a group of six lava tubes in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. The caves are located in the city of Redmond and are jointly managed by the city and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Five of the caves are in the Redmond Caves Park and have been known locally for over 100 years. The caves are part of the Horse Lava Tube System and the farthest northern extent of the system. The lava flow that created both the Horse system and the Redmond Caves continued into the Redmond Dry Canyon and terminated near Crooked River Ranch. The caves have a geologic age of about 80,000 years.
Western Communications, Inc. was an American newspaper publisher serving the states of Oregon and California. The family-owned company was based in Bend, Oregon and was founded by Robert W. Chandler. Its flagship paper was The Bulletin.
Robert W. Chandler was an American journalist, businessman, and philanthropist. He was the editor and publisher of The Bulletin, a daily newspaper in Bend, Oregon. He ran the newspaper for 43 years. With the Bulletin as a starting point, he founded Western Communications, Inc., a company that owns and publishes newspapers in Oregon and California. Among his various efforts in the field, he served as president of the national Society of Professional Journalists. He was also a major donor to the High Desert Museum in Bend. He was inducted into the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2006.
The George Palmer and Dorothy Binney Putnam House is a historic house located in Bend, Oregon.
Redmond–Bend Juniper State Scenic Corridor is a collection of ten unimproved land parcels administered for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The parcels are located along U.S. Route 97 between Bend and Redmond, Oregon, United States. It is named for the large western juniper trees found on the parcels. The scenic corridor is completely undeveloped with no trails or park facilities of any kind.
Harley James Overturf was an American politician and businessman from the state of Oregon. He was a Republican who served four years in the Oregon House of Representatives, where he represented a large rural district in eastern Oregon. Overturf Butte in Bend, Oregon, is named in his honor.
The Cline Buttes are mountains with volcanic origins that form three dome-shaped peaks located in Deschutes County in central Oregon. They are some of the eastern foothills of the Cascade Range. Situated on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, the buttes are flanked on the east and west sides by two separate sections of the Eagle Crest Resort. On the highest summit, there is a Federal Aviation Administration site with an aircraft navigation beacon. The mountains have several hiking trails as well as a number of popular mountain bike routes.
The EO Media Group, formerly known as the East Oregonian Publishing Company, is a newspaper publishing company based in the U.S. state of Oregon. It publishes 17 newspapers in the state and in southwestern Washington.
Cass Adelbert Cline was an American pioneer who was an early settler in central Oregon. Cline’s family moved to Oregon when he was a small child, settling west of the Cascade Mountains near Roseburg. As a young man, Cline moved to central Oregon and claimed homestead land along the Deschutes River. He later became a well-known dentist, property developer, and race horse breeder. Today, a waterfall on the Deschutes River, a nearby mountain group, and a state park bear his name.
Gordon William McKay was an American politician and businessman from Oregon. He was a Republican who served two four-year terms in the Oregon State Senate. In the senate, McKay represented a large rural district in Central Oregon. While serving in the state senate, he was a champion of tax relief and helped modernize the state's criminal code. In the private sector, he was president of a title insurance company in Bend, Oregon.
James Franklin Short (1902-1986) was an American businessman, rancher, and politician from the state of Oregon. He was a Republican who served one two-year term in the Oregon House of Representatives, where he represented a large rural district in central and southcentral Oregon. He also served two separate periods as Oregon's director of agriculture. He was originally appointed to the position by Governor Paul L. Patterson. He then continued his service under Elmo Smith followed by a brief time under Robert D. Holmes. Later, he was re-appointed to the position by Governor Mark Hatfield. In between his periods of service in the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Short was state chairman of Oregon's Republican Party.
Cline Falls is a 20 ft-high (6.1 m) segmented steep cascade waterfall on the Deschutes River. It is approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Redmond, Oregon, United States. The waterfall is named for Cass A. Cline, who owned the land adjacent to the falls in the early 20th century. The falls occur just north of the point where Oregon Route 126 crosses the Deschutes River. The riparian area around Cline Falls provides habitat for a variety of fish and wildlife species.
↑ Yuskavitch, Jim and Leslie D. Cole, "The Redmond Spokesman", Insiders’ Guide to Bend and Central Oregon, Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, Connecticut, 2002, p. 396.
1 2 3 4 "About Us", Redmond Spokesman online, Western Communications, redmondspokesmanonline.com Redmond, Oregon, 1 April 2011.
1 2 3 4 5 Hole, Leslie Pugmire and Trish Pinkerton, "Notable People", Images of America Redmond, Archadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 2009, p. 48-49.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Perspective", The Redmond Spokesman, Redmond, Oregon, 6 April 2011, p. 4.
↑ "Streamline Modern"Archived 2009-12-27 at the Wayback Machine , Deschutes County Landmarks, Deschutes County Community Development Department, Deschutes County, Bend, Oregon, 11 July 2001.
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