IN REPLY TO "PREGAMING FOR THE TOWN-GOWN SHOWDOWN" (6/19)
Many people in this TOWN are for GOWN (new Westside OSU campus) so it's not really a Town VS Gown situation like your headline says. It's a NIMBY [Not In My Back Yard] vs. Higher Ed Supporters/Normal People/OSU showdown. This makes it sound like the entire town's against it when really, most of the town is for it, except the old rich people who are like, not in my neighborhood!
—skate71
IN REPLY TO "THE BOOT: STOP IT!" (6/19)
What is actually absurd and disgraceful is that the Source continues to parrot a Bloomberg statistic that has been discredited by everyone from CNN to the Oregonian. It should came as no surprise to you that nobody is listening when you continue to spout off statistics based on such bias and ignorance.
—RJ
IN REPLY TO "TO CATCH A FIRE STARTER" (6/19)
Having grown up and lived in Northern CA until moving to Bend in 2001, I survived (at age 5) a burning scarf on my head while I ran up the driveway to find help. A year after the cities of Oakland and Berkeley's hills were burned with great loss of life and property due to mega mansions being built on narrow streets; my neighborhood in the south east bay was threatened by a guy, who late in season tried to control his 4-foot high dried grass/weeds with a defective mower. Sparks caught the grass on fire, which roared up to eucalyptus trees and toward our home. Firefighters couldn't see the crown fires spreading from tree to tree so I kept 911 on the phone and reported new outbreaks. What KILLS me here is ignorant city employees and neighbors who: don't enforce city codes re: weed abatement; don't think ponderosa trees are fire risks (yeah, this neighbor got her elementary teaching credential without ever LEAVING Bend!)—not so great for our youth when she says "we don't complain to city officials, here....it's a matter of 'their' culture!—please leave me out of that particular ignorance. I had to keep demanding that Bend public works test the fire hydrant—the sole one for our block—even though tons of defective cement from the '90s had collapsed on the hydrant's water supply. They finally tested MINE and no water was available, of course. This led to the re-doing of hydrants all across Bend.
—Lahaina
IN REPLY TO JIM BRUCE'S LETTER RE: BUILLETIN OSU-CASCADES EDITORIAL
Dear Mr. Bruce,
I too am totally cynical about the unilateral decisions being foisted on Bend residents in the "common good." The OSU location is just the latest and most egregious! I'm all for throwing my support into the citizen groups trying to put open and honest facts on the table to be decided democratically by a majority of Bend citizens. My only problem, I don't want to subscribe to Facebook in order to connect. (I grew up in "the Valley of Hearts Delight" aka Silicon Valley—don't trust them either, though Bend has a longer history of cheats and curmudgeons trying to take advantage of citizens.)
—Lahaina
IN REPLY TO "I'VE NEVER: WORKED OUT WITH THE NAVY SEALS" (6/19)
Thanks Erin for the very nice article. Hope to see you at our next workout, since we missed you today. Don't be surprised if you see Steve, Al, Shane and myself peering through your window late one night if you miss another session.....no pressure!!! Seriously, thanks again. All the best, Bruce.
—Bruce Willhite
IN REPLY TO "CONSIDER YOUR BACKYARD POLLINATORS"
Thank you very much for your pesticide warnings, Jim. I grew up with a backyard with five honey bee hives, lots of fruit trees and flowers and sold gallon jars of honey for $5 at the end of every summer. Here in Bend, I have a backyard of perennial blooms; it took my new puppy who loves watching flying insects for me to "see" how many we have here!
—Lahaina
IN REPLY TO "DESCHUTES COUNTY IS NO. 1, BUT PERHAPS NOT WHY YOU WANT, OR THINK" (6/19)
So, what? This is a meaningless data set. Also, biased to "prove" gun toten morons r un edumacated. (Though, to be fair, the author points out the lack of causal relationship.) Why didn't the author layer gun deaths per 1,000 over the metric of libraries/museums per 1,000. I would bet you a nickel that I could construct and argumentum ad absurdum that museum density would indicate a MUCH higher risk of violent crime. Implying no causal relationship....just a deeply disturbing data set. We might thereupon embark on a tongue in cheek condemnation of museum motives and decry their role in violent death. I like Joe Rogan's quote: "We have a mental health crisis masquerading as a gun problem and a tyranny problem masquerading as a security problem."
—Sean Loftus
Letter of the Week!
Sean - Thank you for pointing out the weak links of the research, and fine, we took your bet, and now owe you that nickel. Actually, how about one hundred nickels worth of coupons at Crow's Feet Commons for the Letter of the Week? Stop by and pick it up.
