Battle of the Burgers
Having spent the past seven decades compulsively grading and ranking every item I have experienced in every category of everything — 45’s, movies, albums, album covers, breads, beers, salads, breakfasts, and muffins, to name just a few — I must add my voice to those who have chosen Bend’s best burger.
The Bronze Medal for Bend’s best burger goes to Blue Eyes. The Silver Medal goes to Jackson’s Corner. And now, drum roll, please. The Gold Medal for Bend’s best burger goes to the wagyu burger at Immersion Brewing! (Applause.) It’s the beef, man!
—Eddie Kinnamon
Sending people to foreign prison without due process is a violation of the 5th Amendment
Amendment V (1791)
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
—Gregory J Scott
Rodeos are Cruel
It’s deeply troubling that our community, known for its compassion towards dogs and cats, simultaneously supports and sponsors the violent spectacles of rodeos. This contradiction is stark: while we open our hearts and homes to some animals, we applaud the suffering of others in the name of ‘entertainment.’ If the animals subjected to the cruelty of rodeos had paws instead of hooves, the public outcry would be deafening. Shouldn’t our empathy and compassion extend to all creatures, regardless of species? It’s time to reevaluate our values and stand against all forms of animal mistreatment.
—L. Farnsworth
More on Forests
As a follow-up to my letter on percolation last week, here’s more food for thought regarding the razing of forests in our Central Oregon communities: transpiration. On a hot summer’s day, have you felt the relief of damp coolness that comes from taking a walk in the forest? That coolness results not only from the forest’s canopy providing shade. A forest’s trees release water vapor from tiny pores on their leaves and needles. This evaporation process –or transpiration—uses up the sun’s heat energy, thereby cooling the area (like us cooling by perspiring.)
In summary, forests not only inhale carbon (CO2)—a greenhouse gas —and exhale oxygen, from their canopies to mitigate climate change, but through transpiration their leaves and needles release water vapors that cool our high desert region and seed rain clouds to prevent droughts.
In this way, forests play a vital role in Earth’s very intelligent carbon and water cycles—recycling the water and life’s basic building blocks (carbon, oxygen, etc.) within our closed system. Trees do their best work when growing in rich, spongey forest soil supported by an ecosystem of microorganisms, other trees and plants, as well as by other critters.
To disrupt too extremely these elegantly evolved natural systems would be foolish.
What to do? Be intentional in our building—consider if a development project is truly necessary for our community. Design projects in ways that preserve swatches of forests, i.e., don’t build so densely. Use pavers and other porous materials for driveways, parking lots, sidewalks.
—Tomoko Harada Ferguson
Tony & Patti Are Scrambling
The Deschutes County Commission is once again showing us why they can’t be trusted to act in the best interest of our community.
Voters made it loud and clear last November: we want a five-member commission to better represent the diversity of Deschutes County. But now, instead of respecting the will of the people, the current commissioners —Tony DeBone and Patti Adair — are rushing to draw the new district lines before the expanded board is even seated.
Let’s be honest. This is about power, not representation.
These are the same commissioners who opposed the expansion from the start. They were wrong then, and they’re wrong now to think they should be the ones deciding what our future representation looks like. The responsible course of action is to wait until all five commissioners are seated and then let that full, representative body decide on district boundaries. Anything else reeks of political gamesmanship.
No matter who they bring in to make it look fair, the truth remains: Tony and Patti cannot be trusted with this task. We need problem solvers leading Deschutes County. Leaders who listen to their constituents, who are transparent, and who are willing to roll up their sleeves and fix the real issues our communities are facing.
It’s time for a new direction, and that starts by stopping this rushed and untrustworthy redistricting process in its tracks.
—John Heylin
Letter of
the Week:
John H., you make an excellent point. You can stop by our office on NW Georgia for a gift card to Palate coffee bar.
—Nic Moye, Managing Editor
This article appears in Source Weekly May 1st, 2025.
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John Heylin (he makes an excellent point?) … so we should elect five members and then define the districts? And you don’t think that those five won’t select districts that allow them to remain in power? That is the very definition of “political gamesmanship”. Or you don’t think there is a high probability that multiple commissioners live in the same district? So we’ll need another election?
And I notice that you only have an issue with the conservative members of the commission, which means you are every bit as biased as those at whom you point a finger.
It’s about representation – the people want 5 representatives so 5 representatives should be making this type of significant decision. Seems pretty basic.
Which came first the commissioner or the district?
KTVZ, March 31, 2025: “the three current commissioners are in general agreement about putting a proposal before voters next year to elect commissioners by geographic districts, rather than at large”.
“The board discussed at Monday afternoon’s work session the details of how to create a citizen committee that would develop district maps to be represented by each county commissioner. The options include establishing either five districts of roughly equal populations or four geographic districts and one seat elected at large”.
I highly disagree with Mr. Heylin’s letter on this topic. I believe that the initial structure for the 5 county commissioners should be decided before an election is held. The structure can always be redesigned after the 5 person commission is in place.
The disparity with forcing the additional 2 commissioners to be selected via an election before the structure of the expanded commission has been outlined is that the representation for Deschutes County would then be skewed in favor of the incorporated cities (Bend, Redmond, Sisters, La Pine).
The entirety of the landmass of Deschutes County is much larger than the landmass for the 4 existing cities. However, if an open election is held to add 2 more commissioners, the majority of the votes to elect them would be from the cities. While the residents of the cities are currently allowed to vote for the county commissioners, the same is not true for the rural residents of Deschutes County to be able to vote for elected officials in the cities. As long as you reside outside of the boundary (and no matter how close you are, or how much that city can influence or impact where you live) to allow open voting for the new commissioners would allow the city voters to outweigh the votes of rural Deschutes County residents. At this time, the Deschutes County Commission is one of the only forms of representation for those voters in the larger scale of issues that impact all of Deschutes County as a whole. Of course, the interests of those voters and landowners can vary quite differently from those voters within the city jurisdictions.
Regardless of Mr. Heylin’s comments about Commissioners DeBone and Adair, I believe they are trying to ensure that this type of imbalance between the city voters of Deschutes County and the rural voters of Deschutes County cannot occur. At a time of record growth in the entirety of Deschutes County I believe this is a valuable step to ensure that those who live and work in the rural areas of Deschutes County continue to have a fair and balanced voice in their elected officials. Mr. Heylin, as someone who lives in the rural areas of the county I will continue to disagree on this point and support the path of the current commissioners.
Diane Peschka