Letters to the Editor 5/3/20 | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Letters to the Editor 5/3/20

A call for more "pedestrianized" streets; support for a Congressional candidate

Revitalize downtown - 5/1

While there has been an ongoing effort to improve bike and pedestrian experiences throughout Bend, COVID-19 presents an even stronger case for devoting more space to bikes and people, and less to cars. Bond and Wall should have walkways expanded and streets shrunk to angle parking on one side only. Replace the lost parking with new nearby parking structures. Of course, the bold action would be to make the whole area between Newport and Franklin pedestrian only. Many cities are taking bold actions and becoming much more livable. We can too!

For example: 
-Mathieu Federspiel, Powell Butte

click to enlarge Letters to the Editor 5/3/20
Nicole Vulcan
NE 6th St. in Bend, one of several Neighborhood Greenways that the City of Bend has identified as 'Stay Healthy Streets," aimed at encouraging more pedestrian activity during the pandemic.

Central Oregon Needs Nik Heuertz 4/28

Nik Heuertz is running as a Democrat to represent Oregon’s second district in the US House of Representatives.

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the inequities in our current systems. If it does nothing else, this time of health, economic and societal crisis is showing that we need to invest in our people, rather than hand over trillions to the richest corporations the world has seen.  That we need to invest in our people, health and infrastructure is the overwhelming theme of Nik’s candidacy.

We need to invest in our health. A cornerstone issue that Nik is fighting for is to create a single payer health care system (commonly called Medicare-for-All).  As millions more Americans find themselves unemployed each week, the foolishness of tying our health to our employment has hopefully become obvious.  A single-payer system would bring a system wide savings and provide health security to us all.

We need to invest in our homes.  Nik is supporting the Green New Deal, a framework to bring widespread investment in renewable energy, sustainable jobs, and a planet that can continue to support human life.

We need to invest in our education.  Nik is advocating for publicly funded state colleges and trade schools.

It is past time for We the People to take the reins of our democracy and create a government that will work for all of us.  Nik is here to fight for us.

-Jay Girard, RN-Emergency, Bend


Also see Saturday's Guest Opinion on the connection between Strokes and COVID-19, by Carol Stiles of Stroke Awareness Oregon.

Nicole Vulcan

Nicole Vulcan has been editor of the Source since 2016. You can mostly find her raising chickens, walking dogs, riding all the bikes and attempting to turn a high desert scrap of land into a permaculture oasis.
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