Letters to the Editor

Jamie McLeod Skinner for CD-5 I have known Jamie McLeod Skinner since 2020 when I was the full-time (volunteer) Bend office manager for her Congressional District 2 campaign. That was a great vantage point for seeing how she interacted with staff and other volunteers, chatting with her, and learning about her experience and values. I […]

Correction: Last week’s story, “Over Bend’s Dead Bodies” was incorrectly labeled as News. It should have been labeled as Commentary. We regret the error. Guest Opinion: Ongoing Concentration of Poverty in Bend We are a group of concerned neighbors trying to shine a light on the issue of Economic Segregation in Bend. City of Bend […]

Guest Opinion: End the Suffering in Gaza The Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler and City Council’s letter regarding the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza was a courageous move. The letter urged Oregon’s lawmakers and President Biden, to intervene to ease the dire situation in Gaza. We, Central Oregon for a Free Palestine, are dedicated to a ceasefire […]

Misinformation To justify imposing the “Transportation Utility Fee” on all Bend residents and businesses, the City of Bend has consistently stated that “gas tax revenue is declining.” This is the Oregon Highway Fund that supplies about a third of Bend’s Street Operations budget. BUT the 10/2023 ODOT “City and County Apportionment forecast” CLEARLY shows that […]

Guest Opinion: Expanding Commissioners Years ago, while working as a reporter in Oregon, I was tasked with covering the county commissioners. At the time, I had very little understanding of who the county commissioners were or what their jobs entailed. Like a lot of voters, I trusted that these public servants were doing their best […]

Guest Opinion: Why aren’t we making our streets safer and more affordable? The logic is simple: wide roads encourage speeding, and fast streets are unsafe for people in and outside of vehicles. Higher speeds give drivers less time to react, require more time for the vehicles to slow down or stop and increase risk of […]

Corrections: In the Jan. 25 story, “Winter Wonders: Caring for Winter Hummingbirds,” the author recommended a 4:1 sugar-to-water ratio for hummingbird food; that was incorrect. It’s “water to sugar.” In the Jan. 25 story, “Dinner at the Hook & Plow,” the author mentioned eating swordfish. It was sturgeon. We regret the errors. Guest Opinion: Telling […]

South Bend footbridge I am the local leader of the Bitterbrush Broads and Bro’s chapter of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness and we oppose the footbridge proposal over the Deschutes. I read your article about the group that keeps pursuing a footbridge over the Southern Deschutes River Wild and Scenic area. There are some […]

Guest Opinion: Crossing the centerline… both literally and figuratively The impact was violent. Under sunny skies at 11:43 am on January 5 on my way up to Mt. Bachelor, a spinning Ford F-350 coming down the mountain crossed over into my lane at high-speed, plowing into the front driver side of my Sprinter van. I […]

January 6th Was Just the Beginning for Trump Three years ago, a violent mob, incited by then-President Trump and his allies in Congress, attacked the U.S. Capitol to try and stop the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history. Now, three years and four indictments later, Trump is running for president […]