Letters to the Editor

Letter of the Week

This week's top letter comes from Jim Anderson, the sage of Sisters, who laments the proliferation of litter from free shoppers circulated by our local daily to pump up its circulation numbers. The blue bags truly are an eye sore, Jim. But we're not talking trash when we say that you can cash in your gripe for a $20 gift certificate from Dinner's Ready for being our letter of the week. Bon Appetite!
    If you are looking for the best bang for your buck in advertising, do it with the Bulletin; they really spread the word! The Bulletin doesn't only "spread the word," they litter the countryside with it.
    And they're not hard to locate either; you can probably find a rotting Bulletin in someone's driveway, front yard, or even out in the middle of the road. Moreover, don't worry, you will get your money’s worth advertising in the Bulletin, they wrap their "Central Oregon Market Place" in a blue plastic bag before it is thrown on your property, that way it litters longer.
   

    Greetings. And arghh.
    Your perpetuation (deliberate word choice … hint hint) of this morning's "Oregon Man's Invention: Commute Generates Electricity" in the Bend Bulletin is yet another example of how high energy prices makes reporters and editors stupid. Okay, perhaps not stupid … but certainly it seems to render them so un-critical that they fail to recognize a perpetual motion machine when they see it - or that they simply assume their sources are telling the truth or have a clue what they're talking about.
    Other recent horrid examples: (1) A New York Times reporter's
acceptance without request for explanation of a hybrid land yacht
owner's claim that she goes twice as long between fill-ups as with the
old behemoth, even though the new one only gets 50 percent better gas
mileage. (2) A different Bend Bulletin reporter's acceptance last week
without apparent skepticism of a scooter salesman's quote about
"average" drivers of four-wheeled vehicles spending $120/week on gas
compared to $6 per week for drivers of scooters - when even the most
generous look at the math shows the salesman has assumed for his
audience's sake that the "average" driver gets just 5 miles per gallon
and that the average scooter gets 100 mpg.

    Belgian brewer InBev makes a bid to buy Anheuser-Busch for $46 billion. That's a $46 billion company that was once banned in America for producing a product that a bunch of puritanical religious fanatics touted as evil.

    It is time that people in Bend wake up. I live by the Old Mill District and I have had almost no songbirds around this year.
I live by the canal, yet I have not seen any gold finch. My chickadees that nested last year did not come back to the birdhouse when they should have. Also, the couple of the robins I had around are gone. We are losing our songbirds to cats and windows in this town.
    
  A few days ago, I got up at 5:30 a.m. to put my dogs out. There was no sound; it was complete silence. This is not normal. Songbirds should have been very actively singing by this time. This should raise the alarm.   

    Scott Weber (Letters 6-18) always attempts to present something as science but without scientific evidence! His recent letter (Source Jun.19) pans evolution and supports Intelligent Design (ID).

    Hi Eric & Staff
I enjoyed your article (tSW 6-19). You guys did a great job.

Letter of the Week 
This week's illustrious Letter of the Week award goes to Liz Nahnsen for bringing to our attention the exciting world of "Godvertising." 
As a resident on the Northwest side of town, I can't help but notice Westside Church's newish row of banners along Newport Avenue. Usually they are banal church advertising, but they are getting increasingly bold, and unpleasant. A few weeks ago the theme screamed at passing motorists "FAMILIES IN CRISIS," with a background of a man's ominous fist and some needles and stuff obviously depicting a drug theme.
Today I noticed the bravest signage yet: A photo of a man and woman's feet poking out from under bedcovers with a bright red caption "PURE SEX." I'm no prude, and as I write this I'm sure I'm creating just the sort of controversy the marketing folks at Westside Church are going for, but my dislike of these signs has little to do with the message. Although I strongly dislike fear or alarmist-based selling of anything (be it religion, political affiliations, or elliptical machines), what frosts my cupcakes about the Godvertising is that these banners loom over a huge block along Newport Avenue - a very popular and pretty walk/bike/drive. For those yet to experience these hulking morality memos, they are reminiscent of other innocuous ("Happy Holidays!" - city of Bend) or interesting ("You Can't Not Think" OPB), or informative ("0% Financing Until Your Children Graduate College!") except that 1) the signs are not voted on by representatives of the area, and 2) they are not displayed to the enrichment/education/entertainment of the population that views them regularly. I am not familiar with ordinances addressing such advertising on the business' own property, but legalities aside, how about a little consideration for those who just want to get from point A to point B without a graphic lecture?
Other businesses along this stretch have modest, informative, often humorous signage and are respectful of all the different sensibilities to be found on the west side. When the Westside Church complex completed building, we were excited to see evidence of a good neighbor: lovely landscaping with waterfall feature, an open volleyball court, and unobtrusive religious iconography on the property. I encourage them to be considerate of their diverse neighbors and keep the morality memos inside.
Liz Nahnsen

This letter is concerning the state of trail building and mountain bike development in the region and, most likely, will strike some nerves. For that, I apologize.
For many years, the COTA (Central Oregon Trail Alliance) has done an incredible job of building, maintaining and promoting the mountain bike trails in this region. This is the work of a handful of very dedicated people and the volunteers they have been able to mobilize. The area would not be the excellent biking destination it is today without these folks, and as a former cross country racer and dedicated rider, my hat is off to these people. There is no doubt that their efforts have directly influenced the economy of Bend.
That said, there is an issue on the horizon which is starting to cause grumbling and dissention among riders where it doesn't have to exist. And that is in the developing freeride style of biking. I am also a freerider and trail builder. While freeride mountain biking has been around for some time now (one look at the photos in any bike magazine will make that obvious,) it is a relatively new phenomenon to the Bend area. There are, however, a growing number of very accomplished riders in this area. This type of riding is growing in popularity, and while it has taken some time, the local riders are beginning to become organized. This type of riding, which can be available to all ability levels, does take a large amount of construction work to become sustainable. And the riders are willing to do this work: Witness the Lair, the Whoops trails, the Slalom Loop at Phil's trailhead, the now-defunct Powers Road area and several "hidden stashes" including the upcoming inclusion of the Cline Buttes downhill and dirt jump trails. These riders are also willing to travel to ride new exciting locations. That means there is the potential for this style of riding to be a benefit to the entire community.

I've written many letters in support of gay rights. On May 1 this year, one of my letters was published in the Source.