Letters to the Editor

Guest Opinion: In Response to “The Well’s Run Dry,” Feature, 7/7 I read with interest Hanna Merzbach’s well-researched piece, “The Well’s Run Dry” as it confirms some of the concerns that I and many other residents who live along the Arnold Irrigation District’s main canal have about AID’s plan to pipe 12 miles of it, […]

Corrections: Last week’s Smoke Signals column about synthetic marijuana regulations stated incorrectly that CBN and delta 8 are extracted from CBD. Instead, they are synthesized from CBD. In addition, the new OLCC regulations that go into effect after July 1, 2023, were described inaccurately. Synthetic cannabinoids sold in licensed dispensaries will not require full FDA […]

E-bikes = litter We totally agree, the Bird E Bikes are horrible. They are dangerous. I almost got knocked down by a family of 4 on the sidewalk on Sunday. I am in shape but I am in my late sixties. The family riding the Byrd Bikes we’re not wearing helmets and flying though the […]

50% Grading Floor Hurts Students Good to know there are a few good teachers left in this town. You don’t get an automatic 50% in life just for existing. These policies hurt kids and create an unrealistic expectation that sets them up for failure after high school. —Jeremy Eggert (from Facebook) Appointees to City Council […]

I am coming at this in several directions as I work at an electric bike shop downtown. We do sales, service, tours and bike rentals. The rentals are an important part of our revenue during our busy tourist summer. Saturday morning 6/5 I arrived to work to find several Bird bikes parked outside of our location. […]

Guest Opinion: Please Sign the “Kids Not Camps” Initiative for November Ballot No doubt since September of 2021, there has been an escalation of public interest regarding the growing population of Bend’s unhoused residents and where they should camp, how they should camp, who is in charge and how this gets funded. There has been a […]

In response to school shootings. Safety. Words which were never oxymorons before America. There are not enough tears  to undo the vetoes there are not enough votes to undo the tears is the story they say,  but they are wrong. And we,  we are so tired- “thoughts and prayers”  cannot undo the lifelong trauma of […]

Water, Water, Water I am writing to all those people who don’t understand why a high desert could be low on water. I grew up here and most of the town hauled their own water. Most people on the outskirts did not have wells. City water was only in the city which was a small […]

Guest Opinion: All We Really Need to Know to Get Along in Central Oregon We Learned in Kindergarten “It doesn’t matter what you say you believe—it only matters what you do.” — Robert Fulghum, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” The past couple years have been tumultuous and divisive in Central Oregon. […]

Roe v. Wade The case against Roe v. Wade has been waging in earnest for at least 45 years. The argument of whether abortion is legal or not can be traced to pre-Revolutionary War in British Common Law. Being 66 years old, I have been listening to this commentary for the majority of my life. […]