OPINION As 2017 comes to a close, we want to take time to reflect on the momentous year that has passed. The biggest issue for the community happened on the national stage, where we’ve experienced the ups and, mostly downs, of inaugurating a new president who is more tuned to midnight tweets than policy that […]
Editorial
Posted inOpinion
10 of Trump’s Insane Tweets
I won’t say top 10 because they all suck
I got drunk last weekend and read all 2,735 tweets Donald Trump has written since the election, in the hopes that the feed, collected and searchable on trumptwitterarchive.com, might be a good way to get a sense of the horrors we’ve endured. It was like reliving all of the unbelievable moments of this last year in […]
Posted inOpinion
Investing in fire services saves lives
OPINION On Dec. 20, as this issue begins to hit stands, the Bend City Council will consider adopting a resolution that would renew the five-year operating levy for Fire and Emergency Medical Services. The resolution, if the council approves it, will put the issue on the May 2018 ballot. The current levy, approved in 2014 […]
Posted inOpinion
A Change in District 2 could mean more than just lip service for struggling Oregonians
OPINION It is beginning to become clear, as the bean counters set their pencils to an evaluation of the tax plans that are currently moving through Congress, that these changes will hurt the majority of Americans. The plan is being rushed through with an arbitrary “before Christmas” deadline to score a year end legislative “win,” […]
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On the City Charter, Kudos to the Committee Pressing for Change
Charter presents suggestions to City Council for Charter Review
OPINION On Wednesday, as this issue begins to hit newsstands, members of the Bend Charter Review Committee will present their recommendations to the City Council on changing the city’s charter. The city charter has not been updated in two decades, so this is no small task. Bend is a vastly different city than it was […]
Posted inOpinion
BLM pick is wrong direction for agency
Karen Budd-Falen an attorney for the Bundy clan in the ’80s and ’90s named the head of BLM.
If you were one of the many who reacted in dismay when Ammon Bundy and some of the other occupiers were acquitted after their takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, you’ll probably be interested in the latest developments in the selection process for the head of the BLM. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke […]
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GUEST EDITORIAL: Pursuing a better future for the Deschutes River
Although the debates surrounding Mirror Pond have dragged on for years, there are now two actionable proposals on the table: the Bend Park and Recreation District is updating portions of Drake Park while a group of local citizens is preparing a dredging project. Together, these may represent more than $10 million worth of activity that […]
Posted inOpinion
A Good Man Is Hard to Find
Dude columnist struggles with what it means to be a man; female editor has doubts
Mary Finn, an editor with Democracy in Crisis, often makes extensive notes on my columns—in this case, we decided they were far more interesting than the column itself. So we left them, in dialogue with a half-formed column. I have been trying to figure out a way, as a white man, to write about the […]
Posted inOpinion
Let Mirror Pond dredging stay dead in the water
We Need YOU to voice your opinions on Nov. 28
On Nov. 28, Bend Park and Recreation District will host an open house-style meeting to present the proposed design for Mirror Pond. But don’t get your hopes up, anti-dredgers and pro-dredgers, because that design is not going to touch the topic of silt removal—not even with a mucky 10-foot pole. The Nov. 28 meeting is […]
Posted inOpinion
Accessing our national parks should not bea privilege afforded only to the privileged.
OPINION To underline the complexity of the debate around public lands, think about two local issues. Smith Rock is the first. Smith Rock is overcrowded, and many have proposed increasing fees and even capping the number of visitors as ways to control the populations—not always because they’re concerned about the conservation of the area, but […]