For decades, Oregon resisted hosting an annual legislative session. It was one of the final states to finally concede that leadership requires at least a meeting of its lawmakers every year, and in 2012, installed an annual session. But even now, its new concession barely seems to qualify as an annual legislature; during even-numbered years, […]
Editorial
Posted inOpinion
Replacing Politics with Policies
Last week, Jodie Barram waltzed through the primary as the Democratic nominee for Deschutes County Commissioner Position One with 98 percent of the vote, while her Republican counterpart, Tony DeBone, raked in 81 percent of the vote for his party’s nomination—numbers usually reserved for the Prime Minister of North Korea or Vladimir Putin. Which isn’t […]
Posted inOpinion
Raise A Champagne Toast!
A few minutes before noon on Monday, Judge Michael McShane, who sits as a judge in Eugene for the Federal District Court, filed his opinion in Geiger v. Kitzhaber, a lawsuit challenging Oregon’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. Judge McShane plainly stated that same-sex couples are entitled the same privileges of marriage under the U.S. […]
Posted inOpinion
Giving Away Jobs
With little fanfare, on May 7, Bend’s City Council unanimously approved a $1.1 million contract with Angelo Planning Group. That contact is Phase I of a three phase review of the Urban Growth Boundary review. It is encouraging that City Council is taking seriously the challenges and questions relating to the city’s UGB. We agree […]
Posted inOpinion
Citizen Watchdog Isn’t All Wet
Spencer Dahl, a longtime Bend resident, may like the meandering current of the Deschutes River, but he is not sitting idly by letting the debate over what to do about the river, Newport Avenue Dam and Mirror Pond just take its sweet time. He is out there trying to actually guide the conversation and make […]
Posted inOpinion
Fill ‘Er Up!
Last week, in a Portland wine shop, a jovial Sen. Ron Wyden announced that he had barked, and that the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau had backed down. At issue was whether restaurants, taverns and convenience stores could sell wine in growlers and other containers—like many currently do for beer. Over the […]
Posted inOpinion
Gee GMOs, Leave Us Alone!
What better timing than our annual Restaurant Guide to check in on the battle over so-called Genetically Modified Organisms. Currently, there is a heated battle in Southern Oregon about banning GMOs—a fight that will affect Central Oregon farmers and foodies, and that may determine whether the entire state will ban GMOs. The concerns over GMOs […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t Make A Pile of Poop
Although best known as the first openly gay man elected to a significant office in America, San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk also staked his political career on cleaning up dog poop. A month after winning his landmark election in 1977, Milk went about establishing his first city ordinance, a law requiring dog owners to pick […]
Posted inOpinion
Get on the Bus, Gus
Over the past decade, the tenor of the environmental movement has shifted more towards the you-attract-more-bees-with-honey sweetness. Oh sure, there are still plenty of indignant protestors and bloggers (rightfully) browbeating corporations and polluters. But increasingly so, the paradigm for speaking about environmental issues and, more broadly, sustainability matters is about figuring out a solution that […]
Posted inOpinion
Shark Tank
In last Friday’s edition of the Bulletin, city councilmember Mark Capell did the equivalent of pulling the pin from a grenade and handing to his fellow councilmember. That uncouth “gesture” is part of the brush fire unfolding over Oregon State University’s Cascade campus—in particular, the decision to site the campus in southwest Bend. Over the […]
