I feel compelled to respond, albeit indirectly, to last week's letter/tirade by Anonymous. I wish to describe my own, recent personal experience with the Bend Police Department.
According to the law of gravity, what goes up must come down. According to the law of sewage, what goes down will keep going down unless something stops it.
That, in the most elementary form, is what the controversy over southern Deschutes County septic systems is all about.
There are something like 6,400 homes in the LaPine/Sunriver area that are not hooked into any sewer system. Those homes rely on septic systems - basically tanks in the ground that hold the noxious gunk until it can be pumped out. Some of those tanks - nobody is sure how many - leak.
Not afraid of a handoutA small, stoic and stupid number of Republican Governors are saying they won't accept funds from the newly passed economic stimulus bill. Seriously, the residents of Idaho, Alaska, Texas, Louisiana and South Carolina won't receive a cut of President Obama's $800 billion plan, if their elected leaders have their way. Why? Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is questioning $1 billion funding for the national census and $50 million for the arts, saying it's "not apparent to me why they had to be in the stimulus package." Maybe so — Perhaps to accurately count the number of people in Louisiana and New Orleans (which each of us now own at least nine square/sinking inches of, after evacuating and rebuilding post-Hurricane Katrina). Republicans hate accurate tallies, and the arts - we all know that - and it must be added that South Carolina is already a welfare state, receiving around $1.30 for every $1 it sends to Washington.
Why are there no arguments in favor of measure 9-70 in the voters' pamphlet? It seems like a responsible action to require homes to be connected to a sanitary sewer system or to upgrade existing septic systems. Long-term protection of the quality of our groundwater is essential, and unless we take action, the quality of water available for our children and grandchildren will be affected.
This week's letter comes from Edward Schmidt who urges President Obama (wow, it still feels good to write that) to stick to his policy guns and avoid pandering to the middle. Thanks for the letter, Edward.
For some time I have heard around town about the Bend police and Deschutes County Sheriff's department being rather abusive of their power. However, recently things appear to have completely spiraled out of control with both of these departments. Their priorities seem to focus on preying on the average hard-working, tax-paying citizen, rather than actually doing real police work and focusing on criminals. There is a simple answer for this; we are easy prey. The D.A. office enjoys this. It keeps them busy spending our tax dollars prosecuting regular citizens who many times find it easier to plead guilty than fight whatever the violation may be.
Editor's note: Like those great old timey radio shows, we're taking the unprecedented step of running the following letter in two installments. If you just can't wait for the dramatic conclusion go to tsweekly.com, Letters. You Luddites will just have to wait another week.
Somewhere in the middle of a big state, the good citizens of a small town have fallen asleep at the wheel and have unknowingly gone back to the future…
Wow, what a mean-spirited, arrogant letter from B. Graham regarding studded tires. Despite the fact that the author tries to use carefully selected science to refute, even mock other letter-writers' experiences and opinions, I would like to add a few studies and accounts of my own to the debate. I feel that I am well qualified to do so as, prior to moving to Bend 5 winters ago, I lived in the Colorado Mountains at 9,000 feet for 12 years. During our first fall in Bend I was shocked, and amused, to hear the rattling of studded tires down Wall street after one, insignificant, snow storm: I commented to my wife, "Oh my God, look at all of these California weenies!" I had never seen so many studded vehicles (or late-model cars with designer rims…but that's another topic!) Over the course of the next few weeks I proceeded to: 1) Slide down the hill, right out of my driveway, through a stop sign and onto Portland Avenue 2) Coming out of work on Mt. Bachelor Dr. slide through (over, actually) the roundabout at Reed Market 3) slide completely out of control down the hill onto the Bill Healy bridge, careening off of the curbs 4) get hopelessly stuck on relatively flat ground in the parking lot at Tumalo Falls.
Finally proving that they can do the nation's business without bipartisanship or any semblance of full disclosure - having learned well from the Bush Admin and GOP - Democrats passed the $787 billion stimulus bill with a House vote of 246-183, and a Senate vote of 60-38 (with only three Republican Senators saying "Yeah, sure…"). Republicans, obviously exhausted from blowing our nation's future over the past eight years, will soon be replaced by a third-party known as "2012 Mayans and Other Loonies Enshrined Symbiotically" (acronym: MOLES). Despite a firestorm of criticism, President Obama can now claim victory, and is only eclipsed by Abraham Lincoln as the greatest president ever: Seriously, name one president who has dealt with more bullshit than Obama in his first few weeks. "Shovel-ready" projects will promptly receive funding, including $15 million to lowly Bend to widen U.S. 97. Unemployed carpenters should start digging ditches to refill, service workers should learn to gut and cook panhandlers (young bums can be rather sinewy, and older should be served well-done, to avoid ring-worm and to fully baste the Thunderbird). Meanwhile, monkey butlers approved in the stimulus bill will be arriving at Broken Top in the next few weeks.
During my lifetime, there have been more than a few occasions where I've felt the impulse to act to fix something. Typically, my wife recognizes this devious, uniquely intense, gleam in my eye as she observes me moving about rather deliberately, locating the tools I'll require to address the task at hand. (She usually rolls her eyes and makes a barely audible, primal grunting sound indicating, oh boy… Here we go again). My family has learned over the years that when I act on these impulses, the consequences of my efforts are rarely sufficient to produce the desired results (especially if it involves electricity or plumbing). My family characterizes these episodes in my life as impufficient. Let me explain.
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