Opinion

On Sunday morning May 24th 2008, I decided to go for a leisurely bike ride. With me were two young children who rode their bikes following close behind.
The route I chose would take me south on Mt. Washington past the Skyline sports park. As we approached the area near the softball fields, which were located to my right, I noticed a very common sight. However, on this morning what I witnessed was more disturbing than usual. We were forced to move from the bike lane into traffic because there were vehicles parked illegally in the bike lane ahead. Luckily, we were able to stop and navigate this detour without serious incident. We then continued on our way southbound. Some time later, we were returning home in the opposite direction. We also encountered more illegally parked vehicles directly in our path. Once again, we were forced to detour into the traffic lane to avoid these cars. I would estimate that between both southbound and northbound bike lanes, there were approximately 20 vehicles in violation of clearly posted No Parking signs.
My complaint is two-fold. First of all, you don't have to like or dislike what I choose to do for recreation. However, it is not acceptable for someone else's behavior to create an unsafe environment for me to enjoy my form of recreation. I highly doubt that parking a large number of vehicles on the softball fields would be allowed. Especially if I were to totally disregard the posted signs stating that it was illegal.

I would like to take a minute to talk about bands that go unrecognized here in Bend. I love the fact that you support music, mostly Portland-based bands, but I think you guys should focus on the local bands too.

As a resident of Bend and a loyal skier at your mountain (I was a season pass holder from 1999-2006 and I still ski primarily at Mt. Bachelor), I find the promotion of animal cruelty in your 2008 pond skimming "championship" video clip to be outrageous (not to mention insipid given the lack of creativity of the participant you chose to highlight).

I have told myself I was going to write a Letter to the Editor to the Source one too many times without actually doing it. Here goes, I will not rant:
Location: The Shell station at Greenwood and 27th Street on Memorial Day.

I adopted a dog in 1997, the year I moved to Oregon. I've seen Bend change from an extremely dog-friendly town to an ambivalently dog-tolerant city.

I would like to respond to the Name Withheld letter titled "Turn in Your Badge." While I have never been a police officer, I have compassion for anyone who wants to be, or who may have chosen that profession.

I would like to comment on your article entitled "Selling the Market Short" in which the writer attempted to warn the public of the result of selling their home via the Short Sale option. While I appreciate the media attempting to keep the public well informed, in this case it was your article that fell "short."
While your article is correct in stating that home owners can be, and most times are, sent a 1099 form in the amount of the "forgiven amount", it is also important to provide information about the Foreclosure Tax Relief Act of 2007 (H.R., 3507) that was passed in December, 2007, and was designed to allow forgiveness of the Federal income taxes that are due as a result of selling your house "short."
 
While I am in no way offering legal advice, and recommend that anyone who is considering a short sale consult with an attorney and tax accountant, I can say that the Act provides Federal tax relief for those who, during tax years 2007, 2008 and 2009, choose to short sale their primary residence and who receive a 1099 form for the difference in what they owe and what the bank accepted as payment. As of this date, there is no similar relief for investment properties or second homes, and is not applicable on a State tax level.