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My wife and I live in New Hampshire but spend about five months in Bend every year, usually through the winter months. This winter I can't tell you how disappointed I am at the conditions of the roads, sidewalks, parking lots of stores, parks, etc. in the city and surrounding area.
Q: What's the difference between Crappy Roundabout Art and Snow Plowing?
A: The City of Bend only pays for one of them.
We have crappy roundabout art that the City of Bend has spent money on all over town – yet we don't pay to maintain our roads after a storm???
Driving around Bend after it snows is like taking your car down the Air Chamber at Bachelor.
Two recent divisive headlines ring sour. 1) "Spousal rights for same-sex partners on hold" and 2) "Judge thwarts gay partnerships law."
Doesn't "There's something rotten in" apply only to Denmark? Nope, it's right un-der our noses here in Oregon!
An injunction was requested and honored by Bush appointee Judge Michael Mosman to put a hold on domestic partnerships. The law was to take effect Jan. l. On Feb. l Mosman will consider the issue. The foes argue that if the law went into effect it would violate the rights of those who signed the petition!? If you think that's gobbledygook, Judge Mosman said a "fundamental right" is at stake when voters sign petitions. The "fundamental right" is the "right" to petition the government. The peti-tioners failed to obtain the required number of signatures for a referen-dum. Now the foes are "passing the buck" by stating that it wasn't their fault, it's the fault of state officials who rejected the petitions! Hello? Signing a petition is not a vote; it's merely a request to place an issue before the voters for approval or rejection. A failed petition(er) has no rights except to re-petition! (Source: Secretary of State.)
Great boutique brews? Sure. Charming old neighborhoods? Check. An attractive, walkable downtown? Definitely. An outstanding public transit system? You bet.
But Portland as the second-most-lusty city in America? Upfront was, we must confess, somewhat taken aback.
All the same, there it was in black and white in the pages of Forbes Magazine: The Rose City ranks Number 2 in the respected publication's scientific (well, sort of) compilation of the Ten Lustiest Cities in America.
A word about the methodology: Forbes asked the research firm of ACNielsen to provide it with a per-capita index of over-the-counter contraceptive purchases in major US markets over a one-year period. Taking the average as 100, the intrepid Forbes data-crunchers then scored American cities on the basis of how much their contraceptive purchases ranked above or below the average.
Oddly enough, the traditional fleshpots like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas didn't even make the cut. Tied for second place with a score of 227 were Portland and San Antonio, TX. Interestingly, Portland females were substantially lustier than Portland males (325 to 212).
Moving on up the West Coast, soggy and lusty old Seattle came in at fourth place with an overall score of 124. In fifth place - rather a surprise here, or maybe not - was the Mormon stronghold of Salt Lake City at 207, followed by (no surprise here at all) Washington, DC at 189. Denver was first with a score of 289, nearly three times the national average. Giving new meaning to the term "Mile High Club."
For a town that gets a good amount of snow on a pretty predictable basis, Bend is singularly inept at dealing with the stuff. If you live on a side street, in most winters you stand a better chance of seeing a polar bear going past your house than a plow.
Oregonians have a long and proud tradition of being ahead of the curve when it comes to social and political reforms. One of the most important of those reforms was the creation of the initiative process back in 1902. The idea was that if the legislature was too stupid, cowardly or corrupt to pass laws that the people wanted, the people could do it themselves through the ballot box.
It was a good idea at the time, and it was quickly copied by more than 20 other states. But over the past century - and especially in the last 20 years or so - the initiative process has been perverted into something its progressive creators would hardly recognize.
Last March, I took my 3-year-old daughter to Salem to lobby for two laws that would increase the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the state of Oregon. Both laws - an anti discrimination law and a domestic partnership law passed during the 2007 legislative session. As the director of Human Dignity Coalition, I joined my family, friends and others in the Central Oregon progressive community, celebrating this victory in the civil rights movement for sexual and gender minority rights. Legislative successes like these lead me to be optimistic that my daughter will grow up in a society free from hatred, oppression and discrimination. But, we are not there yet and this last week proved it.
Much of Bend's rich history centers on its early sawmill days. Fortunately the Brooks-Scanlon company kept meticulously detailed records about its inner workings - much of which is currently on loan at the Deschutes Historical Society.
While it's here, historical society volunteers have been scanning the entire archive to creative a massive digital exhibit. The society got a big boost last week with $2,500 state grant for additional computers, scanning equipment and digital storage capacity. Museum director Kelly Cannon-Miller said she expects it will take about two years to scan the entire collection. In time, the historical society hopes to have the entire archive available online for the public.
"For us, this is priceless," said Cannon-Miller.
10. I will have a wildly successful year, dadgummit!
9.
The United States "health care" system is a national disgrace. Two changes in the current "Privatized For Profit" mess would guarantee a fair and just system of health care for everyone from womb to tomb.
First…insurance companies must be totally excluded from the health care system. Insurance companies must not be allowed to insure people capitalizing on health problems to reap enormous profits. Insurance companies must be restricted exclusively to insuring property, not people.
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