Display of Assault at La Pine Rodeo I’ve only attended one rodeo in my life—and I left disgusted by the blatant display and celebration of animal abuse. I didn’t think much more about it until several people close to me, driven by their deep compassion for animals, began actively speaking out on behalf of rodeo […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Tourism Could Play a Role in State Economic Recovery — But the Agency Overseeing It Needs More Accountability
A series of articles produced by the Oregon Journalism Project and published on the Source website this past month have highlighted an ongoing concern regarding the state’s tourism promotion agency
A series of articles produced by the Oregon Journalism Project and published on the Source website this past month have highlighted an ongoing concern regarding the state’s tourism promotion agency, Travel Oregon. According to OJP reporting, Travel Oregon’s executive director — who’s formally retiring this week — has earned a salary that far outstrips the […]
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Letters to the Editor 06/26/2025
Thornburgh Resort Development This week, the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners is deliberating again on the proposed Thornburgh resort development. We want our children and grandchildren to be able to call Central Oregon home, and the Thornburgh resort puts that vision in peril. We are concerned that indigenous science and the treaty rights of the […]
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Letters to the Editor 06/19/2025
No kings here? President Trump doesn’t like the idea of people protesting that he has become a king: “I don’t feel like a king; I have to go through hell to get stuff approved.” I think the chief executive is on to something here. If he were really a king, his unilateral edicts would be […]
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The Drone Bill May Respect the Rule of Law, But Federal Leadership Doesn’t
This month’s capture of a man suspected of planning a shooting attack in Bend was eye-opening
This month’s capture of a man suspected of planning a shooting attack in Bend was eye-opening. It’s always unsettling to know that someone is planning such an act. In this case, what was also noteworthy was how police were able to use drones to identify the man and then go in an make an arrest […]
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Letters to the Editor
Our Water The COMMON GOOD and DO NO HARM. Decisions in a decent society are based on these concepts. Privatization of water, our precious natural resource, denies the rights of people and nature to exist. Privatization of water fails to protect the COMMON GOOD and causes irreparable HARM to people and nature. The COMMON GOOD […]
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Bend BCD: The Clash of the Haves and the Have Nots
Developers, along with a few vanguard businesses in the Bend Central District, think the process of revitalizing, aka developing, the area isn’t moving fast enough
Last week’s Source feature story, “Promised Land,” made one thing abundantly clear: Developers, along with a few vanguard businesses in the Bend Central District, think the process of revitalizing, aka developing, the area isn’t moving fast enough. Some developers Reporter Julianna LaFollette talked to place not a small amount of blame on the City of […]
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Letters to the Editor 06/05/2025
Bias in Our Backyard Having read your piece this morning I feel compelled to say that much of what happens in terms of biased encounters is never reported. I thought I’d checked a neighborhood. It was the north end of La Pine where I bought my last central OR house in 2017. The absence of […]
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In Bias Crime Reporting, Accurate Data is Key
Crime is crime, and the more we know about the nature of it, the better jobs law enforcement and prosecutors can do in addressing i
Peter Madsen’s feature story from last week, “Bias in Our Backyard,” explored the numbers around bias crimes in our area, and the state, in the five-year period since state and local authorities began collecting such data. The numbers available, from the years 2020-2023, were quite striking, with marked increases in the number of bias crimes […]
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Letters to the Editor
Fix Our Forest Act is Misguided Having lived most of my adult life between Central Oregon and California, I’m no stranger to the devastating impact of wildfires on our homes, health, and communities. These fires have intensified as policy makers fail to implement crucial climate change mitigation measures. The proposed Fix Our Forest Act (FOFA) […]