Egg 0iling program
I’ve just read the latest issue of the Source and the letter of the week enlightened me to the fact that Bend Park and Rec has been doing a goose egg oiling program. I reached out to Parks and Rec and the person who is in charge is Zara Hickman, with whom I have left a message as I feel like this is a violation of not only our wildlife, but also not letting the public know, or asking for any input, or giving any explanation.
Thank you for highlighting that letter. I feel almost devastated that they are doing this. I had wondered why we had not seen little goslings the last couple of years, now knowing why and thinking how awful this program is.
I hope Parks and Rec will give us a remedy, or quit doing this, period.
—Jane Loveday
The disappearance of goslings
I cried when I saw the Letter to the Editor ” Disappearance of goslings.” It’s one thing when nature prevents a gosling from being born, it’s cruelty when humans interfere.
—Angela Kamm
Central Oregon deserves a real voice on AI
Most people I speak with in Central Oregon have complicated feelings about artificial intelligence, with the tension between curiosity and fear showing up close to home. Traffic cameras scanning license plates on local roads. A proposed data center in La Pine raising hard questions about water, land use, and who actually benefits. Real worry about what AI chatbots are doing to kids’ mental health. As a parent of two young children, I feel the weight of these questions personally, even as I work on them professionally.
What makes AI anxiety so hard to shake isn’t the complexity — it’s the feeling that the decisions are being made somewhere else, by someone else, without us. That’s what the 2026 Community Solutions Assembly on AI is built to change.
Led by the Central Oregon Civic Action Project, this three-phase process — a community poll, small group conversations, and a representative deliberative assembly — is designed to bring the full range of Central Oregon voices to the people making decisions about AI at the local and state level. We used this same model in 2024 for Oregon’s first Citizens’ Assembly on youth homelessness. Local governments are still acting on those recommendations today.
Two phases are open right now. An anonymous poll runs through late June. Community Conversations — small group discussions in person and online — run through June. Both are open to every resident of Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson counties and the Warm Springs Reservation.
AI is shaping Central Oregon whether we engage or not. This is our chance to engage. Poll: oregon.bloomproject.us
—Josh Burgess
OSU-Cascades Little Kits Closure
I’m writing in response to OSU-Cascades’ recent decision to close the Little Kits daycare program. My daughter attends Little Kits and is thriving there. The program has provided stability and peace of mind for my family.
About a year ago, OSU publicly stated in The Source, “The time felt right for growth,” and, “Over five years, we’ve seen the need for care. That gave us additional confidence in designing the Little Kits center.”
OSU-Cascades received $3.4 million in public funding to build this child care facility. The university recruited highly qualified staff from out of town and accepted infants, toddlers, and preschoolers into its care. These actions created a reasonable expectation that the program would be given a genuine opportunity to succeed.
When child care programs serve young children, there is also an expectation that a reasonable effort will be made to ensure continuity of care before operations are discontinued or transferred to another operator.
The program was never fully staffed or enrolled and there has been no effort to market it. Now, after only nine months of operation, families are being left scrambling for child care while the facility may instead become a revenue-generating lease opportunity with no transparent bidding process or operator criteria.
High-quality child care is desperately needed in Bend. OSU should pause this decision and work transparently with families, staff and the community to explore every option for preserving these child care spots, ensuring continuity of care, and honoring the public trust and funding invested in this program.
—Rachel Taylor
Letter of the Week:
Rachel, I think many families can relate. As Letter of the Week, you can stop by the Source office for a gift card to Palate coffee. —Managing Editor Nic Moye
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
