Challenging to drive downtown
My wife and I live on the SE side of Bend. Over the past five years we have just seen the changes to the downtown area make it progressively more unpleasant to drive to the area for dining. The latest, and perhaps the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back”, has been the constant revision of downtown parking, and the Greenwood Ave disaster. It’s as if the city of Bend doesn’t really want you to come downtown if you have to drive a car to get there. Consequently, we’ve been patronizing eateries that open up outside of the downtown area, because our living location requires a car for transport!
— Bill Holm
Who controls Tariffs?
Tariffs affect everyone, from eastern Oregon farmers to young urbanities, from rural coastal workers to retirees. It has captured the attention of the public and every media outlet but often missing the complete background.
The League of Women Voters of Oregon (LWVOR) believes one aspect of the tariffs (whether one supports or opposes them) is being ignored. Namely, the relationship to governmental separation of powers.
A founding principle of the LWV is the belief that “all powers of the US government should be exercised within the constitutional framework of a balance among the three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial.” The question then is who has control over tariffs?
Article 1, section 8 of the US Constitution tells us the answer is Congress, stating it has the power over “taxes, duties, imposts and excises” and “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations.”
Congress also has the right to delegate timely and various levels of authority on tariffs to the president, which it has done six times. In 1977, they passed the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which allows the president this power during times of emergency (which had been understood to mean an actual emergency). Congress can modify these powers at any time.
Whether Oregonians praise or blame the president for tariff consequences, we need to understand which of our three branches of government constitutionally oversees such “duties, imposts and excises.” We hope that the media will better communicate this important separation of powers and congressional responsibilities.
— Barbara Klein & Kermit Yensen
Christianity and the Trump Administration
When campaigning for president, Donald Trump said, if elected, he will give enhanced access to conservative Christian leaders. “It will be directly into the Oval Office and me.” In February President Trump announced an “anti-Christian bias” taskforce and a White House Faith Office, to make recommendations “regarding changes to policies, programs, and practices” and consult with outside experts in “combatting anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and additional forms of anti-religious bias.”
White Christian nationalists are regularly associated as anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigration and anti-racial equality, and broadly believe that America was founded and should be a white Christian nation, yet chiseled on the Statue of Liberty are the words: “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” The white Cristian nationalist thinking reminds me of the Mahatma Gandhi quote “I like your Christ, but not your Christianity.” Gandhi also said “The Christians above all others are seeking after wealth. Their aim is to be rich at the expense of their neighbors” and he is spot on regarding white Christian nationalists and the Trump administration. Hmm — Billionaire Trump’s largest campaign donor and head of DOGE is Elon Musk, the richest person in the world.
What would Christ think of what is happening? Christ treated everyone as equals and would embrace DEI, LBGTQ+ rights, women’s rights and not side with anti-immigration and anti-racial equality. Christ would be for school lunch programs, childcare, USAID, Head Start, universal health care and many other social programs.
— Joe Craig
Chinese Fireworks – Ban Sales
With the OSU generated fire hazard/risk map, which everyone sought to “nullify”, now leaving no doubt about Central Oregon being susceptible to wildfires, I would hope to see a ban put in place to prevent the sale of any and all fireworks to the public for private use. The 4th of July can still be celebrated with BBQs, parades and “red/white/blue ice cream celebrations while watching professional displays of “light shows” in the night sky. This is a Chinese explosive product which will and should have tariffs imposed. Now is the time to be reasonable, responsible and safety conscious.
Banning FIREWORKS would reduce the one source of ignition which threatens our neighborhoods which we actual have control over. Make the patriotic choice to forego Fireworks in Oregon.
— Heidi Chapman Supkis
Support Gun Violence Prevention Bill SB243
As a mom and a high school teacher, I believe our children deserve to be safe at home and school. But gun violence, including school shootings, puts our children at risk. After the Uvalde shooting in 2022, my students told me that they felt the fear of a school shooting every day. Imagine trying to focus on Biology while listening for gunfire in the halls.
Currently our lawmakers have the opportunity to make Oregon safer for our kids. Senate bill 243 includes common sense gun violence prevention measures. Gun-modification devices like bump stocks, also called rapid fire devices, allow semi-automatic firearms to achieve fully automatic rates of fire– essentially turning a semi-automatic rifle into a machine gun. SB 243 will ban these devices and can stem the flow of military-style weapons into our communities.
Oregon lawmakers need to pass SB 243 for the sake of our kids. Please encourage your state representative to vote yes on SB 243.
— Norah Cook
Letter of
the Week:
Thanks Norah for your thoughts. You can stop by our offices for a gift card to Palate coffee bar.
— Nic Moye, Managing Editor
This article appears in Source Weekly May 22, 2025.
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How about a drone show instead of fireworks?