Donald Trump is not above the law
By now, we’ve all heard the news that Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying his company’s business records to keep information from voters that he knew would harm his 2016 presidential campaign.
This isn’t just about “hush money” payments. It’s about breaking the law to hide the truth from the American people 11 days before a presidential election.
Trump has a clear pattern of lying to the American people and trying to undermine our elections in order to cling to power. He still faces three additional indictments and 54 criminal charges, including federal charges for inciting an insurrection to overturn the 2020 election. In spite of all of this, he’s still running for president.
Donald Trump is a convicted fraudster and criminal who still poses a massive threat to our fundamental freedoms. We can’t let him hold the highest office in our land in 2025. It’s up to all of us to hold him accountable and defeat him at the ballot box in November.
—Rory Barrett
The cruel reality of rodeos
I don’t attend rodeos because they’ve always seemed barbaric and cruel. The editorial [letter] in the Source prompted me to delve into the topic further. I visited copak.org and conducted my own research and found myself repeatedly asking, ‘How is this legal?’ and ‘Isn’t this obvious animal abuse?’ It strikes me as peculiar that such events are sponsored by organizations like St. Charles and community banks and credit unions such as Umpqua Bank, Mid Oregon Credit Union and First Interstate, to name only a few. All these businesses claim to be committed to the community, and yet they sponsor this public event that exposes children in our community to animal abuse, downplaying the abuse as entertainment and family fun. Animal abuse should not be celebrated or condoned for any reason.
—Gordon Cumming
RE: Voters Say “No” to School Measures News, 5/30
Steve Cook, Bend-La Pine Schools’ superintendent, said that while he is disappointed the measure failed, he did feel it was a clear message from voters like Mackie. “To me, the community is saying that this ask at this time is not appropriate,” Cook said, adding that the first thing to figure out for the district is if it was the ask, the amount or the timing that was specifically missed.
It was the timing pure and simple. This measure failure in Bend-La Pine is all on the Bend City Council which provided a $10.5 million gift to a developer for a project that is overwhelmingly “market rate” housing, not affordable housing; along with the same City Council putting the transportation fees directly at current residents rather than tapping into the very lucrative and underpaying tourism industry by not putting added fees on the lodging that out of towners (who also extensively use our roads) should be paying to support the infrastructure. The voters in the La Pine voted for fire department levies, so they value good service and the last few levies for Bend-La Pine have been approved which points out the ask is still valid. If there is anyone to point fingers at for the failure, simply look at the City Council of Bend.
—M. Rindfleisch
RE: With a Deadlocked Congress, an Owyhee Monument May be the Thing. Opinion, 5/23
Thank you for your recent Editorial on the Owyhee Monument proposal.
This extremely unique area in Oregon and Nevada is one of “the last best places” for fish, wildlife, and recreational users. As you note, the “strange bedfellows” of people and organizations who support the National Monument designation is also unique. The fact that over 40% of self-identified Republicans support this designation as well as 76% “unaffiliated” is simply amazing in this polarized country we now find ourselves living in. Ranchers, anglers, hunters, white water kayakers….it is a coalition of folks who value wide open spaces, cold, clear water and prime wildlife habitat.
With Congress in gridlock and threats to the landscape encroaching further into pristine habitat, now is the time for Senators Wyden and Merkley to work with the President to permanently protect this Oregon treasure.
As an avid fly angler and member of the Deschutes-Redband Trout Unlimited Board of Directors, thank you for your endorsement of this important proposal.
— Kim McDonald
Letter of
the Week:
Thanks for writing in to share your thoughts, Kim! Letter of the Week.
—Nicole Vulcan
This article appears in Source Weekly June 6, 2024.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
So Gordon Cumming “did his own research” by going to a website that is firmly anti-rodeo. Did he actually attend a rodeo and speak to any of the cowboys/girls and animal handlers? Of course he didn’t.
Mr/Ms Rindfleisch, where is your evidence that the tourism industry is “underpaying”? Do you have any idea what a podunk town Bend would be if tourism disappeared overnight?