In reply to "Town Hall Talks" (1/9)
If we folded the real cost of using highways and freeways into the price of cars, vehicles would come with a sticker price two to three times what we pay today. The "discount" to car buyers is made up with a legion of broad based taxes and fees (beyond gas taxes) that go into local and state roadways. Education is also a piece of "national infrastructure" without which the country stagnates as has become the case with everyone paying retail for college. We've got to get it through our thick skulls that we need to invest in higher education as a nation and not force a retail price tag on our kids. College was subsidized by the country as a whole up until 1990... but then because it became fashionable for Fox News to teach us not to look beyond the end of our own nose, higher education has fallen off. And so has the American economy because no country can compete in the global economy with a nation chock full of only high school graduates.
— Dave Morgan
In reply to "Why Can't We Just Get Along?" (News, 12/19)
The graduation rates in Redmond are always listed using the deceptive 4-year graduation rate figure, which is 46% for 2012/13. Redmond school district has a 5-year college/HS blend program which allows for students to get a free freshmen year of college in partnership with COCC. This artificially lowers the four-year completion rate, but if you look at the 5-year graduation rate, which includes all of the students who are taking advantage of a free year of college, the 2012-3 figure is 86% (all the students who graduate within 5 years of HS; those with regular 4 year diplomas and those with extended diplomas). I am tired of seeing the Redmond School District get a reputation for having a "dismal graduation rate" because journalists are doing a poor job of researching this data. The Bend-Lapine school district has a four-year graduation rate of 72% but a 5-year rate of 81% - lower than Redmond! The information is easily obtained on the Oregon Department of Education Website (http://www.redmond.k12.or.us). I am not a school district employee, just a lifelong Redmondite continually irritated by "Bendcentrism" distorting this bit of data and unfairly besmirching the reputation of Redmond's hard working educators.
— Redmond Resident
Let my people hear Dave
My friend discovered yesterday on the Les Schwab Amphitheater (Bend Concerts) website that there are fairly severe restrictions being put in place for the upcoming Dave Matthews concert. No chairs, blankets or strollers at the Dave Matthews concert? What is the reason for that and who made that decision... Les Schwab, Dave Matthews or the promoter? Six of us at dinner last night, who were all planning to buy tickets, said absolutely not to paying $75 to stand, unable to have a chair or blanket to sit on. Some people, though they might not be disabled, are unable to stand for an entire concert (not to mention the wait time before the show starts). Personally, I feel it's discrimination putting such limitations on an expensive concert and keeping some people from being able to attend an event headlined by a musician they might have been waiting a long time to see. And we could have had rain/wet grass, or the heat might be too much for people to stand for so long ,as we know can happen in Bend. I certainly hope that if these insane rules for this concert stand, that Bend Concerts make a clear public announcement of it in the paper and on their site and on any other form of advertisement prior to the start of ticket sales on Feb. 7. If this does not happen and people buy their tickets without knowledge of the restrictions, I foresee a huge problem when they show up the day of the show with their chairs and blankets, which are always allowed at the amphitheater. I certainly hope that these restrictions are reconsidered and chairs and blankets are allowed.
—Kathy Murphy
Trivia Question: Where is it?
I was browsing your calendar to see if there is a trivia night I wasn't aware of locally. Recently, a friend told me that Astro Lounge has a trivia night, but I wasn't sure what nights it's held. I turned to my go-to news source, The Source, to try and get a confirmation. A search of the calendar with the keyword "trivia" brought up two trivia nights that I was previously aware of thanks to The Source: the one at The Lot and the one at Barnes & Noble. Using your calendar's excellent search features, I narrowed my criteria to Bars and read through many of your excellent descriptions. I noticed that the search feature does include an option for "Trivia Night" in the Bar Features section, but checking that option yielded no results. Is there a chance that no bars in town are currently holding a trivia night, or does your bars guide need an update?
—Michael Moon
Editor's Note: Please see page 29 for Brianna Brey's not-at-all trivial look at Trivia Night at The Lot.
In reply to "Lawyers Behaving Badly," The Boot (1/16)
I usually like reading the Source. However, I find this kind of journalism right up there with The Bulletin's antics. It can't feel good to be put in the same category as that fish wrapper of a paper in Bend that bullies and belittles people just because they can, and underhandedly pushes their own agenda, while manipulating it into something they pretend is "news"! Right, so Hummel's campaign manager was the former managing editor for the Source. Please do not pretend that simply stating that fact near the beginning of the article somehow instantly negates the ingrained bias it creates. Get your facts for this story right from...oh, wait your former managing editor....no spin here though...nope, just look away and believe what she spun. Interesting how there's not even a specific author, just "The Source Staff." Doesn't this stink a bit, folks? It is insulting to your readers that you 1) apparently think your readers are, in general, that naïve, and 2) have lowered your publication's standards to the level where it's hitching a ride on The Bulletin bandwagon. I am seriously disappointed in this article and of you, the Source.
Of any news source here in town, I would have expected the Source to either give (actual) equal billing, or to have the good sense to just stay out of it. Sadly, that didn't happen. So the boot really goes to the Source on this one.
— Tire2
Letter of the Week!
Tire2, you may have missed the point of the article, which we urged more focus on the issues than the personalities, but yes, we agree: The Bulletin is good for fish wrap, but we also think you missed that The Source fills the bottom of the birdcage quite well. Also, excellent kindling. Stop by for a $5 gift certificate to Crow's Feet Commons to enjoy on us.
