Posted inOpinion

The Bozos of BAT

After reading recent comments by Randy Grove, human resources director at Paratransit Services, I'm wondering if bulbous red clown noses are a management perk.
Grove says BAT workers want a 135% wage increase totaling $2.8 million. I've been following the transit union negotiations pretty closely, and I sure don't recall numbers that come remotely close to these outrageous claims.

Posted inOpinion

Bring Back Those Sunny Healy Days

To Matt Janney, president and general manager, Mt. Bachelor:
Hey man, remember those good old Healy days of summer? Yeah, those days when the mountain would stay open for all us snow lovers almost as long as the snow lasted? Dude, you were there and loving it all too! What happened, man? What happened to all those sunny summer mornings cruising down the hill under a hot summer sun? What happened to Bill's mountain, what happened to skiing thru July 4? What is up with May 18? That closing is so lame, man!

Posted inOpinion

SMART’s Dumb Move

Oregon's SMART (for "Start Making a Reader Today") program got started in 1992 with a handful of volunteers and one simple idea: that having a grownup spend a little time each week reading with a young child would encourage a love of books and improve the child's reading skills, confidence and school performance.

Posted inOpinion

King’s Inspiration

Earlier this month we marked the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's death, or should I say his assassination, in Memphis, TN. Hours have been spent on radio and television commemorating the event. Articles, some at great length, have been written about what this Baptist preacher accomplished not only for his race but for the problem of segregation we have in America.
What never seems to be mentioned is what context, motivation and background motivated this great man. Sure, he was a Baptist preacher, but what made him do what he did, say what he said, motivated this man?

Posted inOpinion

Hard-Hitting Tax Day Coverage

Kudos to the local TV station for positioning a reporter outside the 4th Street post office on April 15. What a strategic place to pin down the people of Bend and ask some hard-hitting questions about taxes! I approached the reporter to offer my view: Paying taxes sucks when nearly 50% goes to military spending and not even 5% goes to education and social services.

Posted inCulture

Life as Art: Cristina Acosta is making her art at all costs

Brushing up on tile work. Bend artist Cristina Acosta is challenging the old truism that art imitates life. A painter, Acosta has learned to let her art into her everyday world.
"At one point I realized that I needed to take my art off of the canvas, and put it into my life," says Acosta
Acosta's vivid and joyful painting ranges from traditional Mexican influenced Madonnas and tri-paneled ex-votos to her "Paint Happy" series of flowing still lifes. They all explode with the color of an artist doing more than putting paint to canvas. Acosta has transformed her art in a business with her tile painting and color consultation services.
Originally trained at the university level in fine arts, Acosta has branched out dramatically - although this was not necessarily easy. The elite art world of the 1980's didn't necessarily encourage disciplines like tile painting and home decor. However, she says, "I realized that everything could start becoming art for me, and that was incredibly fun. It opened up a whole new world for me."

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