Guest Commentary

bull trout habitat on lake creek.Jon Skidmore in his column titled "Metolian resort can be a good thing," in the Bend Bulletin (May 31, 2009), demonstrates that he does not understand the impact of the Metolian resort's water use.

All of the water the Metolian resort would use presently recharges shallow aquifer supplies the Lake Creek system, particularly the North Fork of the creek. The stream that the Metolian would divert water from is a small, seasonal unnamed stream. This year the full flow of this seasonal stream has entirely percolated into the ground before reaching any other perennial stream. The majority of this water percolates into the ground within the watershed of Lake Creek less than one mile from the North Fork of Lake Creek.
The impact of the Metolian's water diversion between March 1st and June 30th will reduce the discharge of groundwater to Lake Creek–not during the spring when flows are high but much later, in summer and fall when stream flows are low. Adequate water in Lake Creek is critical for fish that spawn in the fall.

A recent item that ran in the Upfront section of our May 14 edition about the deportation of suspected Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk made a regrettable comparison between the Israel-Palestine conflict and concentration camps. The Source Weekly is a strong supporter of all minorities and regrets likening the modern conflict, while grave, with the horror of the Holocaust. We sincerely apologize for any offense that the ill-conceived comparison created and have offered the following space to a member of the local jewish community for a more detailed perspective on the subject. – Eric Flowers, editor.
It is important for readers to understand why Jews are sensitive to negative public characterizations. Countless Jews have paid with their lives for incitement from the medieval "blood libel," which falsely accused Jews of killing children to use their blood to make Passover matzah. During the late 1800's the Russian forgery Protocols of the Elders of Zion was published (falsely claiming that Jews would take over the world through banking and the newspapers). It would later influence Hitler in his mad quest to murder all Jews.

Mid-morning. Spring. A low gray sky. Snowflakes dive-bomb my windshield. I turn into the Mirror Pond parking lot. I pull into a slot on the south-end and turn off the ignition. Sitting under the park's white arbor are two punks in soiled white hooded sweatshirts, hoods up, shoulders hunched. One is smoking. Both are on their cell phones. Swell. Something about the irony of so much white. The punks are part of the daily dealing and scoring scene back here on Brooks Street.

I grab my purse and brown bag lunch. The countdown has begun. One week. Six days. Santee Alley the store my store closes. Empty. Gone from this very downtown. I am part of a battalion of Bend boutiques, retail businesses and restaurants morphing into ghosts of commerce. There's no solace though in the "strength in numbers while heading into war" theory. This war is like a Chinese proverb, both understood and not, all at the same time. I lock the car and look around knowing the weather will keep "Parking Nazi" from patrolling. No need to pay for a parking voucher today. Sweet. Another seven dollars not spent.

We live in very cold times, and the forecast is for an even chillier future. Certainly we have been blessed with some warm breaks in our Central Oregon winter. And in the longer term, it appears that 21st-century consumption is driving up average global temperatures. Yet in a deeper sense, our way of life is increasingly frigid. Despite signs to the contrary, we live in an age which is characterized by a lack of fire-as in the energy of heart, connection, community and transformation. This kind of fire is at the core of most, if not all, spiritual traditions.
For many eons, our ancestors regularly gathered around the fire. Here they shared the big stories that gave life meaning. Around the fire, they laughed, danced and reaffirmed their bonds to one another. Here they encountered the Great Mystery. Through heart and fire, they found their connection to the deep wisdom of those who came before them. This state of grace is celebrated in the story of Genesis as the Garden of Eden before the Fall.

The Friends of the Badlands Wilderness Study Area were racing against time. Monday, March 30 had dawned, bright and crisp. The day had already promised to brighten further, as we had received word the President was going to sign the newly passed Omnibus Wilderness Bill, passing full wilderness protection to the Badlands Wilderness Study Area.
After he signed the bill, no further vehicular access was permitted in any wilderness area, for, according to the provisions of the 1964 Wilderness Act, the wording in part reads: "A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."
Working from a suggestion received from our colleagues at the Oregon Natural Desert Association, who had worked hard to ensure the passage of the Omnibus Bill, Friends of the Badlands had set ourselves the task of removing old weathered juniper fence posts, from which we had over the last year removed 3 miles and 3 tons of obsolete barbed wire.

Tuesday, March 10, voters in Deschutes County must sort through the
emotions, the opinions and the science that comprise the many faces of
Ordinance 2008-012, the "Local Rule." The emotions are the easiest to
understand, as the residents of South County are impacted by the
financial burden of up-grading their existing septic systems, while the
opinions expressed in the many letters to the editor, phone calls and
conversations have muddied our understanding of the issues with the
minutiae concerning the science. Not many of us possess the analytical
skills to truly evaluate the accuracy of the science that went into the
modeling in the original USGS study, any more than we have the
potential to offer helpful alternatives to the otherwise expensive
treatment of the nitrates that are at the core of the problem. We have
to trust the informed reports of others who have participated in the
entire process, and herein lay the rub.

During my lifetime, there have been more than a few occasions where I've felt the impulse to act to fix something. Typically, my wife recognizes this devious, uniquely intense, gleam in my eye as she observes me moving about rather deliberately, locating the tools I'll require to address the task at hand. (She usually rolls her eyes and makes a barely audible, primal grunting sound indicating, oh boy… Here we go again). My family has learned over the years that when I act on these impulses, the consequences of my efforts are rarely sufficient to produce the desired results (especially if it involves electricity or plumbing). My family characterizes these episodes in my life as impufficient. Let me explain.

The financial situation at Juniper has continued to deteriorate since the June 16th City Council meeting on that project. Taxpayers should be extremely concerned with the City's recent announcement that Juniper Ridge is "broke" again, and the Council is seeking, among other things, a loan of $200,000.00 from the general fund, which is also strained.
The massive debt being incurred at JR cannot be justified by the possibility of future land sales as ODOT has frozen that option indefinitely. The chronology that follows recaps deteriorating trends and managerial miscues at JR during the past five months, which will assure ultimate failure of the project.
One week after the June 16th meeting, Ron Garzini addressed the Council stating, in effect that he had ODOT covered, and that sales would be booming by August. ODOT replied: NO MAS again. Ron also said that he found new buddies in Jeff & Ray (Juniper Ridge Partners). With friends like those, (fill in the blank).

Bend voters have a clear choice between community interests and special interests in the November 4 election.
Four City Council candidates-Jim Clinton, Linda Johnson, Peter Gramlich and Jodie Barram-stand out because they have demonstrated a commitment to the community and are not beholden to special interests.
Their four opponents-Don Leonard, Kathie Eckman, Tom Greene and Jeff Eager-are the candidates of special interests, specifically the political action committees (PACs) of Central Oregon's realtor and developer organizations that are blatantly trying to buy this election.
Oregon Secretary of State records (www.sos.state.or.us/elections) show that the Central Oregon Association of Realtors and the Central Oregon Builders Association PAC (called Central Oregonians for Affordable Housing) have contributed $49,669 of the $99,460 raised by Leonard, Eckman, Greene, and Eager-an astounding 49.9 percent.

Deschutes County Commissioners recently voted not to approve the City of Bend's request to form an urban renewal district to fund development at the Bend Airport. The primary reason was that it would rob other governmental agencies, like the sheriff's department and 911, of much needed revenues.
Unlike the county's considered approach, the present City Council of the City of Bend is now promoting Urban Renewal Districts (URD's) with abandon. They ignore the problems created by URD's. The major problems with URD's are threefold. First, they are authorized to borrow large sums of money, without a vote of the people. Second, they divert taxes from other governmental taxing authorities to be spent solely on city URD projects. And third, if the new taxes in the URD are insufficient to repay the loans, they must then be repaid from the city general fund (property tax) revenues.
The City Council in August 2005 formed the Juniper Ridge URD to include the 500 acres of Juniper Ridge that was in the city and zoned for industrial uses. It also included a second area, of 200 acres west of Highway 97, and not connected to Juniper Ridge. That area includes Lowes, the Wall Mart site and neighboring properties. These were included solely to increase the tax base for the district, as they clearly have no connection to Juniper Ridge and obviously no need for assistance.