It has been a long time coming, and seemingly the City of Bend could not wait another day to start construction on the controversial Bridge Creek Pipeline Project, the effort to replace decades-old pipes with a single, larger 10-mile-long pipe to supply Bend with drinking and flushing water. Originally, Bend’s city council had hoped to […]
The Boot
Posted inOpinion
A Barrel Heading Over the Falls
Ned Dempsey is perhaps the best choice as the third member of the team appointed by the Mirror Pond Ad Hoc Committee to meet privately with Pacific Power in hopes of striking a deal to purchase the aging Newport Avenue Dam. Purchasing the dam, of course, is critical to the game plan to preserve Mirror […]
Posted inOpinion
Flat Tire
By noon last Wednesday, the Les Schwab station on Franklin already had four customers who had blown out tires at the roundabout at Galverston and NW 14th where gapping potholes were hammering tires—potholes, ironically, caused by the roads being chewed up by the very studded tires meant to keep drivers safe. And that is just […]
Posted inOpinion
Sticks, Stones and Big Words
The Bulletin must have scored better on its SATs than us. Or perhaps not. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “imperious” (yes, we had to look it up) as “having or showing the proud and unpleasant attitude of someone who gives orders and expects other people to obey them.” In a recent swipe at the current—and seeking reelection—Deschutes […]
Posted inOpinion
Glass Slipper, Half-Full
At a packed neighborhood meeting last week, Oregon State University-Cascades representatives attempted to explain how the upcoming campus expansion could benefit the broader Bend community; particularly, transportation. Upgrades, like boosting busing services and greatly expanding bike lane infrastructure, were just a couple of the perks mentioned as Bend plans to greet a four-year university on […]
Posted inOpinion
Letters 1/15-1/23
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 […]
Posted inOpinion
Lawyers Behaving Badly
Last week, the first volley was fired in the campaign for the important office of Deschutes County District Attorney. It was an odd beginning to the contest between incumbent Patrick Flaherty, who is wrapping up his first and somewhat controversial term, and John Hummel, a former public defender. In an effort to expand the campaign, […]
Posted inOpinion
Shiver Me Timbers
Twenty-five years ago, what is now known by its shorthand as the “Spotted Owl debate” brought to a close an important chapter in the Pacific Northwest’s history. In the afterglow of that debate, in 1994, the Clinton Administration adopted the Northwest Forest Plan, federal guidelines that provided more protections and considerations for long-term ecological health […]
Posted inOpinion
True That!
The adage that “numbers don’t lie” apparently doesn’t apply to the current debate over the Bridge Creek water project. Last Friday, our recipient for the Boot this week, the Bulletin’s editorial team kicked the hornet’s nest. With a bold-face headline, the lead editorial read: “LandWatch Adds Misleading Info to Water Debate.” The editorial goes on […]
Posted inOpinion
Letters 12/11 – 12/19
Mirror Pond We might shorten the Mirror Pond debate if we’d refer to the feature by its real name: Goose Offal Slough. —John Bowers In reply to, “A Year Later, and Only More Guns” (The Boot, 10/10) So a deeply liberal anti-gun tirade. I have been in law enforcement ten years. First and foremost Chicago […]
