BEND, Ore. -- Following Monday evening’s meeting of the Bend City Council, a Work Session focused on budget cutting, I talked to Finance Director Sonia Andrews. We discussed the amount of funding going towards Juniper Ridge (JR) from the General Fund, which she stated as $180,000 for debt service on a line of credit to cover our obligations per Les Schwab. All potential cuts in the JR budget as presented last fall have been undertaken. ... [full story]

Certain events imprint the mind with images time cannot erase. People of one generation recall where they were when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. People of another remember where they were when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Then there was the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 40 years ago, April 4. I was a young man having dinner with an old man at an upscale private club in Atlanta. When the news came in, ... [full story]

Pope Benedict XVI last week baptized a man into the Catholic Church. The man, Magdi Allam, had converted from another faith. There is nothing unusual about that. People convert from non-faith to faith, or from one religion to another, or within faiths to different denominations all the time. However, this conversion was different. Mr. Allam, who has taken a new name, Magdi Cristiano Allam, was a Muslim, and not just your average, everyday Muslim. Mr. ... [full story]

"Let me reintroduce myself: I am David A. Paterson and I am the Governor of the State of New York." With those words, on March 17, Lt. Gov. David Paterson became New York's 55th governor, the state's first legally blind chief executive and the nation's fourth black governor. Paterson joins Reconstruction-era Gov. P.B.S. Pinchback from my home state of Louisiana, current Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder. Born in Brooklyn, ... [full story]

Extremely violent video games have become the dangerous obsession of a significant portion of our youth, and several towns and states have passed ordinances intended to prevent minors from buying or viewing them. But judicial supremacists are striking down these laws by claiming this extremely graphic violence deserves the same First Amendment protection as Shakespeare. In March, a three-judge panel for the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal unanimously held that violent video games are ... [full story]

The Olympic Games, we should be pleased to realize, take place no more often than every four years. Too frequently, they are hosted by nations we might otherwise shun for some real or perceived threat to humankind. Five months from now, the cream of world athletes will be gathering in Beijing for the 26th Olympics since resumption of the modern Games in 1896. And once again many are questioning the propriety of recent conduct by ... [full story]

BEND, Ore. -- It's been over 40 years since a presidential candidate has visited Bend in search of votes. Monday night former President Bill Clinton spoke at an event at Bend High School in support of his wife, Hillary, who is locked in a fierce battle with Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.   (above) Former President Bill Clinton speaks in support of his wife, Democratic Presidential Candidate Senator Hillary Clinton. (below) Clinton poses with local resident ... [full story]

Politics and sports make a bad, bitter cocktail. It's hard to sweeten. The two ingredients also make horrible Chinese food. Best we can tell, China has been around at least 5,000 years and has survived despite probably inventing gunpowder, paper and pasta. China is more than dishes. It is what it is. China has had a great many bad people run through its yard. Human rights has nothing to do with kung pao chicken. Have ... [full story]

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was elected by 70 percent of the voters. One year later, he leaves in disgrace. Commentators discussing his downfall call him, "arrogant," "self-righteous" and a "hypocrite." Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is charged with eight felonies in an obstruction of justice case, and, if convicted, could go to jail. People who abuse their power will lie and intimidate others to keep their secrets As a community organizer for more than ... [full story]

As the "grand" experiment in early primaries rolls on toward Pennsylvania, it is time for the nation's political parties to reassess the value of this radical change in American elections. In my opinion, early primaries create more confusion than clarity for the scrutiny of presidential candidates. The early primaries have succeeded in only one category. They have brought out increased turnouts in Democratic elections and have gained interest among young people. Most of that, however, ... [full story]

In Philadelphia, with the eyes of a nation upon him, Sen. Barack Obama gave a great speech recently. In the tradition of Jefferson, Lincoln and King he spoke to the heart of this country. He made us listen. Many of us hoped that this historic presidential election, with the first truly viable woman candidate and black candidate, would not deteriorate into another ugly street fight over race. But, I suppose it was inevitable, especially given ... [full story]

The indignation of Americans is growing rapidly about the U.S. Air Force granting a French company a $35 billion tanker-aircraft contract that could eventually grow to $100 billion and is estimated to create 100,000 jobs in Europe. French government subsidies are one of the factors that enabled the lucky company, EADS N.V., to underbid Boeing. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, is leading the battle in Congress to ... [full story]

It's 70 years since Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia - for some reason expecting the Czech populace to be grateful. A cartoonist of that era depicted Adolf Hitler motoring into downtown Prague, the ever-faithful Joseph Goebbels at his side. "Surely mein Fuehrer is pleased that the people throw flowers to us," Goebbels gurgles. "Ja," Hitler replies. "And even more pleased if the flowers were first removed from their pots!" Times change, and today's would-be conquerors may ... [full story]