In a Dec. 29, '06 editorial, The Oregonian urges Oregon legislators to listen to Kirby Dyess, vice chair of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, as he explains how investment in higher education brought prosperity to Ireland. ("The Celtic Tiger") Entitled, "A first step for a future 'Northwest Tiger,'" the editorial advocates increased investment in Oregon's colleges and universities. Wise advice -- but it doesn't go far enough.   Pete Sorenson, Lane County Commissioner During the ... [full story]

“In short, freedom and terrorism cannot coexist." I love this statement by Mr. Morin in his Jan. 29th opinion piece titled “Iraq victory requires renewed resolve”. Has he never been outside the borders of this country? I could go on and on about how "apropos" it was that America just happened to fall victim to an act of terrorism of such a magnitude that in one fell swoop allowed our ignorant and arrogant masses to ... [full story]

“State board increases Oregon’s HS graduation requirements” – (Jan. 19) This phrase sounds strikingly familiar. We here in Michigan recently legislated "tougher" graduation requirements. The same cast of characters (Achieve, Inc., Matt Gandal, Clifford Adelman) made claims based on shoddy research, or misrepresented research to pull an end run around parents to put into place the agenda of the Business Roundtable. Visit my blog and read the article "In Michigan It's All Business, As Usual" ... [full story]

Bill Berkowitz’s “The mouth that roars” (Jan. 26) is another very good and informative article!  I believe Bill showed nicely the nexus of the war propaganda machine being active both foreign and domestic. Do (sic) in great part to efforts of folks such as he at getting the truth in print, the naive and foolish people which have been duped by this war propaganda for the past many years are finally coming around to seeing ... [full story]

Currently a corporation that loses money, regardless of its size, pays $10 as a minimum tax with its Oregon tax return.  This has been unchanged since 1975.   With many lower wage Oregonians paying substantially more than this each year, I think it is high time we asked our state legislators to bring the corporate minimum tax up to date. Steve Larson, Lake Oswego  [full story]

Not only would such a change help the blind it would also have a great effect on the counterfeiting of our paper money! It makes me wonder greatly why a government which has went to great lengths and expense with watermarks and implanted threads in our currency as a means to supposedly counter act the counterfeiting, yet blatantly refuses to embrace this Court's directive which would help that of our sightless citizens? I believe there ... [full story]

I Hear The WordsBy Bill DahlWhen I hear the words,”Let Freedom ring!”I recall the image,Of Dr. Martin Luther KingI hear the words,”Liberty and justice for all!”Why are there exceptions,That exclude me, and make me feel so small?I hear the words,”America. America. God shed His grace on thee.”When will we “crown Thy good with brotherhood,From sea to shining sea”?I hear the words,”No child left behind.”Dad & mom can’t get real jobs or drive a car.This phrase ... [full story]

Being an avid recycler and choosing my groceries by the type of container (i.e. Is it recyclable).  The garbage company has notified me that they will no longer pick up my recycle stuff unless I start garbage service with them or pay a monthly fee. There are plenty of containers out there that can be recycled but the richest company in Bend wants their money and be damned with the recycling. Bend has one of ... [full story]

We live in Lane County, Oregon. The landlord was shooting a shotgun at our house. You could hear the pellets hitting the side and raining down on us. We called 911, the deputy sheriff went to talk to the landlord. We could hear them laughing. Nothing was done. The landlord said, through his attorney by e-mail, that he was trying to scare off wild turkeys. We checked with the Department of Wildlife. He (the landlord) ... [full story]

Bush is digging us further into Iraq; we need Senator Smith’s promise to vote against funding for war, occupation Bush is digging us further into Iraq and the people rejected that idea last November.  Further polls show Oregonians oppose this war and occupation at about the same rate as Iraqis--between 65-75 percent. After more than four years of avidly supporting this war (his first vote in favor was Oct 11, 2002), our Senator Gordon Smith gave an ... [full story]

I read the editorial on the Bend Weekly web site: "We need compassion for our border guards." This excellent editorial should be read by every American to inform them of the utter miscarriage of justice in the trial of the Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean. This case is upside down where the heroes are going to jail and the criminal roams the streets free.  I call and write to elected officials, the attorney general and ... [full story]

I don’t know about you, but I am fed up with the negative campaigning in our country and in our state. Politicians seem to be adopting a “Survivor” attitude of kicking someone off the island instead of telling us why they should remain on the island. Take for example the governor’s race. (First off, for the record, I should state that I have no political affiliation because I am sick of both parties playing to ... [full story]

Chris Klug was very lucky to get a liver transplant (Olympic Medalist Comes Back to Bend to For Book Signing - 7/13/2006).  Over half of the 92,000 Americans on the national waiting list will die before they get a transplant.  Most of these deaths are needless.  Americans bury or cremate about 20,000 transplantable organs every year.  Over 6,000 of their neighbors die every year as a result.There is a simple solution to the organ shortage ... [full story]