Letters, letters, letters

The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.

To the Editor:

We are writing to thank Heather Wester for her service to our students and community as a school board member and chairperson.

We were saddened to learn of her resignation. We applaud Heather's personal integrity, character, commitment, and courage. Thank you, Heather.

Sincerely,

Rick and Theresa Slavkovsky

* * *

To the Editor:

I was sorry to see "School board chair resigns" in the April 17 Nugget.

Through several meetings it was clear to me that Heather Wester cared about kids and about local taxpayers.

On one occasion she said "it stinks" in regard to the handling of the three developers' donation of $22,500 to the schools foundation -- on two points -- firstly, that the funds were designated for a specific purpose, but were redirected by Superintendent Steve Swisher to a "discretionary account" and secondly, that a senior board member, Bill Reed, failed to divulge his one/third participation in the gift until nine or ten months later!

On another occasion she was conscientious about saving taxpayers' dollars. She wanted to stop the process of mounting fees at a time when the annexation might be questioned and halted.

She said, "I don't want us to incur unnecessary extra expense for the taxpayers!" She was steam-rolled by the board with "... we are going to build a high school regardless of the annexation vote!"

Many of the board votes were 3-2 (Heather and Steve Keeton often being the "2"). Bottom line is we are going to have a very expensive high school, for an area with a flat-to-slow change in high school enrollment.

You were a breath of fresh air, Heather, and you will be missed.

Mel Bryan

* * *

To the Editor:

I hope I'm not the only member of our community troubled by the very long letter written by Brigitte K. Gager (The Nugget, April 10).

She makes many troubling statements about Israel's role in its wars of defense that defy support and raise the question of what sources she depends on for her material. So much written history directly in contradiction to her statements can be found throughout the years in virtually every newspaper in this land and those of other countries, as well.

Like many in this community, I try not to respond in anger to her sort of revisionist positioning; even so, we should be sure to understand how pernicious such material can be.

Such material, of course, counts itself among that found in Holocaust denials and from wherever else hate-inspired avowals emerge. Unfortunately, there's no shortage of such stuff. The unforgivable amounts of it grew insidiously long before Dr. Goebbels made it so effective in the cause of Nazism.

I hope that others share my wish that we might sometime soon see the end of it.

Richard Lyons

* * *

To the Editor:

I am writing a letter to the Editor to thank Steve Wilson of ODOT and Gary Judd, Traffic Engineer of Deschutes County for their time and willingness to listen to my concerns about the slaughter of deer on Central Oregon roads.

They both have followed through with what they said they would do which is a rarity these days. Again, a big thank you to you both!

I would also like to take this time to remind all Central Oregonians that spring is the time for annual deer migration. When you see one, know there will be more.

I would also like to ask all of the newcomers to Central Oregon to respect where they have moved! Slow down, take a deep breath and enjoy where you live. Our environment is a very fragile one even though we live in the high desert. Without the wildlife our home would not be home.

Help protect Central Oregon wildlife -- please slow down. Perhaps the life you save will be your own.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,

Rebecca Morgan French

* * *

To the Editor:

It's time to start thinking about planting tomatoes and pulling knapweed.

I had good luck with tomatoes last year in a double covered attached PVC hoop greenhouse. Two layers of clear six mil. make the greenhouse much more wind and snow resistant.

My favorites were the black and purple varieties, but the smaller, earlier varieties get the season off to a nice start.

Knapweed is a noxious weed that has invaded millions of acres in the western U.S. It has grown enough in the last week to be fairly recognizable. At this stage it looks like a dandelion with thicker, more deeply lobed leaves. It also has a long tap root, so dig deep to eradicate it.

Maret Pajutee, the ecologist at the Forest Service (549-7700), will gladly help anyone identify this invader.

I would like to talk to anyone growing tomatoes in this difficult climate and can also help with knapweed.

Bruce Berryhill, 420-3730