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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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:

Our local state representative Ben Westlund proposes the same old tired Republican tax plan that will benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor.

The 3 percent retail services tax is just a sales tax. Sales taxes are regressive.

If you are one of those at the poverty level this will almost amount to a direct 3 percent tax on your income, because you spend all of your income every month just to live.

Make no mistake, if you are really poor and you pay little if any income tax, this is the rich man's way of taxing you.

Proposing to eliminate the capital gains tax only benefits the wealthy. What really poor person has any property that qualifies for a capital gain?

The other onerous thing about the proposed retail service tax is that it will place an increased burden on business, especially small businesses.

If Oregon is really serious about solving its fiscal woes, it will decide what it needs to do each year and set property and a progressive income tax to pay for those services.

Most tax revenue goes to schools, public safety and public health. If Oregon doesn't resolve the school funding crisis there will be no way up and out for the children who are going to become the new poor.

The citizens of Oregon need to reconcile the cost of public safety, especially prisons, with what they are really willing to pay for.

If this nation as a whole doesn't open its eyes to the looming disaster over health care, our state fiscal woes will pale in comparison.

The reason is obvious: all of us that have health insurance, a shrinking group, pay for all of those who don't, an ever increasing group.

You don't see people dying in the streets because they have been turned away from emergency rooms, which is where people without insurance go to get their basic health care.

The "major tax reform" proposed by Mr. Westlund will do nothing to avoid the dire consequences he foresees.

They will actually make problems worse for the poor and small businesses and will directly benefit the wealthy.

Dean Billing

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To the Editor:

Since when is killing a grizzly bear newsworthy? Oh wow, some guy was flown to a bear's home and then shot it in the throat with a high powered rifle.

What a picture that paints. Now if Mr. Morrell had actually hiked in, tracked the bear for a while and then observed the bear and then reported what he learned, that would be newsworthy. What a dismal display of the need for some people to kill something and then brag about it.

Did Mr. Morrell actually know the sow was dry or was he just lucky? Was she pregnant? As far as I know this bear just spent most of her life surviving on grubs, roots, berries, rodents and finally salmon. She was all ready for a winter's rest when BLAM! she got shot in the throat. What a cruel joke.

Yes I do eat meat. Not animals that struggled for their mere existence but animals that are raised for eating.

Mr. Morrell, I'm sure you're a decent man, but I hope and pray that this is the very last bear you kill. Just wondering, did you eat the meat or just mount the head and throw the hide on your living room floor? Let us know.

Sincerely,

Denice Cristiano

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To the Editor:

For once I am going to express how I feel about this story and all other stories concerning the killing of animals for sport and the thrill of killing a living being.

Words are not enough to express how sickened and sad I feel with this type of unnecessary taking of a life, a life of a being that did not deserve to be ended just to give some human a sense of power.

Too bad Jim Morrell and others like him could not use this need to feel strong and powerful in a more useful way. I feel sorry for these people who cannot just enjoy the beauty of other life and then leave it alone.

I am assuming that Jim Morrell did not eat this grizzly. And, please do not call this sport -- sport would mean that either the grizzly had a similar gun or that Jim took the bear on with his bare hands! Yeah, right.

Barbara Egan

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To the Editor:

If the article about Jim Morrell and his grizzly bear was an attempt to poll the readership of your liberal, tree-hugging, save-the-whales, save the buffalo, save the spotted owl consumers -- it worked!

And to Jim Morrell, what's the point?

Still a reader,

Paula Waite

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To the Editor:

In reply to your photo of Jim Morrell's trophy hunt in Alaska of the Grizzly Bear dated Wednesday, November 13:

Ghandi said the moral character of a nation can be judged by the treatment of their animals. I assume that Jim Morrell has never heard this statement since his hunt of a lifetime has led to the demise of a grizzly in Alaska.

As hard as so many of us work for the preservation of the environment and respect for all the animal kingdom, unfortunately a minority still exhibits a lack of respect for one of the earth's most majestic species. Not everyone considers this action laudable!

Sincerely,

Bernice Rossana

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To the Editor:

Curtis and Harley, the two lost dogs, were spotted and brought home on Thursday, November 14. They had been gone five days, and while we hadn't given up hope of finding them, we were growing more concerned as each day passed.

Their paws are mending slowly, they are putting on weight, and staying close to home these days.

We thank all of you for your calls, your advice, your caring, your encouragement. What can be said of a town where businesses allow posters of pets to grace their doors and windows, where The Nugget offers a free space called "Pet Place" which helps connect pets and owners, where strangers drive out Pole Creek to look for a pair of wayward dogs, where people with cell phones call and say, "What is that number on the poster for the missing dogs, I found them!"

What a wonderful spirit of sharing and what a great place to live.

Thank you, Jacob and family, for conducting searches on your own and sending Keith out to Crossroads to look for the dogs. Thanks also to the Humane Societies of Deschutes and Crook Counties for your support. Ditto to the sheriff's department and veterinanan offices, which took our information.

Thanks, Rachel Offield for covering for Jayne so she could retrieve the dogs. Thank you Deri Frazee for hanging those posters on your business.

When Anne Geser saw the pictues there she was able to call up and say, "I can't hold them for long, they seem to be on a mission."

But she held them with dog biscuits and soy nuts until we arrived and they jumped gratefully in the car and lay down.

Most of all, thank you Anne Geser. When you looked up Highway 242 beyond Crossroads, followed your intuition and checked out those two moving figures, you saved our dogs' lives.

Curtis and Harley

Bruce and Corad Kiefer

Jayne and Lindsay Simmons

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To the Editor:

The Sisters High School Leadership class would like to thank all of the community members that attended our ceremonies this past week. It was an honor to have you with us as we expressed our gratitude to the local veterans.

We are very fortunate to grow up in a town such as Sisters, that we can put on events such as our Veterans Appreciation Ceremony and have the support of so many.

We were especially grateful to have as featured speakers Mr. Wayne Kimball and Reverend Larry Harrelson of Sisters. And what a special treat it was to have Col. Gregory Raths fly in from New Orleans the morning of our assembly to address our student body!

Any veterans who would like a personal invitation to next year's service, please contact our school office at 549-4045. Thank you again to everyone who contributed to our event and we look forward to seeing you all next year.

Sincerely,

Sisters High School Leadership Class