Letters to the Editor 05/03/2006

To the Editor:

I live in Timber Creek. This is a quiet, residential area (at the east end) east of Sisters. This also includes the homes on East Cascade Avenue. We are really not in favor of a bridge as it will bring more traffic to our streets.

It is already a speedway on East Cascade though the sheriff has been patrolling it. Children ride their skateboards and bikes and people park their cars along this street. Why would anyone want to make it a main road?

What we need is a stop light at Highway 20 and East Locust. Take some of the school administration’s yard — which is nothing anyway — to widen Locust and also at Main Avenue. The large trucks and RVs would go down Main Avenue and back on Hood Avenue. The cars could continue to go through town on Cascade Avenue. There is no reason why this cannot be done.

Judy Lawson

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To the Editor:

Disc golf, also known as Frisbee golf, is coming to Sisters near the SOAR office as stated in an article two weeks ago. It was originally going to be nine holes, but after walking the property with Terry Brannon of Sunriver, we decided to put in 18.

Terry has put in five Disc golf courses and has offered his services to help develop and install the course. For people who sponsor a hole, their name and logo, if it’s a business, will be put on a sign at one of the holes.

A hole can be sponsored for $450 if you are interested. Another option for donating is to the “seed funding” portion of the course, this money will be used for the signs, the “tee-off,” concrete, lumber, etc.

Anyone who donates between $100 & $449 will also get their name on a sign at the beginning of the course.

I would like to thank the 10 people who have sponsored a hole so far. They are going fast.

There are four collection sites if you’re interested in simply donating a few dollars to help: they are Community Mortgage Services, Eurosports, SOAR and the Sisters High School Office. All finances will be run through SOAR and will be tax deductible

If you are interested in helping get the disc golf course up and running or if you have questions, please see Kathy Kemper-Green at Community Mortgage Services or call 541-549-0344 or at 541-549-8041.

Kathy Kemper-Green

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To the Editor:

“United 93” is a wonderful portrait of courage. But in the context of America’s current foreign policy, it comes off as a familiar bit of wound-licking.

Every nation has a tale of the day the world did them dirt and “United 93” is America’s. But what’s more remarkable is that, when people abroad see the Michael Moore movie “Fahrenheit 9/11,” viewers are surprised that a person is allowed to do that in America, allowed to be so critical of a sitting President. An unintended effect, because by being so harsh, the movie ends up giving every American something to be proud of, proving to the world that America is still somewhat free.

This is why, the world being convinced that our President means to destroy Islam, no one’s come over here and blown us off the map. Face it. We’re an open society; they could do it any time they wanted.

So really, it’s not the chest-thumping, “These colors don’t run,” that has kept us relatively safe since 9/11. It’s that this guy out of nowhere gets to film our President’s most embarrassing moments, make it into a movie, and inspire debate. That’s why angry fanatics stay their sarin gas and their bombs. Not because we “have the terrorists on the run.” Obviously we don’t. Bush gave up trying to capture bin Laden years ago. We’re safe only because even angry people still admire something about this place.

Hope it stays that way, don’t you?

Mark Yokum

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To the Editor:

I, for one, hope the planned walkout by legal and illegal immigrants and their supporters on May 1 was a tremendous success. The supporters of this rally are exactly right: The reliance of the U.S. economy on illegal immigrants needs to be clearly demonstrated in the workplace across this country.

I hope each affected employer sees with an unambiguous clarity their reliance on illegals, who have decided that it is not only their right to flagrantly ignore our laws, but to band together and inflict economic damage on their employers.

I have watched recent immigration demonstrations on TV with concern. Illegals holding signs stating “People are not Illegal” clearly show that these illegals do not respect our laws, or do not understand them. What about “illegal” do they not understand? When you are in the U.S. illegally, you are a criminal. This isn’t “racist,” it’s a definition.

I don’t know what laws will be passed with respect to immigration, and what specifically is in these laws seems less important than the fact that this country finally starts enforcing them. Although we enforce our Canadian border and our airplane and ship arrivals from all other countries, our Mexican border is a sieve.

To get the 11 million illegals we have in this country across that border, one illegal would have to cross each minute 24/7 for 21 years. We’ll prosecute our own citizens for petty shoplifting, but grant amnesty without end to those who flagrantly violate our immigration laws. Why?

Terrorists must find the Mexican border an extremely attractive target for entering this country. Why take a plane, boat, or even cargo container when you can wash up 10 feet inside of the Mexican border and walk into the U.S. with a nuke in a backpack totally unmolested by legal authorities?

Many ask business owners for “understanding” when illegals walk out of their jobs on May 1, and I do, too. Understand you’re harboring a criminal. Understand that person felt inflicting economic harm on your business and banding together with others to do the same was more important than showing up for their job. Understand there’s one thing to do: Fire them and report them to the authorities.

This country must end its dangerous economic co-dependence on criminals who believe it is their right to band together and disregard our laws and inflict economic harm on this country.

Paul Dacus