Letters to the Editor 10/17/2007

To the Editor:

I wonder if any of us in Sisters would appreciate huge metal power poles marching down Main Street. Most of us are grateful for the beauty and community this place offers. Some have lived their entire lives here; others were drawn to a simpler life surrounded by nature and good people who smile and wave when walking by. These are our values. It is why we live here.

Right now we have neighbors and friends who are suffering. CEC (our co-op) says they must live with devalued property and industrialized ambiance for the greater good of all. But did they ask us?

None of us wants rolling blackouts, but we must ask ourselves if CEC is projecting the golden rule here. Is this really for our greater good, or are these new upgrades for future development? We do need upgrades, but for those directly involved, can there be a kinder way of going about it? These people are devastated!

The unhappiness of the families behind Tollgate will affect all of us, even if only as a reflection of our uncaring attitude. Indifference is an attitude that spreads. If we are the "greater good" CEC touts, shouldn't we have a say? Wouldn't you want your neighbors to stand up far you?

There is more to being a good neighbor than keeping one's yard clean. I am grateful to Sisters for its healthy environment and the beauty and joy it offers my family. I want to be a good neighbor.

If CEC is "our co-op" the development behind Tollgate should be readdressed.

Brenda Smith

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To the Editor:

I would like to express my utter disgust at News Channel 21's portrayal of us homeowners in Tollgate affected by CEC's abominable power pole upgrades.

When Alicia Schaab, Adrienne Banks and I were contacted by News Channel 21 to show our homes and tell our story, we thought our concerns for the beauty of this landscape and the health and well being of its residents might be of interest to others concerned about development in the area.

To portray us as a few ladies in a subdivision with nothing better to do than complain about a few power poles and high voltage power lines was extremely insulting, demeaning and misleading.

Like Roger Ritchie, I am also offended by Allen Guggenheim's patronizing remarks that "the needs of 6,000 trump those of six residents." The people in this corner of Tollgate are many more than six residents. Come to think of it, are we not all affected ultimately by this degradation of the landscape?

In a subdivision where all the power lines are buried and where the color of the tarp over your firewood is of aesthetic concern, in a town which values aesthetics to the point of adhering to a strict architectural style, I am dismayed and saddened that we as a community would allow this to happen.

But then again, nobody knew because our electric cooperative failed to inform us. If CEC is truly a cooperative, shouldn't we have been consulted and our voices heard? Not only did they fail to inform the residents, they also neglected to acquire the proper government permits and are currently being investigated by the county.

Please Sisters and all of Central Oregon, take note. It is our community and our future at stake. Ask questions. Demand answers. We can do better. We deserve better.

If more electric power is truly necessary, then let's demand that CEC aim higher and find ways to provide it that don't dehumanize the very people it purports to serve, nor denigrate the lands on which we all live.

Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Abby Merickel

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To the Editor:

Last week, one of the sheriff's call listings in The Nugget created some concern among local residents about fund-raising efforts for St. Charles Bend and St. Charles Redmond.

The St. Charles Foundation would like to assure the community that a legitimate mail and telephone fund-raising campaign is currently underway. Area residents may be receiving letters and follow up phone calls asking for their support.

The fund-raising campaign is reaching out to community members who have received care at one of the St. Charles facilities, providing an opportunity to express their appreciation through a financial donation. This effort is one of many sponsored by the St. Charles Foundation to support and enhance health care services in Central Oregon.

We have been touched by the overwhelming support and generosity that comes from former patients. These people have embraced the opportunity to give back to the hospitals that made a difference in their lives or the lives of their loved ones.

This effort is the second of its kind for the St. Charles Foundation. Last year, a similar campaign raised more than $200,000 to support the organization's successful $10 million capital campaign, "Expanding the Vision: Building for a Healthy Central Oregon." This year's effort has brought in $25,000 to date from generous community members who received care at St. Charles Bend or St. Charles Redmond. The current campaign goal is to raise an additional $200,000.

Private donations help Cascade Healthcare Community establish and expand programs, services, technology and buildings that help us deliver exceptional care for anyone in need. We are deeply appreciative for everyone who has given so generously to this important cause.

Dwight Heaney

Vice President of Philanthropy for Cascade Healthcare Community, Executive Director for The St. Charles Foundation

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To the Editor:

Re: Nugget article last week "Settlement halts Black Crater Logging."

It is one more piece of evidence that our Forest Service does not manage our forests. These four environmentalists groups do, along with a handful of others.

"The settlement ends a lawsuit brought by Cascadia Wildlands Project, League of Wilderness Defenders-Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project and the Sierra Club to stop the project." Our U.S. Forest Service "was forced to bow to a legal reality."

Every time we make a effort to revitalize our forests after a fire or catastrophic event, they put a stop to it. They use our legal system to enforce their beliefs and make us and our U.S. Forest Service abide by their hands-off practices.

Shouldn't we allow the U.S. Forest Service to make some decisions and actually be able to go though with them?

I am tired of seeing our forest burn up every summer, and I for one believe that the environmentalists are part of the problem.

"The dead timber will remain as potential fuel for another fire in years to come." Meanwhile the fire killed timber goes to waste.

In today's modern world, we do have the technology to tread lightly, harvest the dead timber and help insulate damaged forest from future fires. At the same time we speed the recovery of our forest and improve water sheds, while respecting and improving the conditions for our wildlife.

If you are tired of looking at the black graveyard that was once a healthy forest, you need to speak out and send a message to our Forest Service, legislators and lawmakers. If we sit idle and say or do nothing, we cannot reverse this awful trend.

Dan Rosauer

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To the Editor:

I guess I haven't been paying attention. Why was the Sisters School District allowed to provide taxpayers' money to a Christian school in the first place?

It is not only unconstitutional but underhanded and deceitful. That my property tax money was given to this school is an outrage to me and others who are not religious and who find Christian indoctrination repugnant.

Now I suppose the school district will try to get a ballot measure going to increase our property taxes for money to pay for their folly.

R.T. Tihista

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To the Editor:

I would just like to point out that in his letter regarding Gutenberg College, Steve Bryan displays both bigotry and intolerance towards Christians - both of which are things he accuses Christians of.

I find it so hard to believe that in a culture where higher intellect is so sought after and people spend so much time seeking after the facts (especially in academia) that people are so quick to jump on Christians of all types as "intolerant bigots.'

Has it seriously never occurred to anyone that one or two encounters with a person who calls him or herself a Christian could be completely and totally misrepresentative of Christians as a whole and what being a true follower of Christ really means?

How much scorn would I have to endure if I were to take one encounter with a homosexual person who happens to be very rude and then turned around and started yelling from the rooftops that all homosexuals are rude people?

My question for Mr. Steve Bryan is this: what or who are you basing your judgment of Christians on? President Bush? If so, he's only one person. Are you going to take his actions/attitudes and apply them to the rest of Christians as a whole and automatically assume that every person in this country who calls him or herself a Christian would do or say the same things if given the chance?

My point is, if you are going to use the words "bigot" and "intolerant," make sure that you yourself aren't employing these attitudes right back at the people you're accusing.

Jayson Berray

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To the Editor:

I am somewhat puzzled and surprised (maybe even a bit hurt) by the seemingly vitriolic comments made week after week in the "letters to the editor" like the ones by Steve Bryan and Karly Drake-Lusby regarding Christians, brought on by the potential move of Gutenberg College. (I am also surprised that The Nugget continues to carry them, ad nauseam).

I have lived in the Sisters area for almost 30 years. From my observation we local Christians are not out on the streets demonstrating against gays or in someone's face telling them they are going to hell or making outlandish statements on national TV shows. As Tip O'Neill said: "All politics is local." I would agree. May I ask what is it that Christians in this community have done to create such ire?

There are hundreds and hundreds of Christians here in Sisters (probably more like thousands when counting outlying areas) who abide by the laws, pay our taxes, do volunteer work in the public schools, coach little league, belong to local service clubs, help out with hospice, volunteer as firemen and EMTs, own businesses and treat our employees fairly, cut and deliver firewood to the elderly, provide scholarships to high school seniors and do dozens of other things that make positive contributions to this community. Most of us love our spouses, our kids and our neighbors.

Yes we go to church in a variety of diverse houses of worship spread across the community. We read our Bibles. We pray. Those disciplines are what help us try to stay focused on being truly Christ-like the rest of the week. Do we fail, make mistakes? Of course. We are human like everyone. But rest assured that on the whole, we are some of the best assets of this community, and Sisters would be severely diminished without us.

How about a little love, maybe a kind word for a change. I'm smiling ... are you?

Bill Carmichael

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To the Editor:

October 22-28 is National Friends of the Library week making it a good time to publicly thank the Friends of the Sisters Library who contribute so much of their time and expertise to significantly enhance our services.

Our Friends group began in 1985, and over the course of the past 22 years they have donated over $500,000 to cover the costs for new buildings, children's programming, special events and equipment. In fact, this year the Friends have established a yearly scholarship to be awarded to a local high school student.

I know that the Sisters Public Library is a source of pride for our community. Our Friends group is a source of pride as well. I hope this week everyone will call the library to find out how they can join and support this outstanding group.

Sincerely,

Peg Bermel

Sisters Library Branch Manager

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To the Editor:

President Bush insists that by mere virtue of his grand office he possesses unrestricted executive authority in all matters, foreign and domestic. Mr. Bush proclaims that presidential power must not be unduly thwarted by the Constitution's carefully wrought system of checks and balance among the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government.

This presidential straining at the Constitution's leash is not unprecedented, a fact brought home in a recent work by William C. Harris, "Lincoln's Rise to the Presidency."

Harris takes us back to the disputed Mexican War of 1848. The war was trumped up by the President, James K. Polk. Angered by Polk's chicanery, a freshman member of the House of Representatives, Abraham Lincoln, rose to let fly a tongue-lashing of the President, charging him "with the sheerest deception."

Lincoln further charged that Polk used "every artifice to work round, befog and cover up" the real reason for the war and how it was to be paid for. He pointed out the "real reason:" the United States wanted to grab from Mexico territory Polk wrongly claimed was ours.

Lincoln was not through. He went on to charge that President Polk had connived to take the nation into an avoidable and unnecessary war that "has swept on and on, till, disappointed in his calculations of the ease with which Mexico might be subdued, he now finds himself he knows not where."

At which point Lincoln arrived at the crux of what so disturbed him: The Mexican War "was unconstitutionally commenced by the President."

Lincoln granted that a President had the duty to repel an invasion by a foreign power by invading its territory; but Congress must never allow a President to invade territories "whenever he shall deem it necessary ... and thus make war at his pleasure."

He was keen to remind his colleagues that the Founding Fathers gave the war-making power to Congress so that no single man could place himself "where kings had always stood, involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally ... that the good of the people was the object."

Enough said.

Erhard K. Dortmund