(Joe Kline/Bulletin photo)

Good use of leftovers

After reading the article in the July 16 paper regarding the use of funds left from the bypass failure in La Pine, we thought we would add our thoughts about the use of the leftover funds. If you travel Burgess Road to U.S. Highway 97, almost any day of the week, you may sit at the stop sign to get onto Highway 97 for five minutes or longer. The summer traffic, the exit and entrance of trucks from Gordy’s Truck Stop and the stop light in La Pine, causes long lines of cars waiting to enter Highway 97. We think another stop light at this intersection is warranted in order to avoid dangerous conditions which include cars darting across the highway onto the shoulder and cars waiting to turn from Highway 97 onto Burgess risking a collision with the traffic going south.

Jim and Jorgine Rogers

La Pine

Traditional values?

Paul deWitt rants in his July 11 Guest Column how liberals are not patriotic and how “The left hates not only President Trump but also the traditional values conservatives hold dear.” Surprisingly there are some truths in what he says. Apparently, the “traditional values that conservatives hold dear” would include ripping babies from their mothers when they seek asylum, calling an indictment against 12 Russian military hackers a “rigged witch hunt” and encouraging crowds of voters to chant “Lock-her-Up, Lock-her-Up” about a woman who has been found guilty of no crime and who has served this nation as First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State. If this is the type of “civility” he advocates, then I guess we liberals are not very patriotic.

Patrick Smith

Sisters

When will we finally care?

How many more articles in the paper have to be printed before we understand the enormous impact of such mean-spirited policy as this administration has imposed on people seeking safety and refuge in what used to be a country of welcome and, more importantly, escape from the horrors of their birth country? There are those that approach our border and ask for asylum and are turned away. Remember the words on the Statue of Liberty. We should take heed — and care.

Norma D. Post

Bend

Boddie is sinking

If it were anyone but Moey Newbold to accuse Nathan Boddie of groping her (when she was 22 and he was 40), I might have wondered. But, Boddie’s claims that Newbold “suffers from substance abuse problems” and that he found her “intoxicated and unconscious more than once,” are a desperate attempt to blame the victim. In maligning her, he failed to grasp Newbold’s courage and the respect that this community has for her.

At 19, Moey and other college students went to Copenhagen, Denmark, to attend the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference. The group chose Moey to speak to hundreds of international leaders about the impact that climate change was having on her generation. She impressed this audience with her clarity of thought and calm delivery. Moey puts herself in the public eye only because she cares deeply about issues. She never will be an attention-seeker nor does she abuse substances.

Conversely, Boddie is sinking under the weight of his own ego. The Democrats are not the only ones to reject him and his excuses. Based on their knowledge of Moey, community leaders of many different political views and elected officials (including Deschutes County’s highly regarded D.A.) have questioned the veracity of, or dismissed Boddie’s statements as implausible.

Moey Newbold had nothing to gain by speaking out about Boddie’s predatory behavior. It was very hard for her. It’s so sad that Boddie chose to impugn her character in an attempt to salvage his own reputation.

Toby Bayard

Bend

Appeasing Putin

Have we just seen a U.S. President commit treason by giving comfort and support to our enemy? This was not a summit. It was a supplication by our president to appease Putin. How can he explain his actions to all of our current and former military personnel who fought for our ideals and way of life? This meeting will go down in history as a low point in how this country presents itself to the world.

Allen Wright

Bend