U.S.-Russia negotiations

Is Marco Rubio the Ukrainian ambassador to Russia? No. Has Ukraine delegated the United States to negotiate a treaty to end the illegal Russian invasion of its territory? No. Do we think that Trump is attempting to land a back-door deal with Russia and subsequently coerce Ukraine into accepting it? Yes. What is in such a deal for the U.S., and Trump particularly? Good question. We are suspicious. Should the United States trust a bilateral deal based upon a handshake between criminals? No.

Should the Senate reject such a “deal” and oppose it in the courts should the executive attempt to enforce it? Yes. Should the U.S. support democracy in Ukraine? Yes. Should the U.S. extract half of Ukraine’s mineral assets as the price for that support? No. Is that blackmail? Yes. Is that within the ethics of the Trump administration? Obviously it is.

— Donald Fisher, Powell Butte

Trump gets a positive rating

Our new president certainly has been busy since inauguration: imposing tariffs with very mixed results and cutting staffing in the federal government. Do we really need cuts at the Federal Aviation Administration and National Park Service? Really, the cuts need to be much better thought out and more slowly implemented. He is ordering the release of all remaining material held by FBI and CIA relating to the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King. Hooray, hooray, hooray, but anything of real importance has long ago been destroyed by said agencies. He is rounding up and deporting illegals. That’s another great big hooray and let’s hope it is as effective as initial reports indicate. He is starting peace talks with the Russians about the Ukraine war. We need the peace, but it’s only going to help the Russians, and is that what we really want?

Yes, Trump has been busy, and it’s been a bit chaotic and ill-thought out at times, but at least he is doing things he said he would do and not hiding from the press and public half the time. And, he can speak in complete sentences! Overall, I give him a positive rating, but certainly not overwhelming approval.

— Mike Koonce, Bend

Playing with fire

On Feb. 3, I got a preview of what Bend would be like in the event of a wildfire evacuation. I left Awbrey Butte on my way to Redmond at rush hour on the first snowy day in weeks. On Archie Briggs Road cars were being turned around on the narrow winding road. So I tried Mount Washington Drive, but traffic was at a standstill a half mile above Third Street. So I tried a third route down NW Awbrey Road, but Portland Avenue was closed, again, including the bridge over the Deschutes, and the contiguous section of Wall Street. So I tried a fourth route taking Newport/Greenwood Avenue where the traffic behind the new lane reduction was backed up with a 30 minute wait time to reach Third Street, a mere mile away. An escape speed of 2 miles per hour.

If this had been a wildfire evacuation of entire neighborhoods instead of a simple afternoon commute, Bend would have been in the national headlines. Safe fire evacuation routes no longer exist for many neighborhoods. Yet continued development continues to add to this blue print for disaster. Projects that provide no benefit to existing taxpayers and homeowners continue to be approved and built as if fire danger in Central Oregon did not exist. Why is the safety of residents not the priority over development? The city of Bend is literally playing with fire.

— Peter Fox, Bend

Vote no on forest bill

Please call your senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and encourage them to vote against H.R. 471 a.k.a., Fix Our Forests Act. This bill should be called the Clearcut Our Forest Act. It’s always named the opposite of what it does. The timber industry has been trying to get to the last of our larger more mature trees for many years. Lord knows there is not a lot left and here’s another attempt. Big trees are easy money for them and climate and public mental health are not considered. Sure, if you are talking about fire danger, go ahead and clear the underbrush and take out the smaller diameter trees, but leave the larger trees alone!

— Steve Navarra, Bend

Do you have a point you’d like to make or an issue you feel strongly about? Submit a letter to the editor.