Greenwood Ave. needs fattening up

The “Greenwood Avenue Diet” implemented by the city of Bend is I’m sure well intentioned, but in reality, it’s unrealistic and comical at best.

We travel Greenwood a lot. And of course, so do thousands of other cars, trucks and commercial vehicles each day and night. With Bend’s continued, rapid growth, the need for east/west conveyance is getting more and more critical. It seems obvious that Greenwood, from Wall Street to Highway 97, simply needs to be four lanes with a center turn lane and bike lanes. Just like Greenwood is from 97 east to Highway 20. 

I’ve talked with person after person after person who hate the modified Greenwood and many call it “The Greenwood Disaster.” Business owners downtown have told me that business has slowed dramatically because of the Greenwood mess. Has anyone from the city of Bend tried driving north on Bond St. and attempted to turn east onto Greenwood during the witching hour? Traffic on Bond is backed up to Minnesota and beyond. Ridiculous.  

Of course, city officials will point out that the closing Olney Ave. is the cause for such extreme congestion. That’s partly true. But with continuing growth, Olney and Portland Ave. will eventually be outdated, much like Franklin.

What part of the city’s ongoing rapid growth are officials not getting? People drive cars and trucks, period. And people will continue to drive in increasingly accelerating numbers. And the fantasy that people will simply ride bicycles instead of driving cars is just not true.  

Since the “road diet” started, we have been counting bicycles on Greenwood. Never have we counted more than two or three bikes at a time. So, let’s forget the goofy idea of spending millions of dollars on a walking/bicycle bridge over the railroad tracks. But instead, continue to improve Franklin’s current bike lanes and walkways. 

We have lived in Bend for 48 years and love this town with all our hearts. We are not old timers harking back to the good ol’ days. We are Bend-loving citizens concerned about our home  town’s livability and local business owners. Short term and long term planning and common  sense by city officials seems to be stuck in a snow bank. Greenwood Ave. needs fattening, not  slimming.  

Ric DeMarco
Bend

 

Don’t depend on the government

Segments of most governments want constituents to become dependent upon the government. It ensures votes in exchange for promises of life necessities. So here’s a novel idea: don’t become dependent upon government-run programs.

Becoming dependent on government programs predetermines who you have to elect in order to survive. Few if any government programs are run with sustainable financial stability and efficiency. They’re rife with fraud, wasteful overhead costs, and operational mediocrity. Consider that the government’s day-to-day conduct of business takes orders of magnitude longer than it should.

Just the other day it was reported Oregon’s legislature passed a bill making it a crime to steal someone’s cat. I’m pretty sure there were already plenty of laws that made it a crime to steal someone’s cat.

One of their latest popular boondoggles is to travel around telling us they’re angry and what wonderful things they’re going to do about it. Wouldn’t it be better if they spent that time and money actually doing some of those things?

Why in heaven’s name would anyone trust the government to provide for basic life functions like a home, healthcare and food? Contrary to popular belief, that’s not the government’s job anyway.

Doug Jeffries

Redmond

 

Demand credible leadership in health reform

The U.S. healthcare system is in urgent need of reform. We’ve built an industry that excels at managing emergencies, but struggles to prevent disease or support long-term health. What we have is a sick care system — one that treats symptoms rather than addressing root causes. It’s time to shift toward a more holistic, proactive, and patient-centered model of care.

As a doctorally trained functional medicine nurse practitioner, I’ve seen how effective this approach can be. Functional medicine is a science-based, systems-oriented discipline that investigates the root causes of chronic illness — such as metabolic dysfunction, nutrient deficiencies, environmental exposures, and lifestyle imbalances. It blends the best of modern diagnostics with nutrition, behavioral health and prevention.

That’s why I’m both hopeful and concerned about recent health policy developments. While it’s encouraging to see more national attention on issues like food additives, toxic exposures, and environmental drivers of disease, the credibility of these efforts matters. Appointing controversial figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead Health and Human Services, and Dr. Oz to oversee CMS may do more harm than good. Their reputations often rest more on media spectacle than scientific grounding.

We can’t afford to let fringe voices undermine legitimate, evidence-informed health reform. Functional medicine — and the broader movement to rethink health care from the ground up — needs credible leadership, not polarization.

Western medicine saves lives every day with advanced emergency care, surgery, and pharmaceuticals. But for the chronic diseases that now dominate public health, we need a system that goes deeper. Reform is essential. Let’s insist that it be led with integrity.

Colette Whelan

Bend