Letters to the Editor

The Oregon Youth Basketball League (OYBL) Food Drive held earlier this year is a great example of community service.

On behalf of the Oregon/Brooklyn Food Pantry Committee and the families it serves, I am writing to acknowledge the generous donations of nonperishable food items and money collected during this event.
Through coordination of volunteers at the Pantry and at OYBL, we were able to fill your Pantry’s shelves and provide healthy, nutritious meals for our neighbors. In particular, thank you to the leaders of the basketball league for their efforts in continuing to lead the Food Pantry donation project. We also want to recognize the support of the OYBL Directors.

Faced with the prospect and consequences of the “sequester” it is important to understand that, contrary to popular myths, our current deficit isn’t the result of excessive spending.

In fact, the rate of government spending is at its lowest level since the 1950s.

Our deficit and current “fiscal crisis” are the result of wars and past excesses that weren’t paid for, and declining revenue brought about by tax cuts and a prolonged recession.

Republicans aren’t really opposed to tax increases. They’re just opposed to closing tax loopholes that are available only to the very wealthy.  That means increasing taxes for everybody else.

It seems they’re totally OK with that.
Charles Uphoff
Fitchburg
 

It should surprise no one that the cleverest and most educated among us (the so-called creative caste) should proclaim that the solutions to the existential problems which confront mankind – climate disruption, resource depletion, economic dislocation of workers, even death itself  – should comprise the very things which clever and highly educated people enjoy doing most:

We should all be able to agree that the main goal of the Oregon School District should be to provide an exemplary education for all of our students. When problems arise in our school system they can best be solved by strong and open communication between all who have a stake in seeing our children well educated.

With her focus on communication and collaboration, Rae Vogeler makes an excellent candidate for school board.  Rae plans to hold listening sessions while running for office and continuing while on the school board.   I know she will work towards more inclusive decision making, and work to see that parents, teachers, staff, students, and community residents are represented on the various school board committees.

Shame on me.  Shame on Alliant.  Shame on the Oregon Town Board.  And finally I guess shame on us all.  

Could/should we all have tried just a little harder to save the 18 or 19 Oak trees along West Netherwood that were slaughtered last week, or at least save some of them?  

But, alas, they are gone and now we know for sure they are dead. However in passing by, I did notice that nearly all of them were quite healthy indeed and probably would have lived many more years.  

But what’s been done is done and we should thank Alliant for not wanting to bury the lines at the higher installation and maintenance costs “in order to keep rates low for its customers”  and we should also thank the Town Board for not wanting to incur the expense of removing the trees in the future if/when they needed to be taken down.