Letters and Comments for April 7, 2009

A good proposal for La Grande

To the Editor:

Thanks for your support of backyard chickens and rabbits. As more and more residents of La Grande lose their jobs, it is important that we remove as many barriers as possible to local food self-reliance. I strongly support the proposal of Oregon Rural Action to permit La Grande residents to keep up to six laying hens or rabbits at their homes.

People should have the right to grow their own food. By growing their own vegetables and fruit and producing their own chickens, eggs and rabbits, our neighbors will both eat better and reduce their carbon footprints.

The proposed city ordinance is reasonable and well-conceived. It provides for adequate fencing, disposal of animal waste, odor control and storing feed in rodent proof containers. I urge the planning commission and city council to vote yes for backyard chickens.

Bill Whitaker

La Grande

Democratic talking points

To the Editor:

Mark Shields, the liberal talking head, by virtue of his being a Notre Dame graduate, was given Observer editorial space to summarize Democratic talking points for abortion-on-demand in his defense of an honorary doctorate and speaking platform for President Obama at the University of Notre Dame.

Francis J. Beckwith is a Visiting Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Institute at the University of Notre Dame and professor of philosophy and church-state sudies at Baylor University. He refutes Shields in his eloquent and compelling essay, “Barack Obama and Notre Dame: Juris Doctor Honoris Causa?” available on the First Things: The Journal of Religion, Culture and Public Life website (http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=1355).

It is well worth reading.

Steve Boe

La Grande