Letters and Comments for February 3, 2010

Letters and Comments for February 2, 2010

Union has a lot going for it: low crime rate, natural beauty, Buffalo Peak Golf Course, the historic Union Hotel built in 1921, Victorian-era architecture, a Main Street commercial area that has acquired National Historic District status and many new businesses, and friendly and enterprising people.

The recent addition of a doctor to the Union Family Health Center helps the town build on its strengths. The announcement that family practitioner Kim Montee is giving up his private practice in La Grande in favor of public health work is good indeed. Dr. Montee already works as the medical director of the Elgin Family Clinic.

Sutor, Bayly

Maybe you’re suffering fatigue from the NFL season, which apparently started in the Eisenhower administration and is at last coming up to the ultra-exciting bye week before the Super Bowl.

Or maybe you’re like me. Maybe you can’t get enough of the No Fun League.

I’d be even more excited if a few of the rules made sense.

Oregon voters sent a message Tuesday night. It might not be something many of us on the east side want to hear, but it was an important message about public services in Oregon.

Voters, by about a 54 percent to 46 percent margin, said yes to higher taxes on Oregon’s richest citizens and on corporations. They endorsed tax increases approved by the 2009 Legislature that had been challenged by a group that called itself Oregonians against Job-Killing Taxes. A majority of voters said they are tired of larger and larger class sizes, shorter school years and cuts to social services.

Letters and Comments for January 28, 2010

Letters and Comments for January 27, 2010

It’s interesting that many emergency medical service workers don’t use the word “accident” anymore when referring to vehicle wrecks. The more accepted word is “crash,” because the term accident implies that the wreck could not have been avoided. The realization has dawned that almost all wrecks can be avoided, if only people pay attention to what they’re doing.

And here’s something to think about, courtesy of the National Safety Council: Nationwide, 28 percent of crashes happen because people talk on cell phones or send text messages when they drive.