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I have several questions.

If a person not affiliated with the city were to put a berm across my driveway, would that not constitute a crime (a minor one, admittedly)? What law or principle absolves the city of that criminality? I happen to have a herniated disc in my back. If I wind up in the hospital as a result of my exertions, does the city bear any blame? If I had a medical emergency while the berm was in place, and emergency personnel were hindered by the barrier, and I suffered serious consequences because of the delay, would that constitute an injustice?

In fact, I believe the city has acknowledged its responsibility in the past, as just a few years ago each of the city’s plows were followed by a skip loader that cleared people’s driveways. I think the many, many people who are seriously inconvenienced by the city’s current failure deserve to know who decided to end that part of the service, and to learn what excuse would be offered.

I am resigned, if not quite delighted, to shovel the snow Mother Nature deposits on my property. I am certainly not happy shoveling snow deposited on my property by the city.

— David Shoulders, Bend

Killing owls to save them

I’m all for saving or at least not messing with the evolution of any animal species, knowing how everything seems to be connected. That said, I’ve found it interesting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service policy is now going to kill 400,000 barred owls over the next 30 years including 20,000 this year. Apparently, this has come about through humanity’s “settling� and altering landscapes during the westward migration. In addition, our fire suppression of forests has helped to expand the barred owl’s habit now all the way into the Pacific coast region. The barred owl has evolved into a more aggressive and flexible bird than the spotted owl who we’ve been both messing with and trying to save for many decades now.

While reading the forest services new policy to fix the declining population of the spotted owl, I was reminded of another similar historic event. The Neanderthal extinction being more of a hybridizing or blending of species than one species, (homosapians) us, massacring the Neanderthal.

I find it somewhat arrogant and audacious of us to try and keep a species “pure� by killing another species. Does this sound familiar? Knowing that barred owls are hybridizing with spotted owls without man’s help, why should we step in to interfere? Does Africanizing the honey bees come to mind? Please drop your new policy of fixing the spotted owl issue by mass killing of another owl species. This occurrence of evolution has been going on long before humans came along. Our US Fish and WildLife Service should not be involved in a massive killing spree of owls to save owls.

— Michael Zapp, Bend

Transportation tax, not fee

When it comes to our (so-called) elected leaders I would like to put in my two cents worth. I personally don’t think they have the ability to lead their way out of a paper bag with a flashlight and a map. All you have to do is ask any one who experienced the wonders of Bend (not that many years ago). Bend had a limit on how tall a building could be, now by comparison we have skyscrapers blocking the view of our beloved mountains. That leads to traffic congestion. That brings me to the transportation tax. Not fee, tax. Our leaders are not dumb, nor are they stupid. They assume that we are and will just allow them to govern us because after all we did vote them into office.

Either these elected representatives did not learn in school or they are just choosing to completely ignore one of the most important bedrock principles of our wonderful country that sets us apart from any other country in the world. It is what gives us our freedom.

Unless I am mistaken I believe our state constitution mandates that any new tax must be approved by a vote by the people. However a fee can be imposed without a vote by the people. Unless I am mistaken, anytime people are forced to pay money to the government by definition it is a tax.

Based upon this definition I challenge the city of Bend to defend why this issue should not be allowed to be voted on by the people of Bend.

— Charlie Thomson, Bend