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Wednesday, September 1, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
LETTERS
Continued from page 2
(EMP) event. Such an event can result from
an attack by an enemy, or it can occur natu-
rally. It could result in devastating loss of life.
There is disagreement on this, but why take
chances?
We should also have a ground-based GPS
back-up system, (like Russia has,) or we
could lose internet in an anti-satellite attack.
Alvin Blake
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Resort threatens water
To the Editor:
Thornburgh Resort, a proposed destina-
tion resort near Cline Butte Recreation Area,
close to Sisters and Redmond, intends to use
millions of gallons of water daily at a maxi-
mum daily rate. This would be drawn from
the underlying aquifer, negatively affecting
Whychus Creek. Trout, steelhead, and other
wildlife are already struggling with drought
and climate change. And right now we are all
concerned about the future of our water and
lands. Please direct comments and opinions
to City Planner William Groves at william.
groves@deschutes.org or call at 541-388-
6518. We need to be vigilant as a community
to at least try to be heard before we are over-
run by unscrupulous investors.
Jeanne Brooks
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Rights and responsibilities
To the Editor:
As American citizens we cherish our
<inalienable rights.= But some of us have for-
gotten that with rights come responsibilities.
Our rights exist only to the point that our
activities do not cause harm to others. Failure
to be vaccinated impairs control of the epi-
demic and increases the risk of COVID
spread to others. Thus it does harm other
people, your family, friends, and neighbors.
Those who insist on rejecting vaccine
should agree to remain at home if they con-
tract the virus and not expect society to rescue
them in the hospital and ICU, endangering
our exhausted health care workers, claiming
a bed that should be available for someone
who legitimately needs it, and creating sev-
eral hundred thousands of dollars of unnec-
essary expense for your neighbors! It is not
one9s right to reject vaccination, it is one9s
responsibility to be vaccinated!
Donald Harner
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To the Editor:
We are again forced by a government
entity to wear masks. I don9t want to and I
won9t do it unless I am all but forced. It9s my
choice and I accept any responsibility for the
choice I have chosen to make.
I had COVID in early 2020. I am also
vaccinated, and I donated my blood when
the national call went out for donors to help
develop the vaccines. I am asthmatic and took
the vaccine to be able to take the mask off, so
I can breathe normally again.
I loudly state this is my own choice;
no one else9s 4 mine and mine alone. I
don9t need Kate Brown or any other gov-
ernment agency to tell me what I need
to do.
I am supportive to any individual I may
encounter in my daily activities that chooses
to wear a mask, but I choose not to. I have
been called out in local stores and seen peo-
ple get upset because I choose not to wear
it. That9s not their choice to make; it9s my
choice. I refuse to support Kate Brown and
her new mandate, and I will not put a mask
on.
We live in an amazing area of Oregon, and
we are all forward-thinking people that are
capable of thinking for and protecting our-
selves in whatever form it is that we choose.
Wear a mask; don9t wear a mask 4 it9s our
choice and no one else9s choice to make for
us!
Austin Selle
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Shades of grey
To the Editor:
The shades of grey were certainly pre-
sented to me this week, both from The Nugget
and around town.
Glancing through The Nugget was the arti-
cle by Erik Dolson addressing (pun intended)
<homelessness.= It reminded me of a skit by
George Carlin adding humor to the phrasing
of our language that is happening over the
years. Then there is the article by Michael
Luftig about cooperation, collective action
and the free-ride individuals. Supporting such
individuals would benefit all society, <&cre-
ating incentives to become contributors, or
by reducing their welfare as a disincentive to
engage in this kind of behavior.= There are
many valid questions posed by both of the
articles. There is a shade of grey between
these two, as well.
Where is the grey area when litter tossed
on the highway is fined, but how is society
addressing the overwhelming litter seen on
Hunnel Road, for example? Our parks are
public spaces, we pay city employees to help
manage litter and debris in our public spaces,
what about the public streets and the larger
community of Central Oregon? There is the
grey area between a cooperative collective
society and the individual.
<The Delta Blues,= by Jim Cornelius
states his responsible measures of protection
in jabs, seat belts, and guns. There9s a grey
area between this and someone who does
not believe that any of those are necessary.
Or maybe only one? What if an individual is
consuming society-mandated expired foods?
There is the grey area between a coopera-
tive, collective society and the choice of the
individual.
I witnessed a couple of episodes today
starting at our post office. An elderly gentle-
man was exiting the PO and crossing the
parking lot. At the same time a young woman
with an infant in the back seat was pulling
out and seeming unfamiliar with the standard
parking-lot traffic pattern, so was attempt-
ing to proceed towards the <Entrance Only.=
The man was not allowing the woman to
go forward. Her forward movement was
also hampered by the appropriate incoming
traffic. So she had to cross through the lim-
ited open parking spaces to exit correctly.
A grey area 4 who are we to support? The
justice-induced elderly man or the woman
with an infant in a car on an extremely
hot day?
Then I went to a local grocery store and
while checking out heard an exclamation,
from a retired couple in sporty outdoors
clothes, about Sisters and that since there
was no (chain specialty grocery to remain
unnamed) in the town they would make this
local store work. The clerk helping me just
rolled her tired eyes.
Then, going to the shade of the River Park
to eat in my vehicle the aforementioned meal,
I witnessed a healthy-looking elderly woman
walking her dog 4 on leash, thank God 4
but she failed to clean up her doggie doo.
Where was the man from the PO?
All these, one after another. It reminded me
of the <Me and Jim Bridger= column in The
Nugget. I didn9t know it was Jim Bridger9s
lament ringing in the grey area between my
ears all these years. Guess I can either quit
glancing at The Nugget and/or coming into
town. Or are all of these shades of grey part
of living?
Scott Stoery
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Initiative
would create
win-win for local
communities and
their newspapers
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief, The Nugget Newspaper
Local newspapers and the hometown
businesses in the communities they
cover are inextricably linked. That9s
especially true in Sisters, where The
Nugget 4 delivered free to our readers
each week 4 is supported almost
entirely by our advertisers, with the
welcome addition of contributions from
supporting subscribers.
Operating a small business is tough,
and we understand how careful our
community partners have to be with
their marketing budgets. That9s why The
Nugget strives so hard to make sure that
they get the most out of their advertising
dollars. Our prosperity is tied to their
prosperity.
Proposed legislation provides an
opportunity to boost both together.
An initiative by Sen. Maria Cantwell,
D-Washington, and six other senators is
designed to boost local jobs, accelerate
sales and improve local economies. The
Local Journalism Sustainability Act,
S. 2434, would help local news media
support their newsgathering missions.
The Act isn9t about providing direct
aid to community newspapers. It9s
about helping small businesses to thrive
through supporting their advertising
costs in local news outlets, like The
Nugget. This would, in turn, help us
maintain and enhance our roster
of talented freelance reporters and
photographers and the staff that puts
the paper out each week.
Under one provision of the Act
small businesses could claim a tax
credit for a portion of their advertising
purchases up to $5,000 a year.
Credits would remain (in declining
amounts) for five years.
Brett Wesner, Chair of the National
Newspaper Association, notes, <It is the
advertising tax credit that is the unsung
hero of this legislation. Like a pebble
tossed into the pond of local economies,
it will show the ripple effect of benefits in
local jobs, enhanced spending, revenues
to run local governments and a boost to
get American small businesses back in
the game after a very tough couple of
years.=
The Local Journalism Sustainability
Act, S. 2434 is an opportunity to
support Main Street and keep local
journalism thriving in small towns
across America 4 including our own
home town.
Please encourage your senators
to support The Local Journalism
Sustainability Act, S. 2434...
Senator Ron Wyden
www.wyden.senate.gov/contact/
email-ron
Senator Jeff Merkley
www.merkley.senate.gov/contact