It’s a woman’s decision

I am irritated by the letters from men, telling women that removing choice is a good thing. Since when did a man have any idea what it feels like to be a woman let alone being a pregnant (especially with the progeny of a man you don’t love).

Stephen King

Pickleball praise

We were delighted to see a dedicated group of pickleball players putting the finishing touches on Sisters’ first public pickleball court as we pulled into town last week to attend a wedding.

We travel to Central Oregon regularly, but most often stay in Bend, partially because of the great pickleball venues.

Sisters has so much to offer, and after a great experience on the newly opened courts, we’ll be back.

Like many thousands of vacationing pickleball players, it’s an amenity we’ve come to expect in any town worth spending our tourist dollars.

We ate every meal out and shopped for sports gear: Public courts are not only great for locals’ recreation, but for the local economy.

These two courts (on the defunct tennis courts near the elementary school) are just the beginning, given the exploding popularity of the sport and the dedication of your local pickleball club.

I hope you all will continue to support their efforts to bring more pickleball to the Sisters community, making it even more attractive to visitors like us.

Brant Brantman

Don’t use pesticides

To the Editor:

Thank you, Jim Anderson, for the information conveyed in your column titled “Pesticides are killing us” (The Nugget, June 1, page 10).

This cannot be stressed enough.

It needs to be put on the front page of every newspaper and on the 6 o’clock news of every TV station plus all the social media outlets.

Pesticides are not only responsible for the die-off of birds, insects, and other animals that are around these but also all the wonderful ponderosas that were killed by spraying an herbicide along Highway 20 a few years back.

There are less harmful ways to handle our intent of controlling weeds and grasses that invade our spaces.

Most involve a greater time commitment by either us or the departments responsible for the upkeep of our community properties.

Instead of using Roundup, one of the most harmful and popular products out there, we can spray out grasses and weeds with a vinegar solution.

There are many recipes for this on the internet.

Of course, we have to apply this more than once and it needs a warm day to do.

But we see many of these in Sisters Country.

And the grass alongside the road could be mowed, but this also takes more than once to keep the weeks down.

Would the savings in the cost of herbicides pay for this second effort? Is using less harmful products worth the extra time and effort to save our trees and our insects that we so much need and appreciate? I hope all of us will take the that extra time to help our environment stay healthy and to give our birds and insects a safe place to live.

Craig Mackie

Venomous, not poisonous

To the Editor:

Bill Bartlett, in the article firefighting from 10,000 feet, in the June 29, 2022 edition, said, and I quote, “...falling limbs, toppling trees, smoke inhalation, and poisonous snake bites.” I will remind him that snakes can be venomous, but are not generally poisonous. Even the meat of a rattlesnake is safe to eat, if cooked properly. Poison is ingested, venom is injected. Please correct this mistake in any later editions, for the sake of any other reader who pays attention in science class. Other than this small, but significant mistake, this is the best newspaper I have ever read.

N.Saul

Reader of The Nugget and snake nerd

Celebration of freedom

To the Editor:

Having been blessed with exposure to numerous countries and cultures I can claim without reservation we live in the greatest country on earth.

The freedoms and opportunities available are unmatched elsewhere.

Time to celebrate! America, land of the free, began with a vision that true freedom comes from our Creator and not man, or an earthly king.

From that vision was developed the greatest governing document in human history for ‘we the people’; to prevent tyranny in the future like experienced under England’s king.

Since enacted, the Constitution has survived relentless attacks from those who would want to reinterpret, twist, or rewrite from a self-serving interest or even nefarious agenda.

Our fragile liberty depends on fidelity to the principles of our founding as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Recent opinions by the Supreme Court have vindicated our rights and liberties under the Constitution making this very special celebration of Independence Day.

In addition, they are an overwhelming tribute to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice to “Defend and uphold the Constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic.“

God bless America, land of the free because of the brave!

Jeff Mackey