I was disappointed in your report (on Cylvia Hayes, News in Briefs, 6-1), which read like it was written from a news release. No mention was made of Judge Frank Yraguen’s investigation or the large amount of money spent on multiple investigations.

The following is information I read or heard on broadcast and print news.

Kulongoski asked Attorney General John Kroger to hire independent counsel to review the case (because he didn’t like Kroger’s analysis of the case ?). Kroger denied his department had a conflict and refused.

I read with disgust the article about Deschutes County being far behind in vaccinating our children. I say, GOOD! The rates of infectious disease were already on the decline BEFORE vaccines were introduced.

Second, doctors and Big Pharma CANNOT guarantee the safety of present-day vaccines.

Third, if current vaccines contained only dead or weakened viruses and saline solution, I would vaccinate my child. But unfortunately, these vaccines contain dangerous chemicals and heavy metals that I myself would not want injected into me.

Many voters that form the "base" of the Democratic party were quite vocal in the criticism of their party leaders and the many other Democrats in Congress that pushed hard to have Anthony Weiner (the New York Representative who Tweeted lewd photos of himself to women online) resign his position. Their loud argument had to do with the fact that when sex scandals befall the Republican party, Republican politicians tend to "circle the wagons" around the offending sexual deviant and simply refuse to demand their resignation, as attested by recent examples of the governor of South Carolina, the senator from Idaho, the senator from Louisiana, the senator from Nevada to cite a few.

I'd like to offer a challenge to all the Bend cops who have decided to, as The Bulletin put it on the front page of Sunday's paper, "target cyclists." Try riding a bike to and from work, for just one week. Then, the next time you pull over a cyclist in this town, try to look them in the eye and tell them that they're the problem. And if you can do that, then your soul is as black as that handgun you're wearing that you think makes you look so tough.

You ride your bike just five miles around here and odds are at some point you'll be cut off or find yourself sharing the bike lane with a lifted F-350. So, if someone opts to ride on the sidewalk here and there, rolls through a stop sign, or decides to ride home without a light, then cut them a little slack.

I am writing to praise Sydney Leonard's toddy article. Ms. Leonard's writing style is fresh, and the content appreciated. Lone Pine and Backporch contribute so much more than just coffee to Bend as a community...Thank you for bringing attention to their efforts.

-Shanan Kelley