The <I><B>real story</I></b> behind the story
This is the real story behind the story

First the Story


THE BEND BULLETIN..Bend, Oregon...March 22, 1998

Motorists cuss main drag's ruts


"Drivers feel trapped in tracks that make the car seemingly steer itself - ruts so deep, they cast shadows when the sun is low. Wrestling to change lanes feels akin to breaching the big waves at the mouth of the Columbia River in a broken-down dinghy".

"You get thrown around, from side to side all over the place, said Dylan Edwards, who spends much of his workday on the road, delivering food" ....

In a foulup that state highway engineers made sure not to repeat on Bend's new parkway, batches of SOFTER AGGREGATE, or gravel, from the Horse Ridge area have broken down under the gouging of studded tires and the weight of trucks

No one is happy about it, and the rock specs have been tightened up to prevent a recurrence.
But Oregon officials warn not to hold your breath for a big (as in $1.5 million) paving job. That could be two or three years away.....

A Deschutes River Woods resident stated "Does somebody have to be killed before they do anything ? It's really ludicrous that they allow this to go on."

Another hard luck story ?, or maybe there is a reason why the situation happened

A superior source of state spec aggregate exists south of Bend which was being mined by Deschutes Ready-Mix, the major supplier of ready-mix and one of the main construction cmpanies doing work on the 90 million dollar Bend parkway. The authority for mining this deposit is granted in the mining laws and in particular, the Common Varieties Act of 1955.

On July 23, 1993 the Bureau of Land Management issued a bogus "cease and desist" order stopping production at this site. Knowing they had the protection of their own courts, they were able to get away scott free and totally absent from liability, even after their own court, the Interior Board of Land Appeals, stated in their 12/17/96 decision that the government "lacked authority to issue a cease and desist order, without a court order (federal district court)." This illegal shutdown interfered with Rothbard's right to a fair hearing, which took place on June 27, 1994, a full year after the illegal shutdown.

The BLM agreed to good faith talks prior to the hearing in which claimant Ray Rothbard proved to them that this particular deposit was an uncommon variety deposit of superior quality material, in 25 plus hours of "good faith" talks. However, the BLM failed to acknowledge the truth and the day of the hearing introduced fabricated evidence in an attempt to obfuscate the facts. Claimant Rothbard , representing himself pro se, pointed out these inconsistencies many times durng the hearing, including a motion for dismissal for failure of the BLM to establish a prima facie case, but the presiding Judge, John Rampton helped the BLM's cause by ignoring the facts and acted as aid to the BLM, by ignoring Rothbard's motions, evidence, and expert witness, Bob Coats. Needless to say, he ruled against the validity of the deposit.

In ignoring the facts, he did a disservice to all the residents of Deschutes County, and the result is millions of dollars in damages to the existing roads due to inferior aggregate being used.

This illegal act of removing "superior materials" from the marketplace was helped by Bruce Patterson from the ODOT state materials lab, who tested all the samples taken and testified under oath that the material only required screening to meet state spec, and failed to show that any other source within the county was comparable.

This obvious act of government corrupton was brought to the attention of Congressman Bob Smith (who refused to help saying this is a civil matter), Attorney General Janet Reno who refused to acknowledge the many requests for help, as they referred the case to the FBI who lost the file twice and failed to respond, President Clinton and Bruce Babbitt (head of the Dept. of the Interior), and many others.

This is a request for help to restore justice and integrity in our government, and is quite indicative of how the people suffer as a result of these crimes which normally are unknown to the public, and won't be prosecuted by the "proper" authorities. The Oregon state office of the Bureau of Land Management committed many civil rights crimes against Rothbard, knowing the ONLY way they can be held liable is to be dragged into federal district court like arrogant gangsters. As a Viet Nam Era veteran and little league president of five years, I, Ray Rothbard have found this conduct to be deplorable and sickening as Marianne King, Jerry Capps and Jim Kenna of the BLM are the most corrupt bureaucrats I have ever encountered, and this country will suffer if people like them are allowed to break the law. Further proof of any of these accusations is readilly available and will be furnished upon request.

I need your help in this matter as I refuse to be cheated by these bureaucrats. Thank you very much. I may be reached at the following address

Ray Rothbard
54411 Huntington Rd.
Bend, Oregon 97707

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Ray Rothbard

Or you can email me Rothbard@webtv.n et