Decline of the Oregon Strawberry

I live in Dallas, Texas, so I think I can give an objective opinion ["Squished," WW, June 29, 2016]. I don't think I have ever had better strawberries than the ones I've gotten in Oregon when we visit.

California growers have done to the strawberry what was done to the tomato—they have taken a fruit full of flavor and tinkered with it so it looks pretty, ships well, and stores well, but tastes like cardboard.

The berries we get in Texas have definitely been picked green and shipped green, and when they do have taste, they taste green.

—Glenn Edward

This was a fabulous article regarding the Oregon strawberry dilemma. They are delicate, delicious, and seasonal. When the Hoods come out, I go to farms and pick up a half-flat, which is just about all I want to deal with for the next few hours. I like to freeze some of them.

I do not buy California strawberries. I have, but the regret comes with the first taste. I go to farms enough times to have Oregon strawberries once or twice a week for the entire year. The brilliant red berries look fabulous on some Greek yogurt in February. And they taste like summer!

—"KatieThinks2Much"

Smith Staying for Another Year

There are plenty of potential interim Portland Public Schools superintendents who could step in while the search for a competent superintendent is made ["Saved by the Bell," WW, June 29, 2016].

The idea that Carole Smith, who has thus far shown such incompetent communication skills and has betrayed the trust of parents, teachers and students, is to have such a heavy hand in her replacement shows just how tone deaf School Board members Tom Koehler, Pam Knowles and Amy Kohnstamm are.

I cannot imagine how they think they are going to sell this bond to the public when it has been proven that they lack the skills to manage our public buildings effectively.

—Tom Beckett

For the Love of The Know

I fell in love at the Know ["The Know Is Closing," wweek.com, July 1, 2016]. It was one of my life's sweetest stories. We were just two broken baby birds who found solace in one another for a few years. It was intense, passionate, loving, and metal as fuck. Thank you, the Know, for being one of the last places that a normal weirdo in Portland can fall in love.

—Shelly Christine English

Correction

A story in last week's paper, "Worldwide Wager," incorrectly said the Oregon Lottery provided $2.5 million to address Portland air-quality issues. In fact, the agency provided no money, and instead loaned an employee to DEQ. WW regrets the error.

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