2 Wednesday, August 26, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is 10 a.m. Monday. PHOTO BY SUE ANDERSON Jim A. and Jim C. — old pals and newspaper colleagues for 27 years. The world’s all right By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief It must have been the haze of wildfire smoke. When I sat down at my desk at The Nugget over the weekend to open an email from Jim Anderson, my eyes got a little watery. The message was one I knew was coming, but it was mighty poignant all the same. The message read: <OK, here it is Good People, the Last Story, all 2,700 words of it. I hope you9ll run it, perhaps in two editions...or whatever. It9s going to be a very sad day for me when Sue and I walk out of our home of almost 50 years and leave this land of Central Oregon that I love, but the one constant in Nature is change...= Jim and Sue are heading to the Willamette Valley to be closer to family. It9s the end of an era. Who am I fooling? It wasn9t the smoke. Jim9s message was poi- gnant, sure, but also funny. It9s just like Jim to leave his editor with a massive 2,700- word column. He9s known since before I became his editor that columns really should max out at about 800 words. So& the <last story= will have to be three. I don9t think Jim would mind me telling you that he is a bit of a handful for an editor. Word counts, like the Pirate Code, are <more guidelines than actual rules.= And he was never really comfortable with the distinction between a news story and an opinion col- umn. Keeping his opinion and voice out of a piece wasn9t something that came naturally, and Jim could be mighty set in his ways& But, after all, Jim Anderson has a wonder- ful and distinctive voice, and strong passions for the things he holds dear: avia- tion; family; the bounty of Nature. Come right down to it, it9s a voice that shouldn9t be muted. And it9s a voice we9ll miss. Jim is a man of strong principles and a caring heart. I9ve seldom met anyone so genuinely warm-hearted, so thrilled to see others thrive and succeed. He was so proud of his children9s accomplishments 4 and he was proud of yours, too. About the only thing that could obviate his compas- sion and love for his fellow man was seeing Man dam- age and destroy his beloved natural world. For those who would deliberately and wantonly destroy Nature, he reserved a fiery and righ- teous anger. But even when he had to be a warrior, he was a happy one 4 and he knew that the best way to combat a destructive mentality is to educate people and imbue in them an understanding and appreciation for its joys and wondrous beauty. Jim is a teacher, perhaps above all else 4 formally, through his writing and simply through casual conversation. We should all do so well as to fill 92 years of life with real living, as Jim Anderson has. We shared a love for the poetry of Robert W. Service, and it9s fitting that he signed off with a favorite passage: The World9s all right; serene I sit, And joy that I am part of it; And put my trust in Nature9s plan, And try to aid her all I can; Content to pass, if in my place I9ve served the uplift of the Race. Truth! Beauty! Love! O Radiant Day 4 What ho! The World9s all right, I say. Editor9s note: We are entering the cauldron of an elec- tion cycle that may be as heated as any in American history. The Nugget welcomes opinion from across the political spectrum, and we expect those opinions to be vigor- ously expressed. Argue for persuasion, not for provocation; refrain from name-calling or personal attacks on other letter-writers. Letters addressing local and regional races/issues will be given priority. Repetitive or form letters will not be published and vol- ume may dictate that the number of letters from a single person be restricted. Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief s s s To the Editor: NO on Bonham. By now, we9re all probably less than enthusiastic about another Zoom meeting. We miss our friends and family and colleagues. Seeing them on a screen just isn9t the same as being with them in person. But the reality is, videoconferencing or virtual meetings are drastically reducing the spread of COVID-19 and saving lives. This is why I9m really disappointed in Representative Daniel Bonham (HD 59), for voting NO on HB 4212, which authorizes public governing bodies to conduct all pub- lic meetings by phone or videoconference. Fortunately it passed without his vote, as all Democrats and a majority of Republicans voted for it. Does Mr. Bonham not recognize that we have a serious crisis and we need to act accordingly? Meeting remotely will slow the spread of a COVID-19, which has already killed more than 150,000 Americans. There is no logical reason to vote against such a bill during a worldwide pandemic, while case numbers are still increasing here in Oregon, unless he is ignoring medical science. Perhaps Mr. Bonham believes the president when he See LETTERS on page 6 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Monday Sunday Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny 87/51 86/50 91/53 85/47 76/46 75/47 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Email: editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Creative Director: Jess Draper Community Marketing Partner: Vicki Curlett Classifieds & Circulation: Lisa May Owner: J. Louis Mullen The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $55; six months (or less), $30. 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