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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 2019)
AUGUST 30, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 Opinion Time for school Public schools open for the new year next Tuesday, Sept. 3. Sure many kids will bemoan the fact they have to be somewhere in the morning and the summer days of laze are over. Streets and curbs around and in front of elementary, middle and high schools will be fi lled with students. Parents will jockey with school buses to get their charges to the school en- trance. Drivers, whether fer- rying students or not, should be extra watchful for kids in the morning and in the afternoon. Kids being kids, when school is out they have things other than traffi c on their minds. Pedestrians have the right the way at all times, so every driver has to be responsible and keep an ea- gle eye on the street and curbs. This is especially true in the Keizer neigh- borhoods that have no sidewalks. Not all students will groan at the arrival of the new school year. Gub- ser students will enter a school with a cafeteria—the school did not have a cafeteria until now. Students were rel- egated to eating lunch in their class- rooms. There is also a new state-of-art kitchen. The cafeteria and kitchen are due to the $619.7 million school bond passed by voters several years ago that will see additions and improvements to schools across the district. While the Gubser School commu- nity will marvel at its new additions, students and parents at McNary High School will fi nd the fl ow of traffi c to be much less troublesome than in the past. Reconstruction of the McNary High School will make not only the traffi c fl ow easier for those cars drop- ping off students, but parking will be be reconfi gured. Though the McNary High School construction project will continue through September, 2020, students, parents and staff will be greeted with an enhanced entrance and front offi ce. Beside the addition of a cafeteria and kitchen, Gubser Ele- mentary will welcome a new principal: Tom Char- boneau. He moves over from Forest Ridge El- ementary. Karl Paulson takes up the helm at For- est Ridge Elementary in north Keizer. With all the changes happening at Keizer schools one thing remains the same: the commitment of School Superintendent Christy Perry, school principals and hundreds of teachers to deliver the best education. Earlier this week the Keizer Chamber of Commerce held its an- nual Teacher Appreciation luncheon. Parents can be secure in the fact that their children are in the good hands of those who have chosen education as their profession. Teachers at the luncheon introduced themselves and said how long they have been teach- ers. The veteran had been in the class- room for 40 years, many others for 10 years or more. That’s dedication. Some things, thankfully, don’t change. Kids are taught math, science, writing, reading and athletics. Our kids are in good hands in our schools. They deserve the best educa- tion they can get and they deserve to be safe on the way to and from school. They may not see drivers but all driv- ers should be aware of them. —LAZ our opinion How to expand freedom By E.J. DIONNE JR. Complaining about government —its failures, its corruption and, in the worst cases, its capacity to oppress —is both an American pastime and a right to be treasured. But a wholesome desire to preserve ourselves from foolish or tyrannical rule often devolves into disdaining government altogether. The underlying assump- iting process would make tion is that everything government undertakes is streets safer. doomed to be less effec- Mike DeBlasi tive, less beautiful, less in- Keizer novative and less useful than the work of the private sector. To the Editor: Yes, there are plenty of horror I read today that our stories about the misdeeds of public president commented bureaucracies. We hear such tales es- that “Jews who vote for Democrats pecially from people who run small are disloyal to Israel.” businesses and fi nd government rule My grandparents were born in To the Editor: books and the people charged with Poznan, Poland, of Jewish ancestry It’s long past time for Congress enforcing them to be, well, less than around the turn of the 20th century, to hold Trump accountable. It’s time prior to emigrating to the United for a formal impeachment inquiry. user-friendly. Let’s assume all of these stories are States of America. Here’s what we know: Donald Since 1972, at the age of 20, I have Trump claims the Mueller report true. And then consider another truth: voted in every election. I have vot- exonerated him, but Mueller clearly Nearly everyone also has a horror sto- ed for Republicans, Democrats, and stated in his testimony last month ry about dealing with a private bu- reaucracy—say, a cable or insurance Independents. What would Senator that he did not exonerate Trump. company, a phone service provider, or John McCain have remarked today Mueller’s investigation found a bank. if he was still alive and heard his extensive criminal activity, uncov- When a government bureaucrat party’s president’s comments? Yet, ered over 100 secret meetings and the Republican Party does not issue communications between Trump’s fails us, the response is often along the any comments, particularly Repub- campaign team and Russia or Rus- lines of: “Typical government.” But lican American Jews, denouncing sia-linked individuals, and found when a private sector bureaucrat fails us, almost nobody says: “Typical pri- this heinous statement. at least 10 episodes of obstruction I plan on voting for the candidate of justice by the president himself, vate sector.” This habit is one of the victories of the Democrat Party in Novem- including telling the White House of ideological conservatism. We rare- ber, 2020, to allow our president counsel to lie during the investiga- ly notice the moments when our free, to “go home.” Send him back. My tion. democratically-elected government vote will count. It’s unbelievable to watch the enhances individual freedom. It did Jeffrey Auger person who holds the highest offi ce so with civil rights laws on behalf Keizer in the land ignore the law when any of excluded minorities and for large other American who committed groups of Americans whose freedom those same crimes would be put in jail. Two months ago, Trump went To the Editor: I read the article about Doug on national television and declared Bish’s presentation to the TBSP. he’d accept foreign intelligence if it While accurate, I have an issue with would help his 2020 campaign— By DAVID CHAVERN News consumption is growing the headline, which can affect how yet another crime. Congress should someone perceives the propos- take him at his word; Trump pres- exponentially, but for the past de- al. And, as you know, perceptions ents a clear and present danger to cade, the revenue to news publish- our democracy. ers has been on a decline. This is, in drive policy. There can be no more excuses large part, because of the unbalanced The headline, New speed limiting process could slow major streets, could or delays. It’s time for our represen- relationship between news publishers be interpreted as a negative because tative to stand with the more than and tech platforms. But it will take longer to get around if 130 members of the House that that relationship could be your sole goal is unimpeded driving. support opening a formal impeach- changing thanks to the bipartisan introduction of A more appropriate and accurate ment inquiry. the “Journalism Competi- headline could read New speed lim- Barbara Lastfogel Salem tion and Preservation Act” by House Antitrust Sub- committee Chairman Da- vid Cicilline (D-RI) and House Judiciary Commit- tee Ranking Member Doug Collins (R-GA). A bipartisan companion bill Wheatland Publishing Corp. was also introduced by Senator John Neely Kennedy (R-LA), Member of 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Phone: 503.390.1051 • www.keizertimes.com Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate An- MANAGING EDITOR Eric A. Howald SUBSCRIPTIONS titrust Subcommittee. editor@keizertimes.com One year: The bill, which would provide $35 in Marion County, ASSOCIATE EDITOR news publishers a safe harbor in Matt Rawlings $43 outside Marion County, news@keizertimes.com $55 outside Oregon which to collectively negotiate with COMMUNITY REPORTER platforms like Google and Facebook, PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Lauren Murphy Publication No: USPS 679-430 could help news producers receive reporter@keizertimes.com the fair distribution and monetization POSTMASTER ADVERTISING Paula Moseley Send address changes to: terms we’ve long been fi ghting to get advertising@keizertimes.com from the duopoly. Keizertimes Circulation PRODUCTION MANAGER 142 Chemawa Road N. Because of their market domi- & GRAPHIC DESIGNER Keizer, OR 97303 EDITOR & PUBLISHER Andrew Jackson nance—and access to billions of us- Lyndon Zaitz graphics@keizertimes.com Periodical postage paid at ers—the major tech platforms set the publisher@keizertimes.com Salem, Oregon LEGAL NOTICES 2019-2020 President rules for news publishers and deter- legals@keizertimes.com Oregon Newspaper mine how journalism is displayed, BUSINESS MANAGER Publishers Association Leah Stevens prioritized and monetized. They also billing@keizertimes.com capture the vast majority of all digi- RECEPTION tal advertising dollars because of their Lori Beyeler facebook.com/keizertimes twitter.com/keizertimes unique ability to collect consumer INTERN Brooklyn Flint data across the web. Not disloyal for voting Democratic was hemmed in by a shortage of in- come. Just start with elderly Ameri- cans on Social Security and Medicare and move on from there. We don’t associate government with beauty, but what other word de- scribes our national parks or so many of our great public universi- ties? We rarely say the words “government” and “innova- tion” in the same sentence. But the technology behind the internet through which many will be able to read this column grew out of government-sponsored re- search and development. And ponder how many lives have been saved or improved thanks to the brilliant minds at the National Institutes of Health. We should worship neither the state nor the private sector. But after decades of refl exively running down government, we need to rediscover what it actually does, and can do. For this reason, I hope every 2020 presidential candidate—yes, I’m being optimistic about President Trump— reads the policy book of the summer, The Public Option: How to Expand Free- dom, Increase Opportunity and Promote Equality, by Ganesh Sitaraman and Anne Alstott. The two law professors are not interested in government tak- ing over everything. On the contrary, what they seek is to expand choice. A public option, they write, “pro- vides an important service at a reason- able cost, and it coexists, quite peace- ably, with one or more private options offering the same service.” Thus: You can use the post offi ce, or ship with FedEx or UPS. You can stay in a na- tional park or go to a private resort. You can use a public library or buy a book. You can head down the fairway at a municipal golf course or join a other voices letters Time for Congress to act A better headline country club. Notice that while public options are available to everyone, they’re espe- cially useful for those who don’t have a lot of money. Sitaraman and Alstott suggest new areas where they could be helpful: for health insurance, where the idea is already popular; for child care; for retirement savings to supplement Social Security; and for basic banking. The last could address the needs of roughly 14 million Americans, many with low incomes, who have neither checking nor savings accounts. The authors are under no illusions that every public option will work well all the time, and they acknowl- edge the diffi culties faced by public schools and public housing. But they also rightly insist that the problems facing both are aggravated by “Amer- ica’s intense residential segregation by race and by class.” Critics of public options might call them socialism. But as Sitaraman and Alstott note, “public options can benefi t the private sector.” They can create a more fl uid labor market by providing health insurance and re- tirement coverage that individuals can take with them from one employer to another, thus easing “job lock.” They can also introduce more competition into concentrated markets. Munici- pally provided broadband, for exam- ple, might provide a consumer-friend- ly alternative to a monopoly provider of high-cost, poor-service internet connections. “We think it’s not only possible but critical to take a pragmatic look at what government can do well,” they write. Such practical hopefulness would be an excellent antidote to the poisonous election campaign we’re about to endure. (Washington Post Writers Group) Safe harbor is answer to news business needs All of this has degraded the rela- tionship between news readers and publishers and rewarded low quality “click-bait” over quality informa- tion from real journalists. It has also greatly reduced the fi nancial ability of publishers to invest in newsrooms at a time when our society most needs great, sub- stantive reporting. It is simply not pos- sible for any individual news publisher to change the basic terms offered by the online behemoths. They are simply much too big and much too infl uential. However, there is power in num- bers, which is what we need in order to have a fi ghting chance. The anti- trust safe harbor bill would provide a four-year window for news publishers to collectively negotiate for fair terms guest opinion Keizertimes that would fl ow earned subscription and advertising dollars back to the publishers, while protecting and pre- serving Americans’ right to access quality news. Parameters included in the bill ensure that these negotiations would strictly benefi t Americans and news publishers at-large, not just one or a few publishers. If passed, this bill would allow our industry to more fully control our product by allowing market forces, not two companies, to determine how and for what price our content is of- fered. It would allow everyone from small local publications to major on- line publishers the opportunity to re- ceive a return on their investment and therefore sustain quality journalism, which is necessary for an informed democracy and civic society. (David Chavern is President and CEO of News Media Alliance.)