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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2020)
MAY 1, 2020, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 Opinion Thank you to parents, grandparents Opening amid COVID-19 Every crisis breeds its own white hat heroes; conversely, every crisis also breeds black hat scoundrels. Most will agree that the white hat heroes of the coro- navirus pandem- ic are the health workers—doctors, nurses and anyone who goes to work at a hospital or clin- ic. The black hat scoundrels are those who lightly dismiss COVID-19 as either a hoax, a conspiracy or an overblown fl u. The heroes, literally, take their lives into their own hands everytime they report to work. The Hippocratic oath drives physicians, nurses and the army of support staff, to care for those who have fallen ill with the virus. Un- fortunately, health care pro- fessionals are not immune; across the country many have died. There would be no celebration too elaborate or boisterous to praise and honor the health care work- ers of 2020. Those who refuse to take personal responsibility during this pandemic are not taking a stand for person- al rights, they are politiciz- ing an issue that is not po- litical. Nature does not take sides —it doesn’t know con- servative from lib- eral nor populism from tyranny. The coronavi- rus pandemic is not over. The curve may be fl attening in some areas, but it is growing in others. Some experts expect anoth- er wave of COVID-19 cases in the fall. The bottomline is that we must continue to maintain our protocols from social distancing to wearing masks in public. JetBlue is re- quiring all passengers to wear masks on all their fl ights. There are other businesses that should require masks, grocery stores in particular. Local grocers have insti- tuted limited numbers of people in their store at one time, they sanitize shopping carts after each use and even zaitz writes try to regulate traffi c pat- terns. There are still far too many shoppers not wearing masks. We would be up for opening the economy if we achieved a much higher rate of people taking responsibil- ity for themselves and others by wearing a mask when in public. With more than 20 million Americans fi ling for unemployment benefi ts since the start of the pandemic, we can’t go on like this for long. Allowing businesses to re- open as well as letting people gather in public spaces again must be accomplished in tandem with assuring every- one follows the new routines. Going to a park is one thing, how long will it be before people feel safe in a theatre? A sit-down restaurant? Life has changed due to COVID-19, but if it makes us more caring for others, more conscious of our own hygiene, life after this pan- demic may have some lasting societal benefi ts. (Lyndon Zaitz is publisher of the Keizertimes.) Will Oregon shrink? How does this sound: Coos Bay-Idaho, Crater Lake-Idaho, Medford-Ida- ho, Redmond-Idaho, Baker City-Idaho, Burns-Idaho, etc. Some of the res- idents of southwest, central and eastern Oregon, approxi- mately three-fourths of the state, want to become part of a greatly expand- ed state of Idaho. Should it become partially or totally true, what could be left of the Oregon that we know would be about the northwest quarter of the state or 14 of the 36 counties. That is, from about Eugene northward and the crest of the Cascades westward to the coast would be what is left of the existing state of Oregon. That is a change practically beyond imagination. Why do the residents of 22 Oregon counties want to join Idaho? The greater part of their argument is that the population centers of Eu- gene, Salem and Portland do not represent their cultural and po- litical views and values. They feel like they have little input in the governing of Oregon and that the state places little value in their way of life. And more clearly, the people in the three counties that border Idaho feel more geographically and econom- ically connected to Idaho. It might be helpful and meaningful if the legislature met periodically in the cen- tral and eastern side of the guest column state. Convening the legis- lature for a week or so fur- ther east would not be easy or cheap but it can be done. This could give our more rural residents the chance to have more direct input into the business and direction that state lawmaking takes. And they might then feel more like they belong in Or- egon and not Idaho. Idaho is changing. It is the nation’s fastest growing state and people from all over the country, including California, are moving there in droves. And they bring their own culture and political views, some of which are liberal, with them. 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During the period of the second world war, from late 1941 to August, 1945, they had to cope with ra- tioning of all items, food and material, and the constant possibility, at least during the early years of war, that the Empire of Japan would in- vade and overtake Americans on the West Coast. These conditions persisted -for my forebears and those of most other Americans- for 50 months. I would tell them in my letter of appreciation that I know from reading about what the Japanese and Ger- mans did to other nations they invad- ed that, if they and millions of other Amer- icans had not risen to hold forth and fi ght tooth and nail to avoid a tri- umph by Japan, we likely today would be under an emperor’s harsh- ruled dictatorship and most certainly required to serve Imperial Japan as its slaves and speak Japanese should we have wanted to survive, though in servile fashion. I would spend quite a bit of space in my letter relating the fact that a signifi cant per- centage of the current U.S. population fi nd it too great a hardship to endure some space and movement limita- tions on their freedom for the good of all, attempting to avoid a disease that has al- ready killed thousands, spares few in its wake and looks to carry on with its human toll as long as we ignore measures gene h. mcintyre to protect ourselves against its spread. Such is the picture of America now when com- pared to it less than a mere 90 years ago. With the value of the almighty dollar taking the place of the value of life for the current generations alive today, the American now wonders nervously, anx- iously what is to become of us, now a nation also with its Constitution, Bill of Rights, rule of law and way of life and living under daily attack by a collection of persons in high offi ce who care main- ly and almost exclusively for wealth and power over the health, safety and the very lives of their citizens. (Gene H. McIntyre shares his opinion frequently in the Keizertimes.) Ethan, Congratulations! We are so proud of you. Keep reaching for your dreams! sudoku Enter digits from 1-9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square. Love you! Mom , Rod, TJ crossword
