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. Idaho may not
always remain the conserva-
tive and largely rural paradise
that they seek.
(Jim Parr lives in Keizer.)
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If I could contact my de-
ceased relatives, specifi cally
my parents and grandparents,
I would write them a letter
to thank them for holding
steady to the task
and remaining un-
deterred
during
hardship
condi-
tions in the U.S. by
the Great Depres-
sion of the 1930s
and World War
II. During those
trying times, I’m
certain they went without a
way of life they most likely
had appreciated during the
decade before the economy
went to great depredations
while serving up serious
threats to health and life it-
self. 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