4 A
The First Amendment
Letters to the Editor:
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ongress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press, or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com
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SATURDAY
JANUARY
31
•
2015
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
LETTERS
Logs in the surf
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
I recently went to the
Honeyman Park office and
asked for a permit to allow me
to have access to the beach so I
could cut firewood.
I was told the ocean shores
specialist officer was not issu-
ing permits. He did not think it
was safe to allow people to cut
wood on the beach. I think the
danger of a log rolling over
some tourist is more dangerous
than me cutting wood on the
beach.
Years ago the governor, Tom
McCall, asked the people to go
clean the beach of logs to make
it safer for tourists.
Last fall a tourist was
involved in an accident up the
coast with a log in the surf.
I have driven on the beach
for more than 50 years. I
remember when the road to the
South Jetty ended before
where the booth is now. If you
didn’t have a four-wheel-drive
or a beach buggy, you had to
walk, even to get to the big
dune.
I believe there is no such
thing as luck. What happens is
because of your actions.
The young man that was
killed by the police should
have gotten off the street when
he was told to. The parents
shouldn’t have given their son
a toy that looked like a real
gun. Then he wouldn’t have
been shot.
The choice is ours — if we
don’t take our medicine, drive
when under the influence, or
look both ways when crossing
the street, we might die.
What happens to you is
caused by you. So do not climb
on logs on the beach. They
have a tendency to roll in just a
small amount of water.
Virgle Bechtold
Florence
• On Feb. 2, 1847, the first woman of a group of
pioneers commonly known as the Donner Party
dies during the group’s journey through a snow-
bound Sierra Nevada mountain pass. The disas-
trous trip west ended up killing 42 people and
turned many of the survivors into cannibals.
• On Feb. 6, 1891, members of the Dalton Gang
stage an unsuccessful train robbery in California —
an inauspicious beginning to their careers as seri-
ous criminals. Bob, Emmett and Grat Dalton were
only three of the 10 Dalton sons. The majority of
the Dalton boys became law-abiding citizens, and
one served as a deputy U.S. marshal.
• On Feb. 5, 1918, the steamship Tuscania,
transporting over 2,000 American soldiers bound
for Europe, is torpedoed and sinks off the coast of
Ireland by the German submarine U-77.
• On Feb. 4, 1938, Walt Disney releases “Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs,” his first full-length
animated feature production. Naysayers, including
his wife, warned him that audiences wouldn’t sit
through a cartoon fantasy about dwarfs, but the
film quickly grossed $8 million, a staggering sum
during the Great Depression.
• On Feb. 3, 1953, French oceanographer
Jacques-Yves Cousteau publishes “The Silent
World.” Three years later, the film version was
released to world acclaim. The film, which
revealed the hidden universe of tropical fish,
whales and walruses, won Best Documentary at the
Academy Awards.
• On Feb. 7, 1984, while in orbit 170 miles
above Earth, Navy Capt. Bruce McCandless
becomes the first human being to fly untethered in
space when he exits the U.S. space shuttle
Challenger and maneuvers freely. McCandless
orbited Earth in tangent with the shuttle at speeds
greater than 17,500 mph.
• On Feb. 8, 1990, singer-songwriter Del
Shannon (“Runaway” and “Hats Off to Larry”)
commits suicide while in the midst of a comeback.
Shannon’s widow would later file a high-profile
lawsuit against Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of the
antidepressant Prozac, which Shannon had begun
taking shortly before his suicide.
(c) 2015 King Features Synd., Inc.
VIEW FROM UPRIVER
Survey of communities revealing
W ESLEY V OTH
For the Siuslaw News
T
his winter continues to be drier than
what is typical, the river consequently
lower, except for brief periods when
neither is true. My bees forage outside the
hive whenever the temperature warms to 50
degrees or more, which has often been true for
many days in a row this winter. There hasn’t
been a prolonged period of dormancy yet this
year.
It seems to me that there are fewer people
than usual pursuing steelhead, but my per-
spective may be skewed because one of the
people I used to see many if not most days the
USPS# 497-660
river was fishable — Norman Beers —
died last spring. His absence makes this
season feel quite different.
I frequently run into people who tell
me they are serious birders; what they
mean is that they have a confirmed
glimpse of 500 or so species and checked
these off their lifetime lists. I confess that
I don’t keep a list. And am happiest in my bird
appreciation when I observe an old favorite
doing something I haven’t witnessed before,
such as listening from 5 feet away to a lone
American robin in the pre-dawn of a frigid
Denver suburb whisper whistle its spring ter-
ritorial song, beak shut, its only movement a
tiny twitching in tail and wingtips.
Under the umbrella of the Ford Family
Foundation, the Ford Institute for Community
Building offers training programs that pre-
dominantly benefit small communities in rural
Oregon. The Institute recently conducted a
things they appreciated; in fact only 21 of the
662 people did so. Also low were “good place
to raise children” and “nice place to retire.”
At the end of the survey people were asked
to reflect on the answers they had given as to
who they are, what they value, what if any
local governance is functional and to list what
they think their most critical community needs
are.
Here communities differ somewhat, but the
top answers were Youth and Education
(Deadwood, 38 percent; Swisshome, 39 per-
cent; Mapleton, 58 percent; and Florence, 36
percent) and Economy and Business
(Deadwood, 54 percent; Swisshome, 50 per-
cent; Mapleton, 43 percent; and Florence, 52
percent). Or in other words, for Mapleton it
was youth first, then the economy; for the oth-
ers it was economy first, then youth.
No other concerns, be they Public
Safety/Government/Infrastructure, Health and
Human Services, Arts and Culture or Natural
World and Recreation, registered very high.
Survey results can be viewed online at
www.siuslawpathways.com.
Copyright 2015 © Siuslaw News
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WHERE TO WRITE
Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National
Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore.
Postmaster, send address changes to: The Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439. Phone (541) 997-3441 (See
extension numbers below). FAX (541) 997-7979.
John Bartlett
Jenna Bartlett
Ryan Cronk
Susan Gutierrez
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Jeremy Gentry
survey that got an amazing response from the
local communities of Deadwood (24),
Swisshome (18), Mapleton (81), Florence
(507) and Dunes City (32). It is hard enough
to write a sensible overview without resorting
to graphs, and for my purpose here I will stick
with comparing and contrasting the upriver
communities with Florence.
Except for Swisshome where the number
was just one third, two thirds to three fourths
of residents agree or strongly agree that their
own community is safe (Deadwood, 75 per-
cent; Swisshome, 33 percent; Mapleton, 72
percent; and Florence, 72 percent).
The thing most people value living here is
the natural beauty, and specifically clean air
and water (Deadwood, 79 percent;
Swisshome, 56 percent; Mapleton, 60 percent;
and Florence, 74 percent), followed by small
town
atmosphere/rural
environment
(Deadwood, 54 percent; Swisshome, 56 per-
cent; Mapleton, 63 percent; and Florence, 56
percent).
Hardly anyone in any of the communities
named their local school as one of the top
Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. John Kitzhaber
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us