4 A
The First Amendment
Letters to the Editor:
C
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
Press Releases:
PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com
WEDNESDAY
APRIL
29
•
2015
1 2 5 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y F L A S H B A C K
1890 ❙
T
T HE W EST
F LORENCE T IMES
T HE S IUSLAW O AR
T HE S IUSLAW N EWS
S IUSLAW N EWS
❙ 2015
his year marks Siuslaw News’ quasquicentennial, our 125th anniversary, a remarkable achievement for any business in a small
community like Florence. To commemorate this milestone, throughout the year we’ll feature some of the town’s history as origi-
nally published in the newspaper, including historic articles and photos from more than a century ago.
UFO sightings reported here Friday
O RIGINALLY P UBLISHED A PRIL 27, 1967
T HE S IUSLAW N EWS , V OL . 7, N O . 17
One of the unidentified flying objects
(UFO) sightings in the area was reported
Friday night, April 21, 1967, by Coast
Guardsmen at the Siuslaw Life Boat Station.
The incident occurred at about 10:15 p.m.
EN3 James Petr, officer of the day at the
station, first noticed the oval-shaped object
hovering about 100 feet about the whistle
buoy, with SM Robert Harrington, watch ten-
der, seeing it at about the same time. The
buoy lies one mile offshore.
Both men said the unidentified object was “a
lot bigger than the buoy.” Both said the object’s
upper half seemed bathed in a “pulsating” ruby
glow and the lower half in a gold light.
According to Dick Johnson, officer in
charge, there was bright moonlight Friday
night with visibility good at the station and
out over the ocean.
Harrington and Petr called Johnson at his
home, and Johnson estimated he arrived at
the station in about five minutes.
He reported that he saw the unidentified
object for about three minutes, but only in a
pulsating red light before it “headed north-
west at a pretty fast clip.”
Johnson said that he notified the Air Force
in North Bend of the sighting.
As one Coast Guardsmen said at the
Siuslaw Station after watching the object hov-
ering in the vicinity of the whistler buoy for
the 15 minutes it was there, “I see it, but I
don’t believe it!”
NEIGHBORS
Pull up, pull up
B OB J ACKSON
N EIGHBORHOOD C ORRESPONDENT
For the Siuslaw News
I
remember when someone telling
the same stories over and over
would be told “you sound like a
broken record!” For in the day of the
old phonograph, a crack or scratch on
the revolving record would cause the
needle to skip, and endlessly repeat
the same sounds. And I must admit to
quite possibly sounding like a “bro-
ken record” because of my never end-
ing fascination with the incredible
display of instinctive avionics per-
formed by the birds we see day after
day here on the Siuslaw River.
There are the sandpipers, only four
inches long. They appear only occa-
sionally and always in a squadron so
tightly packed it resembles a rapidly
moving cloud. With flashing wings, it
darts here and there, and then for no
apparent reason, abruptly changes
altitude. Sometimes they do a sudden
wing-over and swoop down to land at
the water’s edge. They scatter indi-
vidually to peck at the wet sand, pos-
sibly to feed on sand fleas. This for-
aging lasts only for a few moments
before they again bunch up and coa-
lesce into a seemingly solid mass,
catapulting themselves into the air
and disappearing.
We see dark surf ducks flying
upstream directly from the ocean. I
call them “race track” birds. Barely
inches above the water, the short
wings are beating so fast that the
image is blurred. They appear to be
going well over 50 mph. What is their
destination, and what is their hurry?
There are times when hundreds of
black cormorants in bunches of a
dozen or so will fly upstream, right
“down on the deck.” Just upstream
from our home and directly in their
flight path is a dock, a boathouse and
several tall pilings. At the last minute,
when what had seemed to be an
example of mass hara-kiri is avoided,
when inside these creatures heads
(which doubles as a cockpit) an audio
signal is blaring — pull up, pull up!
Obviously, wild things have
always had sophisticated “fly by
wire” systems that precede and quite
possibly surpass man’s greatest
inventions like all types of GPWS
(ground terrain awareness warning
systems), even EGPWS (enhanced
ground warning systems). These wild
critters have no need for air speed
indicators, altimeters or stall warning
horns. They have already been
installed at birth!
What logical explanation can there
be for the ability of birds like ordi-
nary seagulls to avoid mid-air colli-
sions when high above the earth in
that empty air, they are wildly darting
hither and thither in maneuvers that
would shame the skills of the best
Blue Angels pilots?
Expect the unexpected. A mallard
drake with a green head showed up the
other day. We have been here nine
years now, and although they were
common where we lived on Siltcoos
Lake, he is the first we have seen in the
river. One day I called Peggy to come
see a “penguin” standing strangely
upright and facing us on our beach.
Researching it out, it more closely
resembled a great auk; however, they
have been noted as extinct — the last
sighting was in 1852. It was undoubt-
edly a murre, which is classified with
an auk. They can dive to 500 feet and
only come ashore to breed.
I don’t know about you, but the
more I learn about life that exists on
this old world of ours, the more I real-
ize how little I really know about
anything!
LETTERS
Genealogical society at work
Here is one example of the excellent sleuthing being done by
members of the Siuslaw Genealogical Society. —Editor
A small, homemade book was recently found in Florence. It
was a girl’s family story. She was born in 1941, and there were
lots of old photos and information.
One of the stories in the book was about Colin Mac Intyre
(1804). This man was born into the clan Mac Intyrae. In Gaelic,
it is Mac Antsor, meaning son of a carpenter. The land this clan
held was called a fief. The MacGregors owned the land. Each
year the family had to pay them one white fawn and one snow-
ball. It was said the snowball was quite a feat. To get it down from
the highlands at that particular season was a huge deal.
The book was presented to me, and I was asked if I could
locate its family. I searched the Internet and found them. I
received a phone call less than 24 hours later.
The book is now on its way to the family members.
Pat Rongey
Siuslaw Genealogical Society
Florence
Level playing field
There’s change in the air. Hillary Clinton has added as a fourth
“leg” of her platform: reform of the present financial situation
wherein 99 percent of the monies created in the United States are
going to 1 percent of the population. She added “even if it takes
a Constitutional Amendment.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., says his only platform, should he
decide to run, will be to bring about change in the current inequal-
ity of income. He suggested that we need a wholesale uprising of
all citizens to prevent the rich and powerful “barons” from turn-
ing the United States into an oligarchy.
USPS# 497-660
That brave, heroic Florida mailman, who landed on the White
House lawn, surely echoes all of us in this quest? But what’s real-
ly needed is for the Supreme Court to have term limits. This way
a majority of an unelected group, secure in income for life, would
no longer be able to make decisions that change the whole fabric
of democracy in this country — allowing monies to flow unhin-
dered into the Congressional and Presidential races from the rich
and powerful, virtually buying the U.S. government.
Also, it would ensure the laws set up by Congress to protect the
rights of all citizens, minorities included, could not be tossed
aside allowing voting discrimination to go unheeded in individ-
ual states. What a change that would be!
Barbara Prisbe-Sutton
Oceanside, Calif.
Formerly of Florence
Cost of art
I have no idea where Harlen Springer, the president of the
Florence Regional Arts Alliance, is coming from with his pro-
posal for “Street Art.” He first stated that he wanted to start in the
port area with ceramic and bronze sculptures with a nautical
theme that would be eight to 10 feet tall and would be purchased
from $5,000 to $7,000. I hope this was in jest.
He then mentioned Leavenworth, Wash., and Joseph, Ore., as
thriving art communities that had “Street Art.” I could not find
anything in Leavenworth, but Joseph does have some wonderful
bronze sculptures in their town. How about Shelley S. Curtis or
Ramon Parmenter with their small bronze sculptures at $34,000
and $75,000?
Mr. Springer and the FRAA need to do a reality check on their
proposal to the city. There is no way in the world that they will be
able to purchase anything for the prices they are dreaming of.
I am a watercolor painter. An example of costs for me to do a
Beach patrol
I saw Jay Bozievich on TV this morning, April 22, saying that
the sheriff’s department was struggling with finances. Why then
can they buy quads for the deputy sheriffs to patrol the beach?
My grandson was run off the beach by six deputies on quads.
They said there was a 10 o’clock curfew on the south beach. I ran
the beach for years at night looking for glass balls. I never heard
of a curfew on the beach.
Maybe if the sheriff’s department was having financial trouble,
they could spend their money better. I don’t think much crime
happens at night on the beach. I also don’t think I should pay $70
a year for road tax on my motorhome and tow car that travels on
101 from Mitchell Loop to the Douglas County line.
Virgle Bechtold
Florence
Copyright 2015 © Siuslaw News
Publisher, ext. 327
General Manager, ext. 318
Editor, ext. 313
Advertising Director, ext. 326
Office Supervisor, ext. 312
Production Supervisor
Press Manager
DEADLINES:
Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday
1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m.
Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Thursday
1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m.
NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $71; 10-weeks subscription, $18; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription, $94;
10-weeks subscription, $24; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $120; Out of United States — 1-year subscription, $200;
E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $65.
Mail subscription includes E-Edition.
Website and E-Edition: www.TheSiuslawNews.com
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: 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
painting and display it in a gallery or art show for sale: If I did a
painting about 12” x 18” and put a price of $900 on it, would I be
wrong? If the framing of the painting costs $100, and the gallery
or show takes between 30 or 40 percent, I must charge to be com-
pensated. So that would leave me with $530. If my time is worth
$30 an hour, I would have spent 17 hours on the painting.
In fact, that is about appropriate. I spend more than half the
time coming up with the concept, planning the composition and
drawing and then in the painting process, changing things.
How much would it cost for an artist to plan and execute a
model to then be cast in bronze, and where is the foundry? How
about an eight-foot ceramic sculpture, and how much time it
would take to come up with a concept? Where is a kiln able to fire
something that large? Maybe welded metal or something of
wood, but could the wood stand up to time?
Win Jolley
Florence
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. Kate Brown
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