4 A
❘
SATURDAY EDITION
❘ AUGUST 15, 2015
Siuslaw News
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
Opinion
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
VIEW FROM UPRIVER
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
No smoke yet, knock on wood
W ESLEY V OTH
For the Siuslaw News
e went to Sweet Creek Falls this
past weekend with shirt-tail rela-
tives who had never been there. It
had been a while since we had hiked the falls
trail with folks seeing it for the first time, and
the area was packed with others new to the
experience.
The water was the lowest I’d ever seen it, and
since I generally hold that waterfalls are at their
best during high water events, my expectations
matched the flow. Still, you never would have
known by the comments of any these visitors
that they were disappointed in any way. There
were lots of oohs and ahs, and over and over
again I heard people remarking on how green
and clean everything looked.
I didn’t see any hand-held electric devices
other than cameras, and there were kids of all
ages shrieking in joy and playing in and around
the water. It is always heartening to me to see
young people experiencing nature directly, and
W
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
so obviously getting the joy that our
species perhaps still inherently exhibits
in relating to our native environment.
Although to my eye everything about
the forest looked dry and screamed of
fire danger, there was no awareness of
such by any of the folks at the falls that
day, judging by their casual disposal of
cigarettes and use of portable charcoal barbe-
cues (where were those used briquettes going to
go in areas where there are not even trash recep-
tacles-tossed into the bushes still glowing?). The
orange fire restriction signs at the beginnings of
most forest access roads should probably be
duplicated in places such as this where people
need things spelled out. People who don’t think
of a charcoal-fired hibachi as either a campfire
or an open flame.
Visitors aside, those of us who live here
should probably be paying more attention than
we are to current conditions. There has been no
significant rain since the beginning of April, and
the Siuslaw, like all the mid-coast rivers, is at a
historic low. Western Lane County, like half of
the state, is in severe drought. Lane County this
past week was added to the federal drought dis-
aster list by the Secretary of Agriculture, echo-
ing the designations by county (first time since
1992) and state officials back in May.
Mapleton Water District, whose 240 connec-
tions account for a small fraction of those who
live in the Mapleton zip code, has no current
water restrictions, but pretty much everyone else
upriver relies on wells or springs, many of
which are low or dry. Response to the crisis
varies greatly.
TR Kelly, a blogger who lives on Stagecoach
Road in Swisshome, posted: “It’s official,
LeisureLand is going into water rationing.
Getting a pencil-sized stream from the spring on
the hill. We can still operate, but on emergency
levels. The garden gets all the water, by letting
the storage tanks fill overnight. Other uses
(laundry, dishes, showers) will be staggered as
supply allows. The river is lower than I have
ever seen. Seems the water table severely
dropped in the last week. We get drinking water
from the neighbor’s enclosed spring, he’s still
got water.”
One of her neighbors responded, “We’re all
watching the water levels. When you have to go
to Florence to do the laundry, it’s bad.”
At our house, while much has stayed green
without watering, there are woodpiles and
brushpiles left over from recently completed
projects, and are too near the house for these
conditions. I’m working at improving this every
spare moment I have.
This is all the space I can give this subject at
the moment, but a lot of information is available
at www.siuslaw.org/water-rights/ or by search-
ing Oregon drought reports.
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
• On Aug. 18, 1590, John White, the gover-
nor of the Roanoke Island colony in present-
day North Carolina, returns from a trip to
England to find the settlement deserted. No
trace of the 100 colonists has ever been found.
• On Aug. 23, 1784, four counties in North
Carolina declare their independence as the state
of Franklin. In defiance of Congress, Franklin
survived as an independent nation for four
years with its own constitution, Indian treaties
and legislated system of barter.
• On Aug. 22, 1950, the United States Lawn
Tennis Association accepts Althea Gibson into
its annual championship at Forest Hills, New
York, making her the first black player to com-
pete in a U.S. national tennis competition.
• On Aug. 19, 1960, in the Soviet Union,
downed U.S. reconnaissance aircraft pilot
Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to 10 years
imprisonment for espionage. Eighteen months
later, the Soviets agreed to exchange him for a
KGB spy.
• On Aug. 17, 1978, the Double Eagle II
completes the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight
when it lands near Paris, six days after lifting
off from Presque Isle, Maine. The helium-filled
balloon covered 3,233 miles.
• On Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik
Menendez shoot their parents to death in the
family’s California home. Although the broth-
ers were not immediately suspected, Erik con-
fessed his involvement to his psychotherapist,
who taped the sessions to impress his mistress,
who ended up going to the police. Lyle, 22, and
Erik, 19, were arrested.
• On Aug. 21, 1991, just three days after it
began, a coup against Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev collapses. The Soviet Union would
soon cease to exist as a nation and as a Cold
War threat to the United States. Gorbachev
resigned as leader of the Soviet Union in
December 1991.
LETTERS
Appeasement
I appreciated reading the thought-
provoking and well-supported letter
titled “Gamble Worth Taking” (Aug.
5). God bless America and free
speech! If we were down at Three
Rivers Casino playing “Texas
Hold’em,” I might agree that that is a
gamble well worth taking. However,
I believe we should call this treaty
what it is: appeasement.
The gamble here concerns appeas-
ing a radical Muslim theocracy that
has professed in more than “scur-
rilous profanity” that they hate
America, have called for a Jihad
against America and have threatened
Israel and its people with extermina-
tion.
Iran is recognized by our state
department as a main contributor and
supporter of terrorism around the
world. What happened to the admin-
istration’s stand on not negotiating
with terrorists? Are we betting on the
age demise of the hardliner Mullahs
(there are no young hardliner
Mullahs to take their place?), the
threat of mutual self-destruction, the
good will of moderate Iranians (the
term “moderate Iranians” might be a
bit of an oxymoron), and on the
Koran’s commandment to love thy
infidel neighbor?
Are we gambling that Iran will not
make or use the bomb they profess the
right to create and have threatened to
use against Israel and America
because they have a paper treaty with
the Great Satan? If we are to believe
what our present administration says
about our foreign policy, why don’t
we believe what Iran has and is saying
about their foreign policy?
Their words and actions have been
very clear. I think the well publicized
Iranian state-supported rallies where
hard-liner Mullahs preach hatred
toward everyone and everything not
of their religion, then encourage
mobs of people to carry “I hate
America” signs and then burn our
flag — message seems pretty clear.
Is appeasement the best we can
do?
Boomer Wright
Florence
Iran deal
Cannot tell you how much enjoy-
ment the Siuslaw News brings to me,
down here in Southern California.
The Aug. 5 issue’s letter “Gamble
Worth Taking” by Arnold Buchman
was the epitome of rational thought.
Not so common in the community in
which I live with the local newspaper
being very right wing.
Whilst it’s hard to believe that
Congress will screw up the Iran deal,
but also knowing the GOP — the
majority of whom probably will sit
around in another few years rubbing
their hands in glee as they get profit
from the corporations who provide
the ammunition for the conflicts —
are perfectly capable of doing so.
Sadly, such a war will also be tak-
ing out a whole new generation of
young people who would benefit,
with their energy, ideas, commitment
to improving life for all Americans,
not just the wealthy, who are milking
and controlling much of the way of
life at this time — and are never like-
ly themselves to be “boots on the
ground.”
How does one change the mindset
of a Chuck Schumer? Any sugges-
tions?
Barbara Prisbe-Sutton
Oceanside, Calif.
formerly of Florence
Parenthood
Abortion on demand is the law of
the land. So why all the fuss over
body parts of Americans that did not
quite make it to that first breath?
Abortions came into vogue during
the 1920s, when a woman, Margaret
Sanger, started the movement in our
country to eliminate or reduce the
number of less-advantaged children
being born in America. Eventually,
she was shunned by society for her
beliefs of and in a pure race.
In the modernization of America
some time after World War II, her
ideas were given new berth, and in
Roe v. Wade, her dreams became a
reality.
So many individuals of color are
being denied life that eventually the
race will be reduced to be inconse-
quential in the scheme of life in
America. In some of the latest stats
available, twice as many African
Americans are denied life through
abortions as compared to all other
means (murder, accidents, etc.).
So, is this a liberal cause or just
women’s rights? How did someone
so lacking of compassion and so
biased become the heroine of today’s
liberals? I ask this because individu-
als like Nancy Pelosi in 2014 and
Hillary Clinton in 2009 are both
recent recipients of the “Margaret
Sanger Award” for their contribu-
tions to her cause. In their acceptance
speeches, they both praised Sanger’s
courage and devotion.
Today, the liberals, through slick
media campaigning and effective slo-
gans, make Planned Parenthood into
a compassionate and caring alterna-
tive to childbirth. Is this really the
easiest solution for some of our eco-
nomic problems?
Jimmie L. Moe
Florence
(c) 2015 King Features Synd., Inc.
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E DITOR P OLICY
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Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
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Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
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Gov. Kate Brown
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Salem, OR 97301-4047
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Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
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Email:
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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