4 A
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SATURDAY EDITION
❘ SEPTEMBER 5, 2015
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
• On Sept. 10, 1608, English adventurer
John Smith is elected council president of
Jamestown, Virginia — the first permanent
English settlement in North America. Smith
had won popularity in the colony because of his
organizational abilities and effectiveness in
dealing with local Native American groups.
• On Sept. 7, 1813, the United States gets its
nickname, Uncle Sam. The name is linked to
Samuel Wilson, a New York meat packer who
supplied barrels of beef to the Army during the
War of 1812. Wilson stamped the barrels with
“U.S.” for United States, but soldiers began
referring to the grub as “Uncle Sam’s.”
• On Sept. 9, 1939, audiences at the Fox
Theater in Riverside, California, get a surprise
showing of “Gone With the Wind” as a second
feature. Producer David O. Selznick sat in the
back and observed the audience reaction to his
highly anticipated film.
DISASTER PREP
B Y D AVE R OBINSON
Special to the Siuslaw News
T
he theme for disaster preparedness
nationwide is, “Get a Kit, Make a
Plan, Be Informed.” Most folks are
on board with the “Get A Kit” part, now
let’s “Make A Plan.” We all remember fire
drills from our school days. Everybody
knew exactly where to go and how to get
there. There was no standing around dis-
cussing what to do. We didn’t vote on our
options nor did we argue. We had been
trained and if there ever had been a fire, we
had a plan. For that reason, deaths from
school structure fires are extremely rare in
the United States. Likewise, we should plan
for our personal emergencies as well.
When planning what to do in the event of
a disaster, we need to identify the types of
hazards we may face in our region. Here on
the Oregon coast, it is unlikely (although
not entirely out of the question) that we will
be hit by a tornado. Likewise, hurricanes
and winter blizzards are for the folks in
other parts of the country. We could have
severe winter wind and rain storms, some
flooding, or the big concern, earthquake fol-
lowed by a tsunami.
While it is impossible to plan for every
• On Sept. 12, 1940, near Montignac,
France, a collection of prehistoric cave paint-
ings is discovered by four teenagers. The
roughly 16,000-year-old paintings, mostly of
animals, are among the finest examples of art
from the Upper Paleolithic period.
Make a plan
contingency, it is possible to make general
plans.
The military knows that when the shoot-
ing starts, soldiers don’t necessarily panic,
but they don’t think as clearly as usual.
When the pressure is on, soldiers rely on
their training. Same thing happens with the
rest of us in an emergency. If we have a
plan, we can move decisively and save pre-
cious seconds, possibly saving lives.
Discuss with your family what to do if
the house is on fire. What steps would you
take to reunite your family if you are shop-
ping in another city while the kids are at
school and a disaster happens. If it is
impossible to get back home, do the kids
know what to do? Is there a friend who can
step up and take care of your little ones
until you can get home?
How about if the roads are flooded unex-
pectedly and the buses can’t get your stu-
dents home? Do you know the school dis-
trict’s policy regarding natural disasters? If
not, take a look at your child’s student
handbook and familiarize yourself with the
policy.
Not only do you need to plan for various
contingencies, but plan for various loca-
tions. You will plan differently for your
workplace than if you’re at home.
When the Twin Towers were hit on 9/11,
many stood around discussing what to do.
Consequently, lives were lost because of
wasted time. Have a plan, and if you need
to use it, act quickly, as in right now!
While we’re planning, don’t forget to
plan for your pets. One of the lessons
learned in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina was that pets are often neglected in
the chaos of a disaster. It doesn’t hurt to
have some extra dog food on hand, as well
as extra medicine, if needed.
So do some “what if” thinking about var-
ious scenarios and see what you come up
with. Remember, a failure to plan is a plan
to fail.
______________________
Dave Robinson is the postmaster in
Bandon, Ore., and author of “Disaster Prep
for the Rest of Us.” He may be contacted at
disasterprep.dave@gmail.com. Visit his
website for more disaster preparedness tips,
www.disasterprepdave.blogspot.com.
• On Sept. 11, 1965, the 1st Cavalry
Division (Airmobile) begins to arrive in South
Vietnam, bringing U.S. troop strength to more
than 125,000. The unit was the first full U.S.
Army division deployed to Vietnam.
• On Sept. 8, 1974, in a controversial execu-
tive action, President Gerald Ford pardons his
disgraced predecessor Richard Nixon for
crimes committed while in office involving the
Watergate scandal.
• On Sept. 13, 1990, the drama series “Law
& Order” premieres on NBC. It would go on to
become one of the longest-running prime-time
dramas in TV history — 20 seasons. The “Law
& Order” franchise was created by Dick Wolf,
who began his TV career as a writer for “Miami
Vice.”
(c) 2015 King Features Synd., Inc.
L ETTERS TO THE
E DITOR P OLICY
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to
the editor concerning issues affecting the
Florence area and Lane County.
LETTERS
Best kept secret
in town
A friend recently talked me
into riding our Rhody Express
public transit bus. Wow! Boy,
was I ever impressed! I had been
apprehensive to try it because I
was envisioning the old-time,
crowded big-city bus or subway
with all kinds of undesirables
crowding on.
Instead, I found that Rick, the
driver, was very pleasant; the bus
was not crowded at all; and it was
like having my own personal
chauffer drive me to go shopping,
or to a medical appointment, in a
really nice limousine-style, com-
fortable chariot for only $1. You
can ride all day, getting on and
off, for just $2.
The fixed route loop only takes
an hour to end up where you
started. This is going to be great
for me when the rainy weather
starts. I can get off the bus at
nearly every shopping center in
town (or gamble at the casino)
and get back on board after just
an hour to go home with my gro-
ceries or new fortune.
Try it! I’m sure you’ll be as
impressed with it as much as I
was. Don’t keep this convenient
service a secret — unless you
don’t want to share the fun with
your neighbor.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten
Contact the City of Florence or
River Cities Taxi for a time
schedule, brochure or more infor-
mation. Happy riding! See you on
board.
Bill Craig
Florence
Florence gas prices
With the fall of crude oil
prices, the residents of Florence
are seeing little benefit being
passed on from the local outlets.
There may be no collusion
between outlets, but if nobody
reduces prices, there appears little
incentive for any station to pass
on lower costs to consumers.
In Florence, gas prices have
dropped around 10 cents per gal-
lon, while in Eugene and
Medford the prices are around 25
cents per gallon cheaper than
here.
Florence did enjoy having gas
10 cents per gallon less than
Eugene, but with what appears to
be no true competition between
stations, they have to be making
far more than the previous mar-
gins.
Go online and email local
retailers to ask why we are not
benefitting from the lower prices
elsewhere.
Frank Keavy
Florence
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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: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax
541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com.
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