4 A
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SATURDAY EDITION
❘ OCTOBER 3, 2015
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
Opinion
NEW LAWS TAKE EFFECT IN OCTOBER
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
With summer behind us, the
Oregon Legislative Assembly is
looking ahead to the next session
and reflecting on the good things
we’ve already accomplished for
the 2015 Legislative Session.
While many bills passed during
the 2015 Session have already
become law, there are some new
laws that will take effect in
October. Among these are laws
that will support rural communi-
ties and create jobs, prevent sex
trafficking, provide reliable emer-
gency preparedness funding, and
help create a path to financial
security and independence for
Oregonians living with disability.
Below are a few legislative
highlights from the 2015 Session
that will become law in October
2015:
SB 777: ABLE Act for
Oregonians Living with
Disabilities
The Achieving a Better Life
Experience Act (ABLE) program
creates a savings program for chil-
dren with disabilities, or adults
with disabilities whose disability
manifested before 26 years of age,
allowing those eligible to set and
reach financial goals and become
more self-sufficient. On Oct. 5,
2015, Senate Bill 777 takes effect
and requires the State Treasurer
and the Oregon 529 Savings Board
to begin work to establish and
maintain a qualified ABLE pro-
gram. Senate Bill 777 aligns state
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
GUEST VIEWPOINT
B Y A RNIE R OBLAN
S TATE S ENATOR , D ISTRICT 5
law with federal law, creating a
path to financial security and inde-
pendence for Oregonians living
with disability.
HB 2643: Simplifying
Economic Development through
Enterprise Zones
Enterprise zones are an econom-
ic development tool used by local
governments to exempt qualifying
businesses from local property
taxes on new investments. House
Bill 2643 streamlines the process
for establishing an enterprise zone,
and removes the limit on how
many may be set up in Oregon at
once. This allows cities and coun-
ties greater flexibility to use this
proven economic development
tool. The Oregon Business
Development Department still
must approve creation of new
enterprise zones.
HB 3188: Predator
Management in Rural Oregon
Many rural Oregonians rely on
effective predator management to
prevent costly damage to their
livestock or timber. House Bill
3188 gives certain landowners in
Coos and Douglas counties the
option to petition the county to
form a predator damage control
district, giving these landowners
the ability to voluntarily contribute
to funding
predator
management
services. As existing funding
sources dwindle, this bill will help
farmers protect their livestock and
timber.
HB 3396: Healthcare
Providers in Rural Oregon
House Bill 3396 requires the
Oregon Health Policy Board to
study and evaluate the effectiveness
of existing financial incentive pro-
grams to recruit and retain health
care providers to practice in rural
and medically underserved areas in
Oregon. The bill will address an
ongoing need to attract and keep
qualified healthcare providers to
practice in Rural Oregon.
HB 2908: Preventing Sex
Trafficking and Strengthening
Families
This bill brings Oregon law into
compliance with the federal
Preventing Sex Trafficking and
Strengthening Families Act of
2014 that also goes into effect Oct.
1, 2015. The federal act was
passed to prevent and address sex
trafficking of children in foster
care, to extend and improve adop-
tion incentives, and to improve
international child support recov-
ery. House Bill 2908 implements
federal provisions in state law to
support children in foster care,
including: permanency planning,
extracurricular, cultural and social
activities, transition planning for
children 14 and up, and foster chil-
dren’s rights.
SB 262: Oil Spill Prevention
The Oregon Legislature passed
the Oil Spill Prevention Act in
1991. This Act directed the
Department of Environmental
Quality to prevent, prepare, and
respond to oil spills from large
facilities, vessels and petroleum
transportation industries. To fur-
ther prepare for possible oil spills,
Senate Bill 292 increases fees,
expands the uses of moneys in the
Oil Spillage Control Fund, and
expands reporting requirements.
HB 2171: Efficient
Government to Protect Critical
Services
House Bill 2171 protects tax-
payers from waste by reining in
tax credits and includes savings
from several expiring tax credits.
The bill also includes strategic
investments in the Working Family
Child and Dependent Care tax
credit to increase access to quality,
affordable childcare for working
families.
I look forward to returning to
our State Capitol in 2016 to con-
tinue to fight for Oregon families,
create a climate where local busi-
nesses thrive, and prioritize fund-
ing for our public schools.
Warmest wishes.
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
• On Oct. 5, 1892, the Dalton gang attempts
to rob two banks simultaneously in Coffeyville,
Kansas, but meets resistance from townspeo-
ple, who kill four of the five bandits. The gang
had turned to crime when they became bored
with their other career possibilities on the
Western frontier.
• On Oct. 11, 1925, novelist Elmore Leonard
is born in New Orleans. He decided to write
either Westerns or detective novels, whichever
would generate the most income. By the time of
his death in 2013, he’d penned 45 books.
• On Oct. 9, 1934, the St. Louis Cardinals
defeat the Detroit Tigers in the World Series.
The Cards nickname, the “Gashouse Gang,”
had to do with the team’s close resemblance to
the rowdy, dirt-streaked thugs who hung
around the Gashouse District on Manhattan’s
East Side.
• On Oct. 10, 1957, President Dwight D.
Eisenhower offers his apologies to the Ghanian
finance minister, who had been refused service
at a restaurant in Delaware. It was one of the
first of many such incidents in which African
diplomats experienced racial segregation in the
United States.
• On Oct. 6, 1961, President John F.
Kennedy advises American families to build
bomb shelters to protect them from atomic fall-
out in the event of a nuclear exchange with the
Soviet Union.
• On Oct. 8, 1970, Russian writer Aleksandr
Solzhenitsyn wins the Nobel Prize for litera-
ture. Arrested in 1945 for criticizing the Stalin
regime, he served time in Russian prisons,
forced labor camps and internal exile. His
works had to be secreted out of Russia in order
to be published.
• On Oct. 7, 1983, Sean Connery stars in
“Never Say Never Again” as the British secret
service agent James Bond, a role he last played
in 1971. The film’s title referenced the fact that
Connery had previously said he would never
play Agent 007 again.
(c) 2015 King Features Synd., Inc.
LETTERS
Selfless firefighters
The Muscular Dystrophy Association
(MDA) and fire departments across the nation
have worked together in the Fill the Boot
Campaign for over 60 years. The Siuslaw
Valley Firefighters Association has been an
active participant in this event for over 10
years and raised more than $12,000 during
this year’s campaign.
All money raised by our firefighters is used
to send local and Lane County disabled chil-
dren to a summer camp where they have fun
and are cared for by medical professionals.
The Fill the Boot Campaign is a function of
our Firefighters Association and is supported
by the fire district, which mandates they wear
traffic safety vests, receive a safety briefing,
use safety spotters, follow all traffic laws and
bring apparatus with them so they can respond
to emergencies if needed.
Before our Firefighters Association is
allowed to participate in this event, they are
required to register with the MDA, which pro-
vides them with liability insurance and assists
in obtaining permit approval with ODOT and
the City of Florence.
On a personal note, I am extremely proud of
the many SVFR firefighters who selflessly
spent their holiday weekend raising money for
a worthy cause.
The Fill the Boot Campaign is just another
example of how our firefighters willingly give
of themselves to serve others in need. We
should all be so good.
Respectfully,
Jim Langborg
Fire Chief
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
A ‘personal’ call from
Carly Fiorina
Today I received a “personal” (robot) call
from Carly Fiorina wanting me to sign a peti-
tion to prevent a 13-year-old girl from receiv-
ing an abortion without her parents’ consent.
Three questions:
1. Who would want a child of 13 to carry a
baby to full term?
2. Who impregnated this child?
3. What if it was the father or step-father of
this child?
When Carly — already lying about seeing
non-existent videos of abortions — wants to
petition for finding the pedophile who impreg-
nated this (mythical?) 13-year-old, I’ll sign.
Hopefully the Republican presidential line-
up will soon be minus one candidate who
can’t tell truth from fiction.
Barbara Prisbe-Sutton
Oceanside, Calif.
formerly of Florence
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.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten
or typed letters must be signed. All letters
should be limited to about 300 words and
must include the writer’s full name, address
and phone number for verification.
Letters are subject to editing for length,
Hats off to PUD
grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter
My neighbors and I would like to express
our deep appreciation to the PUD crews that
have been working for the past several months
in our Clear Lake/Huckleberry neighborhood.
They have done such a remarkable job in
removing and cleaning out the vegetation and
trees, it is a wonderful improvement for all of
us to enjoy.
Thank you,
Mary Jo Leach
Dunes City
is not guaranteed and depends on space
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Libelous and anonymous letters as well
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Siuslaw News and will not be returned.
Write to:
Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com
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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
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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