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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 2016)
4 A ❘ SATURDAY EDITION ❘ JANUARY 2, 2016 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 Jan. 9, 1493, Christopher Columbus, sailing near the Dominican Republic, sees three “mermaids” — in reality manatees — and describes the mythical half-female, half-fish creatures as “not half as beautiful as they are painted.” • On Jan. 7, 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries travel from England to France in a gas balloon, becoming the first to cross the English Channel by air. They nearly crashed as their balloon was weighed down by extraneous supplies such as silk-covered oars. • On Jan. 4, 1847, Samuel Colt rescues his faltering gun company by winning a contract to provide the U.S. government with 1,000 of his .44 caliber revolvers. The heart of Colt’s inven- tion was a mechanism that combined a single rifled barrel with a revolving chamber that held five or six shots. • On Jan. 8, 1867, Congress overrides President Andrew Johnson’s veto of a bill granting all adult male citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote. It was the first law in American history to grant black men the right to vote. LETTERS Going above the call of duty On Friday, Dec. 18, I was standing at the dock at Mercer Lake Resort. It was about 8 a.m. We had torrential wind and rain for days. As I was standing there, I saw a jet ski being operated on the lake, heading for the dock. I wondered who would be crazy enough to be out in this weather. As it got closer, I could see a man wearing a sweater and tie under a rain jacket. Now, I was really puzzled. Finally, he got close enough and I recognized Dr. Bruce Wantanabe. I asked what he was doing out in such horrible weather. He informed me of the landslide that had taken place about 3:15 a.m., closed down Mercer Lake Road and taken the life of a resident. Dr. Wantanabe, showing true dedication to his profession, stated that he needed to get to work. A member of his staff was enroute to pick him up at the resort. He asked to leave his jet ski secured at the dock and was, of course, given permission by the gracious owners, Jim and Patty Tonole. What a marvelous showing of his dedica- tion to his patients and profession. Dr. Wantanabe should be recognized for being a special person and going above and beyond the call of duty. John Ingram Florence More DAV drivers needed Many veterans struggle in the weeks, months and years after their military service. The Department of Veterans Affairs currently has 152 medical centers and serves some 8.76 million veterans on a yearly basis. To that end, the VA provides life-saving and life-sustaining care to many people who otherwise would not have access to the affordable, integrative healthcare that they need. For some of these veterans, there are socioeconomic and geographical barriers to the care they need. To complicate matters, travel and transportation services through the VA system are sparse. I know this well because I work at the Portland VA Medical Center with the non- profit Disabled American Veterans. Here, I manage a small fleet of shuttles that help vet- erans get to their medical appointments at the Portland Medical Center. These shuttle services are free of charge to veterans, and are made possible by a small community of volunteers. Many of our volun- teer drivers are veterans themselves, or have family who served. All the drivers I work with on a day-to-day basis are dedicated, enjoy giv- ing back to their community and forge mean- ingful connections along the way. I write to you today to relay the struggle of our shuttle for the Florence community. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I have seen our Florence volunteer base whittle down over the months. As a result, we do not have the driver base necessary to properly serve our veterans’ needs. As we all pull more than our own weight to compensate, we are in desperate need of help. If anyone in the community is willing and able to volunteer, we welcome you with open arms. The veterans welcome you, too. Call 503-721- 7804 for more information. As always, if you are a veteran, thank you for your service. A’me Solheid DAV Hospital Services Coordinator Supervisor, Portland Values or Trump? One pauses upon reading recent letters warning Americans against humanitarian feel- ings toward Muslim families fleeing the horri- ble Mid-East crisis and expanding wars. Any one individual is certainly entitled to take authority, or pride, from the darkest prominence of America’s many historical warnings, however bigoted or racist, of other imminent threats from immigrating Papist Catholics, Irish, Germans, Chinese, Japanese and Jews. And for good measure, one could recollect the undoubted threats to a “way of life” repre- sented by the young, black children, broken and crushed in the basements of bombed out churches in Birmingham. But, in the 21st Century, one hopes for, one awaits, those credible civic, community and reli- gious institutions, which will consider, will hold themselves out, will offer themselves to some- what higher standards or ideals, while providing perceptible — audible — community expression that such values in fact remain — and that those humans, Muslim or not, on the far side of the world, do not stand alone. Rand Dawson Siltcoos Lake Take care of our own first Recently, we read that a man from Syria is receiving federal funding of $399 per month, plus an additional $194 a month, and is also covered by the Oregon Health Plan during his first eight months in our state. Then, once the United States approves and accepts a refugee, as it has this Syrian, it extends financial help to him and another 10,000 or more Syrian refugees to be brought into the United States by President Obama to try to ease their path into work, housing and permanent residency. There are thousands of homeless hungry families, some with children, including little babies, born in this United States and some who even have to sleep in the bushes, who cannot get assistance like that, and most of them are in this position because they have lost their jobs since our manufacturing has been sent overseas to China. We are ashamed of President Obama for not taking care of our own people first and instead taking care of refugees from other parts of the world first. Linda and Gary Neal Florence Monthly highlight There is something special in everyone’s eyes when you see teenagers and senior citi- zens visiting or working together on a craft project. This is what we see every time our local Boys and Girls Club comes and visits our senior citizens here at Spruce Point Assisted Living and Memory Care. We have this great opportunity and privi- lege every month thanks to the wonderful peo- ple at the Boys and Girls Club. These teens are so amazingly gentle and caring with our resi- dents and are one of our monthly highlights as we all look forward to seeing all of them. During their Christmas visit they made and brought goodie bags for all the residents in both our Assisted Living and Memory Care Communities along with a yummy dessert, which was served to them at dinner. We can’t wait to see what fun we’ll have in the New Year. A big thank you to our local Boys and Girls Club for putting smiles on our residents faces. Annette Poston Life Enrichment Director, Spruce Point Assisted Living and Memory Care • On Jan. 10, 1946, the first General Assembly of the United Nations convenes in London. Two weeks later it adopted its first res- olution, which called for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction. • On Jan. 5, 1957, in response to the increas- ingly tense situation in the Middle East, President Dwight Eisenhower delivers a pro- posal to Congress calling for a more proactive U.S. policy. The “Eisenhower Doctrine” estab- lished the Middle East as a Cold War battle- field. • On Jan. 6, 1994, Olympic hopeful Nancy Kerrigan is attacked at an ice rink two days before the Olympic trials. A man, hired by the ex-husband of skating rival Tonya Harding, clubbed Kerrigan in the leg in an attempt to keep her out of the Olympics. Months later, Kerrigan won the silver medal, while Harding finished eighth. (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. 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, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Libelous and anonymous letters as well as poetry will not be published. All submissions become the property of Siuslaw News and will not be returned. Write to: Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2016 © Siuslaw News John Bartlett Jenna Bartlett Ryan Cronk Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry 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; 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
