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