Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2016)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ JANUARY 20, 2016 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 RYAN CRONK , EDITOR ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion LETTERS Thanks for understanding As many of your readers know, a Central Lincoln utility pole on Highway 101 in Florence was snapped in two during a car acci- dent this past Saturday night. The upper portion of the pole, including crossarms and transformer, was left dangling from the lines held up by adjacent utility poles. The damage needed to be repaired immediately. Unfortunately, replacing a utility pole takes sev- eral hours, and nearly always requires electrici- ty in the nearby area be turned off. In emergency situations, shutting off power rarely comes at a convenient time, and this was no exception. This event required us to turn off power to many homes and to several businesses and facilities with a minimum of notice. Thank you to City Lights Cinemas, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Grocery Outlet, the Arco gas station and to the Regency Florence Rehabilitation Center for their understanding and graciousness during this event. We would also like to thank the Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue Department and the Florence Police Department for their assistance, as well as the management and staff of KCST/Coast Radio for rushing to put outage notices on the air for several hours Saturday night, and to the City of Florence and others on Twitter for the re-tweets of our information on Twitter.com/CLPUD. Emergency situations call for staying calm and dealing with whatever happens with profes- sionalism and dignity. The citizens of Florence exemplified this Saturday night, and we appre- ciate it very much. Debra Smith General Manager, Central Lincoln PUD Remembering Bob Jackson I was saddened to learn of Bob Jackson’s passing. I’ve known him since 1999 when I reviewed his book, “I Was No Hero,” for Oregon Coast magazine. I then reviewed his other books as they were published and wrote an article about him as an Oregon Coastal Personality for the magazine in September/October 2007. In the article, I referred to him as Florence’s rough-edged Renaissance man because he was an author, artist and actor. I, of course, knew better than to call him that in person. As far as he was concerned, he was just a working stiff who had an interesting life. He authored three books: “I Was No Hero” (1999) about his experiences during World War II; “Hell’s Hole and Battle Beach: The Westlake Story” (2000) about what it was like growing up in the Siltcoos Lake area; and “For Love of a Car” (2005) about the World Famous Harrah Car Collection that includes more than 60 of his drawings. Siuslaw News readers knew him as a colum- nist for the paper. So, obviously, he was a writer. “I cringe whenever anybody calls me that. I’m not a writer; I just write,” he said in his self-effacing way in the article. “It’s never easy. I really work at it.” His drawings — especially of cars — were incredibly detailed. He was, indeed, a talented artist. He also enjoyed sketching people on nap- kins or whatever was handy. He did one of my dad after they exchanged World War II reminis- cences. It took him only moments. He even did one of me while attending a presentation I was giving. I also hired Bob to do drawings for a small book I did for my dad of his early cars — cars that had totally incorrigible behaviors that Bob captured perfectly. Bob also was an actor in his role as Harvey Hanson, a larger than life logger that he actual- ly knew as a young man. This was an ongoing role that he enjoyed for years as part of the Siuslaw Pioneer Museum’s Heritage Players. As we say goodbye to Bob, here is an appro- priate quote from the article: “I often thought that I should have taken advantage of the GI Bill. I could have become a lawyer or some- thing, lived in a ranch-style house, and dressed up in nice clothes.” Then he looked up with a grin and said, “My life was far more interesting just the way it was.” Judy Fleagle Former editor/writer, Oregon Coast magazine Florence Protesting the protesters It is amazing to read the protestors protesting the protestors — how it is against the law, con- stitution, they are terrorists, and whatever else they can think of. I have concluded that many of these letters are written with vile hate. “We are a nation of laws and they should be observed and followed” is their claim. As for the occupation of the empty building, that is probably against the law, as is the occupation of a town square. Did you protest the hordes of outsiders that caused something like $12 million in damages to city property in Madison, Wis.? Probably not, but you were there in spirit, weren’t you? Did you protest against the Occupy Wall Street crowd? I would not be surprised that Eugene, like New York, had a very large cleanup bill when Occupy Wall Street ended. Is not litter and vandalism against the law? Other than barricades and the illegal takeover of a building, I am of the belief that when the Malheur protest is over, there will not be mil- lions of dollars needed for repairs and litter. Yes, we are a nation of laws, but you all are OK with your government violating the law. If not, why do you keep voting for them? You must be all for it. Jim Selby Florence L ETTERS TO THE Praise for Peace Harbor I wanted to sing some praises for our local PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center. My son and his girlfriend just had their baby there on Sunday, Jan. 10. It was not an easy labor, all 23 hours of it. The day after her baby was born, his mom was saying how she needed to write thank you notes to all the nurses and the doctor. What does that tell you? I was privileged to share in the labor and delivery of my grandson and to see how the medical staff at our local hospital works in the maternity section. 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 All I can say is wow! The caring, skilled care they received was outstanding. The doctor was the best. I have heard from others in the community that we don’t have an ob/gyn, and they can’t do C sec- tions here, so the new moms go to Eugene to have their babies. Let me assure you that we do have baby doc- tors, and they can do C sections if needed (for- tunately, we didn’t). We even have a midwife here in Florence. I haven’t spent a lot of time in hospitals, including Peace Harbor, but the experience couldn’t have been any better as far as having a baby born here. It was so wonderful how kind and caring every single nurse and doctor treated this little family. After the general practitioner examined little Jaxson, he said if they didn’t already have a doctor for the baby he would be glad to be his doctor. The next day when I saw the doctor, I thanked him for being so wonderful with the kids and for offering to be the baby’s doctor. His response was that it was his “privilege.” Again, wow! How blessed we are to have this health care in our town. Sue Gilday Florence 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