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
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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
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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