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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2016)
4 A ❘ SATURDAY EDITION ❘ JANUARY 30, 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 Feb. 7, 1881, plea bargaining gains favor in American courts when Albert McKenzie pleads guilty to a misdemeanor count of embezzlement instead of a felony. Today, over 90 percent of crim- inal cases are resolved through plea bargain in many jurisdictions. On Feb. 5, 1917, Congress overrides President Woodrow Wilson’s veto and passes the Immigration Act, requiring a literacy test for immigrants. On Feb. 6, 1928, a woman calling herself Anastasia Tschaikovsky and claiming to be the daughter of the murdered czar of Russia arrives in New York City hoping to claim the Romanov fortune. In 1994, DNA analysis finally showed that Anastasia was not a Romanov, but was in fact a Polish-German factory worker. On Feb. 1, 1951, the United Nations General Assembly condemns the communist government of the People’s Republic of China for acts of aggression in Korea. It was the first time the United Nations condemned a nation. LETTERS On Feb. 4, 1976, a 7.5-magnitude earth- quake levels one-third of Guatemala City, killing 23,000 people and leaving 1 million oth- ers homeless. Roads and bridges leading to the area sustained extensive damage, making it dif- ficult for help to arrive. Open lands When I drove up the North Fork Road, I see roads that I worked on in the 1960s that are either gated or barred. I do not see why the gov- ernment has the right to bar public access to land that is public domain. I have to agree with the protest at the wildlife area near Burns, Ore. I agree with the letter Richard Beers wrote (“Indian Creek Land Scoping,” Jan. 16). When I was a logging superintendent for Bohemia Inc., I stopped at a gravel pile where there was a group of men standing around. There were four vehicles parked nearby. I asked why it took four rigs to do the job at hand. One fellow said, “If we don’t put the miles on the rigs, the government will downsize us.” The only place that you can still go that there aren’t a lot of the roads gated or blocked is the Elliott State Forest. The land that has been taken out of the timber industry, because of a bird, is taking jobs out of the state. Virgle Bechtold Florence More about the walk-in clinic Regarding my Letter to the Editor in the Jan. 16 Siuslaw News about the local Walk-In Clinic: Two important features of our Primary Care Walk-In Clinic were cut due to length and I would like to resurrect them now. First, I have seen both PA Emily Pfaff and Dr. Clare Brien in Walk-In for issues that I wanted to follow-up on with each one, respectively, and have done so simply by requesting to be seen by them at the time of check-in with the Flow Specialist. This option to request the walk-in provider of your choice is always available — if the provider is in the clinic that day. That being said, the Walk-In works best when each patient sees the next available provider and that’s how I usually use it. However, it is nice to have the direct con- tinuity of care available when needed. Second, when I checked in with a severe shoulder problem, the Flow Specialist checked her computer, said Dr. Weinstein in Orthopedics had an opening and sent me directly there. Another time she said Dr. Howison had a cance- lation and I could see him instead of waiting for a walk-in provider. Being able to monitor all the other physicians’ On Feb. 2, 1980, details of ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation to uncover political corruption in government, are released. Thirty-one public offi- cials were targeted. FBI agents had posed as rep- resentatives of Abdul Enterprises, Ltd., a fictional business owned by an Arab sheik. schedules allows the Flow Specialist to note those cancelations and fill them with walk-in patients. That provides efficiency in the Walk-In Clinic and throughout the PCP Clinics. These two features are critical to patients receiving optimum primary healthcare on a same-day walk-in basis. I will say once again, it is only because of the determination and total commitment of Nena Harvey and her staff that we have this first-class, same-day medical care right here in Florence. Bob Horney Florence Asking for a healthy climate Many people, including scientists, agree that our climate is being disrupted by human-caused pollution. Certainly everyone agrees that pollut- ed air is not healthy. That is the bad news. The good news is that Oregon legislators established a policy in 2007 to reduce green- house gas pollution in the state to 75 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The best action going forward to help Oregon achieve this goal is to encourage legislators to pass the Healthy Climate Bill during the upcom- ing 2016 legislative session. This bill discour- ages pollution from utilities and large industrial facilities, and would create investment and jobs in renewable energy and transportation. This Healthy Climate Bill would enable Oregon to join the other western coastal states and British Columbia in powerful action to reduce the amount of carbon in our atmosphere. Please contact your state legislators and encourage them to support this bill, and join the Rally for a Healthy Climate on Feb. 3 at noon on the Capitol steps in Salem. Karin Radtke Yachats Work on Rhody Drive We recently had portions of Rhododendron Drive resurfaced between 35th Street and Heceta Beach Road and from Ninth Street to Sea Watch. Now, we have construction near the corner of 35th Street and Rhody, which I am told is a city- wide storm water drain system that goes across Rhody. Why was this not addressed before the resurfacing? I know the bump in the road where the pipe was laid will create a problem in the future, as will little potholes and fissures already forming on the areas that were resurfaced on Rhody that will soon become larger in the near future. What I thought was interesting is that the worse section of Rhody from Sea Watch to 35th Street was not addressed. Why are we getting inferior work on our city roads? Win Jolley Florence On Feb. 3, 1998, a U.S. Marine jet flying low over the town of Cavalese in the Italian Alps severs a ski-lift cable, sending a tram crashing 250 feet to the ground and killing 20 people. The pilot and navigator destroyed a videotape that had recorded their flight. They were court-martialed for obstruction of justice and dismissed from the Marines. (c) 2016 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