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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 2016)
4 A ❘ SATURDAY EDITION ❘ JUNE 11, 2016 RYAN CRONK , EDITOR Siuslaw News B Y D AVE R OBINSON Special to the Siuslaw News or the past several columns, I have been listing items to purchase to complete a 72-hour disaster prepared- ness kit. As I have mentioned, a 72-hour kit is only a good start. Fourteen days is much better and more if you can manage it. Building an emergency kit does not need to break the bank. Picking up a few extra items now and then will build up over a period of time and before long your pantry is filled with supplies that will carry you through a disaster. But for now, the primary plan is to “just do it” and a 72-hour kit is a great start. F Kit building: Week 7 defense. It’s less expensive than pepper spray, reaches out at least 20 feet and tem- porarily incapacitates anyone intent on causing you harm. 4. Sunscreen. 5. Granola or dry cereal. 6. Extra pet food. Also if your pet requires medication, get some extra for them as well. And don’t forget, your pet requires water. 7. Fire extinguisher. Be sure it carries the ABC rating. If you need training in its use, contact your local fire department. Tips for Week 7: Things to buy for Week 7: 1. Small tool kit. Include a wrench (slip- joint wrench like “Channellocks” or water pump pliers) for shutting off utilities, ham- mer, nails, screwdrivers, screws, duct tape, zip ties, etc. This is one aspect of the kit that can grow, swell and improve with every trip to the hardware store. 2. Signal flares. 3. Insect repellent. While we’re on this topic, I have recently read about people using wasp/hornet spray for personal Be sure to include pets in your plan. When you leave town, take your go-bag along. Disasters don’t always happen while you’re at home. At that point it becomes your “get home” bag. Keep your car’s gas tank above half tank. You never know when you get that call in the middle of the night to go visit your ail- ing, wealthy aunt in the hospital. Not a time to be out of gas with none available. Remember, survival is not a kit. Survival is a plan and the kit should be a part of your YESTERDAY’S NEWS plan. It is best to keep your kit in a single location, not strewn about the house, some things in one closet, other items in the base- ment and yet other things stacked in the garage. Try to set aside an area for all your gear and supplies. When the power goes out and things are mildly chaotic at your house, you don’t want to be searching in the dark for your stuff. Make sure the battery powered lantern is the most easily-located item in your inventory. The power seldom goes out during day- light hours. Flashlights, lanterns and other lighting devices are the first things you will want to get operational. Happy prepping! This concludes the seven-part series on Building Your Kit. ______________________ Dave Robinson is the postmaster in Bandon, Ore., and author of “Disaster Prep for the Rest of Us.” He may be contacted at disasterprep.dave@gmail.com. Visit his website for more disaster preparedness tips, www.disasterprepdave.blogspot.com. VIEW FROM UPRIVER Missing W ESLEY V OTH For the Siuslaw News –––––––––––– S ometimes a break from the political landscape, medical issues, any form of social media, even one’s own hearth and home, can be restorative. For me this past weekend was especially so because I was in the part of Oregon that I know best, an area in the Detroit Ranger District of Willamette National Forest near Breitenbush Hot Springs. Thanks to a special Forest Service program designed to better connect people to the public forests, my grandfather built a cabin there the year I was born (1952) and I have been there regularly and for extended periods all my life. He built the cabin so that his grandchil- dren might experience the paradise he believed was rapidly being destroyed, and to have some balance to a city life; it did this far beyond his dreams, changing the trajectory of our entire family. Because of it my father became a wildlife biologist and environmentalist rather than the med- ical doctor he had planned to be, and my generation have all chosen to live in rural places next to creeks or rivers. There are areas near our cabin that are still what we used to call virgin forest, and have remained relatively undisturbed by human activity. Most of the wildflow- ers, tree species, vegetation, butterflies and mammals from my grandparents’ days are still abundant. Missing, however, are most of the amphibians and quite a few of the birds I remember from boyhood or even two years ago. Some birds we always see that EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 DISASTER PREP ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ weren’t evident this time were gray jays, Clark’s nutcracker and wood- peckers other than flickers. We did not hear hermit thrushes while hiking in to some of the lakes we like to fish this time of year, and there were none of the usual waterfowl nesting there. Flittering over the lakes the most common birds in the past have been Vaux swifts; this year none. It brought to mind that when I was a child, the summer evening sky not only at our cabin but even in Portland was filled with nighthawks; by the time I was an adult, we rarely saw them. When I was growing up, going to any of the lakes in the Cascades following snowmelt meant cascades frogs breeding by the gazillion, and their egg masses and tadpoles. No more. It has been years since I’ve seen a single one. I also did not find red-legged frogs, tailed frogs or the juve- nile form of the pacific giant salamander, common in the past in the places where I looked. Of all the amphibians I used to see there, only the rough-skinned newts con- tinue to be abundant. I did see something I hadn’t before — honeybees at a high mountain lake far from road or any human-tended hive. One of my daughters who hiked in and fished with me especially loves wildflow- ers, and spent quite a bit of time photo- graphing old friends like northern starflower and its more delicate counter- part American starflower, bunchberry, twinflower, bear grass, inside out flower, coral root, wood strawberry, columbine, queen’s cup, penstemon and Indian paint- brush. Because going up in elevation took us back in time, in many places the wild rhododendrons were at their peak. The whole experience was rejuvenat- ing, the fishing wonderful, but the species missing even away from obvious forest plunder and destruction is sobering. MOMENTS IN TIME The History Channel On June 19, 1864, the most successful and feared Confederate commerce raider of the war, the CSS Alabama, sinks after a battle with the USS Kearsarge off the coast of France. After three years and 75,000 miles, the Alabama needed overhauling and was taken to France, where the USS Kearsarge was lying in wait. On June 16, 1884, the first roller coaster in America opens at Coney Island, New York. The coaster traveled 6 mph and cost a nickel to ride. The name Coney Island is believed to have come from the Dutch Konijn Eilandt, or Rabbit Island. On June 18, 1923, the first Checker Cab rolls off the line in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 1922, with some 600 Checker Cabs on the streets of New York City alone, owner Morris Markin went looking for a bigger factory and settled on Kalamazoo. On June 14, 1954, more than 12 million Americans “die” in a mock nuclear attack, as the United States goes through its first nation- wide civil-defense drill. The event stood as a stark reminder that the world was now living under a nuclear shadow. On June 13, 1966, the Supreme Court hands down its decision in Miranda v. Arizona, establishing the principle that all criminal sus- pects must be advised of their rights before interrogation. Ernesto Miranda had been arrest- ed and not told he didn’t have to say anything. On June 17, 1972, five burglars are arrest- ed in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. An extensive investigation unveiled a scheme of political sabotage and espionage, which ultimately resulted in the res- ignation of President Richard Nixon. On June 15, 1986, stock-car driver Richard Petty makes the 1,000th start of his NASCAR career, at Michigan International Speedway. “The King” would extend his record to 1,184 career starts before his retirement in 1992. (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