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SATURDAY EDITION
❘ JUNE 18, 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 June 25, 1876, near Montana’s Little
Bighorn River, Indians led by Sioux chiefs
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull wipe out Lt. Col.
George Custer and much of his 7th Cavalry.
Within an hour, Custer and all 215 of his sol-
diers were dead. Although the Sioux and
Cheyenne fought to maintain their traditional
ways, within five years almost all would be
confined to reservations.
On June 22, 1906, writer and pilot Anne
Morrow Lindbergh (wife of aviator Charles
Lindbergh) is born in New Jersey. She later
published several books about her experiences,
including “North to the Orient” (1935).
On June 26, 1948, the Berlin Airlift begins
as U.S. and British aircraft deliver food and
supplies after the city is isolated by a Soviet
blockade. By July 15, an average 2,500 tons of
supplies were being flown in each day, with
planes landing every 4 minutes.
LETTERS
Thank you, Florence
I would like to express a very deep and
heartfelt thank you to everyone who came out
to support the 109th Rhododendron Grand
Floral Parade on Sunday, May 22. Being a part
of the parade was made even more special by
the positive comments and cheers we received
from so many of you.
I have the honor of being not only the direc-
tor of bands at Oregon City High School, but
I am also a 2001 graduate of Siuslaw High
School. Having the opportunity to bring my
students back to enjoy the splendor and beau-
ty of Florence is even more special for me
because I get to see all of the changes that
have happened to my hometown.
The students were impressed by the positive
support from everyone on the parade route. I
was grateful for seeing so many of you I
remember from growing up in Florence;
teachers, friends, community leaders and chil-
dren of former classmates lined the parade
route, and many of you even came out to say
hello. I know I missed some of you, but please
know I was grateful to get the opportunity to
see so many of you.
Thank you from the Oregon City High
School Pioneer Scarlet Brigade, thank you
from our students, school and community of
Oregon City for the gracious hospitality, well-
organized parade, and “hometown welcome”
we received. We look forward to coming back
and being a part of the Rhody Festival.
Dana M. Henson
Oregon City
Lessons learned
I am heartened that the voting populace did
not give into the tremendous effort mounted
by the Siuslaw School Board to ratify the lat-
est bond proposal. Any education levy that
seeks to exempt itself from 11 and 11b of the
Oregon Constitution should be immediately
rejected by the tax-paying public.
If you aren’t familiar with these sections, take
a quick look online — these are the only protec-
tions in place that keep our education taxes at a
maximum of 45 percent of our total taxes paid.
We should never forfeit them, and frankly, we
should never have been asked to forfeit them
This school bond had a PAC (Political
Action Committee) funding media messages
in favor of the bond. I’ve never seen that done
before, anywhere, and I hope to never again.
We are a small community trying to make a
big decision — this was overkill.
School issues, and their funding, need to be
approached through community dialogue so that
consensus can be reached on the best path for-
ward, prior to placing a measure on a ballot. That
takes time, and now we have that time.
Mary Jo Leach
Dunes City
Initiative process protected
On June 3, Circuit Court Judge Charles
Carlson agreed that the Lane County Clerk’s
determination that Community Rights Lane
County’s initiative petition, the Right of Local
Community
Self-Government
Charter
Amendment, meets pre-election requirements
and that “Bringing this ballot initiative into a
hearing before any signatures have even been
gathered is an attack on our rights and an
obstacle to the democratic process.”
The judge ruled in our favor and against
corporate interests when he found that initia-
tive measures are meant to be addressed
quickly at a county level and not subject to
appeal processes, which can take years to
come before the courts and significantly delay
the actual voting on the measure.
Community Rights Lane County success-
fully defended the people’s right of protection
and access to the initiative process in Lane
County. This authorizes all citizens to assert
our rights to write and pass laws to protect our
communities from corporate interference,
influence and harms.
CRLC can now proceed to circulate our
petition, the Right of Local Community Self-
Government, for the 2017 ballot.
Please join us. We need volunteers to step
up and gather signatures or participate in any
other grassroots activities that you are com-
fortable with. Contact: connect@Community
RightsLaneCounty.org.
Laura M. Ohanian & Robin Bloomgarden
Chief Petitioners, Eugene
Who’s to blame?
OK. I give up. We are all very distraught
over the tragedy in Orlando. While there is
only a little portion of the blame pointing
toward ISIS, there is a vast majority of the
problem centered right here in our country.
We are enjoying the clashing of two politi-
cal parties, who thrive on calling each other by
nasty names, use snotty little comments about
the heritage of their opponents, seriously
question the value of their opponent’s spouse,
the ability of their opponent to tell the truth
about anything, and at the same time, maintain
the policy that if you tell the same lie five
times, it immediately becomes law.
At no point in any of these “debates” have I
heard anybody resort to using tolerance in ref-
erence to their opponent’s position. Instead we
see our leaders identify protesters as “bums,”
direct that they be beaten up and thrown out.
Is it any wonder that a person who may be
offended by a particular group feels that he
has the right to protect his own beliefs? After
all, he is authorized to own a gun, and use it
when he feels threatened.
We really must stop this screaming and
yelling form of debate and try to have some
intelligent discussions about how we can
resolve our problems here without trying to
change the rest of the world. That by itself is a
pretty tall order.
In the meantime, let’s make absolutely certain
that everyone gets all of the guns they want. They
don’t have to keep them safe, and if they are used
to kill many, many innocent people, well that is
the right of the shooter, not a problem for the gun
owner. It all makes sense to me.
Charles Pennington
Florence
No coordination
This is a follow-up to Carl Slusser’s Letter
to the Editor on May 18 (“Give Me a Break”).
I questioned a few months ago after ODOT
resurfaced Rhody Drive and why the resurfac-
ing was subpar with cracks and fissures
already occurring. I then asked why the city
was installing wastewater pipes at the junction
of 35th Street and Rhody.
There was no way that the city did not know
when ODOT was going to pave the road and
when they would start what is now an exten-
sive wastewater pipe installation on Rhody
Drive. What we now have are slow delays, but
more importantly in the areas that the pipes
have been installed the asphalt is above the
surface of the resurfacing and it is like driving
on a washboard.
Why was there no coordination and who is
going to fix this mess?
Win Jolley
Florence
On June 21, 1956, playwright Arthur
Miller defies the House Committee on Un-
American Activities and refuses to name sus-
pected communists. Miller’s defiance of
McCarthyism won him a conviction for con-
tempt of court.
On June 20, 1963, the United States and
the Soviet Union agree to establish a “hot line”
communication system, a step toward reducing
tensions between the two countries following
the Cuban Missile Crisis.
On June 23, 1987, Tiffany launches a
career-making tour with a live performance in a
mall in New Jersey. The 16-year-old singer’s
debut album gathered dust until she began her
tour of shopping malls, turning the album into
a smash hit.
On June 24, 1997, the Walt Disney Corp.
orders the recall of 100,000 already shipped
copies of an album by Insane Clown Posse —
on the day of its planned release. The Southern
Baptist Convention had threatened to boycott
Disney over the rap duo’s lyrics.
(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
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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
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WHERE TO WRITE
Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National
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Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax
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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