4 A
❘
SATURDAY EDITION
❘ JULY 9, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
DISASTER PREP
B Y D AVE R OBINSON
Special to the Siuslaw News
E
verybody likes to poke fun at the
government, especially the post
office. I have worked for the Postal
Service for over 30 years and have heard all
the horror stories, complaints and “sugges-
tions.” And yes, I admit, we do make mis-
takes, but we also do lots of things right.
One of the things we do well is keeping the
mail moving when nothing else seems to
be.
When Hurricane Katrina simply wiped
some post offices off their foundations and
filled others with water and debris, the
Postal Service was one of the very first
agencies to respond quickly and get the
mail moving in areas where other govern-
ment services were paralyzed for days, and
in some cases, weeks.
Each year every postmaster is required to
complete a Continuation Of Operations
Plan (C.O.O.P.). This plan lists the person-
nel who are capable of providing leadership
in an emergency, establishes an alternate
post office in the area if your local office is
somehow rendered unusable and forges a
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
Opinion
C.O.O.P.
plan to keep the mail flowing as much as
possible.
For those of us on the south coast of
Oregon, keeping the mail moving to and
from the region will depend on the bridges
remaining in service and the roads being
open, which in the event of an earthquake
may or may not be realistic. The experts tell
us a major quake will isolate us for several
weeks due to closed roads and bridges. That
will affect the trucks, which transport our
mail as well. Limited mail service could
possibly be handled by airplane or helicop-
ter until the roads are again made passable.
While I’m on the topic, your grocer’s
trucks won’t be able to get through either.
Experience in other areas has taught us that
grocery store shelves empty out within
hours of a major event. I’m not here to
scare you, but you really do need to be put-
ting aside some groceries.
For those who receive medication by
mail, this is another matter to consider.
Connecting with your doctor to arrange an
extra supply of needed prescriptions would
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
be something you may want to discuss on
your next visit.
Back to C.O.O.P., if you own a business,
do you have a plan to continue operations
without power? If an event happens during
mid-workday and your employees can’t get
home, is your workplace set up to provide
for their needs until they can get home? I
realize this is taking the conversation to a
higher level, but if you’re serious about
being ready, these are questions you need to
ask yourself. This would be a good topic of
discussion for your next staff meeting.
Asking, and finding answers for, the hard
questions now will lessen some of the hard
decisions you may have to make when the
time comes.
______________________
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.
Spectacular show
Defunding SHIP
Faced with the decline of good-paying mid-
dle class jobs, politicians call for retraining
programs to enable workers whose skills have
been outpaced to find a place in the new, glob-
al economy.
At the same time, the baby boomer genera-
tion, at the rate of 10,000 a day, is faced with
the challenge of finding the Medicare options
best suited for them. They have been able to
look to SHIPs, the federally funded State
Health Insurance Assistance Programs, (in
Oregon, the Senior Health Insurance Benefits
Assistance Program), for retraining in how to
navigate their new healthcare world.
SHIP is the only source of free, unbiased,
one-on-one Medicare coverage and benefits
counseling. Nationwide, SHIPs last year, in
effect, “retrained” 7 million Americans.
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
On July 14, 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett
shoots Henry McCarty, known as Billy the Kid,
to death at the Maxwell Ranch in New Mexico.
Garrett had been tracking the Kid for three
months after the gunslinger escaped from
prison only days before his scheduled execu-
tion.
On July 15, 1903, the newly formed Ford
Motor Company takes its first order: an $850
two-cylinder Model A automobile with a back-
seat. The car was delivered a week later. The
Model A could accommodate two people side-
by-side on a bench; it had no top, and was
painted red.
On July 12, 1933, the first three-wheeled,
multi-directional Dymaxion car designed by
Buckminster Fuller is manufactured in
Connecticut. It had a steel chassis and a body
made of ash wood, covered with an aluminum
skin and topped with a painted canvas roof.
On July 11, 1945, the Soviet Union prom-
ises to hand over power to British and U.S.
forces in West Berlin. Although the division of
Berlin into zones of occupation was seen as
temporary, the dividing lines quickly became
permanent.
LETTERS
Wings and Wheels: Wow, what a great
event! We really enjoyed this biggest and best
show ever. Besides the outstanding collection
of collector cars, we had 28 out-of-town air-
craft fly in to visit the event, including the
West Coast Ravens Formation Flying Team.
Many local Florence pilots also took to the
air. Sam Spayd’s Aero Legends provided bi-
plane rides and Apex Helicopter provided sce-
nic flights as well.
A real treat was the Erickson Aircraft
Collection North American P-51D Mustang
Fighter that took to the skies to demonstrate
outstanding aerodynamics, power and maneu-
verability; the reason this aircraft was so suc-
cessful in World War II U.S. Air Force opera-
tions.
Besides live music and dancing, there were
great displays by the Florence RC Model
Aircraft Association, British Car Club,
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue, Florence
Police Department, Western Lane Ambulance,
the Military Vehicle Club, the Oregon Coast
Military Museum and Reach Helicopter Air
Medical Transport.
Special thanks to the City of Florence for
sponsoring this event at our Florence
Municipal Airport and to the Florence-Siuslaw
Lions Club, which organized the event.
Events like this give us an opportunity to
see beautiful cars and airplanes and to also
learn about many of the great assets that serve
our community.
Larry and Crystal Farnsworth
Florence
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
On July 13, 1955, nightclub owner Ruth
Ellis is convicted of murdering her boyfriend,
playboy race-car driver David Blakely. Ellis
was later executed by hanging, becoming the
last woman in Great Britain to be put to death.
On July 17, 1967, Jimi Hendrix drops out
as the opening act for teenybopper sensations
The Monkees. The booking of psychedelic rock
god with the made-for-television Monkees was
the brainchild of Hendrix’s manager, Mike
Jeffery.
The medical insurance provided by
Medicare would be beyond the reach of many
if left to the private insurance market. To
many, Medicare is often a Rubics Cube of
options, regulations and instructions that are
beyond the grasp of many seniors.
SHIP state-based offices are staffed mostly
with volunteers trained to offer free advice
about subsidies for premium costs,
deductibles, co-pays and about how to choose
among drug and coverage plans, how
Medicare coordinates with other insurance and
how to appeal benefit denials.
They do this through confidential in-person
or telephone counseling, developing and dis-
tributing written materials and conducting
group seminars and presentations.
And it works. For example, Ohio’s SHIP
program received $1.84 million in federal
funding in 2015 and saved Ohio seniors $20.8
million; $11 saved by seniors for every feder-
al $1 spent. California’s SHIP program helping
1,247 beneficiaries in Orange County alone
saved an estimated $1.17 million last year
when SHIP counselors showed them, among
other things, how to switch to drug plans that
covered their medications. An average savings
of $935 per senior.
For those with no friend or family able to
help, the challenge can be daunting. Yet, the
cost-cutting
Senate
Appropriations
Committee, deeming SHIP to be an “unneces-
sary federal program,” sent to the full Senate a
proposed budget bill eliminating SHIP’s entire
$52 million funding.
Guesstimating from the Ohio and California
experience, last year SHIP probably saved sen-
iors upwards of $1 billion. It’s time to tell
Sens. Wyden and Merkley to reject this penny-
wise, pound-foolish decision and continue the
SHIP program for “retraining” seniors to cope
with their new Medicare world.
Arnold Buchman
Florence
Wonderful weekend
I sit here in total amazement. This has been
a wonderful weekend. An air and car show
second to none.
I’ll bet I told my wife 20 times that “that car
was the love of my life.”
The P-51 in the paint of one of the greatest
flying squadrons in history, which I have never
had the opportunity nor now the ability to fly.
The crowd at our new Military Museum.
The throng of people for the music.
The RC aircraft.
The fireworks, the flags, the fellowship. It
gets no better.
At this point, I had a lot of other items to
bring up, but I really think it is far better to rel-
ish what I have. I do have a lot to be thankful
for. Many thanks. I hope you had a happy and
safe Fourth of July.
Charles Pennington
Florence
On July 16, 1995, Amazon officially opens
for business as an online bookseller. Within a
month, the fledgling retailer had shipped books
to all 50 states and 45 countries. Amazon even-
tually morphed into an e-commerce colossus,
selling everything from groceries and furniture
to live ladybugs.
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
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Siuslaw News and will not be returned.
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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
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