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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2016)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion This October, let’s avoid the baggage claim together Anyone who reads my syn- dicated humor column knows I try to keep life in perspective through humor. In fact, I’d say it’s one of the reasons my chil- dren are still alive today. While I joke about that, for many years humor was also part of a coping mechanism from a childhood witnessing both verbal and physical abuse by the men in my family — specifically, my father and older brothers. It wasn’t until I became a father that I realized the impact that a childhood wit- nessing abuse had on me, and how some of those wounds — as both a witness and recipient — had never truly healed. I know this because I occa- sionally saw reflections of my father and brothers in myself as I fought to avoid making the same mistakes with my own children; I also know this because I came to realize that as much as we want to tell our- selves we can choose not to take any baggage with us on our journey through life, ulti- mately it’s always somewhere waiting to be claimed. There is no getting rid of it completely, only a conscious decision to leave it circling on the carousel. Especially for young men, their teens and early 20s are a time when they are defining themselves and establishing their place in what is still a mostly male-dominated world. At the same time, they are also trying to understand the intricacies of communicat- ing with the ones they love. How do I know this? Because, statistically speak- ing, I was a young man once. Trying to appear tough among your peers while still holding on to the part of you that is thoughtful and caring feels contradictory to what we’re taught about being a man. We see it in movies and advertis- ing; we hear it in music: Being But not of others. It means being in control of yourself enough to under- stand, acknowledge and accept your strengths and weaknesses. It also means never using your strength — physically or From the Editor’s Desk N ED H ICKSON a man means being in control. In charge. In command. Of life and our relation- ships. It’s a social stereotype per- petuated mostly through media and advertising because it sells body wash, music, movie tickets, clothes and video games. It’s baggage our culture has been carrying for generations. It’s true that being a real man means being in control. verbally — to overpower oth- ers. Particularly the women in your life, whether it be your wife, girlfriend, mother or daughter. A real man provides protec- tion, safety and acceptance; a weak man dishes out pain, insecurity and denial. In either case, they are reflections of your inner self. The question is: What kind of reflection do you want to see when you look in the mir- ror each day? At Monday night’s Florence City Council meeting, Mayor Joe Henry officially pro- claimed October as “Domestic Violence Awareness Month” in Florence. I made a point to be there as a show of support and was somewhat disappoint- ed to see only a few others in attendance. Each year, Siuslaw Outreach Services assists more than 150 victims of domestic abuse. As wonderful as our community is, it isn’t immune to domestic violence against women, men and chil- dren. I had planned to hold off on this editorial until a little clos- er to October. But if you’re anything like me, time passes quickly and, with it, the best of intentions unless I can plan ahead. So here are a couple of dates I hope you will join me in putting on your calendar as a show of support for victims of domestic abuse: • Saturday, Oct. 1 — There will be a special page here in the Siuslaw News with guest viewpoints on the subject of domestic violence • Sunday, Oct. 2 — The annual Domestic Violence Awareness March will take place at 12:45 p.m., beginning at the Veterans Memorial on the west end of Bay Street There’s no denying that the cultural threads of domestic violence are woven into the fabric of our society. Though we have certainly made strides in some areas by recognizing and discussing matters of physical and verbal abuse, that baggage is still out there circling on the carousel. As a culture, we must each make our own proclamation to do what we can to avoid claiming it. Write Siuslaw News editor Ned Hickson at nhickson@thesiuslaw news.com or P.O. Box 10, Florence, Ore. 97439. 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 or poetry will not be published. All submissions become the property of Siuslaw News and will not be returned. Write to: Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com LETTERS Deplorable I think I’m finding myself to be included in the basket! Last Friday at a fund raiser, Hillary Clinton referred to Trump supporters — half of them — to be a basket full of “deplorables!” That’s pretty harsh, to describe a group of people that way. Hillary Clinton isn’t consider- ing that these people who she is calling deplorable are blue collar workers who are keeping America afloat, working on cars, haul- ing truck loads of food across America, fixing our teeth, hauling the trash, and on and on. Two days later, we found out there was a cover up about Hillary being diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday before the 9/11 event. The lies just continue with her campaign. This is America at stake! Let’s get a grip and do even more than make America great again. Keep us free and make a future for our chil- dren. Donna Dobson Florence Grateful to City Lights Being a TV viewer who does not subscribe to HULU, I would like to give a shout out to USPS# 497-660 our little movie theater, City Lights Cinemas, here in Florence. It was one of few theaters in Oregon that showed “Eight Days A Wee: The Touring Years” of the Beatles on a limited basis. It was truly a blast from the past for us boomers who grew up with the “lads” to be able to see and hear the music and commen- tary on the large screen with thunderous sound. As one who viewed the movie twice, I am grateful to City Lights Cinema for being able to show Ron Howard’s documentary here. Thank you for your continuous offerings of art films as well as big name movie releases. Florence is fortunate to have City Lights Cinemas as a consistent source of great enter- tainment. Jennifer White Florence Guthrie Wilson, Florence Dumping on Donald Why is it that the media and political pow- ers that be, are against the most electable? Why is it that time after time the main stream media dumps on Donald and supports Hillary? Rolling Stone was anti-establishment. Now Rolling Stone can’t even express the other side fairly! Nothing about the important issues Show integrity country, I plead with you to hear your calling as you did in the first place. Hear the calling that sparked your desire to represent us. You and I know that until we overturn the Supreme Court’s wrong decision in the “Citizens United” case, and amend our Constitution, we’re stuck with horrendous wastes of money that candidates need to com- pete. Money is not “Freedom of Speech” in 2016; it has turned politics into the stupendous drama it seems to have become. So, those of you who still have a glimmer of hope for all of your original desires to aid the people, I plead with you to step aside from that drama and consider this first in all your efforts: “Will this be the best thing for most citizens?” Never worry about your contributors. They’ll either continue to support you or new contributors will materialize. If every one of you will ask yourself “Will this be the best for the most?” before every decision, then all your ventures will be suc- cessful — and you will show integrity. This letter is to all candidates for office, leg- islators, councilmen and councilwomen: I’m pleading. As they did in the early days of our Wendy Jarman Florence Copyright 2016 © Siuslaw News 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. John Bartlett Jenna Bartlett Ned Hickson Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry Donald is letting us in on. Our gross national product is less than 0 percent. Don’t we want our money valued? We are in slavery, with families destroyed. Both parents work and stepfamilies are the norm. The sys- tem is bringing up our children. You’ve come a long way, baby! Let’s do what Ron Paul set out to do and clean the barn and make government for the people by the people. There’s people in Congress for 30 years or more. Left and right are wings of the same bird and we are one republic for which we stand — we are one nation under God. This is why we are different than the other nations our constitution is based on the word of God. Let Donald Trump help us out of what we are headed for: One world government. 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
