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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2016)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ DECEMBER 21, 2016 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion The importance of accepting what homelessness isn’t There are a lot of things we’re proud of as Oregonians: The scenic beauty that con- stantly surrounds us. Our generally progressive thinking on important issues. Being outside of California. Yet, amid all the things about Oregon that make us proud, there’s one thing I find it hard to admit about my beloved state. While homelessness has declined around the nation, Oregon continues to have the highest percentage of home- less families with children. Between 2015 and 2016, the number of homeless families decreased in 41 states across America while, in Oregon, we experienced a 2.5 percent increase — the fifth highest in the nation. Right after California. According to a report released in November by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), more than half of Oregon’s homeless families (60.5 percent) are without shelter, either living on the street, in cars or in tents with- in that scenic beauty I men- tioned earlier. As much as we want to tell ourselves that most of the homeless are drug addicts, criminals or suffering from mental disorders, the fact is more than half of the homeless living without shelter in Oregon — more than 7,000 — are either school-aged or dis- placed veterans. To bring it a little closer to home, each day, 92 students between the Siuslaw and Mapleton School Districts go to class, participate in school activities and finish the day without a permanent home to go to. The fact is, more often they are those whose faces we rec- ognize each day but who never say a word about their homelessness. They are moth- ers and fathers, sons and daughters. They are students, cooks, part-time employees, From the Editor’s Desk N ED H ICKSON As it stands, 4.3 percent of Siuslaw’s student body is homeless. By comparison, the statewide average is 3.7 per- cent. Before we can truly address the issue of homelessness, we must be willing to understand that the majority of those who are living their lives without a home aren’t those on the street whose faces we often avoid. unemployed veterans and sen- ior citizens faced with decid- ing between medication, food or shelter. By stereotyping the home- less as addicts or criminals, we insulate ourselves from the reality of homelessness, and how close we all are from a life without shelter. Truth be told, nearly half of Americans live less than two paychecks away from the kind of finan- cial crisis that could lead to homelessness. That’s not the kind of stereotype we want to think about, but one we have to be willing to accept in order to affect the kind of change that will, in turn, changes the lives of so many of our homeless in Oregon. Today in Florence, we have an opportunity to affect that kind of change by participat- ing in — and supporting — National Homeless Persons Memorial Day. It’s a day that has been set aside each year since 1990 to raise awareness of those who don’t have a place to call home, as well as remember those who have died as a result of being home- less. Between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., consider donating any of the following supplies (new or used) at KXCR Radio (across from the library on Ninth Street) or City Lights Cinema, 1930 Highway 101: Tents, tarps, sleeping bags, ponchos, warm waterproof jackets, blankets, gloves, warm hats and hand warmers, cotton socks, flashlights and batter- ies, fast food or grocery gift cards, canned foods and per- sonal hygiene items. While the bigger solution to homelessness in Oregon will require more than donations of food and clothing, our willing- ness to acknowledge the homeless in our community by offering support is an important step toward achiev- ing something else we can all be proud of as Oregonians. Write Siuslaw News editor Ned Hickson at nhickson@thesiuslaw news.com or P.O. Box 10, Florence, Ore. 97439. LETTERS I’ll never doubt again Imagine my surprise when I googled “Manitou Springs Great Fruitcake Toss,” and discovered that it really exists. I will never again doubt anything that Ned Hickson says. Todd Smitherman Florence Lesson to be learned Lost Valley Ranch, a proposed 30,000 con- fined animal feeding operation dairy, is plan- ning to open on 7,288 acres of the Boardman Tree Farm located in the Columbia River Gorge. It brings into question environmental and health issues, as well as out-of-state owner- ship of Oregon land. Lost Valley Ranch would be located within 30 minutes of an existing ThreeMile Canyon Farms, one of the country’s largest dairies, with 8,000 acres of land and 70,000 animals — which has already demonstrable visible impact on the environment. The gases from the ThreeMile operation are creating a haze over the Gorge. Adding Lost Valley Ranch will put a huge amount of waste into the ground and air. The data for these emissions is mind-boggling. It is L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR P OLICY The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor concerning issues affect- ing 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 guaran- teed 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 proper- ty of Siuslaw News and will not be returned. Write to: Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com USPS# 497-660 estimated that 55,000 cows produce a ton of manure a minute — a nonstop ammonia emis- sion. In addition to ammonia, cow manure con- tains hydrogen sulfide and methane gas, which are the three toxic materials of most concern. Gases such as ammonia and nitrogen are causing acidification of the gorge ecosystems. Oceans show this same acidification (and asso- ciated rising temperatures). So it is not just the haze that we can see, it is the toxins that we cannot see. While Lost Valley Ranch is not ThreeMile Canyon Farms, it will be another mega-industry owned by out-of-state families whose names I have been unable to find in print. At the Threemile Canyon farms, 358 prod- ucts were recalled (Two Willamette Valley com- panies, Salem’s NORPAC and Corvallis’ Stahlbush Island Farms both bought processed vegetables under the Organic by Nature label.) In addition to consumer health risks, lawsuits claiming minimum-wage violations, long work- ing days without breaks, gender bias, animal abuse practices, and workers complaining of respiratory distress such as burning eyes, sore throats and other ailments. My recollection from watching the documen- tary on this operation at City Lights Cinemas is that the animals were inoculated to protect them from respiratory problems. It seems the ani- mals in this respect are better protected than their workers. Violations of safety hazards resulted in 12 citations from Oregon OSHA, as well as pun- ishment for engaging in union organization efforts. I believe it is a sign of things to come if we do nothing and run the risk of becoming a big factory farm state We need to protect the state’s recreation, tourism and agricultural area of the Columbia River Gorge by not allowing another mega (CAFO) confined animal feeding operation in Oregon. We must protect human health and planetary health by calling our legislators and insisting that the permit for Lost Valley Ranch be denied. Those who do will be in good company along with organizations like the Columbia Riverkeeper, Friends of Family Farmers, Food and Water Watch, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Center for Food Safety, WaterWatch of Oregon, Humane Oregon, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, the Humane Society of the United States, Sierra Club Oregon Chapter, and Socially Responsible Agricultural Project. Nan Harvey Florence Praise for post office My husband Willie and I left Florence for a senior facility in California some three years ago. However, we have continued to request that Florence Habitat for Humanity send cards to family and friends on our behalf. It saves shop- ping, shipping, packaging and everyone is delighted to receive the elegant handmade cards indicating that a donation been made in their name. This year, I goofed and mailed my labels to a street address instead of the P.O. Box. Twice! I want to praise the Florence Post Office for 1) Returning the first package to me, and 2) Catching the second one after it was brought back to the facility, (undeliverable to street address, no boxes). Diane caught it and put it into P.O. Box., ensuring it arrived at its correct destination this morning. That’s above and beyond the call of duty! It’s just one example of why Florence was a great place to live. Our “bestest” to all of you for a Merry Christmas. Barbara Prisbe-Sutton Oceanside, Calif. Formerly of 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 By the numbers Just finished reading the latest edition (Saturday, Dec. 17) of the Siuslaw News and once again I see in the Letters to the Editor more folks who can’t seem to accept the Trump presidency. The main contention seems to be that Clinton won the popular vote by over 1.5 million votes — or at least more than President-elect Donald Trump. I can concede she did that. But let’s toss around a few other figures I think are important to note. If my figures are correct, there are 3,141 counties in which Trump won (3,084); Clinton won only 57. There are 62 counties in the state of New York, of which Trump won 46 and Hillary won just 16. There are 5 counties in New York City, from which Clinton won by well over 2 million votes. Those 5 counties alone could have accounted for her winning the popular vote. Those same 5 counties comprise only 319 square miles of the United States’ 3,797,000 square miles. Therefore, in a country that includes nearly 4 million counties, the folks living in 319 square miles of it shouldn’t be able to dictate the out- come of our national election by their heavily populated numbers. By popular vote, a few densely populated Democratic cities like Los Angles, Chicago and New York City could essentially speak for the rest of our country. Once again, this shows the wisdom of our very capable forefathers when they conceived the Electoral College into our system. Thank God for them and God bless America. Tony Cavarno Florence 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
