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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2017)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ JANUARY 11, 2017 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion LETTERS Corporate bullying in Lane County Democracy keeps on taking hits from special interests. Last summer, former state deputy attorney general and Eugene attorney Stan Long 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 Libelous and anonymous letters or poetry will not be published.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 attempted to grant power to the county commis- sioners to decide what initiatives Lane County citizens can and can’t vote on. This came on the heels of a June proposal by Eugene business owner and conservative politi- cal fundraiser Dennis Morgan to block any local initiatives that commissioners deemed not wor- thy “of county concern.” The community’s reaction was swift in telling commissioners, “Don’t dare mess with the People’s business.” The commissioners dropped the plan which many felt was clearly corporate-interest con- cocted. However, democracy in action was lost on Mr. Long, who went on to file a lawsuit claim- ing the county erred in approving an initiative to ban aerial herbicide spray on private forest lands in Lane County — in essence attempting to override the people’s right to govern them- selves over the interests of corporations. The lawsuit is absurd, largely because Mr. Long failed to voice his complaints within the clearly allocated 60-day window allowed. I can’t imagine the courts rewarding tardiness. The hearing date is set for Feb. 3, and I hope everyone marks their calendars to pack the courtroom. Mucking with direct democracy, whether by changing the rules in the middle of the game or gaming the courts, is bad news no matter what one’s political stripes may be. Muting people’s political speech and ulti- mately the people’s right of self-government brings us a step closer to the rule of the corpo- rate class. I won’t sit idle. Besides protesting this court A different reality I was bewildered by the assertions made by Pamela Richardson in her letter to the editor (“Not Grounded in Reality,” Jan. 4). She stated that the spike in hate crimes and bigotry are things she lays “...at Obama’s doorstep,” and that “since he took office 8 years ago, the deaths of law enforcement has risen dramatically.” This inspired me to check her claim. I went to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund Website. They list the number of law enforcement deaths, year by year, from 1791 to today. What I discovered was that during George W. Bush’s two terms, there were 715 deaths in the first term, followed by 660 in the second term — for a total of 1,375. During President Obama’s two terms, there were 594 in his first four years and and 489 law enforcement deaths in his second term — for a total of 1,083. There were nearly 300 fewer police officers killed during the last 8 years than during the Bush administration. These facts show a different “reality” than the one suggested by Pamela Richardson’s let- ter. In regard to hatred and bigotry — things that were also laid at Obama’s doorstep — most Americans, have heard President-elect Trump refer to people as “losers,” talk freely about grabbing women, call Mexicans “rapists and murderers” and suggested the creation of a Muslim registry. As a fifth-generation American of Mexican descent, I am deeply offended by this. My four uncles who served in World War II would also be offended. In short, he is pretty hateful in the way he talks about some people. This includes the news media, which he has called “disgusting” and “liars.” The Free Press was enshrined in the Constitution by our forefathers to place checks and balance on power in our country. It is chill- ing to me how he continually denigrates the press because it is something that many dicta- tors do. It’s our right as Americans to support who we choose. However, please don’t tell those of us who did not support Trump that it was Obama who brought the hate. It’s not factual and definitely not “reality.” Stephanie Spradling Florence The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or pro- hibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridg- ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assem- ble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Copyright 2017 © 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 case, I will do my part to make sure the the aer- ial spray ban and the right of local community self-government initiatives make it to the ballot and are ultimately voted on by the people. Corporate bullies beware. Michelle Holman Deadwood 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 202-224-5244 541-431-0229 www.wyden.senate.gov U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997 541-465-6750 www.merkley.senate.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. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.) 2134 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6416 541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732 www.defazio.house.gov U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5) 900 Court St. NE - S-417 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1705 FAX: 503-986-1080 Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us State Rep. Caddy McKeown (Dist. 9) 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1409 Email: rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us 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
