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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2017)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ MARCH 15, 2017 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR Opinion ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respecting an estab- lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exer- cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. LETTERS A T THE MERCY OF OTHER HUMANS This letter is in reference to Mr. Yelle’s letter “Unnecessary Suffering” (March 8). Mr. Yelle is “spot on” regarding the huge number of baby boomers who, as we age fur- ther, could be diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Alzhiemer’s or other debilitating diseases. This is a critical issue, particularly with our current administration’s attempt to gut health care and L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR P OLICY The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as part of a community discussion of issues on the local, state and national level. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. 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, argumentative and anony- mous letters or poetry will not be pub- lished. Write to: editor@thesiuslawnews.com USPS# 497-660 Medicare, as well as social welfare programs. There will be less help as we age. One issue Mr. Yelle is wrong about, however, is animal suffering. He stated, “We do not let our animals suffer — why do we make our peo- ple?” Most kind people are naïve about the issue of animal suffering unless you receive news from animal welfare organizations. The cruelty is rampant. Factory farms and puppy mills are hell on earth. Domestic pets and farm animals are often not just neglected, but are beaten starved and forced to breed while being chained in backyards and forgotten. Kittens are thrown from moving cars or intentionally tortured, as well as dogs. It goes on and on. Animals and children are at our mercy. As we grow old and need more help, we will also be at the mercy of other humans. Let’s get it right. Linda Kanter Deadwood C HANGE DOESN ’ T COME FROM THE TOP I would like editor Ned Hickson’s article (“Congress is Still Asking the Wrong Healthcare Question,” March 11) in more papers. Put it on a link in your website so it can be easily emailed. He managed to simplify the healthcare conundrum into terms that help people ask more effective questions. In short, healthcare is not cost effective and there are people who have worked diligently for decades to keep it that way for their own profit. Change is not going to come from the top. It W ON ’ T BUDGE ON NURSES ISSUES I am a nurse at Peace Harbor Medical center and a member of the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) bargaining team. We are currently attempting to negotiate a contract with our employer, PeaceHealth medical system. We want PeaceHealth’s corporate office to invest in our community the same way our com- munity has invested in Peace Harbor’s medical center. The local administration has been good to us. However, in bargaining, PeaceHealth negotiators from Vancouver haven’t budged on our issues. Like physicians, it is difficult to recruit nurs- es to rural areas because of better pay in larger cities. We want to recruit and retain experienced nurses to care for our community. The cost of living in Florence is similar to surrounding cities, including Eugene and Springfield. Yet, our nurses earn 4.9 percent less than Scared Heart Hospital nurses. In addition, our community has few rental properties, which often means newly-hired nurses must commute long distances, live in campers or buy a home immediately. Since November, we have met with PeaceHealth corporate negotiators six times and have made no headway. To learn more and support local nurses, con- sider attending a community meeting at the Florence Senior Center Tuesday, April 4, at 6 p.m. Judy Thibault, RN Florence P OLITICAL /E LECTION ‘L ETTERS ’ POLICY Election-related letters must address pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers at-large. The newspaper does not publish partisan letters that promote or endorse local political candidates based solely on their record, reputation and qual- ifications; this constitutes paid political advertising. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes. This also constitutes paid political advertis- ing. As with all letters and advertising con- tent, the newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and edi- tor, reserves the right to reject any such letter. The newspaper is particularly sensitive to organized “letter-writing campaigns.” The newspaper reserves the right to reject any such letter. Write to: editor@thesiuslawnews.com Copyright 2017 © Siuslaw News Publisher, ext. 327 General Manager, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Marketing 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 needs to come from an informed electorate. For those people who believe such a change is impossible, they are supporting the beliefs that put us at the bottom of the list of healthcare systems of the 11 top industrialized countries in the world. What happened to “America First?” Karen Mahoney Florence (Note: Editorials are posted on the Siuslaw News Facebook page and website) Pres. Donald Trump 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
