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
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to the editor as part of a community
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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
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letters to the editor column to outline their
views and platforms or to ask for votes.
This also constitutes paid political advertis-
ing.
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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
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WHERE TO WRITE
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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