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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2017)
4 A ❘ SATURDAY EDITION ❘ APRIL 8, 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 T HERE ’ S NO ‘ HATE ’ IN ‘ LEGAL ’ I want to thank Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for not forgetting our town. I hope in the future they will continue to monitor our community. It is important that people understand that getting illegal immigrants out of our community is a plus. If what was written about the raids [Siuslaw News, April 1] was accurate, then we know that at least one job was opened up for a legal resident. It is also important to understand that federal immigration laws are not superceded by state, county or city laws no matter what is being said differently. The governor and our mayor may think as they wish, but it doesn’t change the law. I am amazed that anyone could asso- ciate hate with following the law. There is no hate in “legal.” Are we haters when we obey the speed limit? Or stop for a school bus letting kids off? Of course not. If the U.S. is to continue to be a bea- con for good, we must remain a nation of laws — not of men. If not, and we choose to simply follow the laws we like, that is when hate will come into play as people of little character destroy our nation. In my opinion, we got a taste of that during the last eight years and the results are with us every day. David T. Eckhardt Florence S IMILAR EXPERIENCE WITH PORT MANAGER The recent article “Port special meeting gets contentious” captured my attention. I had a sim- ilar experience with port manager Steve Leskin. L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR P OLICY The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as part of a community discus- sion 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 guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Libelous, argumentative and anony- mous letters or poetry will not be pub- lished. P OLITICAL /E LECTION L ETTERS : 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 USPS# 497-660 of darkness must have been planted deep into the soil of our land — and from it slowly and silently grew a hatred, an intolerance, an air of supremacy, an aggression and a fear that the “others” would take what was ours. That seed of divisiveness created a wound that has taken us over 150 years to mend. And now, just when it looks like all the hard work of several generations is going to pay off, someone picks the scab and, under the dark of night, plants another poisonous seed in our soil. This time however, the people were watching. Susan Weathers Florence S TEP UP TO THE PLATE FOR S YRIA My 50-foot sailboat, “Dharma,” a blue Pilothouse world class cruising sloop, was moored through the winter of 2015-16 in the Port of Siuslaw. All was well through the winter. In the spring I visited the boat (I live in Eugene) to do main- tenance. The shore power became intermittent, so I checked the breaker on the dock and it was becoming hot to touch. Upon calling the Port Office to inform them of the fire hazard, their response was that I would pay for repairs. So I scheduled a meeting with Port Manager Leskin to discuss the matter. My view was that this was routine maintenance of the dock. I was not responsible for the elec- trician’s fee to fix the Port’s dock. Leskin said that it wasn’t the Port’s responsi- bility and got angry. I then left the office and, a week later, received a termination letter to vacate my slip — which I did on April 19, 2016. I then asked for a refund of the 2.5 months pre- viously paid dockage fee since I was paid up until July 21, 2016. Leskin refused that as well. I still believe Leskin and the Port owe me the unused portion of my contract with the Port. I’m glad the newspaper is bringing this issue to the surface. Fred Mallery Eugene/Florence N OT A SLAP IN THE FACE TO ALL VETERANS This is in response to Mr. Cavarno’s recent letter regarding illegal aliens (Siuslaw News, April 5). In it he says the “sanctuary city” pro- posal is “a slap in the face” to military veterans. Like him, I am a military veteran. However, I did not consider the proposal to be a slap in the face at all. Instead, I considered it a proposal by a concerned citizen. Though the proposal was not to Mr. Cavarno’s liking, and some veterans may indeed considerate it a slap in the face, that is their right. But I know there are other veter- ans in the area that feel as I do — and I never authorized Mr. Cavarno to represent me or my views as a veteran. Larry Englund Florence E VEN H EAVEN HAS ‘ EXTREME VETTING ’ I have read many articles about immigrants and sanctuary cities. Some were on the internet, some were in Siuslaw News. I also read many comments from people. But one comment from a man really stood out and makes sense to me. He said when people ask him what God would think about immigrants and sanctuary cities, this is what he wrote: “God W HAT NOT TO PUT IN THE VETERANS PARK There has been some discussion of a new park on Kingwood near the military museum honoring veterans. This is a great idea. I love getting a new park in town. I also support the idea of honoring our veterans with the park. However, the concept of displaying surplus deactivated weapons such as tanks, missiles and so on is something I do not support. These items are weapons of war and destruc- tion, used for inflicting the worst mankind has to offer. Is this the face of Florence we want to pres- ent to visitors and potential new residents? Foreign visitors, especially (and we have many) are put off by such displays. Having lived in a community that thought this was a good idea, I can tell you it is not. We can honor our veterans in other ways, such as a statue or wall of honor. We have a community full of artists — surely we can do better than Soviet-style displays. Raymond C. Plumery Florence B AD SEEDS One would be hard pressed to find anyone more “American” in heart and soul than I. It’s a rare National Anthem played within my earshot that doesn’t bring a tear to my eye and lump in my throat while singing the final verse, “...land of the free and the home of the brave.” I’ve often wondered how we, in that long ago place in time, allowed ourselves as a nation to reach a point where a Civil War was the only solution being considered. How could we have been so divided in our sense of justice? So separated in our hearts? So morally and fundamentally distanced in our innate beliefs that even brothers raised by the same parents could take up arms against each other, both fighting for their vision of what American freedom represents? Somewhere, stealthfully disguised under the cover of a clouded euphoric new nation, a seed E QUAL PAY FOR NURSES It has come to my attention that the negotia- tions with nurses at Peace Harbor have not come to any mutual agreement. It seems extremely unfair that PeaceHealth’s corporate headquarters in Washington state is making determinations about the livelihood of nurses in Florence, Ore., offering them less pay than a hospital in Eugene about 65 miles away. Our nurses are just as worthy as a nurse any- where else. PeaceHealth should agree to the nurses’ requests for equal pay, which would also encourage more nurses to live in Florence and work at our hospital. Nurses should also have adequate health insurance instead of something that leaves them with huge debt after an illness. The hospital and people in Florence were supportive of the RiverBend Hospital when it needed funding to build. We need that same consideration for staffing our hospital with enough nurses so that they also might have a life, instead of working 80-plus hours a week, counting on-call time. A not-for-profit hospital should be just that by ensuring that doctors and nurses are equi- tably paid. Then, we just might be able to get doctors we need along with the primary physicians and nurses needed to assist them. Nancy Rickard Florence 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 would probably say something like, ‘Remember folks, even Heaven has a wall, a gate and extreme vetting. Only a foolish leader would let anyone and everyone in.” Didn’t the Boston bombing and the tragedy of 911 teach us what happens when we side-step our established laws? Maybe that old saying “better safe than sorry” needs to be looked at a little closer. Gail Luciani Florence By now, most of us have seen the news footage of innocent children, women and men, who were hit with chemical weapons in Syria this past week by their own leader, Bashar Al Assad. I don’t know of anyone who has seen these pictures who isn’t horrified. These were innocent children, women and men, many of whom would flee this vicious dictator if they were able. They are people from all walks of life, just like you and me — trying to raise their children, and live a normal life. The majority of the Syrian people are not ter- rorists. They are victims of a brutal dictator. If the Syrian people wish to come to America, and apply for citizenship as refugees, they should be allowed in as refugees. The definition of a refugee is: “A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.” And yet, Syria is one of the countries subject to President Trump’s travel ban and “extreme vetting.” Vetting is necessary; however, I’m not sure what “extreme vetting” entails. Of course we can’t accept them all, but other countries have stepped up to the plate — and so should America. We are a country of immigrants. We should welcome these refugees with open arms. Marybeth Marenco Florence 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
