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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2017)
4 A ❘ SATURDAY EDITION ❘ AUGUST 5, 2017 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR Opinion ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ NHICKSON @ 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. USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2017 © Siuslaw News 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. Oregon Group Publisher 541-265 8571 Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Consulting Editor 831-761-7353 Email: echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com Marketing Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor Press Manager James Rand Jenna Bartlett Ned Hickson Erik Chalhoub Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry 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 classifiedad,sThursday 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 subscrip- tion,$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 L ETTERS LETTERS D ON ’ T CONFUSE THE LAW WITH HATRED Judy Preisler’s letter “Hoping For a Hate-Free City” (Aug. 2) quotes numbers that illegal immigrants will contribute federal revenues of $900 billion over a decade and state and local revenues of $11.74 billion per year. While the numbers may possibly be true, they do not tell the whole story. If one agency takes in $100 in taxes from illegals and another pays out $200 in ben- efits, it’s simple to see that fewer illegals will cost less. One must always remember Disraeli’s maxim: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” The Heritage Foundation issued a report in 2013 (http://thf_media.s3.ama- zonaws.com/2013/pdf/sr133.pdf), which analyzes the true cost: “In 2010, the average unlawful immi- grant household received around $24,721 in government benefits and services while paying some $10,334 in taxes. This gen- erated an average annual fiscal deficit (benefits received minus taxes paid) of around $14,387 per household. This cost had to be borne by U.S. taxpayers.” I hope Ms. Preisler does not conflate respect for the law with hatred. If I came over and demanded your big screen TV, would you give it to me or call the police? By her metric, calling the police looks like BOF (Balding Old Fart) hatred. —Ian Eales Florence T HANK YOU FOR HELPING OUR HUNGRY All of the volunteers at Mapleton Food Share want to thank Cross Road Church’s Backpack For Kids program for the amaz- ing donation of their food pantry. They said, “We need to continue to support at risk Upriver kids and we can help with food,” so they emptied their food pantry and gave all of the food to our summer sack lunch program. And also, thank you community mem- bers and businesses for supporting this summer’s Sack Lunch program. We had success with both our GoFundMe page and private donations. The generosity of this area is over- whelming. When a need is identified, res- idents step up and show the love for kids. No kid should go hungry. Hunger in our area is the invisible real- ity that many are not aware of in their busy comfortable world. With sincere gratitude, —Karen Harden, president Mapleton Food Share M ORE CONSIDERATION NEEDED ON RIVER I awake in the early morning anticipat- ing a beautiful day of fishing on the river. I launch my boat at Siuslaw Marina and I’m the first one on the water. The sky is brightening as I prepare to fish for the bright and beautiful chinook salmon. It’s so quiet and peaceful and the water is as smooth as silk. Twenty minutes later, I hear a distant drone coming up the river and around the bend. Here they come, the 18- to 20-foot boats and guides. As I look behind their boats all I can see are waves anywhere from 2 to 4 feet stirring up the water — like a pod of whales going 20 to 30 mph — and not slowing down to pass other boats or docks that line the river. My boat rocks like a bucking bronco while I try to control it. And so it starts. The bigger boats that race up and down the narrow river cause very dangerous conditions for the smaller boats, causing waves to crash into them, causing water to come over the transom. So much for the tranquil day. Whatever happened to the courteous boaters who used to fish here? It seems they have been replaced with the “Me First Society” and to heck with anyone else. Oregon Law 250-020-0221 for the Siuslaw River states: “Slow—no wake, Max. 5 mph for motorboats within 300 feet of boat ramp or moorage from river mouth to Highway Bridge of Mapleton.” Oregon Law 830-305 states: “Operation that endangers or would likely endanger a person or property is prohibit- ed: example, your boat wake causes a boat to nearly capsize.” In September, a fisherman who has fished the river over 20 years almost had his boat capsize due to the wake of some big boats. He is now fearful of fishing on the river because of the recklessness of those who do not follow the law. Is the sheriff’s patrol available to mon- itor the river and help enforce the law? If nothing is done to solve the speeding problem, a major accident could cause someone to drown or be seriously hurt. We have beautiful resources in our state. Llet’s work together so everyone can safely enjoy utilizing our rivers. —Richard Moore Florence K UDOS TO S IUSLAW V ALLEY F IRE On July 28, Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue visited our local Harbor Vista Park with their ladder truck at the request of park caretaker Mike Stewart. On behalf of the Friends of Harbor Vista Park, I wish to thank Fire Chief Jim Langborg for sending three firemen and Fire Marshal Sean Barrett, who greeted the children and us “grown-ups.” We are all children when it comes to meeting fire- fighters and inspecting their red machine. The firefighters posed with the children for photos, let them sit in the truck and answered all their questions. They were awarded fireman sticker badges and red helmets. During the excitement Sean said, point- ing to one of the youngsters, “There goes a future firefighter. It’s experiences like this that inspire children to become fire- fighters.” Sean promised to come back next year with his fire truck and we look forward to another special event at the park. —Mike Allen Florence S UPPORTING THE LAW ISN ’ T BEING A HATER As Judy Preisler stated in her letter (“Hoping For a Hate-Free City,” Aug. 2), I, too, think every legal resident should be treated fairly. However, we part ways after that. I believe we are a nation of laws, not of men/women. I believe we need immigra- tion now, as in our past. However, it needs to be subjected to our manners and laws. In supporting our constitution and our way of life, I do not support unfettered and unrestricted hordes of people just coming here. This puts me at odds with the view- point of Lane County, as well as the Oregon Legislature, as it is currently con- trolled — and also many citizens who I feel are willfully ignorant of the facts. As a result, they make judgments based on feelings. None of us want to see people down and out. It would be nice if we could all have the same level of subsistence in our housing and lifestyle. However, that is not the reality we live with every day. Some people, through no fault of their own, are either born in the wrong place or are not educated enough to find their way out of poverty. As good Christians, it is our duty to help them through our church- es and other organizations. At the same time, it is not our duty to ignore the law or subvert the law as is cur- rently being done in our state and cities. I urge everyone to do your own research. Don’t rely on the straw dogs that are thrown at us by some of our politicians and their lap dogs, like the Center for American Progress — which, in my opin- ion, is nothing more than a front for the DNC. I have read many opinion pieces like Ms. Preisler’s, and they all share the same song about those who oppose them as being racist or homophobic or such. They’ll never just say it, but they lead people down that path. At the end of Ms. Preisler’s piece, she says how it is “morally and ethically right that we stand with our (illegal) immigrant brothers and sisters.” In my opinion, what she’s really saying is that we should ignore our laws and help hide the illegal immigrants in our commu- nity in order to be “hate free,” as she sees it. And if you don’t, you are a hater by her inference. That is not who I see in this town when it comes to supporting our laws. — David T. Eckhardt Florence T HANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT OF SENIORS A huge thank you to everyone who donated and participated in the garage sale at the Florence Senior Center on Saturday, July 29. The proceeds of the donated items will be put towards the funds for the building expansion of the Florence Senior Center. Being a nonprofit organization, the center relies on all of these types of events to raise money for the center. Once again, thank you all for your par- ticipation. We are truly grateful. —Sandra White Florence Senior Center TO THE P OLICY E DITOR 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 guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Libelous, argumentative and anonymous letters or poetry, or letters from outside our readership area will not be published. P OLITICAL /E LECTION L ETTERS : Election-related letters must address pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers at-large. Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any information about a candidate is accu- rate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support candidates based on personal experience and per- spective rather than partisanship and campaign- style rhetoric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and plat- forms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid polit- ical advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above crite- ria. Send letters to: nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com WHERE TO WRITE 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 Gov. Kate Brown 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. Salem, Ore. 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 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 U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio ( 4 th Dist.) 2134 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6416 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 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
