4 A
❘
SATURDAY EDITION
❘ SEPTEMBER 30, 2017
Siuslaw News
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
Celebrating National Newspaper Week
and the role of community newspapers
t least once a week,
some 7,500 communi-
ty newspapers — those
with a circulation of less
than 30,000 — land on
porches, inside mail boxes or
at local supermarkets and
coffee counters across the
United States.
According to a survey
conducted by the University
of Missouri-Columbia, more
than
three-quarters
of
respondents said they read
most or all of each edition of
their local newspaper, with
94 percent of those people
holding subscriptions.
Locally, on Wednesday
and Saturday mornings, you
can see the front page of the
Siuslaw News suspended in
front of faces in coffee
shops, restaurants and mar-
kets around Florence and
Mapleton as people inform
themselves about what’s
happening in our community
— from recent festivals and
events, to recaps of the latest
board meetings and features
on local issues.
While there is a notion
that print journalism is
dying, the truth is that com-
munity newspapers are actu-
A
ally thriving compared to
many of their large metro
and national counterparts.
“Community papers are
doing better than many
large, daily papers because
they provide news coverage
about things that matter to
their local community that
would otherwise be over-
looked without them,” said
Al Cross, director of the
Institute for Rural
Journalism at the University
When I became editor
here last September, I’d had
the good fortune of working
with three terrific editors
over the past 19 years at
Siuslaw News. And while
each brought their own style
and focus, there has been
one important understanding
that continues to define us as
a community newspaper:
To our readers, we are not
just the newspaper; we are
their newspaper.
From the Editor’s Desk
N ED H ICKSON
of Kentucky.
In fact, the combined
readership of those 7,500
non-daily newspapers is
almost 20 million more than
that of daily newspapers,
with non-dailies tallying
65.5 million subscribers
compared to 45.5 million
daily-paper subscribers.
This is according to the
National Newspaper
Association (NNA), which
also noted that 70 percent of
those small non-dailies have
a circulation of less than
15,000; Siuslaw News is
among that smaller group,
with a circulation of just
over 6,000.
USC professor Judy
Muller told the Stanford
University Press that, while
local journalism is about
police blotters, obituaries,
bake sales and club meet-
ings, “The best community
newspapers hold local gov-
ernments and institutions
accountable by covering
meetings, asking questions
and recognizing the good as
well as the not-so-good
because, if not them, then
who?”
While we’ve received
equal amounts of accolades
and criticism regarding our
coverage of controversial
issues ranging from the Port
of Siuslaw and Oregon
Coast Humane Society, to
marijuana grows and DACA
over the last 12 months, our
almost-daily story meetings
are underscored by that
notion of “If not us, then
who?”
As we head into National
Newspaper Week tomorrow
(Oct. 1-7), we’ll be offering
a few special features
throughout the week, begin-
ning with perspectives from
reporters Mark Brennan
(City) and Jared Anderson
(Community), as well as
Features Editor Chantelle
Meyer on what being a
reporter for a community
newspaper means to them.
These will appear in a spe-
cial expanded Opinion sec-
tion along with your Letters
to the Editor.
In his book “Community
Journalism,” Bruce M.
Kennedy wrote, “Reporters
at smaller, non-daily papers
tend to connect more with
issues and people because
they make more time to get
to know them.”
As we celebrate National
Newspaper Week, we hope
to provide you with a chance
to get to know your newspa-
per even better.
(Write to Ned Hickson at
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.
com.)
❘ 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
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 only be published at the discression of the
editor.
LETTERS
ELECT VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE
EAGER TO SERVE OCHS
I am really disheartened and
ashamed of what the local Humane
Society Board has done. To falsely
build up community sympathy is the
only reason I can find for Ed Gervais
and his board at the Oregon Coast
Humane Society to request police pro-
tection at their monthly meeting last
week.
As a former member of the local
Humane Society, I was at the meeting
the month before and there was no rea-
son for any of the few board members
in attendance to fear for their safety,
even though many in the audience were
very upset with the management of the
shelter animals and expressed their
concerns on behalf of the animals.
No one threatened them with bodily
harm, though many charges were
thrown verbally at them. But I say
again, no one threatened them with
bodily harm nor did anyone express an
attempt to do so.
It looks to me that whoever request-
ed police protection most definitely did
not like their feet being held to the fire
and this was an attempt to persuade the
unfamiliar local folks regarding the
current situation at the shelter into
making the majority of people at that
meeting to appear like violent rowdies.
Many of my friends and former vol-
unteer workers at the Thrift Store and
up at the shelter feel a simple way to
alleviate the current and on-going situ-
ation is to have new elections and
replace some of the board members
with other volunteers eager to serve.
Also I might add, many of the long-
time volunteers at the Thrift store
whole heartedly resented the hierarchy
up at the shelter who rarely came down
to the Thrift Store; when they did come
down to make changes, they didn’t
seem to be in the best interest of the
store striving to raise money for the
animals and their care.
The long-time experience of some
volunteers serving in the store allowed
them to understand what worked and
what didn’t.
It is hard to beat successful experi-
ence, but apparently it’s easy to over-
look.
— Tony Cavarno
Florence
WATER NEEDED FOR
DRINKING, NOT SHOWERING
Regarding Ivy Medow’s letter “New
Buildings Need to be Better Prepared”
(Sept. 27), in a small single-family
home or apartment, as I lived in for
many years, a bathroom with a roll-in
shower would have no room for a sink
or toilet.
All of them were up a flight or two of
stairs.
Would I have to install an elevator
and a generator to run it?
Or maybe a fuel tank requiring bi-
weekly inspections and bi-monthly fuel
replacement?
This kind of non-thinking, feel-good,
over-regulation is another step on the
road to a dystopian “THX-1138” or
“Brazil” like future.
Backwoodsmen go days without a
bath; frontline soldiers have gone many
weeks, when a bucket with a punctured
bottom feels heaven sent.
In a disaster, scarce water is reserved
for drinking and cooking.
A shower is wasteful excess.
— Ian Eales
Florence
LCC SHOULDN’T IGNORE
FEDERAL LAW
In the Sept. 27 edition of the Siuslaw
News, I was browsing the monthly
“School Zone” section and read an arti-
cle on DACA by Russ Pierson, Dean of
LCC-Florence.
In the article, he explains the effect
of President Trump’s latest orders on
DACA relating to students and comes
out in support DACA.
I will be very happy when Congress
codifies DACA into law, if that is the
will of Congress, as that’s how laws are
made in this country.
As it exists today, the DACA pro-
gram may well be unconstitutional no
matter how well intended it is. In fact,
had President Trump not stopped the
program, a number of states’ Attorneys
General were going to sue in Federal
Court for that very reason.
And that would be entirely correct,
because if something is unconstitution-
ally implemented it must be confronted
— well-meaning or not, just like
President Trump’s immigration ban
was confronted in the courts.
Why?
Because allowing unconstitutional
rulings, orders or even laws to exist
because we like or dislike something
will lead to the effective nullification of
the Constitution itself.
Maybe today you won’t care about
nullification because you agree with
the particular agenda. But how about
tomorrow when the government
decides you can, for example, no
longer assemble publicly because they
are tired of hearing your message?
But what really bothers me in the
Dean’s article is his statement on the
adoption by the Lane County
Community College Board of
Education of policy referencing “... the
protection of immigrant students” in
June to clarify its intent to provide edu-
cation to all students “... regardless of
race, ethnicity, religion, national origin,
immigration status, age, disability, gen-
der or gender identity.”
All the categories are fine except
one.
Is it really necessary for a local com-
munity college to implement a policy
that essentially says it doesn’t care
about federal law? Or that it will even
ignore federal law?
It is essentially saying it will pick
and choose which federal laws it sup-
ports and its staff will not have any part
in enforcing — or even acknowledging
— a federal law on immigration exists,
even if violations come to its attention.
That’s what Dean Pierson is endors-
ing no matter how much he tries to sug-
arcoat it.
The Lane County Community
Colleges and staff can have all the
opinions they like.
That's fine.
But they absolutely have no place
endorsing illegal and criminal activity
on the tax payers’ dime, which is what
they are doing.
Nobody is asking them to become
ICE agents. But they should not be
above the law, either.
I hope everyone keeps this in mind
next time elections come around.
—Dave Peck
Florence
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