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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 2017)
4 A ❘ SATURDAY EDITION ❘ OCTOBER 28, 2017 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR Opinion Stop the silence W ESLEY V OTH For the Siuslaw News H The point of the project has been to restore the mean- dering shape of the stream, re-plant native trees and veg- etation that hold soil, lower temperatures through increased shade from leaves that also enrich the soil, and, lastly, to place large logs crisscrossing the flood plain to slow water and create pools and ponds to rear juve- nile Coho. We saw an abundance of wildlife, especially water- fowl and three kinds of hawks, the tracks of many mammals, and hordes of insects from dragonflies to Sulphur butterflies to midges. It has only been through hard work and cooperation on many levels and between multiple resources that this transformation to repair pre- vious, ongoing damage has come to fruition — the end result being something everyone can share and appreciate. As much as I’d like to spend more time talking about local coastal Coho habitat restoration, I can’t help but recognize the paral- lel to what has been an ongo- ing and damaging culture of intimidation among many men in power. I must finally — as a male — say something about men raping, harassing and abus- ing women, and the ways in which men have made use of money, position, power, intimidation, the legal sys- tem, culture, religion and politics to dominate, shame, silence and abuse their vic- tims. I have been too silent, somehow thinking it enough to live by a code where such is unacceptable in myself, my son and people under my watch as a social worker and teacher. But being disgusted by it is not enough; my distancing myself from it in my own life has not benefitted anyone much at all. A history of this behavior should be sufficient reason not to elect such men to office, but we did with both Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, and have allowed the confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court of Clarence Thomas. Harassment and abuse of women and others should be sufficient cause to remove men from office. But we typically don’t. It seems very late in the day now in destroying the career or legacy of some, such as Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly and Harvey Weinstein, or a few notable athletes who have served jail time. But too many have been able to use their wealth and position to ensure the silence of their victims to assure they aren’t held accountable in any meaning- ful way. And each time, their behavior gives tacit approval and permission to all of the little, everyday bullies and abusers who similarly never have to acknowledge or learn what a consensual act or rela- tionship looks like. I join those who insist — no, demand — that this change. Only through hard work and cooperation on many levels within our society and culture can we repair and transform what has been an ongoing culture of abuse into something better that we can all share. LETTERS H EAD S TART ALSO HAS A STAR RATING It was wonderful to read in the Siuslaw News (Sept. 30) that ABC preschool has achieved Oregon’s qual- ity rating and improvement system (QRIS) four-star quality rating. The newspaper press release indi- cates this is a “first” for a Florence pre- school. I would like to point out that Florence’s Head Start preschool has had a five-start rating (QRIS) since March 21, 2016. Head Start in Florence is a certified center with the State of Oregon adhering to strict guidelines and qualifications to ensure a well rounded preschool program is offered to children ages three to five. Head Start is also a nonprofit, feder- ally and state funded preschool pro- gram offered to 38 children and their families in Florence and Mapleton areas. “Head Start of Lane County is ensuring that our youngest children have a solid foundation for life.” —Bonnie Cole AM Head Teacher Florence REMEMBER THAT ANIMALS ARE THE REAL POINT While it is true that the Board of Directors of the Oregon Coast Humane Society is currently experi- encing a “rough patch” regarding its management and decision-making, I think it is important for all of us in the community to look at not just the board and its actions, but the OCHS as a whole. The OCHS’s paramount concern is the animals and the dedicated staff and volunteers who do the real work of caring for them. In the Saturday, Oct. 21, edition of the Siuslaw News, yet another person wrote to say that they are pulling their support from the OCHS because they are disappointed with its Board of Directors. My question to people of this mind- set is: How does withholding money for food, medicine, medical care, staff, training and cleaning supplies from the animals punish the board? The answer is: It doesn’t. It only punishes the animals by making it more difficult to provide for their needs, and consequently stymies the OCHS’s efforts to provide a safe haven for all abandoned and unwanted animals. Quite frankly, the narrow and short- sighted viewpoint taken by an awful lot of people in the Florence area is an insult and slap in the face to volunteers and donors, like myself and my hus- band, who in spite of the beleaguered state of the OCHS Board of Directors would never dream of withholding our time and support from the animals. As Ghandi said, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” It doesn’t say much about our com- munity if so many people are willing turn their back on the 100 or so ani- mals at the shelter (who are at our mercy) in order to punish five human board members. Don’t get me wrong. Until the cur- rent audit of OCHS financials is com- plete, my husband and I are not send- ing our monthly donation in cash. However, instead of arbitrarily pulling our donation, we spend each month’s donation money on food, medicine and/or cleaning supplies and donate these items directly to the staff so that they can be used solely for the benefit of the animals in the shelter’s care. We still get the tax write-off, and are secure in the knowledge that our dona- tion money is well spent. It’s a solution rather than retribu- tion. So many positive things have been accomplished at the OCHS in the past couple of years. It is unfortunate that the community at large seems so disin- terested in hearing about the good things, preferring to dwell on the nasty campaign of rumor, invective and ill- will floated onto social media by a small, mean-spirited group of negative attention seekers. Without doubt, the issues recently raised regarding OCHS and its board of directors need to be scrutinized — if only to put all these unfounded allega- tions to rest. In the meantime, we would all do well to remember — first and foremost — the humane society should always be about the animals. —Mary Conley Florence O PTION L EVY BENEFITS MORE THAN SCHOOLS Although there is just one ballot measure for local residents to decided on by Nov. 7, it is a vital one to our community. The local option levy renewal proposes to maintain the existing levy supporting the Siuslaw School District for five more years, beginning in 2019-20. It is not a tax increase, but a renew- al of an existing levy applied to local property values. It would raise over $5 million during the 5-year time period, allowing our schools to maintain exist- ing levels of current programs while helping the district to meet a few of the anticipated needs in the coming years. As a daily volunteer in the Siuslaw High School ASPIRE program, I see first-hand the critical needs for fund- ing on all levels of education in our community. Our students, teachers, administrators and staff members rely on every available dollar. Even at cur- rent levels of funding, there are short- ages and unmet needs throughout its district. Without the levy renewal, vital pro- grams would be cut and the unmet needs of our students and teachers would become significantly more severe. Our children need and deserve our support to fulfill their goals and become contributing members of soci- ety. Furthermore, support for the local levy renewal will benefit the entire community. Good schools help to attract businesses and professionals to the area, increasing available services for all of us. I would especially like to see well-funded schools that will attract doctors and nurses who are rais- ing school-age children. In so doing, we are likely to attract more medical personnel to fill our seri- ous shortage only if we can offer a vibrant community with excellent schools. I hope that every voter will recog- nize the importance of the Nove. 7 bal- lot and vote in favor of the local option levy for our schools. —Robert Orr Dunes City See MORE LETTERS 5A 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 VIEW FROM UPRIVER ere in Mapleton, it is the golden time of year. Our signature trees, the big-leaf maples, are turn- ing the richest of yellows and are joined in this by alder and buckthorn, wild cherry and knotweed. Cedar and redwood also shed a portion of their fronds in autumn, and this yellow brown detritus joins the leaves in covering another pumpkin-colored fruit of our woods, the chanterelles. My friend John and I made our way to look at a local restoration project known as Fivemile Bell, for the names of two creeks that are tribu- taries of Tahkenitch Lake. Neither of us had been there before, although we have been hearing about it for years at watershed council meetings. It was Monday following the stormy wet weekend, and as beautiful an autumn day as I’ve seen. ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ 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 discretion of the editor. 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
