4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ DECEMBER 27, 2017
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
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
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L ETTERS
Thomas fire tragedy strikes home
by news outlets from
around the world.
As a firefighter, Cory
Iverson was a member of a
family made up of firefight-
er’s everywhere. But he
Even as seven of our
local firefighters were
returning home safely from
what has become the
fourth-largest wildfire in
California history, word of
the tragic death of CalFire
firefighter/engineer Cory
Iverson on Dec. 14 was
making its way into the
national news.
This past Saturday, near-
ly 2,000 firefighters attend-
ed the memorial service,
which was live-streamed
from The Rock Church at
Liberty Station and covered
her family’s frequent visits
to Florence.
The community informa-
tion sign illuminated out-
side of SVFR’s main sta-
tion is a reminder of the ties
From the Editor’s Desk
N ED H ICKSON
also tragically leaves
behind a family with ties to
our local community.
His wife, Ashley, spent
countless days peddling her
bike around the neighbor-
hood of Upas and 13th
streets with her cousins
Hallie and Seabre while
growing up, often visiting
her grandma Marge during
that bind, not only within
the firefighting family, but
also to those family mem-
bers within our Florence
community sharing the pain
of Ashley’s loss.
In his tribute to Cory dur-
ing Saturday’s service,
CalFire-San Diego Chief
Tony Mecham said, “Let
there be no doubt Cory died
a hero. He lost his life for
one very simple reason: He
put others first.”
As you head into the
New Year, please take a
moment or two during the
coming days to put his fam-
ily first in your thoughts,
prayers and, if you can,
with a donation to the
“Help Ashley Iverson”
gofundme account set up
on his family’s behalf.
Our hearts go out to
Ashley, her 2-year-old
daughter Evie, and a daugh-
ter on the way who will
never have the chance to
meet her extraordinary
father.
Write Siuslaw News editor
Ned Hickson at nhickson@the
siuslaw news.com or P.O. Box
10, Florence, Ore. 97439.
LETTERS
GOP TAX PLAN HURTS
A MERICA ’ S POOR
The response to the odious
Republican tax bill that rewards
America’s top 1 percent and hurts the
poor is outrageous, say many who I
know in Florence.
To help remedy the situation, here’s
some passionate words from Mario
Savio that evoke this same outrage in
the hearts and minds of good
Americans who want to help the 60
million citizens living rough, super
poor and homeless across this land
this holiday season:
“There’s a time when the operation
of the machine becomes so odious,
makes you so sick at heart, that you
can’t take part. You can’t even pas-
sively take part.
“And you’ve got to put your bodies
upon the gears and upon the wheels…
upon the levers, upon the apparatus,
and you’ve got to make it stop.
“And you’ve got to indicate to the
people who run it, to the people who
own it, that unless you’re free, the
machine will be prevented from
working at all.”
—Dave Masko
Florence
F EELING BLESSED TO
BE IN F LORENCE
My husband and I would like to
express our sincere gratitude to the
Florence community while I received
a stem cell transplant at OHSU and
remained in the Portland area as
required for the first 100 days after
transplant.
The wonderful people of Florence
provided prayer, hope and support to
both of us during this four-month
journey. I am pleased to be back at
home in Florence and am doing well
with the recovery.
The people here are the ones who
made us fall in love with Florence and
make it our home, and we are confi-
dent we made the right decision.
We feel so blessed.
—Nancy and Pat Hopkins
Florence
R ESPECT RIGHTS UNDER
THE C ONSTITUTION
In regard to Candace Thompson’s
rebuttal to my Letter to the Editor
(“Sexual harassment accusations need
proof,” Dec. 16).
You obviously mistake me for
someone else. I have not been dis-
mayed at all. I find it refreshing that
the men have been let go due to sexu-
al harassment claims.
None of them had very many
redeeming values, as you seem to
think. The concern I have is the ques-
tion of whether we are following the
rule of law or our emotions?
As I see it, the #MeToo movement
is a way for over emotional persons to
vent with the consequences being
borne solely by their accused. Let’s
keep in mind that some of these accu-
sations are many decades old. And
even though it puts a smile on my face
to see these sexual deviants get their
come-up-ance, it is not right if they
are not given the chance for their day
in court before their lives are ruined
— even though it pleases me to no
end.
And as Travis Smiley will tell you,
no, he has not been informed who his
accuser is or what he is being accused
of.
I, too, dislike him almost as much
as Al Franken, who I thought
would’ve been better at catching dogs
than in the Senate.
You see, even though I despise
these men, I respect their rights under
our Constitution.
And lastly, yes, there are many
women who have been and will con-
tinue to be abused by boorish men of
all stripes; it is the women’s obliga-
tion to bring charges in a timely man-
ner and put these scumbags in their
place.
In this way all will have a just out-
come.
—David T. Eckhardt
Florence
The First
Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law
respecting an establishment
of religion or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press,
or the right of the people peace-
ably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of
grievances.
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
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include full name, address and phone number; only
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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
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Ensure any information about a candidate is accu-
rate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or
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candidates based on personal experience and per-
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Candidates themselves may not use the letters to
the editor column to outline their views and plat-
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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