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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2018)
4 A ❘ SATURDAY EDITION ❘ JANUARY 27, 2018 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, $76; 6-month in-county, $52; 10-weeks subscription, $23; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription,$99; 6-month out-of-county, $65; 10-weeks subscription, $29; Out of State — 1- year subscription, $125; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $71. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com L ETTERS LETTERS N EED NEW COMMISSIONERS WHO WILL SERVE THE PEOPLE Three County Commissioner seats are open in this year’s election. Those seats are currently being held by Commissioners Jay Bozievich, Sid Leiken and Gary Williams. These three incumbents have all accepted campaign donations from the timber and mining industries in Lane County. Extractive industries have a lot to gain (or lose) when land use and other local laws and policies support (or undermine) their businesses. So they pay for good representation with cam- paign donations. We the people have a lot to gain (or lose) too, but few people have the means to make donations comparable to private industry. Let’s clear out the industry lackeys currently on the Lane County Board of Commissioners and fill these three open seats with new commissioners who serve the people, not their corporate masters. —Linda Kanter Deadwood A LL P RESIDENTS HAVE BEEN FLAWED HUMAN BEINGS I’m writing in regards to the Letter to the Editor “Food For Thought,” (Jan. 24). During my research on President Trump’s quote, which has been suppos- edly quoted so many times I’m not going to waste space on it, I’m recom- mending an interesting article by Curt Autry NBC12 titled: “Top Profanity in POTUS history.” Google it and read the article in its entirety. It will wake people up to the fact that all presidents (and elected offi- cials) in office are flawed human beings just like the rest of us. Here are a few of the quotes included in the article: • President Obama, referring to Mitt Romney being a “bull******r”; • Senator Kerry, “Did I expect GW Bush to F**** it up as badly as he did?”; • VP Joe Biden called the health care reform bill a “big f*** deal.” I could mention the horrendous cor- ruption in some African countries or why there is such a problem between Haiti and the Dominican Republic (one island, two governments with a whole lot of conflict), but there is not enough space in this newspaper to address that. Or maybe I could mention the bil- lions requested by Puerto Rico? In other words, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. Meanwhile, in today’s national news coverage (Jan. 25, 2018): “White House Open to Amnesty for 1.8 Million in Exchange for Increased Security, Immigration Restrictions.” Perhaps people should just wait and see what pans out once all the wheeling and dealings is done; that beautiful quote by Emma Lazarus that is on the Statute of Liberty, erected in 1886 when the U.S. had less than 65 million people compared to today’s population of over 325 million, actually still qualifies for the 1.8 million people who are current- ly living in our country quasi-legally. The current problem with the people that are here illegally goes all the way back to Carter’s presidency. All of the presidents after him just floated the issues along and ignored the laws that were already in place. Now, we actually have someone who is trying to enforce the laws that have been ignored for 40 years. I’m fine with the “Dreamers” that are here already, and who are an established part of their local communities, work- ing and paying their taxes, etc. However, I do believe that the outcome would have been far different for the two women, both in their 60s, who were victims of rape and brutalized by repeat offender and known criminal Sergio Martinez — who had been deported 13 times since 2008. He has a criminal record in three states, with charges including battery, felony, burglary and felony, as well as illegal re-entry after removal. Things may have been different for those two women had Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) been allowed to take custody of Martinez rather than going ignored by the Portland Police Department. Meanwhile, a Eugene elementary school allowed posters to be displayed calling the border agents predators with badges. Seriously? —Virginia Reynolds Florence C LIMATE C HANGE ISN ’ T POLITICAL As with so many issues these days, the truth is shrouded in a fog of mis- guided notions, intentional distortions and, in some cases, outright lies. It is no less the case with climate change, which is fairly simple and was observed as early as 1896. Water vapor, methane, ozone, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide mix to create a nice blanket of molecules around the earth without which the planet would be freezing. There is no doubt as to the existence or purpose of greenhouse gasses or that they are increasing. Too much of the greenhouse gasses will heat the planet, as they do on Venus, where the temper- ature is over 800 degrees Fahrenheit. But for those who choose to remain skeptics, perhaps the question to ask is whether implementing strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate disruption are benefi- cial outside the mission of addressing climate change. While an official greenhouse gas inventory could target best practices for the city, obvious actions include switching all lighting to LED, increas- ing housing density and walkability, and consolidating electric car purchases with other “Climate Mayor” cities to make the best use of City Hall’s upcom- ing EV charging station. These are just a few of the things the climate group, referenced by Mayor Henry in a recent letter to the editor (“Focusing On Local Issues Has Broader Impact,” Jan. 10), identified as items that will, indeed, have an impact on climate change but also “support the work plan” of the city and make Florence “a better place to live.” As Liat Miller aptly stated in her let- ter (“Climate Change is Not A Partisan Issue,” Jan. 13), there are plenty of Republican mayors who are working diligently on climate change issues in their own cities, including Regalado of Miami, Carson of Coral Gables, Brainerd of Carmel, and Faulconer of San Diego. I encourage Mayor Henry’s stance to remain unpolitical in meeting the needs of the city. That being said, we need either a city Climate Change Task Force or a Siuslaw Climate Alliance to draw together interested parties to do our part, as a community, in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and secure Florence for the future of our children and grandchildren. —Sandy Todd Florence L AW MAKING IS STUCK IN THE MUCK If the people want a new law, there are only two ways to get one passed in Oregon. One way — which we think of most often — is to get your elected officials to enact or refer it to a ballot. The other way, available in Oregon and 26 other states, is to write the law yourself, collect petition signatures and put it on the ballot for a vote of the peo- ple. On the most important issues, one way or another, moneyed corporate interests rule the outcome — either through campaign donations to public officials or through seemingly endless litigation and legal hurdles to block ini- tiative advocates. It is within this sytem quagmire that the Freedom From Aerial Spraying of Herbicides Bill of Rights and the Community Self-Government initia- tives are currently stuck. So we ask: Where do concerns for protecting our country’s residents and environment from the aerial spraying of poisons for the financial benefit of a corporate few fit in? Along with the initiatives and their advocates, these community values are stuck in the muck. We need sytematic change that puts the power in the people to decide the laws that affect their lives. — Jan Kinney 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
