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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2018)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ FEBRUARY 14, 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. 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 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 Our community is full of ‘revolutionaries’ spontaneously arranged as people brought in fare to share, including a basket of donut holes from Dirk at Big Dog Donuts, who seemed to be the only one not phased by the early-morning hour. As people warmed their hands around cups of coffee, My wife and I were among the 50 or so people who swat- ted at their alarms this past Tuesday morning before head- ing to River Roasters coffee shop to be on hand for the 4:15 a.m. announcement of the Small Business Revolution’s five-town list of finalists. Gathered around a large- screen TV brought in for the occasion was a cross section of our community, from small business owners and city offi- cials, to local media and area residents. A food table was In that same moment, it was obvious that even if Florence had been named among the top five — and had eventually even won — it would not have been a defining moment for our community. That’s because Florence is defined by the kinds of people From the Editor’s Desk N ED H ICKSON an apple fritter crowd-surfed its way through the gathering as individuals broke off pieces and passed it along, waiting for the big announcement. When it finally came, and Florence wasn’t named, there was an audible groan of disap- pointment. But it was short lived. represented — albeit a little bleary-eyed — by that cross section of community mem- bers gathered around the TV screen. Men and women, millenni- als and seniors; blue collar and white color; morning people and not-so morning people; business owners and patrons; and yes, even Democrats and Republicans. The room was a microcosm of ideas, experience and diver- sity that defines Florence, fuels its momentum and pro- vides those fortunate enough to call this place “home” with inspiration on a daily basis. It’s those qualities that caught the eye of Amanda Brinkman and her producers of Small Business Revolution in the first place. And they are qualities that will continue to define us because, ultimately, we are a community of revolutionaries. Write Siuslaw News editor Ned Hickson at nhickson@thesiuslaw news.com or c/o Siuslaw News, 148 Maple St., Florence, Ore. 97439. LETTERS A NIMALS ALSO HAVE RIGHT TO LIVE I know I’m far from the only one dis- gusted by the actions of ODFW and Greentrees concerning the local bears that were killed. If you’re a resident of Florence, you’re aware that we have bears living among us. I’d like to know why this landscaper was so close to the bears that he was swiped at? The actions of the bears that were described are those of an animal warn- ing a person to back off. Nowhere in the article does it say that the bears attacked or tried to attack anyone. So why didn’t the landscaper pay attention and back off? What has Greentrees done to address the bear issues? They most certainly knew they were there. If bears don’t have access to food then they don’t stick around. Using bear bangers is one great method to make bears feel unwelcome. ODFW, according to the article, claims the “situation in Greentrees has developed over several years.” So what has Greentrees and its residents done to keep this disgusting event from happen- ing? Apparently, not enough. Oregon has an appalling record of environmental protection. The horren- dous clearcut forests don’t provide habi- tat for wildlife and only fragment what little is left. Meanwhile, the ever increasing human population and sprawl that are clearing our gorgeous coastal forests at an alarming rate only increase wildlife’s desperation to find food. These animals have as much right to life as we do and don’t deserve to be ter- minated at the whim of the ODFW and places like Greentrees. I can only hope the actions of ODFW and Greentrees will make the Florence community think hard about what it’s loosing by destroying it’s coastal forests and killing it’s wildlife. Personally, if I wanted to be living with humans only and safe from any- thing remotely “wild,” I’d be living in downtown Portland ... not on the Oregon coast. —Jill Rizk Florence C LARIFYING TO TO G IVE CREDIT WHERE IT ’ S DUE We are appreciative of the coverage of Top Hydraulics’ ribbon cutting cere- mony in Wednesday’s edition of Siuslaw News (Feb. 7). The event was an important opportu- nity for us to thank everyone involved, and to become better known in Florence. However, the following wording in the article may lead to a misconception, and it was not using my exact words: “‘It was a herculean effort,’ according to Klaus Witte, ‘with careful coordination between the City of Florence officials and contractors playing a key role in the company’s creation.’ The result, Klaus said, was a company that can provide living wage jobs to the community.” Allow me to clarify: As much as we appreciate its efforts in our recent expansion, the City of Florence and local contractors had no involvement in creating the company, and Top Hydraulics has been providing living wage jobs for the community since 2011. When the business was taking up over 3,000 square feet of our home outside of town in 2016, working quarters became very tight. There was a constant stream of delivery vehicles and we decided that it was time to either scale back or move into a larger facility. While scaling back would have been convenient for us per- sonally, on the other hand, it is natural for a business to strive for expansion. We could have expanded our business a lot faster by moving into a larger town with a larger pool of qualified workers, but we love being in this area and decid- ed to pay it forward to the community by building a manufacturing facility in town. We started talking to the city about buying land in September 2016, the con- tract was ratified in October, we broke ground in November and we moved into this facility in late March 2017. What was special about this project is how everybody involved came together to make it happen, and make it happen on schedule. We cannot thank everyone involved enough, and we are happy and proud to be members of our community. — Klaus Witte Top Hydraulics, Inc. Florence T WO IDEAS FOR OUR HUMBLE TOWN Here are a couple of ideas I think are worth considering. What if, in the evening, after the high school is closed for the night, a second shift came in — paid workers, no less, who work an overnight shift and set up cots in the gymnasium where homeless people could gather starting at maybe 9 p.m. Lights out at 10 p.m., then sleep until 5 a.m., then out of the building by 6 a.m. After all, the gym is there, 24/7. Secondly, I heard a story about some- one picking up trash outside a school in another town. This person got stopped by the police and acknowledged the fact of the activity when questioned. “Wait right here,” said the officer. He returned from the patrol car and handed the good Samaritan a certificate for a free pizza. The certificate said, “Caught in the Act! Doing it Right!” How do you like that? — Ivy Medow Florence 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@ oregonlegislature.gov 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
