Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2018)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | JUNE 6, 2018 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR Opinion | 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM C The First Amendment ongress shall make no law respecting an es- tablishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise 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. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800) USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2018 © 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. Je n n a B a r t l e t t Ned H ickson Erik Chalhoub Pu b l i s h e r, e x t . 3 1 8 Editor, ex t. 313 Co n s u l t i n g E d i to r 8 3 1 -7 6 1 -7 3 5 3 e c h a l h o u b @ re gi s te r -p a j a ro n i a n . co m M a r k e t i n g Di re c to r, e x t . 3 2 6 O f f i ce Su p e r v i s o r, e x t . 3 1 2 Pro d u c t i o n Su p e r v i s o r Pre s s M a n a ge r Su s a n G u t i e r re z Cat hy Di e t z Ron Annis Je re my G e n t r y 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, Wednes- day 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 subscrip- tion, $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 Letters to the Editor polioy Will we succumb to our worst or best nature? new medium had the poten- But things are different in tial to teach, educate and this era of social media com- inspire — but that it would munalism. It’s no small irony require us to ensure it would that, while we have become be used towards those ends. increasingly engaged in shar- “Otherwise,” he said, “it is ing our thoughts and experi- merely wires and lights in a ences with more people than box.” ever before, we have simulta- In the late 1950s, iconic Over the course of the last neously come to accept that newsman Edward R. Murrow recognized a paradox devel- oping as the advent of televi- From the Editor's Desk sion was transforming news Ned Hickson reporting from the purely word-driven medium of radio into a much more pow- erful visual medium avail- few years, we’ve seen social we are sharing those very able in homes across media platforms such as things with people we will America. Facebook and others suc- likely never meet. Murrow understood that cumbing to the worst — Through that acceptance news journalism would rather than the best — we we are slowly laying the never be the same. He also have to offer as a society. groundwork for the kind of recognized the responsibility It’s human nature to be social disconnect that we that accompanies that kind drawn to things that disturb have begun to see with live of power. us. It’s the reason we gawk at streaming of disturbing In 1958, during a Radio- the scene of accidents; why events — and, perhaps even Television News Directors there are more NCIS spin- more disturbing, having Association and Foundation offs than any other genre on them shared hundreds of dinner where he was the key- TV; and why Greek mytholo- thousands of times by others. note speaker, Murrow spoke gy is full of cautionary tales In a way, social media is of the new television medi- that end in tragedy. promoting a culture of digi- um and the potential effects We find a certain comfort tal-aged peeping Toms, it could have on journalism in recognizing when the mis- encouraging us to gawk and our society as a whole. takes of others have led to through an endless array of Known as his now famous their misfortune — and how partially open windows into “Lights in a Box” speech, we can avoid making those the lives of others — many of Murrrow explained how the same mistakes. whom we don’t truly know. We can leave comments and engage in the conversa- tions of strangers without consequence or accountabili- ty. It’s an era of communica- tion unlike any other, and the ultimate repercussions on our culture remain to be seen. In the same way that Murrow expressed the need for us to have a willingness to use the medium of television to teach, educate and inspire, we need to ask ourselves what direction we will take with the evolution of social media. Will we succumb to the worst of our nature or the best of it? Will our smartphones and other digital devices be uti- lized to improve the way we communicate and broaden our understanding of each other and the world? Or will they prove to be little more than micro chips and lights in an even smaller box? Write to Ned Hickson at: nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com LETTERS Florenoe has wonderful people I am writing this letter in hopes of telling the people of Florence, Ore., how wonderful they are. My parents, Louis and Glenda Bouy, started visiting Florence at least 20 years ago and fell in love with the town while spending their summers there. In May, they decided to go back for a short visit. On the first day there, my par- ents went to check into the Three Rivers Casino, where they had reserved a room. Unfortunately, my dad fell and broke his hip. This resulted in my dad having sur- gery at Peace Harbor Hospital. You can imagine how difficult this was for my mom, alone and with no one to turn to. As soon as my mom called me, my husband and I got in our car and drove 17 hours straight to get there. I just wanted to thank Peace Harbor Medical Center for its kindness and hos- pitality during this very difficult time. The hospital, doctors, nurses, anesthe- siologist, chaplain, therapists and staff, desk personnel, volunteers, even down to the cafeteria workers, were absolute- ly wonderful in the care of not only my dad, but my mom, my husband and my- self. They assured our every need was met and that we had food and drinks. In visiting the ambulance personnel facility, all our concerns were addressed and we thanked them for helping my dad. We visited the Chamber of Commerce, the Dollar Tree, Florence Pharmacy, Rite Aid, Fred Meyer's, various gas stations, etc. — and everywhere we went we were treated with kindness and care. I cannot express in words our appreciation and gratitude for the kindness we received during the week we stayed there. We visited the tea house restaurant, Love Joy’s. When we got to the restau- rant they were actually closed but opened their doors to my mom and me. They cooked us a lovely dinner, which included scones and tea. I want them to know their kindness touched us. One of the managers at McDonald's also took extra care to ensure our or- ders were right as we are vegetarians. He insured our meal was correct as to how we ordered it and went out of his way to assist us. One of the locals, Elsie, whom my par- ents have known for many years, heard about what had happened and came up to visit with my dad on more than one occasion. She really brightened his day! Big thanks to her. I know I am forgetting some people, but please, again: Thank You Florence, and to all of you who we encountered, for your kindness. I wish we could bottle it and bring it back to Utah! Thank you again, — D ebbie and Mazen Alawneh C l inton, Utah 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, gram- mar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaran- teed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or documented will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside the Siuslaw News readership area will only be published at the dis- cretion of the editor. Politioal/Eleotion Letters: 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 cam- paigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any information about a candidate is accurate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) ex- plain the reasons to support candidates based on per- sonal experience and perspective rather than partisan- ship and campaign-style rhetoric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the news- paper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any let- ter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Emal 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 Oregon 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 (4th 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