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128TH YEAR | ISSUE NO. 56
Dunes City
passes marijuana
regulations
Cormorant count
could determine
need for ‘hazing’
Year-long debate over
marijuana will now be
finalized by the voters
Department of Fish & Wildlife looks into
managing populations in the estuary
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
T
he Siuslaw River is
home to many types of
wildlife these days. Otters,
seals and even orcas have
become familiar visitors to
the Siuslaw Estuary and to
the Port of Siuslaw District
in recent years.
Significant growth in animal,
fish and bird populations can be
directly attributed to dramatic
improvements in water and air
quality and habitat management
during the last two decades.
Some of these positive changes
have been part of an economic
process, related to the reduction
and eventual elimination of in-
dustrial-based businesses, such
as canning and timber mills along
the river.
Some improvements are due
to the natural cycle of tides and
water collection from the Siuslaw
watershed region, which moves
millions of gallons of water from
FLORENCE, OREGON
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
upriver to the ocean, flushing tons
of debris and waste out to sea.
And some of these changes can
be attributed to the active role the
Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife (ODFW) has taken in
managing fish and animal popu-
lations across the state.
The idea that the ODFW is
managing the wildlife resources
for the use of human beings rath-
er than for the overall betterment
of the larger eco-system is in
question in many environmental
circles, as it seems business inter-
ests have a different view of the
proper use of natural resources.
One surprising area of conten-
tion is the cormorant. The bird
has become a flashpoint in the
proper role that ODFW plays in
determining what policies govern
animal value.
North Coast Watershed Dis-
trict Watershed Manager Chris
Knutsen’s responsibilities include
determining when and how to
mitigate fishery losses to preda-
tion.
“ODFW has been studying
the diet of double-crested cor-
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
Double-crested cormorants are indigenous waterbirds that make
their homes in the Siuslaw River and other estuaries. They grow a
white crest during mating season, which gives them a distinctive
look and makes them a favorite sight for casual observers along
the river.
morants that feed in estuaries
for several years,” Knutsen said.
“Our research indicates that
out-migrating juvenile salmon
are clearly a seasonal component
of their diet, but this generally
has not exceeded 5 percent of the
estimated number of out-migrat-
ing juvenile salmon.”
The wildlife service evaluates
salmon population in regard to
what humans catch and what is
consumed by wildlife within the
ecosystem.
The Dunes City council passed a new ordinance
regulating the processing and growing of rec-
reational marijuana
By Jared Anderson
within city limits in
Siuslaw News
a public meeting on
Wednesday, cementing
the final component needed to end the year-long
controversy surrounding the issue.
“In early 2017, there were three Oregon Liquor
Control Commission (OLCC) applications submit-
ted and approved by the city on growing marijuana
in Dunes City,” Dunes City Planning Secretary
Rapunzel Oberholtzer said. “Subsequently, there
was quite an outcry and much discussion by the
council and citizenry. Eventually, the planning
commission suggested that perhaps language in
the existing code could be changed to give the city
more control over marijuana grow sites.”
In the interim, the council passed Ordinance
245, which essentially put a ban on all marijuana
growing facilities until November, when citizens
will be asked if marijuana growing and production
should be banned outright.
“This ordinance was written with the intent
that, if that ballot measure fails and there is no
ban outright, the city will be able to have some
control should people begin to apply,” Oberholtzer
explained. “This process gives the city a certain
amount of control that wasn’t in the previous pro-
cess and was asked for by the citizens.”
See DUNES CITY page 5A
See CORMORANT page 8A
Intolerance Part II — This Planet is Ours
A look at the beliefs and practices of white supremacy and how one man found his way out
Editor’s note:
This is part two of
a monthly series we introduced in our
July 11 edition. In the months ahead,
we will examine the different forms
of growing intolerance in our society,
beginning with racism. Our hope is to
gain a better understanding of why in-
tolerance — racial, political, geograph-
ical, religious, gender-based, etc. — not
only exists but seems to be growing. Our
hope is that understanding the soil can
help change what takes root.
The following article contains strong
themes and language.
n Aug. 5, 2012, a white suprema-
cist walked into a Sikh temple in
Oak Creek, Wisc. The temple was pre-
paring a free meal to all visitors without
regard to one’s religious beliefs or eth-
nicity, which is a tradition of Sikhism.
The supremist opened fire on the con-
gregation, murdering six and wound-
ing four.
The shooter then took his own life.
INSIDE
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By Jared Anderson
Siuslaw News
Though the exact reasons for the
shooting are unknown, he was part of
an organization called the Northern
Hammerskins, a white supremacist
group that was known for its violence
toward anyone who did not hold their
beliefs.
Arno Michaelis didn’t know the
shooter, but he knew others like him.
He was one of the founders of the
Northern Hammerskins — a hate
group he had left years prior. After the
shooting, Michaelis met with Pardeep
Kaleka, the eldest son of Satwant Singh
Kaleka, the president of the Sikh temple
who was gunned down in the attack.
They met at the request of Kaleka, who
had been haunted by the question of
“why?” Given that Michaelis had writ-
ten an autobiography about his expe-
riences with white supremacy in the
book “My Life After Hate,” Kaleka felt
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if anyone had answers, Michaelis could
provide them. Eventually, the meeting
led to a book collaboration — “The Gift
of Our Wounds” — and the creation of
Serve 2 Unite, a group that works with
young people of all backgrounds to cul-
tivate compassion and kindness.
“The idea of Serve 2 Unite came
about because we didn’t want the atroc-
ity to stand unanswered,” Michaelis
said. “It was about transforming it into
something that would inspire and bring
people together — bring about a society
where that kind of violence is less likely
to happen.”
The two have taken their message
across the world, and will be coming
to Florence tomorrow, July 15, to talk
about their mission.
For Michaelis, much of the healing
process comes from speaking about
his own ties to white supremacy: why
he joined, how the movement affected
him, how certain groups ran and how
to get out of them.
To understand his story, it’s import-
But it wasn’t always like that, propo-
ant to look at the ideology that he once nents believed.
believed, “The flaws of which are glar-
“We believed the Jewish conspiracy
ingly obvious,” Michaelis said.
began with ancient Rome, assuming
that Romans were blonde haired white
Church
people,” Michaelis explained.
“The ideology really started to crys-
It began with Rome’s sacking of Jeru-
talize for me with the Church of the salem in 70 CE. In the siege, more than
Creator,” Michaelis said.
a million people were reportedly killed,
The Church of the Creator, which is the majority of which were Jewish. Of
now known simply as “Creativity,” is a those Jews who didn’t parish, they were
white supremacist religion that is “de- prisoners. Thousands were forced to
cidedly anti-Christian and very anti-Se- become gladiators and die in the are-
mitic,” Michaelis said. “It was all based nas. With such little means of resistance
on race and Darwin laws of nature.”
left, how could they fight back?
There was a lot of pseudoscience
“In order to take down the Roman
involved, the reasoning muddled. In Empire, the Jews came up with the idea
short, Creativity viewed white people of Christianity,” Michaelis said of Cre-
as an entirely different species than ev- ativity’s theory.
eryone else.
Jesus would be a ruse to convince the
“We saw the last 500 Years of white Romans that they should turn the other
supremacy in the world as evidence cheek and start loving their neighbors.
that white people are better than every-
body else, and that their rightful place
was on top of society,” Michaelis said.
See INTOLERANCE page 7A
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