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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 2018)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | AUGUST 11, 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) Finding common ground in defying hate Except for a relative hand- ful of what I suspect were trollers looking for a reac- tion, members of our small community made it loud and clear that racially motivated With seemingly so much of our focus on the things that divide us, it was inspir- ing to receive phone calls, emails and have community members stop in to voice their universal disgust with the racial epithet spray-painted on the aban- doned vehicle north of town (see page 3A). The response wasn’t just from the far right or far left, Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives, Chevy or Ford owners. ing discovered by a passerby heading to work, members of the community mobilized, contacting local media as well as city and county offi- cials to demand the vehice from the city and county to determine who had jurisdic- tion to remove the vehicle and tracking down the land owner, there was a tangible feeling of unification be- tween the combined efforts of citizens working together to essentially say what the From the Editor’s Desk veteran from Band of Broth- Ned Hickson ers had said: Not in our town. I’ve have always been hate speech had no place in be removed. proud to call Florence my our community — or as one Some offered to remove home, but never more so member of the local veterans the car themselves, for free, than I was this past week. group Band of Brothers put although the current fire It was a wonderful re- it: “Not in my town. I fought restrictions would have elim- minder that, regardless of the against that kind of bulls--t inated that proposal. political terrain we stand on, abroad. I’m not putting up As we worked here in there are some places where with it here.” the newsroom, making we can still find strong, com- Within a few hours of be- phone calls and getting help mon ground. 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. Jenna Bar tlett Ned H ickson Erik Chalhoub Publisher, ex t. 318 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 echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com M ar k e t i n g Di re c to r, e x t . 3 2 6 O ffice Super visor, ex t. 312 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 Cathy Dietz 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 policy 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. Political/Election Letters: LETTERS Blessed to live in this community What a wonderful National Night Out we had in Florence. Free food, free face painting, free rock painting — free fun for all ages. Good will was everywhere. Thank you to our great Florence Police Department, Florence Fire Department, the Coast Guard and the emergency workers. Also thanks to Jamie Gorder, who was the coor- dinator for this fine event, and to all of the Florence city workers and cit- izens who volunteered their time to make sure that all went well. Special thanks to Bill Prosser and our terrific Mayor Joe Henry, both of whom stood over hot barbecues turning out hamburgers and hot dogs for the duration. What a community we are blessed to live in. The smiles on the children’s faces lit up the sky! —Pamela Richardson Florence New country program help smokers quit Citizens of Lane County should know about a wonderful program to help people quit smoking called “Freedom From Smoking.” It is held at the PeaceHealth Hospi- tal campus from one to three hours a week for eight weeks. The instructor is Karl Logan, a very knowledgable, non-jundgemental and patient presenter who helps each participant customize their medical aids, life changes and quit date. Feel better, live longer and save lots of money by quitting smoking. — Brian Rutter Florence (For information, email klogan@ peacehealth.org) Sand of time will reveal truth Until now, I’ve had no previous desire to express myself in the pub- lic broadsheet because I realize my opine is merely a grain of sand on the beach head. Nevertheless, my innate compul- sion remains undeniable, so there- fore I feel I must speak my peace. Humans may attempt — and have temporarily succeeded in — decep- tion, destruction, removal, re-writ- ing and fl at-out in-your-face denial of the reality of any universal truths. Regardless, the sands of time will just as undeniably reveal those truths, even if the sand becomes a sheet of glass. Hope, faith in the truth, and love to all in this lovingly and wonder- fully growing community we all call home. —Sally Hubert Florence Use democracy or lose it We are all multi-dimensional be- ings. I think you will understand when I say, “We live in at least two worlds simultaneously, the material one and the spiritual one.” Th at is, a preponderance of scien- tists agree that we have evolved our bodies up through the animal king- dom. And the majority of religions all tell us we are “quickened” with an eternal soul. I always say, “If you really want to know someone, fi gure out what their animal is.” Because some people’s an- imals are way more predatory than others. Civilization occurs when laws are enforced to remind people to keep their animal instincts under control. It is my belief that most people have lost consciousness of these two inherent driving forces and, in so doing, have abdicated their own free will — thus control over their own lives. Th e solution: Wake up, take back your power by exercising your right to vote. If you vote, we can make this country a democracy again. If you don’t, we won’t. It’s like my grandmother use to say, “Use it, or lose it.” —S. B. Starlight Swisshome 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
