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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 2018)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | AUGUST 29, 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 WEDNESDAY 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. WEDNESDAY 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 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 LETTERS No cherry picking Mr. Tony Cavarno mentioned in his letter “Overlooking the Good President Trump Has Done” (Aug. 25), which was about how “the left” is not looking at the good accom- plishments that have occurred under President Trump. I therefore request that he list the “good” that he feels fall in that cate- gory, and then be so kind to list the “bad.” No cherry picking allowed; bring the good and the bad. I would like to see how truthful the outcome would be. I’d suggest starting the list of the bad, beginning with the more than 4,000 lies he has said or tweeted (as recorded in an ongoing list by The Washington Post). By the way, be sure to break out your I.D. the next time you visit Safe- way or Fred Meyer’s. I hear it is a common practice. —Tom Jackson Florence Playground needed in Old Town area A few weeks ago, my daughter babysat for an aft ernoon for two younger children at their home in Old Town. Before she went, she asked me to help her think of a playground she could walk to with them. We could not think of any playgrounds in the Old Town area where younger children could walk to and play. None. We took our kids, when they were young, to every playground in town. When we went to any other town, we searched out the playgrounds. We learned that a little time spent at the playground made happier little ones; we could do something we wanted to, and they were satisfi ed with their playtime. And there could always be a prom- ise of more playtime when we were fi nished with our adult activity. Old Town Florence needs a playground, something to take the kids to before or aft er parents shop a bit. Some towns have very memorable playgrounds. We had names for each of them. “Do you want to go to the Big Wooden Bridge playground?” was our way of asking if the kids wanted to go to Lincoln City. Yach- ats was the “Climbing Dome play- ground,” now nicknamed the “New Treehouse” playground aft er being rebuilt. Florence could also have a memo- rable playground. How about a slide that looks like a sand dune? Or a play-replica of our iconic bridge? It doesnt have to be really big; young children are usually easily pleased with any playground. When I drive through the Old Town area, I can see two or three places that would make a good play- ground. Th at grassy lot between the Veterans Memorial and what is now public parking. Or somewhere in the boardwalk area. Or how about under the bridge? In real estate evaluation, the high- est and best use for a location refers to what is considered the maximum potential for a site. For example, oceanfront lots will command a higher value for residences than for sheep grazing. On most parts of the Oregon coast, the waterfront land is too valuable to graze sheep on it. I see this same thing for the land under the bridge. Now it is a park- ing lot; a few lucky people get to park their cars there. Instead, it could be turned into a playground that is somewhat sheltered from the weath- er, is centrally located so that many Old Town area residents could use it easily, and visitors to Old Town would have something to enjoy with their smaller children. It might even draw more people than ever to the area. In some towns, community mem- bers get together and build a play- ground. Or service clubs. Or the city builds it. We have seen playgrounds with handprints of children on tiles, covering a wall. Bricks with names of donors. Play equipment with donors’ names. Who can get this idea made into reality? I read about Siusaw Vision. I hope this idea can be added to it. —Mary Beth Rawlins Florence Some of the ‘accomplishments’ of President Trump In Mr. Tony Cavarno’s recent let- ter to the editor (“Overlooking All the Good President Trump Has Done,” Aug. 25) he mentioned “all the good accomplishments that have happened in the United States since President Trump and his administra- tion took offi ce.” Yet, he failed to mention any of these accomplishments. So, I am of- fering to help remember just some of those “accomplishments.” • Th ere are still over 500 immi- grant children in detention, some under fi ve years old, whose parents either have been deported or can’t be found. • Trump’s strategy to end North Korea’s nuclear threat has so far failed as he has cancelled a scheduled trip by the Secretary of State. • Passing the Republican tax bill that leaves the country more than $1 trillion deeper in debt, with no accel- eration in wage growth, and which mostly benefi ts corporate sharehold- ers and is projected by the Tax Policy Center in 2027 to force 53 percent of Americans to pay more in taxes. • Downsizing national monuments and opening them up to corporate plundering of our natural resources. • Increasing dependency on fossil fuel use while cutting environmental regulations, resulting in a more pol- luted environment. • Making the U.S. soon to be the only nation in the world (as of No- vember 2019) not to be part of the Paris climate agreement. • Not lowering drug prices as promised, nor replacing Obamacare with “something better.” • Spending 25 percent of his days at one of his golf resorts, costing tax- payers upwards of $77 million. • Many of the “best people” he put into positions within his administra- tion, or campaign, have either been found guilt of — or pleaded guilty to — crimes, with more still in the pipeline. • And being the fi rst American president not welcome to attend two funerals for prominent members of his own party. I am tired of “winning” with all these “accomplishments” and, in No- vember, the American people will have a chance to express what they think of those accomplishments. Vote. Vote. Vote. —Mary DeCeault Dunes City 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: 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