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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 2018)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | SEPTEMBER 22, 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. 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 Seize the moment and avoid repeating the past that, at age 15, she was groped doesn’t compute.” and pinned down at a party by a So, is she "mixed up" or drunken Brett Kavanaugh, then "slick?" 17, and now a Supreme Court This vacillation is all too Justice nominee. reminiscent of the Clarence Ford admits she doesn't re- Thomas hearings — or more member every detail; and Ka- specifically, the portrayal of Thirty-six years ago, Ronald vanaugh denies it happened at Anita Hill as "mixed up" and perhaps "mentally unstable" by Reagan was president and the all. U.S. Supreme Court had its very first female justice, Sandra Day O'Connor. And while the gender equality gut check that Ned Hickson was the Clarence Thomas hear- ings was still nine years away, it seemed a different United There is, of course, another members of the all-male panel States back then. viewpoint, expressed by Utah on the Thomas hearings. Or so we thought. However, there is one thing As we’re slowly discovering, Senator Orrin Hatch, that Ford that differentiates today from it's disconcertingly similar to is “just mixed up.” Keep in mind that Sen. yesterday: The mid-term elec- 36 years ago — in the same way that many of the white, wealthy Hatch also told Utah’s Deseret tions. Now just seven weeks away, faces that make up today's Sen- News newspaper that, “there’s ate hearing panels are the same. no question in my mind she both Republicans and Demo- Bridging the gap between was coached by special inter- crats are walking a taut, strate- that span of 36 years is the accu- est groups,” adding: “Her sto- gic tightrope held at both ends sation by Christine Blasey Ford ry’s too contrived. It’s so slick it by women voters. From the Editor’s Desk The sad irony is that, as polit- ical strategy takes center stage in the minds of both parties, it seems more likely that ques- tions of how to win or defeat the appointment of Judge Ka- vanaugh will become more im- portant than asking ourselves if we have become better than we were 36 years ago. In the age of #MeToo and a record number of women running for political appoint- ment within all levels of gov- ernment across our nation, what a shame it would be if we didn't seize this moment to put aside partisanship for personal growth as a nation. It's time to walk the talk and, rather than repeat the past, fi- nally cross the bridge spanning the last 36 years. The consequences of not do- ing so will last far longer than any Supreme Court Justice ap- pointment. LETTERS McKeown has been an effective representative I will vote for Representative Caddy McKeown in the Oregon House District 9 race this year. There are many reasons I have chosen to spend my vote in sup- port of this extraordinary public servant but if I could tell just one story that illus- trates my reasons why. Several years ago I was in a meeting with Representative McKeown when she brought up the subject of the transporta- tion issues facing Yachats. The citizens of Yachats had no way of accessing public transportation to reach doctor appoint- ments, better shopping, education or employment opportunities. To some, this was not a big deal; just another small town that fell through the cracks, but I could tell that it was a big deal to our representative. She has cho- sen to represent all of her constituents; not just the ones that supported her or of her political persuasion. I heard of the “Yachats” problem over the next months. The day I learned that the problem had been solved I learned the magnitude of the problem. The problem had to do with geog- raphy. Yachats is in Southern Lincoln County; the closest community with access to opportunity is Florence, locat- ed in northern Lane County. In other words, it was someone else’s problem. We, as a state, have decided that public transportation is a county issue. Repre- sentative McKeown had to find a way to work with Lincoln County, Lane County, Yachats, Florence, Oregon Department of Transportation and private partners. She brought all these parts together with success. The reward for Represen- tative McKeown was very small politi- cally but huge to her personally. As she stated, this was just her doing her job, what we had elected her to do. This is just one small example of how Representative McKeown has effectively done her job for us. —Dick Leshley Yachats What message would a sales tax send to visitors? Regarding Dr. Sheldon Meyer’s Let- ter to the Editor “Innovative Tax Idea” (Sept. 19), Meyer was correct that his smug proposal would disgust. In the real world, people have a budget for a vacation. If we take, say, 10 percent as a visitor tax, then visitors may visit fewer days, e.g. nine rather than 10. A 10 percent reduction is called a de- pression. A great many snowbirds come to Or- egon for work on their RVs. If they are subject to tax, they may get the work done elsewhere. Will Oregonians require ID for every purchase to avoid the tax? Lastly, what kind of message would it send to visitors that we expect them to fund our children's education? —Ian Eales Florence Women need and deserve respect and support This letter is from a husband, father and grandfather who has protected, loved, supported and honored his wife, daughters and grand-daughter for nearly 50 years. This letter, however, is addressed prin- cipally to those who share this retired military member’s view that personal, professional and military ethics and val- ues demand we abide by an uncompro- mising code of integrity; to include re- spect and human dignity for all women. The bedrock of moral and character education begins with an internaliza- tion of a personal code of honor that de- mands a man never disrespects or hurts a woman. In my view, these basic prin- ciples are based on American values of fairness, support, honesty and respect. The Washington Post recently re- vealed that Donald Trump has lied “5,000 times” since arguably becoming a racist, alt-right-acting president who often and openly demeans women and people of color. This should end with not only his impeachment but the removal of all lawmakers who do not protect and treat American women with respect. The honor code to always protect and respect women is reflected in Mario Sav- io’s passionate “put your bodies upon the gears” speech given at the University of California, Berkeley in 1964. Fast forward to 2018 and the #MeToo movement now echoes Savio’s words when it comes to impeaching Trump, and also decrying men in power who no longer respect or protect American women. — Dave Masko Florence 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