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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 2018)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | NOVEMBER 10, 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; Display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Thursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; 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-week subscription, $23; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription,$99; 6-month out-of-county, $65; 10-week subscription, $29; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $125; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year sub- scription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Edutor polucy LETTERS Tough tumes call for tough measures We need to eliminate football as an expense that the schools simply cannot afford. Even if maintenance, teaching salaries, extracurricular ac- tivities, etc., are apples and oranges budget wise, this sends a huge mes- sage. If we can’t afford a new school to keep the kids warm, dry and safe, or give our kids educations that prepare them for our 21st century, then we sure can’t afford football. I know football is just as much for the community’s enjoyment as it is for the kids. But oh, well, sorry. Tough times call for tough mea- sures. —Cris Reep Florence Faulure of bond measure leaees more concerns I'm disappointed that the school bond measure failed. I understand that there may have been some con- fusion regarding the cost of the bond versus property tax increase, and that future attempts will be made for smaller requests. It is still concerning me, however, that in the meantime our precious students are being subjected to po- tential hazards associated with an earthquake. I have seen, fi rsthand, building damage and collapse due to liquifi ca- tion of sand and resulting diff erential settlement of foundations. It’s true there may be minor stop-gap seismic retrofi t measures that could reduce some of the destruction potential. If so, I hope these can be evaluat- ed and addressed to make the next bond proposal more palatable for taxpayers. —Bill Craig Florence Who really profi ts from the Death With Dignity movement? (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submis- sions on this and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) A s someone who has spent thou- sands of his own dollars promot- ing expanding Oregon’s end-of-life choices, the question of who stands to profit from the Death With Dignity movement is one I have have been cu- rious about. I have reached out to Compassion & Choices, which is the original group that helped get Oregon’s Death With Dignity law passed. It is a well-financed organization that receives lots of do- nations for promoting Oregon’s Death With Dignity law in other states. Like many, I believe this law is re- strictive and could be much more compassionate. Compassion & Choic- es has stated twice in the media — in the Washington Post and Siuslaw News, that it opposes my work through End Choices to make Oregon’s law more compassionate. It will not even com- municate with me by telephone, email or Facebook. I have to wonder how it can, in good conscience, accept donations while calling itself Compassion & Choices but not actually supporting compas- sion? This is one question I have asked and have not been given an answer to. Myself being very passionate about the issue cannot understand any group or individual that professes to support Death With Dignity but does not want to help Oregonions make the current law more compassionate. Another well-financed nonprof- it organization that opposes my work Guest Viewpoint By Bruce Yelle End Choices through End Choices is Right to Life. Given that the organization has quite a few religious-minded supporters who rely on their faith to guide them, I can understand. However, what bothers me is how Right to Life seems to misrepresent what is being asked for in expanding Oregon’s end-of-life choices to assure an individual’s advance directive is honored, even when they become vic- itims of dementia. In the past three years, a bill was in front of the Oregon legislature to re- write the state’s 25-year-old advance directive laws. And every year, Right to Life fought this bill with lots of money. Last year, during the House of Repre- sentative hearings for the bill, I was one of three people testifying to support the bill. Common sense asks, Why not re- write a 25-year-old law? What I heard from some of the 200 people who had signed up to oppose it — most from Right to Life — was that rewriting Oregon’s decades-old law would take rights away from those suf- fering from dementia. Those of us who are educated on this subject through personal experience know the exact op- posite is true. Today in Oregon, an individual’s ad- vance directive may or may not be fol- lowed in the event of dementia. Once that happens, an individual’s right to choose is given to someone else — and they get to decide your end- of-life options. One can only hope this person and your health care providers can agree on what your advance direc- tive says, and whether you would have chosen to continue living with your de- mentia. In my opinion, there is too much money being made on keeping people alive and living in a quality of life that would be unacceptable to them if were they still considered mentally compe- tent. End Choices has been working hard the last year and a half to try and get this changed. In the upcoming 2019 Oregon leg- islative session, there will be a bill that will protect the rights of seniors and citizens with incurable conditions and unbearable suffering. An advanced directive filled out when someone is mentally competent should be a contract for an individual should they someday be considered mentally incompetent to choose for themselves. Oregonians need to educate themselves on the restrictions of the current Or- egon Death With Dignity law and the rules regarding advance directives. 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. Polutucal/Electuon 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
