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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 2018)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | NOVEMBER 28, 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 Editor policy Know the true history, meaning behind fl ag’s symbols (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.) I n the Nov. 24 edition of the Siuslaw News, a Letter to the Editor was published which included inaccurate and false statements. Gene Olson’s letter (“Don’t Drag Disrespectful Symbols Into Veterans Parade”) in reference to the flag I have on my military jeep, the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag, was described as “in- sensitive and inappropriate.” Olson’s lack of knowledge concerning the history of this flag has presented a to- tally false description of the background behind this flag. Its long and distinguished history goes back to the colonial days of our nation. In the fall of 1775, the Continental Navy created the “first U.S. Navy Jack” and has traditionally been shown as consisting of 13 horizontal alternating red and white stripes with a superimposed rattlesnake and the motto “Don’t Tread on Me.” The rattlesnake had long been a symbol of resistance to British repressive acts in Colonial America. In August 1977, the Secretary of the Navy specified that the ship with the lon- gest total period of active service display the First Navy Jack until decommissioned Guest Viewpoint By Sam Spayd Colonel USAF, retired or transferred to inactive service, at which time the flag shall be passed to the next ship in line with appropriate honor. On May 22, 2002, the U.S. Navy or- dered all ships to display the First Navy Jack during the War on Terrorism. Cur- rently the amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) has the honor of flying the First Navy Jack. As recently as last January, the U.S. Navy hoisted the First Navy Jack un- der Old Glory at Joint Base Pearl Har- bor-Hickam to honor the 17 shipmates we lost on USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) and USS John S. McCain (DDG-56). It represents a historical reminder that our warfighting edge is not only back but renewed and forged with purpose. To describe this symbol of our rich American history as “divisive, disrespect- ful and generally offensive” shows a total lack of knowledge of our American tra- ditions. Once again, false and misguided information is promulgated by “do gooders” who add to the false narrative and spread half truths and misrepresentations without re- searching the full facts. I will continue to display this “First Navy Jack” on my military jeep as a symbol of the respect I hold for all the men and women who have honorably served in the armed forces of our great nation. I hope Mr. Olson will find some pos- itive way to express his good fortune to live in a country where you have the right and freedom to express yourself freely and without fear of reprisal. (Editor’s Note: The Nov. 24 Letter to the Editor from Gene Olson mentioned the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag and also the Confederate Flag, which was flown on a different vehicle in the Veteran's Day parade.) LETTERS Celebrate the ‘exploding whale’ I am writing in response to the Nov. 14 article (“In Memorium of Florence’s Exploding Whale”) on the exploding whale celebrations. I think that the exploding whale is and always will be considered a funny moment in Florence’s history. There are some people that view the whale explosion as an embarrassing event that should be buried like the whale should’ve been. It was a silly decision to blow up the whale with some dynamite, but most people view it as a funny event that just made Florence famous. I’m glad that no one actually died from falling blub- ber or else the event might have been considered a grave mistake. I haven’t heard of any other celebra- tions for the anniversary of the explod- ing whale, but what happened on the 48th anniversary was funny. I liked the re-enactment of the explosion at the beach. It created a fun and positive view on a city’s mishaps. The people who re-enacted the explosion proba- bly got a good laugh out of it. Like the article said, the median age for people in this town is around 60, so doing the re-enactment gives the younger people something fun to do. For the 50th anniversary, it would be cool to have a bigger celebration done. This year’s whale had about 10 people used to make it. I think it would be exciting to have a huge re-enactment done by the whole town or a couple hundred people. It would generate more excitement in Florence for the younger people in this city, and could create more publicity for Florence. Some tourists might hear about the event or be passing by and want to join in or spectate. —Daniel Olson Florence Grease the wheels of local discourse I am hopeful that we can bridge the political divides in our town, and I liked seeing letters in the paper recent- ly about participating in democracy. I may have missed a few, but two I saw were about voting and about bringing concerns to the Florence City Council in person. I say, Bravo! What are other ways we can grease the gears of our local — and perhaps national — discourse? Letter writing parties? Phone banks on important is- sues? Weekly discussion groups with a focus and a facilitator? Monthly fo- rums on topics of interest or concern? I participate in some activities like these and I encourage others to do the same. Start a forum or activity if what you want to do is not around yet; if you build it, they will come. From the resulting enriching and thought provoking interactions comes guidance, support and camaraderie. —Ivy Medow, Florence Fire tragedy was largely preventable While the fi res in California were horrendous, the terrible loss of life and property was largely preventable. Pres- ident Trump was 100 percent correct when he said the forest was mishan- dled. We are now seeing the end result of decades of lawsuits designed by “en- vironmentalists” designed to not cut trees and stay out of the forests. Remember the warnings (lies) about the spotted owl, wolves and cougar hunting? We need to clear-cut, thin and take out trees that are infected with bark beetles or that are just plain unhealthy. Th ere is a lot of lumber in the forest, so why buy from Canada? Th ey need to take big tractors, crush the undergrowth and dig up the dried grass. Two years ago, California had heavy rains which fi lled all the reservoirs. Ev- erything grew like crazy. A few years later, it burned. Th is cycle has been going on forever and will not stop. — Martin Cable 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
