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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 2018)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | DECEMBER 12, 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 Ultimate cost of plastic convenience is far too high it’s second nature. I’m so In Lane County, our goal used to it being there that was to recyle two-thirds I don’t even think about of our waste products by how often — and in how 2025. We were making many ways — I use elec- great strides, leading the tricity. state in this campaign The inclusion of plastic The same can be said by being the only county in our lives has grown for our use of plastic. Here in Oregon to send more exponentially over the past are a few statistics to help waste to recyclers than we 70 years, making our lives illustrate the scope of did to landfills. easier, more convenient how plastic has become a However, recycling and often providing a second-nature element of restrictions in the Siuslaw significant cost savings al- our lives: region introduced last most too good to be true. However, as we have be- From the Editor’s Desk gun to realize, the ecologi- Ned Hickson cal interest rate on the cost of convenience has come due — with an unexpected Worldwide, more than January are jeopardizing balloon payment. 500 billion plastic bags are the progress we’ve made as We produce nearly 300 used each year, or more a county, and ultimately as million tons of plastic than 1 million bags every a society. products each year, nearly minute. While our dependence half of which is designed The average “working on plastic is a global issue, for single-use purposes in life” of a plastic bag is 15 the solutions will need to what has increasingly be- minutes, after which it be implemented one com- come a disposable society. “retires.” munity at a time, with the And despite our efforts to In 1996, 3.8 billion plas- first step in that process educate the public about tic water bottles were sold being education. the importance of “Re- in the U.S. By 2014, that Before we can solve the duce, Re-use and Recycle,” number had grown to 57.3 plastic problem, we need each year more than 8 billion. to fully understand its million tons of plastic is It’s no small irony that scope and the ways it is in- dumped into our oceans. the process of producing tertwined not only among When we lose electricity a water bottle actually those of us who use it, but in our home, I still walk requires six times as much how any changes we make into every dark room and water as there is in the could impact us econom- flip the switch because actual container itself. ically. In that spirit, Siuslaw News once again part- nered with City Lights Cinemas yesterday as part of the Siuslaw News’ free Green Film series, which targets important topics through innovative films and community discus- sion. Yesterday’s film was “Divide in Concord,” a feature-length documen- tary that follows the story of 84-year-old Concord, Mass., resident Jean Hill, who waged a seemingly unwinnable battle to rid her town of single-serve plastic bottles of water. Our hope is that the Green Film Series presen- tations and discussions that follow will spur the kind of community con- versation that will lead to solutions in dealing with what we have embraced as an element of everyday life that seemed too good to be true — and was. The question is what we can do — and are willing to do — as individuals and as a community to address the true cost of conve- nience. 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
