Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2019)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | JANUARY 19, 2019 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR | 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion “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 2019 © Siuslaw News 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 Pub- lishers 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 Bartlet Ned Hickson Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Marketing Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor Press Manager DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publica- tion; 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 subscrip- tion, $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 subscription, $65. Words left unspoken by Dr. King are equally important to remember His speech the night before, while meant to be a pep talk for those within the movement, had traces of his regret, as well as con- cern and deference to the hands of ifty-one years ago this April, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was fate. “It doesn’t really matter with me awaiting approval of permits from the City of Memphis for his second now,” he said during his speech to parishioners. march in support of black city sanitation workers. Five days earlier, he had led a peaceful demonstration that From the Editor’s Desk ended in panic after militant Ned Hickson protesters showed up and in- cited the crowd, forcing police “I’ve been to the mountaintop. to break up the march. After spending most of April Like anybody, I would like to live a long life — longevity has its place. 4, 1968, relaxing at the Lorraine But I am not concerned about that Motel following his now fa- now. ... I’ve looked over and I’ve mous “Mountaintop” speech the night before at a local church, he seen the promised land.” Shortly after 6 p.m., standing stepped onto the balcony of his on the balcony outside of room second-floor motel room and ex- changed light-hearted banter with 306, his banter with friends was cut short by the loud crack of a friends who had gathered in the gunshot. parking lot below. He was taken to a hospital, where It was in stark contrast to his mood the night before, which had he never regained consciousness carried regret over the failed march before being pronounced dead less than an hour later. a week earlier, as well as a politi- According to Rev. Jesse Jackson, cal environment that had become who was with Dr. King that day, unpredictable. F the Civil Rights leader “refused to be afraid of the risk of ambush or sabotage; he refused to stop what he was doing out of fear — because he did it out of courage and con- viction for what was right.” Fifty-one years later, we once again find ourselves in the midst of marches, protests and demon- strations as we grapple with a multitude of issues facing our nation, from immigration to gun control, the economy to climate change. Regardless of where we stand on these issues as individuals, finding and agreeing on the solu- tions requires a collective desire to support each other’s right to voice opinions — and when in disagree- ment, to do so respectfully. Fifty-one years ago this April, the life of Dr. King was taken by someone who did not believe in that principle. As we remember his life and death, and reflect on the powerful message he spoke of equality and service to one another, we must also remember the equally power- ful message of those words that he was forced to leave unspoken. Celebrating and recognizing Dr. King’s message of service (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub- missions on this and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) In the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech on service, he spoke of one’s greatness and how, with that greatness, we must be- come the servant. “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve,” he said. His mission, passion and life’s work was to help people who needed him most. And in that spirit of greatness and service we have MLK Day as a federal holiday and day of service. It’s a day ‘on’ — not a day ‘off.’ Central to each religious tradi- tion is a basic universal principle “Do unto others” and in some tra- ditions “Put others first.” And in this spirit of doing, by serving we take a posture of humility — which rather than being a sign of weak- ness is a sign of strength. Of greatness. We all value different things in different ways but the virtues of service give us a common ground; our humanity. And this outreach of serving when done in a spirit of kindness and care ultimately make us happier, healthier and stronger people. Service gives us something in common and unifies us in our common humanity. Service is an action. And this ac- tion of service is very much alive and woven into what makes our community unique; it builds our sense of community and connects us in this common, useful and uni- fied way. And when we become unified, it strengthens us as indi- viduals and as a community as we move forward in whatever we set out to accomplish. Guest Viewpoint By Frances E. Klippel Florence Baha'I Church It is also out of this desire to serve that social justice is present. Service transcends race, gender, re- ligion, politics and age. To care for others or each other is to hold the hand of the dying or infirmed, to shelter those who are homeless, to feed the hungry, to educate and to protect. We see this in our many local many organizations that serve those in need through warming shelters, resources and safety made available for families, food pro- vided each day or week, building homes for low-income families, and even the love and protection given to our beloved pets. Service is a love, a commitment and a calling to do something and that is translated into action. To serve others, we serve each other. This transcends the increas- ing “us vs. them” polarization and brings dignity and humanity to each person regardless of their sta- tus or condition. Serving each oth- er reflects our greatness. As we honor Dr. King, we honor all those who serve in our commu- nity, whether they be profession- als, volunteers, advocates, wheth- er paid, donated or gifted. Service and volunteering are central to our lives as citizens of Florence and the Siuslaw region, and we see this vibrantly every hour of every day in our caring and ge- ner-ous community. Monday afternoon, Jan. 21, from 2 to 4 p.m., Reverend King’s vision of service and social justice will be honored during a special program hosted by The Florence Baha’I Church and open to all commu- nity members. The event will in- clude speakers from Food Share, Free Lunch, Siuslaw Outreach Ser- vices, the Warming Shelter, Help- ing Hands and more. The program will also include several local poets and two young, local singers Wil- liam Owens singing “Georgia” and Nyah Vollmar singing “Man In the Mirror.” There will also be a 52-minute documentary, “American Story: Race Amity and Other Traditions.” Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Editor policy The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the edi- tor 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 sub- ject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of let- ters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumen- tative, 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 pub- lished at the discretion 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 campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) En- sure any information about a candidate is accu- rate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) Explain the reasons to support candidates based on personal experience and perspective rather than partisanship and cam- paign-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 newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publish- er, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter 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 @oregonlegislature.gov 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
