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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2019)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | MAY 1, 2019 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR | 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment 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 Govern- ment 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 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, $79; 6-month in-county, $56; 10-week subscrip- tion, $25; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription, $102; 6-month out-of-county, $69; 10-week subscription, $35; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $134; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Editor policy Do-gooder billionaires should do some actual good (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 t is a shame that the Norte Dame Ca- thedral had such a tragic fire. In 1964 while stationed in Germany, a buddy and I spent five days in Paris playing tourists. We took a tour boat ride down the Seine River and saw Notre Dame in the distance, which at the time was the largest church I had ever seen. It was not until 2017 that I actually walked into the cathedral. Outside I was fas- cinated with the gargoyles and inside the rose windows. Other than the win- dows, I was not impressed with interior and put off by the ATM machine that was inside. I do not understand what all the fuss is about because the main structure was not destroyed, nor were the rose win- dows. Now, if the world lost one of the fol- lowing, it be it would a tragic loss of architecture and sensory experience: York Minster in York, England, which is built on Roman ruins; The massive Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Ger- many, where American GI’s took rifle Guest Viewpoint By Win Jolley Florence practice in the nave; Florence Duomo in Florence, Italy, that has the wonder- ful subtle white, pink and green façade and inside the dome. Lastly there is St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome with the square designed by Ber- nini to exterior and interior archeicture designed by Michelangelo, Barmante, Maderno and Sangallo The Younger. The exterior and interior are an over- powering visual experience. My words are not really about churches or cathedrals but donations that are given to replace what was lost and donations that are not given. As I write this, donations of about $1 billion have been pledged to rebuilding Notre Dame, which will take at least 10 years. Because of this spike in giving, the three African American Churches that were recently destroyed in Lou- isiana have now received $1.5 million in donations, which is embarrassing; it should be about $20 million. What our giving billionaires should really concern themselves with when giving is not to a destroyed edifice but to those estimated 16 million children in our country that only have one meal each day, if any. To feed all the children in the U.S. with three balanced meals each day would cost $1 per child. For $1 billion we could possibly feed all the starving children in the world for years to come. Do-gooders should learn how to do good instead of getting their names in media and print. LETTERS We all lose In reference to the Siuslaw News article, “Public Art Committee Moves Past Mural Controversy” (April 24), it is unfortunate that FURA removed funding from our community’s Public Art Commit- tee (PAC) because there was dis- agreement about a single piece of public art. The PAC has done a great job in- stalling public art throughout our community; it has enhanced and bettered our community overall which, if I’m not mistaken, is one of the goals of FURA. It appears that FURA has chosen to align itself with only a portion of our community rather than to rep- resent the whole. In the end, all of us (100 percent) in our community will be penalized by this “taking of sides” resulting in the reduction of public art. It would be rare to have complete agreement on any piece of art — which is one important functions of art: To engage people in thought and discussion. It is sad to think that future public art installations may not happen because a portion of our community dislikes a single piece. I hope FURA and the Florence City Council will reconsider this decision. —Dina Pavlis Florence How will new courthouse, more taxes benefit us? I just received the Lane County Voters’ Pamphlet and did a quick scan through it. I was amazed to find only one argument against any of the tax measures. The information furnished by John G. Cox, a retired Lane Coun- ty Attorney, has me thinking about what Lane County has done for us in Florence. His arguments make a lot of sense to me. What benefit are we in Florence going to get from this $252 million dollar expenditure from our tax payments? Both Coos County and Doug- las County have a county annex on the coast to help serve their tax payers. Lane County had one in Florence but decided to close it. Now our taxpayers have to go to Eugene for court, for permits and for jury duty. Couldn’t a lot of the business be- ing handled in Eugene be handled just as well in Florence and at less cost per square foot? I think Lane County needs to take a look at how our counties to the south are handling things and stop wasting our money and time. —Robert Miller Florence Kent has proven track record Nora Kent gets my vote for Lane Education Service District (ESD) Board because she lives, breathes and works hard for our kids. She has a proven track record of ser- vice to our rural schools, such as Lane Community College, EC Cares and others. She brings a wealth of knowl- edge and proven activism that are integral to grow and support important resources needed for student achievement in our rural schools. I particularly remember the packed classroom when she brought together our communi- ty to meet her English Language Learner students and families so we could hear their stories. It was an emotional evening filled with kindness and under- standing … through their words and their cultural food as well. Nora Kent helped create an anti-bullying event, Gift of our Wounds, and helped raise funds for Heart of the Coast Housing Al- liance to support affordable hous- ing. You don’t do such community activism without a caring heart. There’s no one better to represent Position 4 for Lane ESD Board than Nora Kent, who will help our students in West Lane County have opportunities to succeed. —Sally Wantz Florence 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. Email 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
