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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 8, 2019)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | MAY 8, 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 What does Lane Education Service District do? (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 current special election there are are number of school board po- sitions to vote for. There are the local school boards, Siuslaw and Mapleton, and there is the Lane Community College board. There is also the Lane Education Service District Board, also known as Lane ESD. What does LESD do? Vist its website at www.lesd.k12. or.us and you will find that it provides services for 16 school districts in Lane County. You will also find that Lane ESD, just like other school districts, has a superintendent (Tony Scurto, a gem of a guy) and they are governed by a citizen-elected Board of Directors. Five of the Board positions represent geographical zones (ours is zone 4) and two are designated “at-large.” But that’s not the impressive part. Lane ESD offers a safety net for chil- dren in small and middle-sized school districts who have special needs. In- deed, 84 percent of Lane ESD’s pro- grams are for these children. It also of- fer School Improvement Services, such as Career and Technical Education and professional development. Finally, it offers technology support and admin- istrative services for small districts that need those services as well. This Guest Viewpoint By Nora Kent LCC educator includes courier services that our local library accesses. At Siuslaw School District, I met with Lisa Utz from special services and Siuslaw High School vice-princi- pal Garth Gerot. Currently, there are services children with behavioral and remedial academic needs are offered at the the elementary, middle and high school levels. Lane ESD also provides a part-time school psychologist (who assesses special needs), a speech and language therapist and an augmentative com- munication specialist. Siuslaw teachers make good use Lane ESD professional development resources and Ms. Utz spoke very positively about the English Language Learner consortium that the district uses to improve instruction for ELL learners. Upriver is the small Mapleton School District, where I met with Jodi O’Mara, an enthusiastic superintendent and ele- mentary school principal. She explained that “without Lane ESD, we would really suffer.” Lane ESD provides Mapleton with specialists for speech and language, as well as occupational and physical therapy. It also provides a school psy- chologist and a behavioral specialist — an extra support adult who helps with emotional and behavioral needs is available for any student who just needs to talk to someone. Lane ESD offers Mapleton technol- ogy support — email servers, firewall and an IT specialists they can call at any time. Ms. O’Mara also calls on Lane ESD Homeschool and Truancy Services that offer resources to help families facing those issues. She said she is truly grateful for Lane ESD. “It is an amazing service that little districts need in order to give their kids the education they deserve.” LETTERS Might as well just hold elections in 11 states Keith Kraft recently stated in a Let- ter to the Editor (“Electoral College Protects Against Dictatorship,” April 27) that “The Electoral College makes minority opinion relevant whereas the popular vote for president leaves that decision to a half-dozen heavily pop- ulated states.” I hope he wrote this in jest because the popular vote includes “everyone” that votes, whereas the Electoral Col- lege requires just 270 votes to win the election — and they can be captured by wining just 11 States. California – 55; Texas – 38; Florida – 29; New York – 29; Pennsylvania – 20; Illinois – 20; Ohio – 18; Georgia – 16; North Carolina – 15; New Jersey – 14; Virginia – 12 In Mr. Kraft’s assessment, why have a general election and just not hold elections in the 11 states listed above because a vote “by the people and for the people” is swayed by a few states. —Win Jolley Florence We would accomplish more by disagreeing less Being a devote “Non-Affiliate” and an avid disbeliever in partisan pol- itics, I am constantly amazed at the statements from the Tweets and chat- ter coming from the talking heads in Washington D.C. It is very obvious that these people have never really listened to what they are saying. For example, there has been a pack of Tweets from the President blaming the Democratic party for his not being able to fulfill one of the many prom- ises he made during his campaign of what looked similar to organized riots in 2016. I distinctly remember my 8th grade social studies classes covering the organization and the responsibil- ities of the various arms of the govern- ment. At that time, there was no major an- imosity between the two parties, and society seemed to get along with each other quite well. Now, it seems, we have gotten to a point where the two parties are blam- ing each other for everything from the fires in California to constipation. Neither of these problems will be solved by yelling at each other. What the President needs to un- derstand is that his opposition is not from a political party at all, but rather is caused by a thing called democracy. We don’t elect a king or monarch to tell us how to think, what to do — so we rely on our elected officials to work together in running our country. It was an experiment that started well over 200 years ago and still ap- pears to be working rather well. I think we all would feel better, be happier and live longer if we just drop the feeling that “I am always right and you never are.” —Charles Pennington Florence Kent most qualified to represent Lane ESD I believe that Nora Kent is the best person for Lane Educational Service District Board. I am currently attend- ing her mathematics, morning and afternoon class at LCC, which I have participated in for several months. Nora Kent once said to me “We want our students to be effective in the world.” Nora has held true to this statement everyday. Here is why I believe Nora Kent is the best person to fill this important position: 1. Nora has organized multiple community events to better educate our students to be effective in todays world. 2. She offers individualized resourc- es and assistance. She cares a lot about our success. 3. She brings passion for learning, with world views, political outreach, and up to date learning platforms. 4. She keeps informed about educa- tional issues and creates ways to solve them. 5. She is a voice for the needs of our rural schools and people, representing us with passion and integrity. 6. Nora has a bright, inovative and dedicated mind ready for the chal- lenges ahead. I can’t imagine anyone better suit- ed to represent zone 4 on lane ESD Board. —Gem Ridge 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
