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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 22, 2019)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | MAY 22, 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 Nature provides case for having woman in the White House (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.) My perspective comes from ob- serving nature and from a wizened old psychiatrist. Last year when I noticed a yellow bird in the back yard, I purchased a finch birdfeeder and a sack of seeds for it. I filled it and, within minutes, I was astounded to see the num- ber of yellow birds that filled every available inch of space — gorging, fighting amongst themselves for their spot. The feeder was emptied within an hour. If this was going to be the pattern, I would not be able to continue the money drain to satisfy them. After that first bag, I discontinued but saw another yellow finch last week and could not resist. Something was dif- ferent this year. With the feeder only half full, two birds came — one male and one female — and they ate with a little more manners. It has been a week now, and more pairs have visited the feeder with the food lasting much longer than last year — even with other birds being Guest Viewpoint By Nan Harvey Florence resident permitted to share the food. This led me to recall my experi- ence as an intern at a residential treatment center in Ann Arbor, Mich. A grade-school-age boy was acting up in the waiting room, ig- noring his parents and anyone who attempted to intervene. The wiz- ened head of the center pulled me aside to quiz me about my theories of changing behavior, a ploy for him to show his genius. I sat in his office while he called the girls’ cottage to have them send over a little girl patient. When she entered the waiting room, the little boy immediately got his act together and contained himself. Just like the girls at the bird-feed- ing station, having a female created an organizing effect on otherwise testosterone-driven behavior. We have been at this democra- cy experiment long enough to try something new: Put a woman in the Whitehouse as our president. There is something inherent in the female makeup that changes the mix. We could be pleasantly sur- prised to see the chaos transformed, a sense of respect returned and al- locentric thinking replacing the egocentrism currently dictating our governing policies. The boys have been at it for a long time, most of it with war (not always defensive) as their legacy. The exact figure of 95 percent is contested, but give or take how many years, we have been in a war for a very, very long time. Isn’t it time for an attitude adjust- ment? LETTERS Bill of Rights is good inspiration The Colonies, after adopting the Declaration of Independence, cele- brated by reading it aloud from the Pennsylvania State House. It would be wonderful if our President read it aloud on the Fourth of July. We need to be reminded that our country was founded on the following premise: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with cer- tain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pur- suit of Happiness.” It goes on to say that government powers are derived by the consent of the governed to affect their safe- ty and happiness. The Declaration gives the governed the right to throw off govern- ment that evinces a design to reduce them to absolute despotism. Grievances against King George listed in the Dec- laration include refusing laws for the public good, opposing the rights of the people, obstructing laws for the naturalization of foreigners, obstructing the administration of justice, making judges subject to his will, obstructing trade with all parts of the world and inciting domestic in- surrections The Bill of Rights con- tained in the Constitution of the United States would be a good inspirational fol- low up. —Karen Mahoney Florence Global warming, cooling is nothing new There are those in power who would like to create a carbon tax to reduce atmospheric C02 to alter global weather patterns. There is very little we can do to alter glob- al warming and cooling; the planet has been doing this for eons with- out our help. When a volcano blows, that’s massive C02 build-up. All inactive volcanos on Earth emit C02 24-7, 365 days a year. Every living crea- ture on Earth exhales C02 from one end and methane from the other — and methane is 84 times more po- tent than C02. Every body of water emits meth- ane constantly from decomposing sediment. Any place that has veg- etation build-up emits methane as it rots. Every container of soda emits C02. Cleaning the planet and the wa- ter is good but does nothing for cli- mate change. If you want to feel good, plant lots of trees; they take up C02 but unfortunately are being cut down. Those partaking in the Kool- Aid, do not turn on your heater un- til next winter. And if you’re really hardcore, disconnect your water heater altogether. —Martin Cable Dunes City 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
