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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2019)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | JUNE 5, 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 For more than 50 years, Oregon beaches have been ours — thanks to bipartisanship seeking permission or years later and discovered being obstructed by “no there were no private- trespassing” signs, is al- ly-owned beaches any- most as good. where along the coast, I As I’ve mentioned knew it was something before (usually in a special. quiet whisper), I spent Though McCall is cred- I have to admit that my early years growing ited with signing the of- people are always im- up in California before ficial legislation in 1967, pressed when I tell them moving here as a teenag- the notion of keeping our I’m part-owner of ap- proximately 363 miles of oceanfront property in From the Editor’s Desk Oregon which stretches Ned Hickson from the Columbia River to the California border. Naturally, they question er in 1980. As a kid, I was beaches free from privat- my claim once they see keenly aware that certain ization began as far back the 2001 Honda I drive. areas of beach were re- as 1913, when then-gov- And as you might stricted because they were ernor Oswald West and imagine, they are less privately owned. Fences, the Oregon legislature es- impressed once I explain property markers and tablished the state’s ocean how I own this property signs warning of potential beaches as a public high- with more than 4 million prosecution for violators way. The crafty move kept other Oregonians, all of served as reminders that developers at bay for more whom have unlimited and a line of privilege could be than 50 years as Orego- equal access to the same drawn in the sand. nians took ownership of beachfront timeshare — During one sunny af- — and no small amount which we all received as ternoon as an 8-year-old of pride in — enjoying an inheritance from past on Manhattan Beach, my their beautiful coastline. Oregon Governor Tom carefree play in the surf It wasn’t until 1966 that McCall. unknowingly carried me the highway designation The truth is, even those over one of those lines was challenged by Wil- who don’t live in Oregon and deposited me on liam Hay, owner of the received the same “inher- someone’s private beach. Surfsand Motel in Can- itance” when it comes to From the deck of their non Beach, Ore., who the Oregon coast, which three-story beach home I placed large driftwood remains public domain could hear someone yell- logs to block off a section “from the first dune to the ing obscenities at me, or- of the dry sand in front of sea” along the entire 363- dering me to “get my _ss his property. mile or so expanse thanks off their beach before I got In addition, he set up to the Oregon “Beach shot.” tables with umbrellas and Bill.” Though I shrugged marked the area with pri- The bill, officially it off with the help of vate property signs. signed by McCall as HB friends, the notion that That’s when it was dis- 1600 and 1601 in 1967, someone would threaten covered that the highway celebrates its 52nd an- to shoot me for drifting designation established niversary this July. And across an arbitrary line on by West wasn’t specific while I may not be an a shore fed by the same enough and could be in- actual oceanfront land surf shared by everyone terpreted as only includ- baron, the fact that I or seemed wrong, even to an ing the “wet-sand” por- anyone can walk onto any 8-year-old. tion of the state’s beaches beach along the Oregon When our family ar- as a public highway. At coast, at any time, without rived in Oregon several the time, according to the Oregon Parks and Recre- ation Advisory Commit- tee, that meant that 112 of the 362 miles of beach property could be consid- ered privately owned. In response, the State Highway Commission, along with McCall and the Oregon legislature, introduced HB 1600 and HB 1601, which Associ- ated Press reporter Matt Kramer thrust into the public commentary with stories about Oregon’s “Beach Bill.” Kramer’s articles ap- peared in newspapers throughout Oregon, prompting beachgoers around the state to get in- volved, raising awareness and turning up the po- litical heat in the legisla- ture — where Republican and Democratic leaders joined McCall in negoti- ating the bill. As a result, the bill passed the Oregon Legis- lature in June 1967, and McCall signed the Oregon Beach Bill a month later on July 6 — assuring that no lines would ever be drawn again in the sand along Oregon’s beaches. I hope you’ll take time to these beaches them during the months and years ahead. Because thanks to West, McCall, bipartisanship and the Oregonians who came before us, it’s more than an opportunity to enjoy our coast’s natural beauty; it’s your right. Write Siuslaw News editor Ned Hickson at nhickson@the siuslawnews.com or P.O. Box 10, Florence, Ore. 97439 LETTER Thanks from veterans to citizens, businesses Thanks to the generous citizens and businesses of the Florence area during the recent veterans’ fund- raisers held at Fred Meyer, Bi-Mart and Safeway. Without the continued support from the citizens and local busi- nesses, our fundraisers could not continue. Thanks also to veterans groups from the American Legion Post 59 and Auxillary, VFW Post 3232 and DAV Chapter 23. —Dennis Hamilton, Commander AL Tom Benedict, Commander VFW Jerry Hernandez, Commander DAV 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
