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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2019)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | JUNE 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 LETTERS If you live outside city limits, you’re on your own Early Wednesday as I was leaving home, I saw a man with a bicycle and a small yellow trailer at High- way 101 and Grand Avenue (south of the bridge) with paper strewn everywhere. When I circled back he was gone but I picked up a large pile of opened mail and a package. I took it to the Florence Police Department and was told to call the Lane County Sheriff ’s Office because I found the mail outside of the city limits — even though a lot of the mail had Florence addresses. I wasn’t given an opportunity to give a statement, description or talk to a police officer. It was suggested I take it to the post office, which I did. It’s not the first time I encoun- tered this problem; even though your address is Florence, you work there, own a business there, shop and donate and support Florence events, have kids and grandkids who go to school there, you can’t get help from local police if you live outside the city limits. If you do, better keep your eyes open and learn to protect yourself because city police can’t. —Larry Bouchet Florence Show grocery store cart returners some respect I have witnessed a troubling sit- uation several times in the park- ing lot of local grocery stores. It concerns young men and women who retrieve shopping carts for the store. These young people are out there on a daily basis in the heat, cold, rain and even snow, running after carts and trying to secure them before they hit a vehicle. This is especially true at Fred Meyer. Most of the time, they are run- ning after carts left by people too lazy to return them to the corrals available throughout the parking lot. I have also seen shoppers lunge carts towards workers when they aren’t looking, and also watched drivers speed through the lot and nearly hit workers. I even saw one man flick a cig- arette out his truck window at a worker. They deserve as much respect as any other employee. I talk with them quite often and they are well-mannered and polite. In order to keep them, as well as other shoppers, safeer, speed signs and/or some speed bumps should be installed to slow traffic. If you haven’t done their job or walked in their shoes, don’t judge them — treat them as if they were your own children out there. —SueEllen Smith Florence Scotch Broom rules should be enforced equally (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.) On May 22, the Siuslaw News published a press release regarding the Florence City Code that prohib- its property owners from planting and growing invasive species such as Scotch Broom. Since the Scotch Broom was introduced here in Flor- ence, it has spread up Highway 101 to Astoria and Highway 126 all the way to Eugene. Scotch Broom is identifiable by the bright yellow flowers this time of year. While not seen so much on residential properties, they are growing in huge quantities on gov- ernment-controlled and corporate Guest Viewpoint By Eugene Olson Florence resident properties in and around Florence. The largest groves of Scotch Broom can readily be seen on the vacant properties surrounding Spruce Point on Ninth Street, on the golf course and port properties on Kingwood; at the entrance to Waste Management; the Humane Society property on Rhododendron Drive; the property across the street from the Florence Events Center; the Port of Siuslaw in Old Town; and under the water tower on 35th street. It seems those peoperties ignore city code, allowing Scotch Broom to expand undeterred. I would like to request the City of Florence require its own local gov- ernment and commercial property owners to abide by the same rules as the rest of us and rid their properties of Scotch Broom. 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
