Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2019)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | JULY 20, 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 Publishers 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 Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Multimedia Sales Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Dis- play classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to pub- lication; 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 subscription, $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 ‘We came in peace for all mankind’ On this day 50 years ago, more than 600 mil- lion people from around the world were united in a common experience: To watch as the first humans set foot on the moon. It was part of a journey that had begun eight years earlier, culminating in a 76-hour, 200,000-mile trek to reach the farthest point that humans had ever touched within our universe. As Neil Armstrong opened the hatch of the Apollo 11 lunar module at 10:39 p.m. on July 20 and began descending the ladder toward the moon’s surface, it didn’t matter what language he spoke or political party he belonged to — and the only race that mattered as he created the first lunar footprint was that of the human race. As he took that first “small step” and uttered his now famous words re- ferring to mankind’s giant leap, the moment illustrat- ed a couple of undeniable Yet some 400,000 scientists, researchers and engineers worked in collaboration and solved what historians have called the “10,000 impos- sible questions” facing the mission. From the Editor’s Desk Ned Hickson truths about our species. The first is that when we are at our best, the im- possible becomes possible. To truly appreciate the magnitude of obstacles that needed to be over- come in order to achieve the first moon landing and safely return astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Michael Col- lins and Armstrong, you only have to look at the iPhone in your pocket. Today, within that handheld device, you wield more computer processing power than the entire NASA space pro- gram had in the 1960s. Which brings me to the second undeniable truth about mankind: To live in peace together, we must either be united in a com- mon threat or common goal. In 1972, after the completion of the final mission in the Apollo program, about 30 NASA leaders met for a few days at Caltech to review what had been accom- plished and how they had achieved the challenge of the century. Armstrong was the last to speak, walking quietly to the chalkboard and drawing four bell-type curves. He labeled them Leadership, Threat, Econ- omy and Talent, then said, “When you get all these lined up, you can’t stop something really big from happening.” Fifty years ago tomor- row, on July 21, the Apollo 11 began its journey back to Earth, leaving behind a plaque on the surface of the moon that reads: Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon—July 1969 A.D.—We came in peace for all mankind. As we reflect on the 50th anniversary of achieving the impossible, we need to ask ourselves whether the next small step we take will unite us through leadership, economy and talent — and if that unity will be the fleeting kind created by a common threat, or a lasting peace for all man- kind that comes through sharing a common goal. LETTERS Resolution to address climate change After many long and frustrating attempts at getting action from fed- eral, state and local governments re- garding our climate crisis, I present- ed Florence Mayor Joe Henry and the Florence City Council with a formal request at the July 15 city council meeting. In it, I referenced a study released by the Rocky Mountain Institute that shows that pledges from cities, businesses and individuals through- out the world would enable us to reach two-thirds of the Paris Climate Agreement goals. I requested that our mayor and city council produce a resolution that pledges to join forces with com- munity, state and federal entities to address our climate crisis; I also requested that the mayor designate a commission that includes a wide range of interested parties in order to develop concrete actions for the City of Florence to take. The study conducted by the Rocky Mountain Institute, a renowned re- newable energy organization in Col- orado, concluded that pledges by cit- ies and business add up. I hope the mayor and city council also believe in their own power to effect change and follow my request. Action on the climate crisis is way past due. — Michael Allen Florence Not in harmony I just returned home to Florence last Saturday. I’d been in Los Angeles for two weeks. I fl ew into Eugene, got in my car and drove back to the Or- egon coast. Aft er crowded freeways and urban sprawl as far as the eye can see, the drive through the trees and along the Siuslaw River fi lled my mind with beauty, and LA became a distant memory. I had crossed the last bridge, cruised past the casino and made the last curve coming into town when... oh my — I was taken back. Th e mural; I had completely for- gotten about it. Before I left , I had begun accepting it as part of our town, a bit busy for my taste but bright and colorful. Now it looked out of place. It re- minded me of Santa Monica or Ven- ice Beach — defi nitely not in harmo- ny with the beauty I had just driven through. —Jeff Ashmead Florence Thankful for our local cinema When my wife and I were decid- ing on a retirement location, we were drawn to Florence by three things: the marvelous library, Peace Harbor hospital and the Florence Events Center. Since moving here some 21 years ago, we appreciate these facili- ties more and more. A few years back, the shuttered movie theater in the Grocery Out- let shopping center was rejuvenated as City Lights Cinemas; had it been there under the current owner, we would have added it to the list. As a retired engineer and data junkie, I keep meticulous comput- erized personal fi nancial records and, in looking back at what we have seen at City Lights Cinemas, found we don’t oft en attend the Hollywood blockbusters. We do, however, attend less well-known screenings like the artistically recreated Van Gogh char- acters in “Loving Vincent” and the refurbishment of a classic formula 1 racing car in “Ferrari 312B.” Th is week, we attended “Bikes of Wrath,” the story of fi ve Aussie cy- clists who decided to travel the path the fi ctional Joad family took in Steinbeck’s “Th e Grapes of Wrath.” Steinbeck paints a picture of the Joad family leaving their dust bowl farm in Oklahoma in search of the prom- ise of jobs in California. Instead of a broken-down jalopy piled high with all their worldly possessions like the Joads, the Aussies set out pedaling the same route. Sixty-some years aft er reading Steinbeck’s Pulitzer-prize winning novel, I still get teary remembering his vivid descriptions of the hard- ships facing these Depression-era migrants. Th roughout the movie, folks the cyclists met read short ex- cerpts of the book. I was struck how little some things have changed. Th e Oklahoma refugees from the dust bowl faced a string of hardships and were met with indiff erence and outright hostility along their journey. And these were from fellow Ameri- can citizens. Th e attitude of “we’ve got ours… too bad about you” exist- ed then and has not yet perished. You need go no further than to peruse the Letters To Th e Editor in this newspaper to see that some in our own community would have felt right at home, urging the Joads to move on. So thank you, Michael Falter at City Lights, for bringing this thought-provoking fi lm to Florence. —Ken Janowski Florence Letters to the Editor policy 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
