Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2019)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | AUGUST 21, 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 Letters to the Editor policy LETTERS Immigrate to the U.S. but wait your turn Th e election season is starting to rev up and there is a lot of talk about immigration. As an immi- grant myself, my liberal-leaning friends and acquaintances are sur- prised to learn that I’m adamantly opposed to illegal immigration and fi nd all talk of amnesty ludicrus. Why is that? I came to the U.S. in the win- ter 1998 but didn’t earn my citi- zenship until 2006. And I use the word “earn” because it is a lengthy process with many hoops to jump through to prove that you know your adopted country’s language, history and civil system. You also have to prove that you are not a criminal, can support yourself and are willing and able to become a productive member of society. Fail any of the above, and you’re out. It even comes with a lifetime rid- er that revokes citizenship in case you turn to a life of crime decades aft er obtaining your U.S. passport. As a result, legal immigrants like myself tend to value the right to live here simply because we had to earn it. We make it a point of pride to never have received a dime from any welfare program, we teach our kids to respect the laws of the land, and we fully embrace the American way of life. I suspect many of those who are more liberal-leaning don’t appreci- ate what they have, much like rich kids who don’t realize how bless- ed they are. Such kids tend to be- come brats who take everything for granted, sometimes squandering a family fortune that took previous generations much sweat and toil to accumulate. You don’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone. Th at is why I am wholly support- ive of continued legal immigration while opposing illegal immigra- tion. It is not “racist” to enforce the law. It is the foundation of our soci- ety. If we start to undermine our le- gal framework, we are on a slippery slope to become exactly the kind of countries all these illegal immi- grants came from — and the diff er- ence can be observed in the mere fact that they want to come here in- stead of the other way around. If we did indeed open the bor- ders and declare general amnesty, the fl ow across the border would soon cease. Why? Because I believe the U.S. would degenerate to the same lev- el of corrupt misery they want to leave behind. Again, race is hardly a factor. Th e key determinant is whether the person is willing to step up to the responsibilities that come with the privileges. It can also be boiled down like this: Imagine you are in an amuse- ment park in the summer with long lines. It stinks, but that’s how the system works — and has to work, since everybody can’t go at the same time. But aft er having waited patient- ly for 20 minutes, someone thinks they are special and tries to jump the line up front. Do you cheer them on or do you tell them to get to the back of line and wait their turn like everyone else? —Matt Danielsson Florence Smaller flag or bigger pole Dear City Hall, either get a larger flag pole or a smaller flag. “Our patriotism should not be reflected by the size of our flag, but the size of our hearts” —Ensign Stanley Smullen, survi- vor of Pear Harbor and my Uncle. Thank you. —Edward Gunderson Florence Thank You to community from Florentine Estates On behalf of all the participants in our Biennial Florentine Estates Garage Sale, I want to extend a big Th ank You to our guests for their cooperation in following the di- rectional signs, fl agger instructions and parking regulations. We hope everyone had as positive an expe- rience as we did. You all helped to make this a successful event, and we look forward to seeing you again in two years. —Kathy Schimmelman, Garage Sale Coordinator Florence Curious homeowner on 20th Street I noticed that there have been some streets being repaired around the city. The only problem is they missed the one street in dire need of fixing. If you have ever driven down east 20th from Spruce to the end of the street, you would understand why I am wondering why this street was overlooked? The one street in need of fixing didn’t get it done — Just saying. —Dusty Anderson Florence More communication needed on school bond In the Saturday Siuslaw News ar- ticle “Facility Advisory Committee Presents New Plan For High School Bond” (Aug. 17), Bob Orr is quoted as saying “we’re trying to make sure we have a lot of community mem- bers from a lot of diff erent worlds helping us along the process.” Orr said the results only included responses from 350 residents. Th at doesn’t seem like a lot of resident input considering they have been at the process from last November to the present (as stated in the article.) Perhaps more eff ort needs to be made to communicate to commu- nity members. Th is seems to be a common theme in other communi- ty issues also, i.e. the recent mural project. Th ere could be survey sheets at many of the public buildings along with collection boxes. Th e more information we can share with the residents about their perceived concerns, the greater the chances we will have in resolving these con- cerns. — Bruce Jarvis Florence Impressed by ‘darkhorse’ Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse I was watching CNN yesterday and of course there was discussion about the Democratic contenders for president. One guest said that [Elizabeth] Warren and [Bernie] Sanders would cancel each other out, that [Joe] Biden did not have a chance in hell and [Kamala] Harris would be the only one standing — but could not win. Th e guest said someone would come out as a “darkhorse” and would step up and run with War- ren as his running mate. Th en, last night, I watching Bill Maher and the U.S. Senator from Rhode Is- land, Sheldon Whitehouse, was his guest. I was completely blown away and impressed by his intelligence, knowledge and demeanor. Hope- fully he will run, not as a “dark- horse” but as a whitehorse with wings. I believe in a one-on-one de- bate with Trump, Sen. Whitehouse would destroy him. —Win Jolley Florence Socialism or Social Democrat? I pick neither What is the diff erence between socialism and a Social Democrat? Socialism: A theory or system of social organizaton in which the means of production and distri- bution of goods are owned and controlled collectively or by the government; the stage following Capitalism in the transition of a so- ciety to Communism. Social Democratic Party: A Ger- man political party formed in 1875 advocating a form of cosial organi- zation based on Marxist ideology. Reference: Webster’s College Dictionary. Who on Earth would want either of these? Not me. —Lynne Furby Florence Editor’s Note: Th e Merriam Web- ster’s Collegiate Dictionary in our newsroom defi nes Social Democ- racy as: “(1888) A political move- ment advocating a gradual and peaceful transition from capitalism to socialism by democratic means.” 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
