4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| AUGUST 28, 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)
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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.
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Ned Hickson
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DEADLINES:
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play classified ads, Friday 5 p.m.
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lication; Regular classified ads, Thursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Display
classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m.
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Letters to the Editor policy
LETTERS
Thank You to WLCF
from Food Share
Thanks to a generous grant from
Western Lane Community Founda-
tion (WLCF), Florence Food Share
will be able to continue providing
safe, nutritious food to the families
and individuals in this community
who depend on Food Share to help
stretch their food budgets.
When Food Share’s walk-in
freezer desperately needed an
evaporator coil to continue work-
ing properly, the WLCF stepped in
with a grant to fund the repairs and
parts necessary to keep the freezer
functioning at the required tem-
perature for food safety.
Over the years, the Western Lane
Community Foundation has aid-
ed many individuals and organi-
zations through scholarships and
grants, and we are truly indebted
to the individuals who had the vi-
sion to establish, and the generosity
and determination to maintain this
worthwhile organization.
—Colin Morgan
Operations Manager,
for Florence Food Share
Get news, Latin from
more than one source
I’m responding to two Letters to
the Editor in the Siusaw News on
Saturday, Aug. 24 (“Who Benefits”
by Joel Marks and “Best Economy
In 50 Years For a Reason” by Mar-
tin Cable.)
First from Joel Marks, my under-
standing of his letter presents a di-
chotomy: we shouldn’t let “govern-
ment” dictate how we make money,
use property, etc., but he says we
should let some amorphous enti-
ties do the dictating — presumably
much wiser and wealthier than the
citizenry.
Huh?
And by the way, the Latin for
“who benefits?” is “cui bono?” not
“Cumi Bono.”
Second, from Martin Cable, I
truly hope he’s getting his news
from more than one source.
The reality is that there are wor-
ries about another recession. Chi-
na’s economy is strong enough (and
totalitarian enough) to see our tar-
iffs and raise them. In the mean-
time here in the U.S., there are too
many citizens working three jobs
and living paycheck to paycheck,
there is a furious and ugly divide in
our citizens and I won’t enumerate
other egregious inequalities.
And you ask for whom I’m gon-
na vote?
Anyone but the incumbent.
—Patricia Burke
Westlake
Instead of complaining
about art, get involved
Recently there has been consid-
erable complaining about the new
mural on the Lincoln PUD build-
ing. The one thing that all of these
complainers seem to have in com-
mon is that they failed to partici-
pate at every step in the process.
They failed to care enough to
apply to become a public arts com-
mittee member at every public-
ly announced opportunity; they
failed to attend regularly scheduled
public meetings; and they failed to
attend public comment meetings.
Not one of them submitted a
proposal when the call to artists
was sent out publicly.
In short, they failed at every one
of many opportunities to offer any
meaningful or constructive input.
So my question is: Now that all
of the hard work has been done,
why should anyone care at all about
their opinion?
If you don’t like the way things
are going, get out of your chair,
turn off the TV, get busy, become
involved and make your opinion
count when it really matters.
I would like to thank the Public
Arts Committee, Central Lincoln
PUD and all of the dedicated hard
working people that have been in-
volved with — and supportive of —
this public art project.
—Timothy A. Creager
Florence
Bear killings deserve
more attention
I read with dismay on Satur-
day in the Register-Guard that five
bears near Florence have been eu-
thanized this summer.
There was also information
in the Siuslaw News on Saturday
(“Area Residents Reminded That
Feeding Bears Is Illegal.”)
I understand that some people
are careless with trash, etc., and
other people even deliberately feed
bears for the selfish thrill of seeing
them.
This subject needs to be publi-
cized as much as possible so that
eventually folks realize that they
are dooming a bear’s life by feeding
it. The more people talk about this,
the more people may understand.
Five bears in the Florence area
have apparently been killed this
summer alone.
Let’s give this subject the atten-
tion that it deserves — this is their
home, too.
—Cris Reep
Florence
‘Who will I vote for?’
I have an answer to the question
posed by Martin Cable in his Let-
ter to the Editor (“Best Economy In
50 Years For A Reason,” Aug. 24),
“Who will you vote for?”
I would vote for the person who
pulled “our USA” from the worst
recession ever.
Unfortunately, President Barack
Obama can’t run for a third term.
But alas, anyone else will do.
“Our USA” will have to wait until a
Democrat is elected to run.
—David J. Campbell
Florence
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
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include full name, address and phone number;
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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