8A | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS
Advocates of the belief
that fewer voters partici-
pating in elections is good
suggest that limiting the
total numbers of Amer-
icans that vote will ulti-
technology and leverag-
ing partners, we’ll educate
“Many Americans, es-
Americans in all 50 states
pecially in today’s frantic
about how to register, sign
political landscape, ask the
up for election reminders,
question: ‘Why should I
check their registration
vote? My vote
online,
get
doesn’t count
mail ballots,
“Your vote is your voice and it is im- learn about
anyway,’” Hen-
ry said in an portant that you make your voice heard. early
voting
email. “Politics If you care about the future and want the and more.”
is complicated
• Un it i ng
best things for your family, other people for a Common
and becoming
more so every and the environment, you should vote in Purpose: “Na-
year. Even at every election.”
tional Voter
our local lev-
— Joe Henry, R e g i s t r at i on
el, things can
Mayor of City of Florence Day is a day of
become com-
civic unity. It’s
plicated. What
an opportuni-
if we vote and it does not mately be beneficial with- ty to set aside differences
turn out the way we want- out completely articulating and celebrate democracy
ed? Does that mean we the reasoning behind the and the rights and oppor-
should hang our head and position.
tunities we all share as
not vote? No. To the con-
The results of the 2016 Americans.”
trary; your vote is your presidential elections show
National Voter Registra-
voice and it is important that thousands of eligible tion Day is supported by a
that you make your voice voters were turned away broad spectrum of organi-
heard.
from polling places be- zations from across the po-
“If you care about the cause of minor issues with litical spectrum, including
future and want the best state and county voter secretaries of state, state
things for your family, oth- registration requirements. and local elections admin-
er people and the environ- These voters were not al- istrators, major nonprofits
ment, you should vote in lowed to exercise a basic and nonprofit networks,
every election.”
tenant of citizenship be- schools and universities,
Since 1998, Oregon has cause of a simple error.
libraries and other civi-
established vote-by-mail
These rejections could cally conscious businesses
as the standard mecha- and did occur for reasons across America.
nism for voting, making it such as missing a registra-
National Voter Registra-
the first state in the U.S. to tion deadline or for mov- tion Day definitely works
conduct its elections exclu- ing and not updating, prior as a tool for prompting
sively by mail.
to an election, the voter’s interest and participation
Recently, there has been new address. Misspelled in voting related matters.
a shift in the willingness names on voter rolls also During the 2018 Nation-
of some state legislatures proved to be an issue for al Voter Registration Day,
and representatives to many seeking to cast a bal- more than 800,000 new
Congress to encourage and lot. These discrepancies names were added to voter
facilitate voter registra- were factors in reducing rolls across the country.
tion. There have also been overall voter participation.
“Next Tuesday, Sept. 24,
dramatic reductions in the
The reaction has been to is National Voter Registra-
hours that polling places generate a nationwide ef- tion Day and I encourage
are open in many states, fort to inform and register each and every eligible vot-
with some, like North Car- voters this time around.
er to get out there, register
olina, even eliminating
The two main goals of to vote and let your voice
Sunday voting times.
the National Voter Reg- be heard,” Henry said.
These efforts have been istration Day, as detailed
The event in Florence
recognized by courts as by nationalvoterregistra- on Tuesday will be an op-
improper and there is a tionday.org, are:
portunity for new voters to
concerted counter-effort
• E d u c a t i n g Vo t e r s : register and for those who
underway to allow as many “Millions of voters need to need to update their voter
Americans that are legally register and re-register ev- information or confirm
able to vote to participate. ery year. By utilizing new their signature to do so.
VOTE from page 1A
Siuslaw Watershed to saunter at Sutton Creek today
Join the Siuslaw Water-
shed Council on Saturday,
Sept. 21, from 11 a.m. to
1 p.m. for “Siuslaw Saun-
tering at Sutton Creek,” a
one-mile walk. The hike
begins at the Holman Vista
Overlook, six miles north
of Florence in the Sutton
Recreation Area.
Designed as a self-guid-
ed hike with a fact sheet
aligned with numbered
markers along the trail,
people may walk alone or
with a volunteer familiar
with the trail.
There is no cost for this
walk. Donations to the
“We have been work-
ing on the fabrication of
the metal that will face
the river. It is a version of
the bridge that I think will
look really good behind
Mo’s, as people walk on the
pier by the river,” he said.
Mill and his team are also
prepping the underwater
part of the site, cleaning
the area of miscellaneous
materials dragged to the
location from upriver.
“We have been clear-
ing the underwater area
of the debris that has ac-
cumulated over the years
and we should be able to
get started soon on the
main installation,” he said.
“We kind of held up a bit
so we wouldn’t interfere
with Rods ‘N’ Rhodies
last weekend and we also
wanted people to be able to
walk by the river and see
the bridge.”
Huntington believes the
modification project will
proceed smoothly, hope-
fully inconveniencing the
public for only a short
time.
“We should be starting
demolition on the Mo’s
walkway on Monday, and
we’re hoping to have a
new walkway installed
and completed in a couple
weeks,” he said.
The most important, but
perhaps less noticeable ef-
fort, will be the long-await-
ed dredging of some navi-
gable parts of the Siuslaw
River and at the Port of
Siuslaw.
The Siuslaw River is
more than 100 miles long
and carries soil runoff and
other loose materials from
the valley to the Pacific
Ocean. The ocean tides
and river current moves
hundreds of thousands of
gallons of water through
that area every day. The
residue from that move-
ment builds up over the
years and makes navigat-
ing into and out of the port
difficult and, in some cas-
es, impossible.
Huntington updated Port
of Siuslaw Commission-
ers at the group’s monthly
meeting on Wednesday on
the application for permit
the port filed with the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.
“We are in the final stag-
es of the permit process
to be able to dredge,” he
said. “It’s a 10-year permit
which allows us to dredge
our marina. Our ‘in the
water’ work window would
be between Nov. 15 and Feb.
15, 2020.
For the project, Port of
Siuslaw would partner with
Business Oregon for the use
of the state-owned dredge
operated by the Port of
Coos Bay.
“We have not dredged in
10 years now, and for nor-
mal maintenance dredging,
we’re about 5 years overdue
— and it shows,” Hunting-
ton said. “We have boat slips
that are unusable at times
because they sit in the mud
on low tides, also causing
damage to the docks. The
port has made this a priority
and we’re working very hard
to complete this project.”
The next Port of Siuslaw
Commissioners
meeting
will be held on Wednesday,
Oct.16, at Mapleton High
School, at 10868 East Ma-
pleton Road.
For more information,
visit portofsiuslaw.com.
Florence Food Share is your local
community food pantry. We serve
emergency food boxes to all those
who qualify fi nancially. Our hours are
9:30a.m.-1p.m., Monday through Friday.
We reopen in the a ernoons on Monday
and Wednesday from 4-6p.m. We are
also now open the third and fourth
Saturday of each month, from 10a.m. –
1p.m. Please call us with any ques ons
and/or for more informa on.
2190 Spruce Street
541-997-9110
www.fl orencefoodshare.org
info@fl orencefoodshare.org
Florence Food Share es su lacena de
comida comunitaria. Servimos cajas de
comida de emergencia a todos esos que
califi quen fi nancieramente. Nuestras
horas son de 9:30a.m. – 1p.m., de lunes
a viernes. Re-abrimos por la tarde del
lunes y del miércoles de 4-6p.m. También,
ahora abrimos el tercero y cuarto sábado
de cada mes, de 10a.m. – 1p.m. Por
favor llámenos con cualquier duda y/o
para conseguir más información.
Siuslaw Watershed Coun- 541-999-9213.
cil, www.siuslaw.org, or to
ECO (Ecology in Class-
rooms and Outdoors),
www.ecologpeopletdoors.
org, are appreciated and
welcomed to support wa-
tershed education for our
local youth.
Sutton Recreation Area –
Holman Vista is a U.S. For-
est Service fee site, though
multiple interagency pass-
News and views that defi ne our community.
es, including the Oregon
Pacific Coast Passport, are
accepted.
For more information,
contact Jim Grano at 541-
268-9954 or Dennis King at
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PORT from page 1A
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SEPTEMBER 26, 2019
Siuslaw News
G OOD L IFE
2 19
SEPTEMBER 26 • 9AM-2PM • FLORENCE EVENTS CENTER
Free Admission
(please bring a canned food item to donate for Florence Food Share)
• Raffl es
• Lifestyle Presentations & Seminars
• Health Screenings
• Samples
• Volunteer Opportunities
FREE
Enter to win a “New Night’s Sleep”
gift certifi cate good in the
Mattress Shoppe (good for mattress,
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