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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2019)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | OCTOBER 5, 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 Celebrating National Newspaper Week counterparts. “Community papers are doing better than many large, daily papers because they provide news coverage about things that matter to their local At least once a week, some 7,500 community newspapers — those with a circulation of less than 30,000 — land on porches, inside mailboxes or at local supermarkets and coffee counters across the United States. According to a survey conducted by the Univer- sity of Missouri-Colum- bia, more than three-quar- ters of respondents said they read most or all of each edition of their local newspaper — with 94 percent of those people holding subscriptions. Locally, on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, you can see the front page of the Siuslaw News sus- pended in front of faces in coffee shops, restau- rants and markets around Florence and Mapleton as people inform themselves about what’s happening in our community — from upcoming festivals and events, to recaps of the latest board meetings and features on local issues and residents. While there is a notion that print journalism is dying, the truth is that many community newspa- pers are actually thriving compared to many of their large metro and national derstanding that continues to define us as a commu- nity newspaper: To our readers, we are not just the newspaper; we are their newspaper. USC professor Judy emanating from behind partitions on either side of me. Twenty-one years later, it’s a sound that I have come to love in the same way a mechanic appre- ciates the sound of an engine hitting on all cyl- inders, or the way a music conductor savors the con- Ned Hickson vergence of musical notes into a singular harmony. community that would Muller told the Stanford (Keep in mind I still otherwise be overlooked University Press that, type with two fingers, so without them,” said Al while local journalism my contribution to that Cross, director of the is certainly about police harmony is more like the Institute for Rural Jour- blotters, obituaries, bake cow bell, but still...) nalism at the University of sales and club meetings, As we head into Nation- Kentucky. “The best community al Newspaper Week (Oct. In fact, in 2018, the newspapers also hold local 6-12), I’d like to thank you, combined readership of governments and insti- our readers, for support- those 7,500 non-daily tutions accountable by ing your local newspaper. newspapers was almost covering meetings, asking Not only with your sub- 20 million more than that questions and recognizing scription or twice-weekly of daily newspapers, with the good as well as the trip to the office to buy non-dailies tallying 65.5 not-so-good because ... if your copy, but also for million subscribers — not them, then who?” your participation and compared to 45.5 million While we’ve received contributions — through daily-paper subscribers. equal amounts of ac- letters, emails, phone calls This is according to colades and criticism and conversations in my the National Newspaper regarding our coverage office — that help make Association (NNA), which of controversial issues the Siuslaw News one of also noted that 70 percent ranging from housing and those 7,500 non-daily of those small non-dailies the homeless, to gun law community newspapers have a circulation of less and hate crime over the that is continuing to grow. than 15,000; Siuslaw News last three years, our al- In the words of Thomas is among that smaller most-daily story meetings Jefferson in a letter to Col. group, with a circulation are underscored by the Edward Carrington on of just over 6,500. notion of “If not us, then Jan. 16, 1787: When I became editor who?” “Were it left to me here in September 2016, I am reminded of my to decide whether we I’d had the good fortune of first day as a journalist should have a government working with three terrific covering sports here at without newspapers, or editors over the past 20 Siuslaw News in Novem- newspapers without a years I’ve spent here at ber 1998 — and how government, I should Siuslaw News. And while intimidated I felt sitting not hesitate a moment to each brought their own at my desk listening to prefer the latter.” style and focus, there has the constant sound of been one important un- keyboard hammering From the Editor's Desk LETTERS Common courtesy needed on Siuslaw River A litter here, a litter there Not only do I sincerely respect Mitch Sloane of Florence for the letter he sent to the editor a few weeks ago (“Disrespectful Boaters On Siuslaw River,” Sept. 25), but I also have witnessed similar inci- dents of blatant disregard for boat safety in the Siuslaw River. Some of the boats in the riv- er have no idea what a channel is. They speed and create large wakes disrupting the activities of others. A small percentage of boaters are courteous, but too many others do not have respect for the other wa- tercraft and their occupants. I spend a great deal of time on the Siuslaw River in the summer, and every year it seems to get worse with either uneducated or incon- siderate boat traffic. I’m like a lot of Oregonians who took the Oregon Boater Safety Course. I thought it was useful and insightful to study the regulations and safety proce- dures for operating a boat. Most procedures and regulations are common sense, but even if a boater lacks common sense, they can certainly learn everything they need to know from this compre- hensive course. In my belief, there is no way that these disrespectful boaters took the Oregon Boater Safety Course. Too many boaters simply do not follow the common courtesy and safety outlined in the curriculum. When I have friends and family come to visit, we love to go crab- bing and fishing. It has become em- barrassing to try explain why some boaters show such poor conduct about safety when it used to be a pleasure to enjoy these activities on our beautiful river. —Bob Riggs Florence I recently volunteered for high- way litter duty with some of our fel- low Florence citizens and I would like to recap for others the litter we found — many bags full, in an area that has light foot traffic. Besides the dried out body of an unfortunate hawk who looked to have been hit by a car, a garter snake and a lizard or salamander, we found: Hundreds of cigarette butts; many empty potato chip packages; many fountain drink cups, complete with plastic no-spill tops and straws; sadly, quite a few Styrofoam meal containers and noodle cups; big pieces of Styro- foam packaging; many little piec- es of plastic container sealing film and film packaging; some towels, paper towels and napkins; and a lot of car pieces, boxes and cartons; and, of course, some shoppig bags. Something interesting to note is that beer can tossers generally drink Coors evidently, but there were other brands and broken beer bottles as well. Shame, shame, shame. I have volunteered for quite a few of these cleanups in the last four to five years and I do not see much im- provement over time, even though there has been some lip service to the issue. It occurs to me that we need to step up our game. We make a liv- ing from our visitors and from our lovely environment. We need to provide a welcoming city to sup- port their visits as any good host would do, and we need to protect our lovely environment for our en- joyment and enrichment as well as theirs. Smokers: no lecture about the harm done by this hobby — but please: carry in that pocket or purse a butt box for those pesky remain- ders. You can use an empty Altoids box to hold those hot butts. Kids in smokers’ homes: Make Mom or Dad a Butt Box for Christ- mas! No more butts on the ground please. We all know the harm they do to the ecosystem. Retailers and restauranteurs: You (we) need to try harder to use eco-friendly packaging, to educate our customers on proper dispos- al and have some backbone while pursuing profits. We are on this planet together; we need to try harder. Customers, citizens: Don’t just take what you’re given in packag- ing. Tell the business you want to see something different, something that condemns litter or is more eco friendly (because we know that the good citizens of Florence aren’t the litterers, it’s only the visitors). Use your multiple-use shopping bags and try harder not to be a lit- terer, even by accident. Sincerely, Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary. —aka Crystal Clark Florence Compare Trump’s travel expenses to Democrats’ Regarding Dolly Brock’s Letter to the Editor (“Fair Is Fair,” Sept. 28), I fail to see the relativity to Demo- crats in Congress traipsing around the country at taxpayers’ expense seeking a nomination for the pres- idency instead of paying attention to the nation’s business and your listing alleged expenses on Presi- dent Trump’s travel. I wonder from whence you came up with figures regarding President Trumps alleged trips? Maybe we should compare these, if they are accurate, to Obama’s many trips and Michelle’s trip to France with her family entourage as an example? —Tony Cavarno Florence 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 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
