Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 2019)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | NOVEMBER 16, 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 Housing codes could help establish new level of livability more than half of Or- egon’s homeless fami- lies (60.5 percent) are without shelter, either living on the street, in cars or in tents within that “scenic beauty” I and fathers, sons and daughters. They are stu- dents, cooks, part-time employees, unemployed veterans and senior citizens faced with de- ciding between medica- support is an important step toward achieving something else we can all be proud of as Ore- gonians. Here in Florence, the city is taking steps to address a fundamental- ly important aspect of From the Editor's Desk homelesness through Ned Hickson housing code changes There are a lot of that will allow a broad- things we’re proud of er definition of home as Oregonians, such as tion, food or shelter. building standards and the scenic beauty we are mentioned earlier. As much as we want By stereotyping the regulations. constantly surrounded to tell ourselves that homeless as addicts or The final reccomen- by. most of the homeless criminals, we insulate dations regarding And our generally progressive thinking on are drug addicts, crim- ourselves from the true those changes, such as inals or suffering from reality of homelessness, auxilary dwelling units important issues. mental disorders, the and how close we all (ADUs) and multi-use Yet, amid all the fact is that more than are from a life without developments combin- things about Oregon half of the homeless shelter. ing commercial and that make us proud, living without shelter Nearly half of Amer- residential space, will be there’s one thing I find in Oregon — more icans live less than two unveiled this Monday, it hard to admit about Nov. 18, at Florence my beloved state. While than 7,000 — are either paychecks away from school-aged or dis- the kind of financial City Hall, beginning homelessness has placed veterans. crisis that could lead to at 5:30 p.m., in a joint declined around the Before we can truly homelessness. meeting between the nation, Oregon contin- That’s not the kind city council and plan- ues to have the highest address the issue of ning commission. percentage of homeless homelessness, we must of stereotype we want be willing to under- to think about, but one Packets are available families with children. stand that the majority we must be willing to online at the City of Between 2017 and of those who are living accept in order to affect Florence website (www. 2018, the number their lives without a the kind of change that ci.florence.or.us) of homeless families home aren’t those on will, in turn, change the Recognizing the decreased in 41 states the street whose faces lives of so many of our changing needs and across America while, financial struggles re- here in Oregon, we ex- we often avoid or don’t homeless in Oregon. While the bigger lated to housing in our perienced a 2.5 percent recognize. In truth, more often solution to solving communuty is a discus- increase — the fifth than not they are those homelessness in Oregon sion to which we can highest in the nation, whose faces we do rec- will require more than all contribute — and right after California. donations of food and eventually establish a According to a report ognize each day — but clothing, our willing- level of livability we can released last November who never say a word ness to acknowledge all be proud of. by the U.S. Department about their homeless- ness. the homeless in our of Housing and Urban They are mothers community by offering Development (HUD), LETTERS No explanation for high health costs After five years, I recently had my second cataract surgery so both eyes are working like a young man’s. I am on Medicare and fortunate that I have sup- plemental insurance coverage. I just received my bill for the procedure and was blown away by the costs of things outlined below: • Pre-op, I was given two eyedrops and then a sedative. During surgery one must be awake to answer muted ques- tions and to look at a flashing light display. Cost of what is called Pharmacy-General Clas- sification was: $1,131. • For the 10-minute proce- dure, we have Operating Room Services–General. I assume this included the hour spent in re- covery. Cost: $2,539. • Medical/Surgical Supplies and Devices: $283. • Pharmacy–Extension Of025x. I assume this was for eyedrops that are required after surgery. Cost: $96. There is no real explanation of what these costs really entail. I am fortunate that I only had to pay $327. I wonder what individuals without supplemental insur- ance would have to pay? And why so much? —Win Jolley Florence Better parking for disabed veterans Being new residents to Flor- ence, my husband and I wanted to check out the Veteran’s Day parade. Unfortunately, we could not do this. My husband is a veteran and in a wheel chair. We were quite surprised to learn that there was practically no parking available in the Old Town area for the disabled. We were at the parade 30 minutes early, and the only parking available was in a dirt lot or up a hill. I would think a parade that honors those who served would recognize the disabled and pro- vide appropriate parking. —Cindy Kiely 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 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
