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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2020)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | JANUARY 18, 2020 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 2020 © 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 Bartlett 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. Words left unspoken by Dr. King are equally important to remember for those within the movement, had traces of his regret, as well as concern and deference to the hands of fate. “It doesn’t really matter with ifty-two years ago this April, me now,” he said during his Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was awaiting approval of permits speech to parishioners. “I’ve been to the mountaintop. from the City of Memphis for his second march in support of black Like anybody, I would like to live a long life — longevity has city sanitation workers. Five days earlier, he had led a peaceful demonstration that From the Editor’s Desk ended in panic after militant protesters showed up and in- Ned Hickson cited the crowd, forcing police to break up the march. its place. But I am not concerned After spending most of April about that now. ... I’ve looked 4, 1968, relaxing at the Lorraine Motel following his now famous over and I’ve seen the promised “Mountaintop” speech the night land.” Shortly after 6 p.m., standing before at a local church, he on the balcony outside of room stepped onto the balcony of his 306, his banter with friends was second-floor motel room and cut short by the loud crack of a exchanged light-hearted banter with friends who had gathered in gunshot. He was taken to a hospital, the parking lot below. where he never regained con- It was in stark contrast to his sciousness before being pro- mood the night before, which had carried regret over the failed nounced dead less than an hour later. march a week earlier, as well as According to Rev. Jesse Jack- a political environment that had son, who was with Dr. King become unpredictable. that day, the Civil Rights leader His speech the night before, “refused to be afraid of the risk of while meant to be a pep talk F ambush or sabotage; he refused to stop what he was doing out of fear — because he did it out of courage and conviction for what was right.” Fifty-two years later, we once again find ourselves in the midst of marches, protests and demon- strations as we grapple with a multitude of issues facing our na- tion, from immigration to gun control, presidential impeach- ment to climate change. Regardless of where we stand on these issues as in- dividuals, finding and agree- ing on the solutions requires a collective desire to support each other’s right to voice opinions — and when in disagreement, to do so respectfully. Fifty-two years ago this April, the life of Dr. King was taken by someone who did not believe in that principle. As we remember his life and death, and reflect on the power- ful message he spoke of equality and service to one another, we must also remember the equal- ly powerful message of those words that he was forced to leave unspoken. LETTERS Apology given; perhaps one is still owed? Every citizen has right to their political beliefs I read the recent Siuslaw News article, “Couple Demands Apolo- gy At City Council Meeting,” (Jan. 8), about how a local couple, the Prossers, brought a letter from their lawyer demanding an apology at the most recent council meeting. I don’t know the couple person- ally, but I have read their comments often on social media, where the two of them are very outspoken. The comment made by Coun- cilor Greene was something I have also thought myself after reading some of what I feel are caustic com- ments made by this couple on so- cial media toward others who don’t espouse their right-wing views. Although I disagree with capit- ulating to a theatrical demand for an apology, I commend Councilor Greene for doing so. Apologizing shows strength of character. This couple could learn a lot from this gesture. We all could ben- efit from taking a good look in the mirror and questioning our own actions before we demand things of others. Has this couple evaluated wheth- er they have done things that war- rant an apology to others? Humans tend to project onto others what they themselves need to do when they don’t self-evaluate. Instead of demanding an apolo- gy, perhaps they owe one? —Stephanie Spradling Florence We were deeply saddend to read the lead story in the Siuslaw News on Jan. 8 (“Couple Demands Apol- ogy At City Council Meeting.”) Every American citizen has the right to their political beliefs and opinions without being defamed, harassed or ridiculed. We applaud and respect the Prossers for taking the necessary actions to defend their good name and reputations. We truly hope no similar inci- dents occur in the future to any of our fellow residents — especially an elected official. Such tactics benefit no one. —Robert and Mary Jean Flowerday Florence Do you know about the new Oregon Sales Tax? Recently, I asked a local retailer if her business was ready for the new Oregon Sales Tax. The business oper- ator said Oregon doesn’t have a sales tax — but, of course, she was wrong. In the 2019 legislative session, House Bill 3427 was passed along party lines, adopting a .57-percent tax on sales over $1 million even though Oregonians’ have turned down the imposition of a sales tax numerous times. In my opinion, the new tax is worse than a regular sales tax; it is like a pyramid scheme. It is applied at every level of production and re- sale. For example: let’s assume you want to buy a box of cereal. The tax will be paid by the wheat farmer on the sale of the wheat and also on the equipment he uses grow and harvest the wheat, the fuel in his equipment, electricity used in storing the wheat, and transportation of the wheat. It doesn’t stop there. The produc- er of the cereal who purchased the wheat will pay the tax on the fuel and electricity used in production, the cost of transportation and the sale of the cereal to a wholesaler. The wholesaler will in turn pay the tax on its sales to the grocery store. This leads to a few questions: 1) So how much more will your box of cereal cost? I don’t know; I got a headache trying to add it all up but it could easily be 5 percent. 2) Can our wheat farmers and oth- er industries still compete with pro- ducers in other states that don’t pay this kind of tax? 3) How many jobs will be lost? 4) What part of Mars are these leg- islators from? —David R Davis, CPA Retired Florence (Editor’s Note: House Bill 3427 is also known as the Student Success Act (SSA), which is an education bill to address the financial shortfall that came as a result of passing a 1990 bal- lot measure limiting local property tax funding for schools. HB 3427 does include a 0.57 per- cent tax on businesses that have more than $1 million in Oregon sales. Only receipts above $1 mil- lion are subject to the tax, and there are subtractions available for capi- tal or labor costs. The package also includes a cut to personal income tax rates, since the new tax could increase prices of consumer goods in Oregon.) 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
