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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 2020)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | JANUARY 29, 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. 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 LETTERS Environmental ‘Protection’ or ‘Predation’ Agency? The headline read “Trump Removes Protections for Water- ways, Aiding Developers” (Reg- ister-Guard, Jan. 24). This report should have caused cognitive dissonance on two levels. First, it is the Consti- tutional duty of the Legislative Branch to legislate: to make and if necessary, amend the laws. The duty of the Executive Branch is to enforce or carry out those laws. In 1948, Congress passed — and President Truman signed — the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Then, in 1972, Congress and President Nixon felt it was important enough to expand the law as the Clean Wa- ter Act. Under what Constitutional provision is President Trump granted the power to make changes to, or in this case com- pletely nullify, a law that has been in effect for 72 years? Second, the very name of the federal department charged with enforcing the Clean Water Act. The Environmental Protec- tion Agency implies that they should be working to safeguard lakes, streams and waterways. Instead, at the behest of the president, the agency is remov- ing protections to benefit indus- try and developers. To continue to be known as the Environmental Protection Agency is duplicitous. Perhaps the Environmental Predatory Agency would be more appro- priate? —Cris Reep Florence Dangerous to control art with labels We have the right to like or not like art, but do we have the right to control art? With art having so many fac- es and personalities, it’s hard for us to put a label on it. In fact it’s down right dangerous to label art because it’s so much a part of each one of us. Th ere was a government that wanted to control art so they created two diff erent types of art shows. One show had 650 paintings, sculptures and prints by 112 art- ists, primarily locals. Th e other show was intended to show the more classical and “racially pure” type of art advocated by the government. Th e government believed that the people would embrace their show and reject the other. Th ey even labeled the local artist show as “Degenerate Art.” Th is story is true and hap- pened in 1937 in Germany. Th e government was the Nazi Party and the people chose the “De- generate” art show by 2-to-1. What would we do if certain art was controlled today? With music being art, what would happen if we decided the “Th e Star Spangled Banner,” which started as a poem written by Francis Scott Key, was not ap- propriate and was removed from the public? Th e new Florence City Hall structure is art. Even our homes are expressions of art. Would our Siuslaw Riv- er Bridge be art? Of course it would be. Our local newspaper is a form of art with its writing, design and freedom to speak. To control art is nothing but a trap, invented by those who need to label others’ views. We need to embrace all art, whether created by a pre-school- er or senior citizen — and label- ing it with disparaging views isn’t constructive. We have the freedom to say what we want but do we have the right to destroy others’ dreams? What’s next? “Degenerate Music?” Th e Nazi Party already did that also. —Greg Carlton 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
