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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2020)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | APRIL 8, 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 Protect each other with compassion, vigilance (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub- missions on this and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) W hile binge-watching mov- ies, here is a line that jumped out at me: ed the governor’s policy was to minimize the spread of a killer virus. Truth be told, if we band to- gether now, we could hold the line because we are a small rural area. Guest Viewpoint By Joshua Greene “I don’t want to kill you and you don’t want to be dead!” We are living in extraordinary times. There’s no event that has ever been a global threat to man- kind until now. That’s how real this battle is. Americans have become complacent because we haven’t had to fight a war on our own soil since the Civil War. The idea that the facts that have now turned into law some- how don’t apply to you is sim- ply stupid and selfish; we must all stick together and help each other. Governor Brown has looked at the facts of our state prepared- ness and it’s going to take more time to be prepared statewide. In being proactive and trying to “flatten the curve,” the governor instituted the current stay-home policy into law, as did our city council. If you break the law, you can be arrested for consequences much worse than a misdemean- or: your own illness and poten- tial death. The reason we adopt- Florence City Councilor Personally, I think we must all wear masks, preferably home- sewn from 300-600 thread count sheets and then decorative fab- ric on the outside. Old T-shirts or even a simple bandana helps. (Who doesn’t want to dress up like a cowboy?) Consider making some and donating them to friends and neighbors. (Here is a link to mask design: www.ci.florence. or.us/em/ppe-donations) This will leave the N-95 masks for our critical care workers, public works employees, gro- cery clerks, gas station atten- dants and first responders who are on the first line every day. Wash your hands and stay 6 feet away from others at all times when outside the home. Have a routine where you clean off your coat with disinfectant and then shower and put on your in-house clothes. We all must be vigilant and clean our groceries before bringing them into our homes. We are counting on each other to our part. If you haven’t yet, I implore you to change your behavior or you are endangering our entire community. When we go out, all of us have to stay 6 feet away. No ex- ceptions; it’s the law. Our region — from Dead- wood to Dunes City, to north of town at Sutton Lake — equals nearly 18,000 people. Yet our local ICU has just 12 beds ready. Our medical staff would run the highest risk if too many folks were to become infected. So, let’s do all we can to slow or stop this killer from spreading through the Florence area and Siuslaw region. How would you feel if you were to discover that you’ve been infected for four days, then realized you had infected some- one close to you who then be- came ill? What if they suffered permanent lung damage or even died? In crime circles that is equal to involuntary man slaughter. That’s how real a responsibil- ity we share — to ourselves and each other. All of us must protect each other and help find solutions to live with grace, compassion and remain vigilant in protecting one another as members of our community. LETTERS We’re being marginalized In Lane County, there is Eu- gene/Springfield and then there is everyone else, the so-called “rural” residents. As it has been reported in the Siuslaw News (April 4), if you live in Eugene/Springfield and you are diagnosed with COVID-19, your case is reported to the city and the city then has the data to identify medical needs. However, if you live anywhere else in the county, it is a secret ex- cept that you live in “rural” Lane County. This must mean that all the other population centers in the county — not to mention those living in the countryside or “off-the gridders” — basically get those medical needs met by best guesses of the health departments involved. The large population centers get the most attention. While it may seem that an old animosity between “Townies” and country folk is maintained as us-vs.-them, we need to understand the practi- calities of assigning and distribut- ing medical assets. However, we here in Florence in rural Lane County can’t help but feel marginalized; we don’t count enough to be recognized. The arguments around HIPAA and fears of victimization are spe- cious. Which towns have shown more caring communities that come together to help each other? Big towns where your neighbors are anonymous or small commu- nities where you can know who needs help and see that help is given, often most freely? One more thing: If you now know something about what it’s like to be unrecognized and de-valued, think about how many voters would effectively lose their political voice if elections were purely based on popular vote to- tals. We have the Electoral College so that we don’t have less-populat- ed states being marginalized. We hope Lane County will be mak- ing some needed adjustments in COVID-19 case reporting. —John Culp Florence Why no public information for rural areas? It seems the Lane County Pub- lic Health’s public information officer is prevented from releas- ing possible life-threating/saving information to the public in rural areas because of the Lane Coun- ty Commissioners, including our own commissioner Jay Bozievich. They have taken it upon them- selves to inhibit the ability of lo- cal press and media to inform the general public. Why is there a Lane County public information officer if they cannot disseminate life-saving information to all communities in Lane County and not just Eu- gene/Springfield? Maybe they should save Lane County the expense of a position that cannot do the job it was de- signed to do? —Michael Ksen, Florence Current COVID-19 reporting protocols by LCPH are meaningless After reading Saturday’s Siu- slaw News report and editori- al, we urge the board of Lance County Commissioners to re-ex- amine the county’s COVID-19 disclosure policy. We understand that detailed information about confirmed cases must be withheld to protect personal privacy, but protecting privacy by hiding confirmed cas- es in unnecessarily large popula- tions and regions defeats efforts by health authorities and news media to track and inform the public of viral spread. Disclosing the location of cas- es outside Eugene/Springfield as “rural Lane County” (120,000 residents in 4,200 square miles) is vague and meaningless. Disclosures could be more spe- cific and useful and afford equal or greater protection of patient privacy. If the age and gender of the confirmed case is publicly re- leased, the question is: How small can the population of a specific area be and still maintain the an- onymity of a confirmed case de- scribed typically as “female in her 50s”? Common sense tells us that Florence, at around 9,000 peo- ple, is large enough to prevent an individual from being identified from such a description. In areas made up of small towns, a wider geographic re- gion of several thousand resi- dents could be defined by County Ambulance Service Areas, Fire Districts or other such boundar- ies currently existing — or even boundaries created so that any confirmed case is in a population large enough to protect a patient’s identity based on an age/gender description. A more elegant solution, sug- gested by Siuslaw News editor Ned Hickson, is to eliminate age and gender altogether. Though health authorities may need them for statistical analysis, the pub- lic and news media do not. Why not simply notify media of a con- firmed COVID-19 case in such and such a city or area? Or you may determine that a combination of the above is nec- essary for some regions. Whether they live in Florence, Deadwood, or any other part of Lane County, residents have a right and need to know if con- firmed cases are close to home. It affects how seriously people take the threat and their response to it, and that affects the spread. —Rollin Olson and Madelyne Barnett, Florence 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 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
