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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2020)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | APRIL 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) We need your help in keeping local journalism in our community coverage and amount of to galvanize much of reporting has increased, the conversation, from like many businesses new social distancing our revenue has de- requirements to eco- creased as — under- nomic and educational impacts, we were among standably — advertising dollars have dwindled. the first newspapers in From restaurants and the state to establish a free coronavirus updates local entertainment ntil a few weeks to community events and information page ago — something available to everyone — like Easter services and that now feels like a life- subscriber or not — so Rhododendron Days, time — on Wednesday advertising — which that everyone in the and Saturday mornings communities we serve accounts for 75 percent you could see the front of our revenue — has all have access to the page of the Siuslaw been reduced by more same information. News suspended in front than 50 percent. We also reinvent- of faces in coffee shops, ed how we do things, To save money, restaurants and markets essentially becoming a we’ve made a number around Florence and Mapleton as people From the Editor’s Desk informed themselves about what’s happening Ned Hickson in our community — upcoming festivals and events, recaps of the daily newspaper online of changes, including latest board meetings cutting the number of so that we can keep and features on local pages in each edition up with the amount issues and community from an average of 20 of new information members. to 16. Beginning this we are receiving from So much has changed. local, county, state and month, each of us at Events have been can- Siuslaw News — from national agencies on a celled, local government near hourly basis — and the newsroom to sales meetings are now “vir- keep the Siuslaw region and management — tual,” and the issues and informed and updated. agreed to take an across- topics that were once so the-board 10 percent And while our office regionally specific have is closed to the public, reduction in pay to help expanded to both the reduce costs in order our phones have been state and national level to continue our current transferred to our per- as everyone — across sonal devices so that the level of reporting online the county, state and and in print. community has access nation — is grappling to to us at any time, in The reality is, it’s not keep up with informa- enough. addition to email and tion coming to us from online messaging. For the first time in so many different levels our 130-year history, we From the begin- and impacting commu- ning of this crisis, are asking for the com- nities both large and munity’s direct support we’ve provided almost small. in keeping local journal- moment-to-moment When I became editor coverage of every local ism alive through a Tax here in September 2016, facet of the story: Who Deductible donation to I’d had the good fortune in our government is Siuslaw News. of working with three This isn’t easy to lobbying for tax pay- terrific editors over the ment delays? What area ask for, particularly in past 21 years I’ve spent restaurants are open for a time where fellow here at Siuslaw News. community members business? Where can While each brought and business owners are the hungry turn to for their own style and food? When or will our struggling as well. As focus, there has been schools be closing? Why editor, it’s not something one important under- I ever anticipated having isn’t the county re- standing that continues porting on locations of to reach out to the to define us as a com- community for. But our confirmed cases of the munity newspaper: virus outside of Eugene/ belief in the need for lo- To our readers, we are Springfield? How can cal news and a commit- not just “the” newspa- the public participate in ment to fact-checked, per; we are their news- virtual meetings of local professionally reported paper. newspaper journalism government? How are That commitment student-athletes dealing supersedes any thoughts and focus on communi- with the loss of their of personal pride or ty reporting has never stubbornness. final season? been more important The fact is, communi- These and hundreds than now. A month ty newspapers like this of other questions are ago, when news of being asked and report- one are folding across the novel coronavirus the nation at this vul- ed on. (COVID-19) began nerable moment — at a However, as our U time when community newspapers are more important than ever. No type of media out- let does more to provide vital, locally relevant information while also chronicling the mo- ments that define our community than your local newspaper. And, at this fragile time, we need your help. We’ve partnered with a wonderful nonprof- it, the Local Media Foundation, which is a Section 501(c)(3) orga- nization, to provide our community members with an opportunity to support Siuslaw News while also receiving the Tax Benefit of contrib- uting to a charity. Your contribution will go directly to support Siuslaw News and the Siuslaw News alone. Every bit helps, and for those who have already contributed through the link that we launched Wednesday on our Facebook page, our sincere and heartfelt Thank You for your support and kind words. To make a tax-de- ductible donation, visit https://givebutter.com/ SupportSiuslawNews. It’s quick, easy and you can make your donation openly or anonymously. You can even leave us a message if you’d like. We’d like to thank you, our readers, for supporting your local newspaper, whether it be through your sub- scription renewal, dona- tion or simply through the emails, phone calls and letters of support over the last several weeks. We also want to thank the local businesses that have been able to offer their continued support through advertising. We are committed to do whatever we can to weather the storm and continue our mission of providing the News and Views That Define Our Community into our 131st year. —Ned Hickson, editor 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 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
