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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2020)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | APRIL 22, 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 50 years of Earth Day — have we learned anything? (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.) In answer to the question posed in the title above, according to In- digenous people all over the planet we have not. Yes, we made attempts. Some really good from some really good people like Erin Brockovich waking us up about corporate pol- luters and Rachel Carson who wrote “Silent Spring,” along with many other environmentalists, naturalists and scientists warning us all about what this Earth really means to all of us. But 50 years of celebrating the Earth and we are here today with dying oceans, animals going extinct every minute, abuse of water rights, land rights, food rights, human rights, nature rights — the list keeps going. Forests continue to be cut down for monocultures of palm and GMO corn and soybeans. Poverty remains across the world that makes people Guest Viewpoint By Lynne Ann Kogut Florence poach for food and create wet mar- kets to sell animal parts to buy food and medicines. We have built more walls around our homes now as we become more afraid of each other. I see the fear in peoples eyes, with masks hiding their faces. We are truly isolated be- ings. This was never meant to be. When we are in balance with na- ture, she takes care of us. Nature is communal, a network — or web — that supports all life when we are part of the equation and not sepa- rate from it. We have chosen to put ourselves above nature, to rule it, do with it as we please. We poison our food, waters, air, dirt, minds and our bodies. No, I think we have not learned much. And yes, nature will have the last say. Volcanoes will erupt, earth- quakes will rumble, hurricanes will be reckoned with, tornadoes, floods, droughts and fires will continue. We are out of balance with nature and ourselves. After all, we are part of nature — but we have forgotten. The Indigenous people of the Earth still say we have a chance, but today is the day. What will you do to celebrate Earth Day? What will you really do to change the game? We cannot survive another 50 years of simply talking about it. LETTERS No work? No pay for members of Congress Just checked with my “Alexa” and she says Congressman and women get $170,000 a year in pay to repre- sent us common folks. As of today (April 17), it is my understanding that Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Represen- tatives, is hiding out in her “city of thousands of homeless folks” (known as San Francisco) and will not call the House back into session. There are millions of us common folks unemployed and not drawing a salary this week due to the virus shutdown last week and next week I’m sure. I propose the same apply to Nancy and the House, and to the Senate should that become the case. No work? No Pay! For every day they are not in ses- sion doing the work of the people, no pay. Ain’t never going to happen as they would have to vote that in and they just ain’t gonna do it. Same things with term limits, which ain’t gonna happen either. Oh well. One can only think of things that ought to be. —Tony Cavarno Florence Boomer is a ‘dollars and cents’ kind of guy I am a long time business person in the community. I have been through tough times in the past and I know there will always be challenges. As an employer, I always have con- cern for the welfare of my employ- ees. Their well-being and my ability to provide work for everyone is my primary concern. The health of my company determines what I can do for my employees. Three things have affected my business recently: the COVID-19 virus, the Gross Receipts tax and the additional threat of Cap and Trade fuel and energy tax. I have no control over the virus, but the other two taxes will impact my business in a big way. Our state Representative Caddy McKeown and Senator Arnie Roblan both voted for the Gross Receipts tax. It will have a huge impact on all of us because, if it costs me more to do business, those costs will be passed on to everyone I do business with. That will mean things will cost you more money. Boomer Wright is running for McKeown’s seat since she is not seek- ing reelection. He is a common sense guy who really understands that we have to be able to keep our businesses open in Oregon. He understands that we can’t em- ploy if we can’t afford to do business here. Boomer ran a multi-million dollar business and also served as a super- intendent of schools. He understands the bottom line. He’s our boots on the ground guy with real experience; he’s a dollars and cents kind of guy. I feel confident Boomer will repre- sent us well when he goes to Salem as our next Representative for House District 9. I will be voting for Boomer Wright. —Bob King Florence Support of local community colleges like LCC is crucial (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.) its founding in 1965. Our communities are also facing a pandemic, making us better appre- ciate our healthcare workers, many of the nurses, EMTs, therapists and This may be the most critical time for the community to support its com- munity college. Businesses are going through a trauma never before experienced. Un- employment has reached astronomi- cal heights. Life is in a state of change. These are the conditions that make people look to their community col- lege for help. Lane Community Col- lege has been offering that help since Guest Viewpoint By Pat Albright Eugene the like — many of whom have been trained by our community colleges. Be thankful for the service provided by LCC. Founding president Dale Parnell, who spent years soliciting the support and funds to create Lane Community College, understood the value of LCC to the community. His mantra was simple, clear and still relevant today. “Imagine yourself in a big acci- dent,” he would say. “The first re- sponder, maybe a police officer or an EMT, comes on the scene to provide emergency care. Probably trained at a community college. Then they help get you to the hospital where you are greeted by nurses. Probably trained at a community college. “After your initial treatments by your doctors, your nurses and thera- pists help bring you back to health — Again, community college graduates.” How critical is your support for LCC? Some day, your life may depend on it. 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
