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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 17, 2020)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | JUNE 17, 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. 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Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Editor policy LETTERS Lee was no ‘American hero’ I would like to remind Joel Marks (“General Lee’s Greatness Should Not Be Disposed Of,” June 10) that General Lee resigned from the United States Army to join the Confederate Army. The Confeder- ate Army was fighting to dissolve the Union in order to maintain states’ rights to continue the prac- tice of white supremacy in the form of ownership of black men, women and children. I would not call the monument in Virginia an honor to a “sacred” history. Washington, Jefferson, Madi- son, Adams and Boudinott were certainly imperfect men, but they never tried to dissolve the United States. Lee led a treasonous insurrec- tion of Southern states. By the way, they lost the war; Lee is hardly an “American” hero. He may have been a Confeder- ate hero, but to people of color he is a painful reminder of southern whites “putting their knee on the neck” of all black people to keep them from achieving the rights and privileges that whites take for granted. —Marybeth Marenco Florence Seems strange to me Does Germany have statues hon- oring Hitler? Does South Africa have monuments lauding Apart- heid? I’m sure there were excellent strategic military leaders in the Third Reich but does Germany name military installations after them? I don’t think so. I could be wrong but I doubt it. I find it amazing that in the U.S., many active military and veterans wearing the American flag and their branch-of-service logos on baseball caps and jackets support honoring men who, in any other country or situation, would be con- sidered traitors for taking up arms against their own country and kill- ing so many of their fellow coun- trymen. Seems strange to me. —Judy Kinsman Florence Thank you police and peaceful protestors I was very pleased to see peo- ple coming out to support our lo- cal police department on June 10. When invited to participate in the Black Lives Matter rally on June 2, they drove by many times and helped participants feel safe as they exercised their free speech rights. Th e Black Lives Matter rallies highlight racial inequities in every- day life and emphasize that when Black Lives Matter, then All Lives Matter. Th e original slogan — Black Lives Matter, Too — is important to remember. Th ank you Florence Police; and thank you supporters of our police department. Th ank you to everyone who sup- ports community awareness and fi ghts racism — things we can all agree on. —Tina Haydel Florence All lives matter I was born in Concord, NH, in 1930, so I have been around for a while. I was not born with racism and my sister and I were raised by a mother and father that did not teach us racism. In my opinion, racism has to be taught, not inherited. I abhor what is going on in my country presently with all the riot- ing, burning, looting and killing. What that infamous police offi cer did was inexcusable and he de- serves to go to trial by his peers for what he did and get a just sentence. But likewise, those who recent- ly killed police offi cers have to be deemed under the term of racism — yet I neither see nor hear about any demonstrations for them. Today, there were a few demon- strators at the corner of 126 & 101. When I approached them asking who was sponsoring or organizing the group, a lady pushing a baby carriage approached and said these were all students — some past, some present. When I asked if they were going to hold up signs saying “All Live Matter” instead of their BLM signs in regard to the murdering of the white police offi cers during the ri- ots and looting, I was told that was a diff erent subject. Excuse me folks, but I took that as a racist statement if ever there was one. I have had Chinese, Native Americans, Muslims, Blacks, Mex- icans and Lord only knows what other nationality or religion at my dinner table over the years. I honestly don’t feel I am a racist by any standard. But if we are going to demonstrate, then where are the demonstrations for the four, fi ve or six members of the Black commu- nity killed every weekend in Chica- go by other Blacks? Black, White, Yellow, Red what ever the color of skin — All lives matter. —Tony Cavarno Florence What about gang wars and shootings? I would like to thank all who turned out for the rally on Wednes- day (June 10) thanking our police here and everywhere. I’d also like to thank the man holding the sign saying, “All Lives Matter.” Th e police everywhere are get- ting a bad rap. Th ey are not the bad guys; they are here to protect us no matter what color you are. If I was at that rally, I would have had a sign stating, “Keep our stat- ues and protect our heritage.” How come the protesters don’t mention the black guys, the Crips and Bloods and others who operate all over the country, including gang wars, shootings, robberies and oth- er atrocities? What about all the shootings in Chicago every day? All this goes on all the time, but these people who would like to make “black lives matter” should mention these things. All lives do matter. God bless America. — Darryl F. Parsons Florence Heartened by kindness of local youth My brother-in-law, an expert fl yfi sher, has not been fi shing for several years due to advancing Parkinson’s combined with recent COVID-19 restrictions. As the weather warmed, we planned an outing to fi sh Cleawox Lake in his now seldom-used drift boat. About 9:30 a.m. this past Sun- day (June 14), we entered the Flor- ence Taco Bell drive through for a breakfast burrito with the drift boat trailing. Aft er committing to the drive-th- ru, we saw the extremely sharp left turn required to exit. We had no chance of successfully navigating that exit turn. We were stuck; back- ing up was not an option. As I walked to survey the situa- tion, three young men appeared at the stern of the boat. One stated: “Can we pick it up and move it?” — which they promptly did. Problem solved in 5 seconds. We were now positioned to easily clear the yellow posts guarding the exit. Th ese young men volunteered their assistance (and strength) with grace and ease. At a time of great uncertainty and strife in our nation, I am heart- ened about the future of our county when I witness such gracious, un- requested acts of service. I want to express my gratitude for their assistance; their families and the community can certainly be proud and optimistic about the future generation with young men such as these three who helped us quickly escape an unforeseen jam. Th ey “Made the Day” for two older guys visiting Florence in the hope of catching a fi sh. —Tom Fauria Eugene (See more letters on A5) 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