Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2020)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | JULY 1, 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 Siuslaw News Office: 148 Maple St./PO Box 10 Florence, OR 87439 Rather than ‘Defund,’ why not ‘Re-imagine’ the police? (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 hen my brother was accept- ed into the Chicago Police Academy in the late 1970s, our family was proud of him. He had wanted to join the army, but my mother talked him out of it, which seemed a reasonable alternative for him to serve his community and the nation. In Chicago at the time, the mot- to of the police force was, “We Serve and Protect.” Over the next 32 years, I heard his occasional tales from the beat but, essentially, my brother retired from the force without having fired a shot while on duty — which was considered a great accomplishment. So I have always had respect for the police, knowing how heart- breaking and dangerous the work can be. I have also had a 30-year career in human services, working with people of various colors, genders, nationalities, immigrant statuses, literacy levels, experiences with education and the work force … and let’s not even get into the home lives they came from or the ones they created for themselves. I learned that indeed, M. Scott Peck was right when he observed, “Life is difficult.” That is especially so if you have not had the opportu- nities I was afforded; I have a strong sense of empathy and gratitude. I remember when Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, where I lived at the time, used a tank in 2011 to serve an arrest warrant on a man suspected of running a cockfighting ring in Phoenix. (www.npr.org/sections/ thetwo-way/2011/03/23/134803230/ arizona-sheriff-uses-a-tank-to- arrest-cockfighting-suspect) Guest Viewpoint By Ivy Medow Florence I also remember when the U.S. military gifted various law en- forcement agencies around the nation with military (combat ap- propriate) gear of various types. Sheriff Joe came down Central Avenue in one of the tanks. Now I live in Florence, where I could not find paid work in hu- man services even though there are many people who could use help and support beyond what community generosity can pro- vide. Human services can help com- munity members develop good decision-making and coping skills. These are needed in order to pursue educational, employment and creative goals allowing indi- viduals to keep a roof over their heads, food on the table, tranquil- ity in their homes and a safe space in which to raise the children. And there is now a call to “De- fund the Police,” which I person- ally do not think is a unifying call to action but understand that it comes from people who are crying out in pain and outrage for mercy. I have never experienced this kind of suffering directly, though it is what led my grandparents to leave their homeland and arrive in America as asylum seeking refu- gees. Wasn’t it Matthew who said, “Judge not lest ye be judged?” (Matthew, 7:1-3 KJV). I hear the call for change, and I can support it. However, I think a more accurate and unifying call to action would be “Redistribute the Resources.” The idea, as I understand it, is to support police in their efforts to serve and protect by letting others — teachers, social work- ers, churches, addiction treatment centers, counselors, domestic vi- olence resource centers, animal control organizations, etc. — have a bigger slice of the financial pie so they can develop and implement their own special services. In this way, more people like me would be able to work doing what we are trained to do — and more people needing help would be able to get it before they do something they will never recover from and always regret. And something that is likely to involve the police. The Florence Jewish commu- nity is a disparate group: we vary in age, come from all walks of life, have a multitude of ex- periences and even practice our religion in different ways. One thing we do have in com- mon is the historical under- standing that our people have been marginalized, reviled and discriminated against for thou- sands of years. Many of us have had direct experience with the hatred and ignorance created by antisemitism. One of the basic tenets of Ju- daism is to repair the world, to speak for the weak and dis- advantaged and those who are treated as “other” because of their skin color. Having our- selves been slaves, our aware- ness is heightened by the routine violence and inequity directed at non-whites. We as a community work for social justice and peace. For this reason, we want to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and others arising from it that fight the op- pression of Blacks, the indige- nous and persons of color. We stand in spirit with those who, each Saturday, appear at the juncture of Highways 101 and 126, who walk the walk in the struggle for equality. We feel that it’s incumbent on us to always make our voic- es heard when hate, intolerance and oppression are still present in our society. —Judy Schwartz Florence Living in Orwellian times The incident that occurred last Saturday afternoon (June 27) at the peaceful assembly supporting Black Lives Matter was marred by an individual who verbally assaulted children of color, followed by physical attacks on demonstrators try- ing to shield those children and Letters to the Editor policy The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor 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 in- clude full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publica- tion of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumen- tative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are un- sourced or documented will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside the Siu- slaw News readership area will only be published 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 accurate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hear- say; and 3) Explain the reasons to support candi- dates based on personal experience and perspective rather than partisanship and campaign-style rhet- oric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and plat- forms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid politi- cal advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to re- ject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Email letters to: nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com WHERE TO WRITE LETTERS Standing in solidarity for equality Office Hours: Monday to Thursday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday: 8 a.m. to noon diffuse the situation. His actions were outrageous, unacceptable and potentially dangerous. All the while, he continued to invoke the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who is quot- ed in the Bible as saying: “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you” (John 15:12). The day before, Vice President Pence said in a press conference, “The freedom of speech, the right to peaceably assemble, is enshrined in the Constitution of the United States. We still want to give people the freedom to participate in the political pro- cess, and we respect that.” That is quite the turnaround from June 1, when law enforce- ment officers outside the White House launched tear gas at hundreds of peaceful protesters gathered in neighboring Lafay- ette Square. We truly are living in Orwel- lian times. —Edward Gunderson Florence 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