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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (July 22, 2020)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | JULY 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. Let’s really be honest with ourselves and each other On July 15, Siuslaw News ran a Guest Viewpoint by Joshua Greene involving the recent Fourth of July celebrations and the encroachment of politics into our local government. First of all, let me say that this was the 15th Independence Day that I’ve celebrated here in Florence, and I could not wish to be in a better place. I would agree that the July Fourth is to celebrate the USA and all it stands for, and that local political decisions should take everybody in the com- munity into account. From here on, though, my opinions begin to diverge from Mr. Greene’s. Things started to change in Flor- ence and, indeed, nationally — not after the 2018 elections but after the those in 2016. When Donald Trump was legally elected President of the United States, the so-called progres- sives in this country went ballistic. Even though conservatives en- dured the Obama administration in a mostly subdued manner, the “Left” decided they were going to form the “Resistance” to President Trump. This very quickly worked its way down the political food chain. It was anti-Trump on everything. The left-leaning bias began to man- ifest itself in the discussions and de- cisions of the local City Council and just as importantly within council-ap- pointed committees. Taking positions on political issues like climate change, immigration en- forcement, sanctuary cities, gender equity, straw and plastic bans, etc., may be great for virtue-signaling but are beyond the scope of the council and did not necessarily represent a majority of community opinion. The political demographics of this community are fairly evenly bal- anced. In the three voting precincts representing the Florence area during the 2016 elections, President Trump received more votes than Clinton; the two people representing the area in the Oregon Senate and House are both in the Democrat Party and, like the President, won their seats by fairly narrow margins. Guest Viewpoint By Ralph Nichols Florence Mr. Greene must be aware of these voting patterns, yet he seems to ignore them completely. In my judgement, our current mayor and other council members ran and were elected as a reaction to what was a definitive left- ward shift of the city government. Mr. Greene is very condescending and seems to imply that council ma- jority is controlled by a small group of the “far-right community.” The reality is that the three council members Mr. Greene mentions in his viewpoint are thoughtful, successful citizens who just disagree with him. I am not certain what Mr. Greene’s point is in mentioning Sherry Harvey several times in this “viewpoint.” Per- haps he believes he is “outing” her as some kind “right-winger?” In fairness and balance, it should be pointed out thar Mr. Greene has been legally en- joined from making derogatory refer- ences to other Florence citizens. Mr. Greene makes a major point of the fact that Ms. Harvey reserved the Old Town Park location for the Fourth of July celebration. He gave a very detailed accounting of all the supposedly nefarious conservative political activities which transpired and presumably cast a negative view of our city on all those visiting Bay Street. He failed to point out, and critical- ly so, that in the two preceding years of 2018 and 2019, the same park was reserved by the Florence Democrat club with the same type of activity occurring except — it was from the opposite point of view. In my under- standing in 2018, Ms. Harvey and some associates actually delivered hot dogs and burgers to the democrats at the park. I am definitely an “old school” kind of person. I believe in cordial dis- course and equal sharing of ideas and philosophies. These should be rea- soned and fact-based. What I am see- ing and sensing now from the Left’s proponents is that you either agree with them or you are a bigot, facist, racist, homophobe, etc. Mr. Greene concludes his piece by saying that he wants everyone to “be honest with ourselves and each other.” I have tried my best to follow that advice in these comments. LETTERS What ‘far right’ means to me A recent Guest Viewpoint on the Opinion page complained that the “far right” influence in Florence poli- tics doesn’t represent everyone. I believe that Democracy allows for expression of different opinions. However, since I am apparently “far right,” may I state what that means to me: I believe in the Constitution as written; I believe that a Nation can- not exist without borders; I believe that not standing for the National Anthem dishonors those who served and died for that right; I believe that movements led by avowed Marx- ists are acts of treason; I believe that peaceful demonstrations for any cause does not include looting, burn- ing and violent behavior; I believe that “privilege” is earned by educa- tion and hard work; I believe that the vast majority of police are dedicated to protect and serve; I believe that abortion is sometimes a necessary medical procedure, and its use for birth control is barbaric; and I judge people by their character, not the col- or of their skin. I am a law abiding white male, a fact that does not require an apology. I owe homage to no one except God. —Keith Kraft Florence Time to assert your human rights The government is talking about taking away Medicare and Obamacare. A lot of people will be losing their insurance due to not be- ing employed. This should not be and will cause many families to suffer. The time is now to join Healthcare for all Oregon. An all volunteer or- ganization working hard to legislate healthcare for every Oregonian. What about the many disabled and terminally ill people that are suffer- ing a terrible quality of life? What about you or your loved ones should they suffer next? At this very moment all across United States and the rest of the world, doctors are making the deci- sions of who gets the ventilators — and possibly keep on living — and those that don’t. Either way you’re going to suffer. In other words, the weak and el- derly will be sacrificed. Not quickly but very slowly and painfully. This doesn’t do anybody any good, in- cluding the doctors. Shouldn’t the decision to live un- der those be ours alone? Make sure your advance directive is current with your end-of-life decisions. Treat this as the most important contract of your life — because it may be someday. Oregon has a very restrictive death-with-dignity law. You have to possibly suffer for years until two doctors tell you that you only have six months to live. Then you have to have a sound mind and physically be able to write and verbally request ac- cess to the law. Then, if you still qual- ify, you have to physically be able to put the medicine in your own mouth and swallow. Quite a few people in Oregon are living under unbearable conditions because of these restrictive laws. Now is the time to speak up and support more compassionate end-of- life laws in Oregon and to give us all Healthcare. It’s all a human right. —Bruce Yelle Florence Masks are the right answer There are a few things that need to be addressed in Mr. Straley’s recent Letter to the Editor (“Masks Are Not The Answer,” July 15). Given his science background, he should be aware that the com- mon cold is not caused by bacteria; it is caused by one of several viruses (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseas- es-conditions/common-cold/symp- toms-causes/syc-20351605). The cold is in the same virus fami- ly as COVID-19 (coronavirus). Yes, some studies have shown masks have 50 percent (or great- er) chance of keeping the wearer from getting sick. In other words, you can cut your chances of getting COVID-19 in half for about a dollar. That’s a deal. However, the real benefit of wear- ing a mask is that they are extreme- ly efficient in keeping other people from getting infected. Remember, surgeons don’t wear masks to keep from getting infec- tions; they wear masks to keep their patients from getting infections. This is backed by over a century of experience. If you care about your friends and neighbors here in Florence, please wear a mask. —Rob Welles Florence Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Siuslaw News Office: 148 Maple St./PO Box 10 Florence, OR 87439 Office Hours: Monday to Thursday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday: 8 a.m. to noon 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 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