4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| MARCH 20, 2021
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 2021 © Siuslaw News
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LETTERS
Abortion has lasting
effects; seek help
Did you know that there have
been approximately three times
as many deaths by abortion as
by COVID in the state of Ore-
gon, according to Oregon.Gov?
You probably won’t hear these
stats from the mainstream me-
dia because it doesn’t fit their
narrative. It’s sad that destroy-
ing precious life has to be so
prevalent and unnecessary since
there are other alternatives.
Some say that babies are not
alive until born. In Jeremiah 1:5,
God says before he formed us in
the womb he knew us and be-
fore he formed us in the womb
he set us apart.
I know abortion is legal in our
state but that does not justify it
being morally right. Slavery in
the U.S. was legal during a time
period but that didn’t make it
right. To me, abortion is not
only killing a human being, it
can be physically devastating to
the mother and cause psycho-
logical and emotional conse-
quences.
The Arkansas Senate just
voted in favor (27-7) on SB6 to
prohibit all abortions except for
those performed to protect the
life and health of the mother.
I hope someday Oregon and
other states will follow suit.
Some people call abortion
women’s healthcare, some call it
pro-choice — but we should en-
courage folks to call it for what
it is and not sugar coat it.
Before anyone takes a posi-
tion on abortion, or considers
having one, I challenge all who
have not seen the movie “Un-
planned,” based on a true story,
to do so as it will expose what
many attempt to suppress or
hide.
It’s well documented that for
many, abortions can create guilt
or remorse associated with this
procedure for sometimes many
years.
For those who have had an
abortion or been involved in en-
couraging someone to have one
and are having a difficult time
getting past it, I would suggest
getting in touch with one of our
local pastors to sit down and
provide you with some sound
advice and guidance.
—Marshall Denton
Florence
Input regarding
annexation ignored
I have lived in the Idylewood
subdivision since May 22, 1991.
When I heard about the appli-
cation for annexation on behalf
of Benedick Holding LLC, I was
concerned as my family and I
lived through the 1996-97 ma-
jor flooding occurrences.
My drain field was draining
upward, so that when I walked
across my lawn the sod was
floating and it felt like walking
on a waterbed.
On the public notice for the
hearing, it gave very strict rules
for public comment — if it was
to be considered — including
several ORS statutes, five chap-
ters in the 2020 Florence Com-
prehensive Plan and three chap-
ters in Florence City Code.
In my written comment, all
of my input was referenced to
ORS, Comprehensive Plan or
Code.
When it came to decision
time, the attorney made it clear
that the only issue in front of the
city council was: If the annex-
ation was legal.
And in his opinion, it was.
So, the Planning Commis-
sion and city council published
criteria for public comment so
that, from my view, it could be
ignored.
The only thing worse than
changing the rules after written
and verbal comment was sub-
mitted is the cavalier attitude
of the City Planner when she
discussed the groundwater and
flooding issues.
I also find it interesting that
there have been insinuations by
some letter writers that there are
outside forces behind opposi-
tion to annexation. All I see are
outside forces in favor of the an-
nexation — to which I say, if you
don’t live in Idylewood, stay out
of it.
I certainly hope the City has
another $500,000 in funding and
a creek to pump the flood water
into after Phase 4 of the Idyle-
wood subdivision is completed.
—RJ Pilcher
Florence
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WHERE TO WRITE
President Joseph Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
TTY/TDD: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
Email: Sen.DickAnderson@
oregonlegislature.gov
Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown
State Rep.
Boomer Wright (Dist. 9)
State Sen. Dick
Anderson (Dist. 5)
160 State Capitol 900 Court St.
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Salem, OR 97301
Message Line:
503-986-1409
503-378-4582
Email: Rep.BoomerWright@
www.oregon.gov/gov
oregonlegislature.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
Lane County Dist. 1
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753 | 541-465-6750
Florence City Council
www.merkley.senate.gov
& Mayor Joe Henry
Florence City Hall, 250
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio Highway 101, Florence, 97439
(4th Dist.)
541-997-3437
2134 Rayburn HOB
ci.florence.or.us
Washington, DC 20515
Email comments to Florence
202-225-6416
City Recorder Kelli Weese at
541-269-2609 | 541-465-6732 kelli.weese@ci.florence.or.us
www.defazio.house.gov