4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| APRIL 21, 2021
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
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Florence Earth Day Committee Proclamation
(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.)
To the citizens of the City of Flor-
ence for Earth Day, April 22, 2021:
WHEREAS, when life around the
world returns to normal, we have the
ability to make a difference in every
industry, Restore Our Earth focus-
es on natural processes, emerging
green technologies and innovative
thinking that can restore the world’s
ecosystems, and
WHEREAS, Restore Our Earth
encompasses goals and actions in-
cluding reforestation, regenerative
agriculture and sustainable food,
plastic cleanups, climate literacy,
and citizen science, and
WHEREAS we have the ability
to make lasting changes by cutting
and capturing carbon, restoring the
health and resilience of our planet
and people, and
Guest Viewpoint
Florence Earth Day Committee
Submitted by Tina Haydel
WHEREAS more than 1 billion
people in 192 countries now par-
ticipate in Earth Day activities each
year, making it the largest civic ob-
servance in the world, and
WHEREAS Restoration is imper-
ative to fighting climate change and
making the Earth a safer, healthier,
and more equitable place to live for
all its inhabitants
THEREFORE WE, the Florence
Earth Day Committee and the un-
dersigned Florence Area Residents,
proclaim April 22, 2021, as Earth
Day throughout Florence and en-
courage all to use Earth Day and ev-
ery day to celebrate and protect the
earth and its inhabitants.
Florence Earth Day Committee
Florence Climate Emergency Cam-
paign: Florence Indivisible, Flor-
ence Area Democratic Club, Elders
Climate Action-Oregon — Leonora
Kent, Ivy Meadow, Ray and Beverly
Sherrill, Rick and Darlene Norwood,
Meris Robison and Julie Ellis.
LETTERS
What the heck
is wrong with us?
With all the recent and past
horror of mass shootings comes
the call for action on guns. It
happens every time there is an-
other horrendous incident.
To be honest, I have no earth-
ly idea just what can be done
effectively to stop this carnage.
There are nearly 400 million
guns in this country, and they
are not going away. What I real-
ly want to know is why we, as a
nation, kill so many people with
guns?
Aside from those countries at
war, or engaged in the industry
of supplying our appetite for il-
licit drugs, we are the gun vio-
lence capital of the world.
The combined populations of
Sweden, France, Spain, Norway,
Poland, Germany and the Unit-
ed Kingdom roughly equals the
population of the United States.
Yet the total average number
of gun deaths per year in all of
these countries is approximately
3,800.
The total right here at home?
More than 39,000!
What the heck is wrong with
us?
—Jimmie Zinn
Florence
society.
The Lane Educational Ser-
vice District (ESD) is the part
of our public school system that
works with all 16 Lane County
districts to provide all students
with access to special services,
including career exploration
and early college credits.
By sharing and pooling re-
sources, we keep the cost low —
a win-win for all children and
the adults in charge.
On May 18, we’ll have the
chance to continue growing
the best parts of our system by
re-electing Rose Wilde to the
Lane ESD board. Rose is highly
respected for her strong com-
mitment to the job of a board
member for the past eight years,
and for six years as member of
the Lane County Budget Com-
mittee.
Rose Wilde was born in ru-
ral Lane County. She comes to
Florence often to work with
partners and community lead-
ers.
Our children and youth are
fortunate to have such a dedi-
cated advocate.
—Karin Radtke
Florence
A voice for our youth
School board needs
experienced educator
The brilliant concept of pub-
lic education is that it creates
opportunities for all our young
people. Ask any American cit-
izen, and you will hear stories
of grandparents who arrived
not speaking a word of English,
but who thrived and succeeded
thanks to a public school; or of
a disabled child who had access
to a broad education and was
able as an adult to contribute to
As a long-time citizen of Flor-
ence, I am proud to support
Maureen Miltenberger for Siu-
slaw School Board Position 4.
Maureen is a career educa-
tor, administrator and public
servant who understands every
child deserves a well-rounded
education; she sees the big pic-
ture and is committed to getting
parents and students involved
in decision making processes.
Maureen is no stranger to
working with people from all
backgrounds — the haves and
the have nots. Maureen’s voice
and actions are grounded in
inclusivity to help each student
fulfill his, her or their potential.
For these reasons, I will be
voting for Maureen Miltenberg-
er.
—Sally Wantz
Florence
When is enough gun
violence enough?
After a string of mass shoot-
ings over the last several weeks
that is still continuing, we have
seen at least four more mass
shootings since April 15. In In-
diana, Nebraska, Wisconsin and
Texas.
Where is the outrage?
When is enough, enough?
Most mass shooters use AR-
15-like guns as their weapon of
choice. These weapons of war
are built for combat and are de-
signed to kill as many people as
possible in the shortest amount
of time.
A homeowner does not need
a weapon of war to protect him-
self or herself; a hunter does not
need a weapon of war to shoot
wildlife.
We have lost 12,398 souls to
gun violence in 2021 as I write
this. The odds are good this
number will increase by the
time this letter is published —
and still, Congress does noth-
ing.
We need an assault weapon
ban, a license to own a gun, and
a requirement for every gun to
be registered.
—Marybeth Marenco
Florence
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Email letters to:
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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