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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2021)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | AUGUST 7, 2021 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 CHANTELLE MEYER , EDITOR | 541-902-3520 | CMEYER @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion The First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibit- ing the free exercise thereof; or abridg- ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peace- ably to assemble, and to petition the Government 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 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 Chantelle Meyer Front Office For Advertising: ext. 318 Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 314 541-997-3441 For Classifieds: ext. 310 DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news releases, Monday noon; Classified line ads, Monday 10 a.m.; Legal Notices and Display Ads, Friday noon. Saturday Issue—General news releases, Thursday noon; Classified line ads, Thursday 10 a.m.; Legal Notices and Display Ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year, $84; 6-month , $61; 3-month subscription, $37.50; Out of Lane County — 1-year, $107; 6-month, $74; -month subscrip- tion, $50; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year, $65; 6-month, $35; 3-month, $15. Ask about our senior discounts. 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 (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submis- sions on these and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) COVID-19 Virus and the Delta Variant PLEASE GET VACCINATED! If you have questions, please do not go to social media for them. Go to the public health authorities or your doctor for information. You will get the correct answers to your ques- tions instead of the misinformation that you may get from other sources. This virus does not care if you are a Republican or Democrat, what color you are or nationality you are. It does not pick or choose which person it is going to attack. Whether you are black, white, brown, pink or purple, COVID does not care! This virus has been, for some rea- son, put into a political situation and it should never have. This is affecting all of us — young, old and people with underlining conditions. I don’t know about you, but I want to be able to enjoy my life again and be with people again. To go to dinner or to the market and not have to worry if I am going to get sick. Getting the vaccine is your choice, but if for some reason you think you won’t get this, you may be very much mistaken. This Delta variant is attacking so many more people than in the last year because it at- tacks everybody, whether you have been vaccinated or not. However, if you have been vaccinated you may not wind up in the ICU or die be- cause you have a better chance to survive. Please use the empathy God gave you and think about other peo- ple that you care about. Now, kids, grandkids and animals are getting this as well. Please talk to somebody that has the information you are looking for. And PLEASE don’t attack the messengers that are trying to do the right thing for this country and not be nasty to other people because of your own choice. I know myself and people that are trying to keep you and themselves safe, especially the first responders, the medical staff, the workers in your favorite store or restaurant, want to get back to some kind of normalcy. Thank you for hopefully listening. — Barbara Rasmussen Florence Good Old-Fashioned Americana If you ever felt like you would like to be part of a Norman Rockwell painting or be completely immersed in good old fashioned Americana, you should have been (or perhaps were) at the National Night Out staged last Tuesday, Aug. 3, at Miller Park. This is a nationwide program, the third year here in Florence, hosted by the police department and other first responders to fos- ter knowledge and understanding within the community of what they do. The public of all ages were able to interact with the men and women who are a part of our police and fire departments, paramedics and Coast Guard. The cars, trucks, ambulanc- es and boats used by all of these folks to protect our safety were all on site at the park. It was particular- ly great to see the young kids get up close, and sometimes in, these ve- hicles and interact with the people that use them to rescue people and save lives. There was an ample quantity of hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cream and drinks to satisfy a good sized crowd — perhaps a couple thou- sand! — spanning a wide range of ages who were all happy, interacting with their fellow citizens, and gen- erally having a great time. We felt very fortunate to share a picnic table for dinner with a young couple who had just moved to Flor- ence a couple of years ago. The pair, who had two young children, told us they were celebrating their sev- enth wedding anniversary at the gathering! What a treat to get to know them and others that we met that night. Sometimes, with the constant back and forth of news’ headlines, it’s nice to be reminded that there are just a great number of people going about their lives with opti- mism, happiness and good cheer. It’s also pleasant to sit back and reflect on the beautiful community we call home. — Ralph Nichols Florence A Storm Brewing Marshall Denton’s article in Sat- urday’s Siuslaw News (July 31) was outstanding, wherein he asked 18 different questions regarding the Democrat Party in the eyes of mem- bers of that party. I don’t expect he will get answers to his questions from the Left. Any- one, in my opinion, who would answer, yes, they were comfortable with all or any part of those 18 ques- tions, has been sniffing the sauce. Every one of his questions nails many of the ills presently in our great country. He could have gone on and asked another 10 or 20 relat- ed question relating to the destruc- tion of our greatest nation on earth, which we are so lucky to be born in. I feel there is a storm brewing out there and the more Biden (and who- ever is pulling his strings) takes ac- tions to undermine this country, the closer we may be to saying, “This is enough. Enough!” I appreciate every day that I have had the wonderful luck to have been born here in America instead of Af- rica, Russia, South America, China, Cuba and a dozen or so other coun- tries. I love this country, as do so many others of us. May God bless this country and may God help us as we are presently going down a path which is so un- like the country I had the privilege of being born in. If America is so bad in the Left’s eye, would someone explain to me why there are thousands upon thou- sands of people of other countries storming our country daily now at our southern border? God bless our country. — Tony Cavarno Florence So Why? So why is it that bailing out car companies, banks and corporations isn’t socialism, but helping the poor during a pandemic is? So why is it that putting on a mask or getting the vaccine is an attack on your freedom after 600,000 Ameri- cans are dead? So why is it that in spite of over- whelming scientific evidence to the contrary, people have the gall to ig- nore the fact that our state is on fire (you forgot to blame it on antifa or Jewish space lasers this time)? By the way, since Mr. Spayd in- sisted that Florence should only deal with issues at hand (in his Guest Viewpoint on May 29, and during public comments at the July 19 Florence City Council meeting), try this — there’s a dead zone right off the coast running the length of Oregon. It’s a zone of seawater with no oxygen whatsoever. This sum- mer, it will come closer to the coast than ever before, it will decimate the Dungeness crab industry. Is that close enough for you? So why is it that people would pledge their alliance to a draft dodg- ing grifter, a want-to-be dictator that Putin supported because he is “mentally unstable?” Your dear leader used our National flag as a red cape to get you to do exactly what he wanted, and you obliged. It’s spelled Republican, but it’s pronounced “hypocrite.” Hundreds of thousands have died for it, millions will suffer because of it — perhaps not you, but your chil- dren and your grandchildren will. Your selfishness and arrogance, your compliance and privilege, your blindness and fear of change is what will doom this country. And for that, I curse you with my last breath. — Edward Gunderson Florence Letters to the Editor Policy The Siuslaw News welcomes Letters to the Editor and Guest Viewpoints as part of a community discussion of issues on the local, state and national level. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Email letters to cmeyer@thesiuslawnews.com To be considered for publication: Letters must address pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers at-large. In addition: • Letters reflect the opinion of the writer. The Siuslaw News cannot verify the accuracy of all statements made in letters. Authors should ensure any information is ac- curate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay, and include sources where possible. • Letters have a suggested 300-word limit and may be edited for grammar and clarity. • Authors must sign their full name and include their street address (only city will be printed), as well as a daytime phone number and/or email address for verifi- cation. The person who signs the letter must be the ac- tual author. Siuslaw News does not accept anonymous Letters to the Editor. • Siuslaw News will not print form letters, libelous letters, business promotions or personal disputes, poet- ry, open letters, letters espousing religious views with- out reference to a current issue, or letters considered in poor taste. Letters also may not be part of letter-writing campaigns. • Writers are limited to one published letter every two weeks. To submit to the Siuslaw News: Emailed submissions are preferred. All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. The newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publish- er and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. 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
