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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2021)
SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2021 | 5A 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. Opinion Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 LETTERS (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub- missions on these and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community dis- cussion and exchange of perspec- tives.) 222-2004, tsalnas@peacehalth. org) and asking that PeaceHealth stop harming its nurses and work toward a collaborative agreement to protect our health as well as that of the community. — Barb Davis On behalf of Oregon Nurses Consider the Nurses Association Peace Harbor Medical At the start of the pandemic in Center Executive Committee 2020, many of our fellow nurses left Peace Harbor Medical Cen- ter (PHMC) or the profession Voting Rights all together for fear of the virus. I found one statement in the In April 2020, we were treat- Sept. 1 article on voting rights ed as heroes for staying at the quite troubling: “…but here we are bedside. PeaceHealth initiated protecting our rights to vote, for a COVID-19 Paid Sick Bank for everyone.” those who were exposed and af- “Everyone” is a bit too inclu- fected by the virus. sive. The 10 to 12 million undoc- This year, PeaceHealth ignored umented/illegal immigrants in the one of their most critical assets: U.S. do not have that right. That nurses. We have been negotiating precious right is, by law, given to for reinstatement of the COVID American citizens 18 years old or sick bank and other reasonable older. measures of support. PeaceHealth I wonder how many people, pro has repeatedly refused our re- and con, have actually read the quests. “For the People Act?” I did, and Now, if a nurse contracts the found it to be of the same type of virus as a result of patient care bureaucratic hyperbole as the so and has depleted their PTO bank, called “Infrastructure Bill.” They they will need to stay home with- should be titled, “For the Demo- out pay. crat Party.” Instead of protecting and re- For example, Title 11, Subtitle D, warding their staff nurses for our provides a pathway for District of loyalty, PeaceHealth has chosen Columbia Statehood — a means to to employ travel nurses, some pack the Senate with Democrats. being paid upwards of $10,000 a Also, Title 1, Subtitle N, allows week. This is demoralizing for all for sworn affidavits in lieu of pho- PHMC nurses who have worked to ID. I cannot understand why so hard for their community. Democrats become unglued at the Please show your support by concept of proper IDs. Try cashing contacting PeaceHealth Oregon a check, checking in to a motel or Network CEO, Todd Salnas (541- boarding a plane without one. There are 44 million people on food stamps (SNAP). Among the documents required to apply for SNAP is proper ID, such as photo ID or birth certificate, and proof of citizenship. Apparently, low in- come people are quite capable of providing ID when required. How about an act that simply states, “The right of every Amer- ican citizen of legal age, excepting convicted felons, shall not be in- fringed.” — Keith Kraft Florence I Say In response to a letter in the Oct. 9 Siuslaw News entitled “They Say,” I want to ask — what planet is Mr. Titus living on? It’s easy for a retired person liv- ing in a very comfortable commu- nity such as Florence with a secure income to throw out a letter to convey that all is well and beauti- ful under the current administra- tion. Really? The influence of this adminis- tration is reaching across America to tear everything apart for our survival. When you go outside of our cocoon here, you will have a wake-up call. Mr. Titus can criticize the con- servative Christians, but I have to point out that these are the very people who are working tirelessly to maintain the freedom and val- ues we grew up with as children. We are not against masks and vaccinations per se, but the man- dates of force. The climate change is another issue for control over the way we live. The liberal pol- iticians say one thing and do an- other. Our education system is one of the more serious issues at hand. Some things have no business being taught in our schools, di- recting our youth towards radical ideas. Education should be a guide towards a career, not an indoctri- nation to cause division. It’s grievous to see what has happened to this country in these short nine months: gas prices on the rise and soon to be in short supply, empty grocery shelves in larger cities, nurses and doctors walking off their jobs, airlines can- celling flights in large number and the list goes on. This is just the be- ginning. People are afraid and becoming desperate. In my mind, the delusional democrats need to get a grip on reality. — Donna Dobson Florence Dunes City Ordinance #259 Dunes City Planning Ordi- nance #259 is being presented as a mere tweak to language of a dated development code, but is in fact a lengthy collection of wide-sweep- ing changes. Some critical chang- es are related to fees, fines, land seizure and the right to be heard by a municipal judge. A Code Enforcement Officer is to determine validity of com- plaints of code violations, hire outside code investigators, issue fines and authorize repairs less than $2,000 on the owner’s behalf. There is NO cap on homeowner fines, which are currently set at $1,000. This officer will be the sole and final “judge” of all prop- erty owners’ appeals — unless the homeowner pays for an appeal before the city council, whose de- cision is also final. Ordinance #259 assesses fines on a case by case basis. Another change included is a new policy that permits a code violation letter to be sent with the wrong name and/or address and still serve as a valid notification to the homeowner. Dunes City Planning Commis- sion’s meeting on Oct. 28 may be the only opportunity for residents of Dunes City to provide feed- back regarding the ordinance. Dunes City has already sub- mitted their plan to the state. The city’s Charter states that new leg- islation may be passed with as lit- tle as 24 hours public notice. The state, county and city ac- knowledge the importance of citizen involvement in city plan- ning. Examine Ordinance #259 on the Dunes City website and call, write, email or attend the Dunes City Planning Commis- sion’s Oct. 28 meeting. Make your voice heard, like other concerned citizens of Dunes City. — S.B. Dunes City Auto Care Guide Your connection to local professionals in every area of auto care. Helping You Since 1945 HOBERG’S COMPLETE AUTO REPAIR Serving your auto needs since 1945. 345 Highway 101 Florence • 541-997-2413 www.hobergsautorepair.com LES SCHWAB TIRE CENTER Serving Oregon Since 1952 Best Tire Value Promise 4325 Highway 101 • Florence Oregon 541-997-7178 • lesschwab.com/store/?storeId=219 Florence Valvoline Expires: 1/31/22 Come See Us Today Gift Certifi cates Available Helping You Since 1945 Expires: 1/31/22 Best Tire Value Promise JOHNSTON MOTOR COMPANY PETERSEN AUTO DETAIL HOBERG’S COMPLETE AUTO REPAIR LES SCHWAB TIRE CENTER For all your Sales, Service, Body and Parts needs Best of Florence Winner 2019 Serving your auto needs since 1945. 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