4A | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. Sixth St.
Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424
NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR | 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . 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#133880
Copyright 2019 © COTTAGE GROVE SENTINAL
Letters to the Editor Policy
The Sentinel 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 include 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. Publication of any
letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the
volume of letters received.
Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative,
sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without
documentation will not be published.
Letters containing poetry or from outside The Sentinel
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) Ensure any information
about a candidate is accurate, fair and not from second-hand
knowledge or hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support
candidates based on personal experience and perspective
rather than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor
column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes;
this constitutes paid political 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 reject any letter that doesn’t follow
the above criteria.
LETTERS
Send letters to:
nhickson@cgsentinel.com
Thanks to our City
for brush site
A big thank you to the City of
Cottage Grove for allowing us to
dispose of our brush on its site.
Can you imagine how terrible
the smoke would have been if all
this debris had been burned in
our yards?
Perhaps part of the trash prob-
lem could be solved if a few
dumpsters and Buck toilets were
available to the homeless.
Might save the city some clean
up time.
—Pat Coutierier
Cottage Grove
A poem for children
of abuse
In darkened bedrooms late at night
He yells at her and then they fi ght
I just lay there with no light
And dream of days that were so
bright
We are children so confused
Our bodies battered, souls abused
We reach for love and then get
bruised
Yet in the end, we all lose
It must not be, so many children
just like me
I only wish they would talk with
me
Hold my hand and walk with me
Say the things I long to hear
“We really love you and we want
you here”
Why can’t it be?
We re children runnin’ scared
Just because no one cared
We never tough, we never dared
Th is love inside, we never shared
It must not be
So many children, so many wom-
en, there’s
So many people, just like me.
It must not be.
—Ron O’Keefe
Cottage Grove
( Editor’s Note: As part of our
month-long collaborative with
community newspapers in Cre-
swell, Florence and Newport on
the subject of suicide, we have
agreed to share Letters to the Ed-
itor submissions on that subject
within each of our newspapers.
While letters are generally only
printed from within our reader-
ship areas, we each agreed that
letters that result from this collab-
oration warrant sharing as part of
encouraging conversation within
our communties on this import-
ant subject.)
Suicide series can open our
communities to talking
First, I want to thank the Cot-
tage Grove Sentinel, Siuslaw News,
Creswell Chronicle and Newport
News-Times for taking the time
to talk about a complex and hard
topic: Suicide.
Th is is an important topic that
should be talked about.
My personal touch with suicide
happened in sixth grade when my
older brother, Ben, who was in
the eighth grade, choose to take
his life. I wish that I would have
known he was in so much pain. I
didn’t understand the signs.
I still grieve everyday for his
loss and wonder what he would
have been like in high school;
what kind of career he would have
chosen. He’d have been a great
dad and I think about the positive
things he could have been.
But I also think about how his
actions have shaped me and how I
have become as a result of it.
For those who experienced this
suicide within your family, friends
and community, you’re not alone
and our stories are unique. Honor
that person and remember them.
It is ok to grieve in diff erent ways
and stages. Do what works for
you.
I want everyone to know they
are loved, no matter what — even
when we disagree. And if you are
having a hard time, please talk
to someone, make art, write —
whatever it takes to express your
feelings.
For those who shame people
about this topic and say “You’re
going to hell” for those thoughts,
please take another look at this
topic and don’t judge; you’re not
in their shoes.
Th ank you for the opportunity
to share and for opening up our
communities to this discussion
and in understanding that we are
more connected than we think we
are .
—Jo Beaudreau
Florence, Ore.
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Website: www.leg.state.or.
us/hayden
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite
2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
S entinel
C ottage G rove
541-942-3325
Administration
Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher
Gary Manly, General Manager... Ext. 1207
gmanly@cgsentinel.com
Allison Miller, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1213
amiller@cgsentinel.com
Gerald Santana, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1216
gsantana@cgsentinel.com
Gina Nauman, Inside Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1203
gnauman@cgsentinel.com
Editorial
Ned Hickson, Managing Editor... 541-902-3520
nhickson@cgsentinel.com
Damien Sherwood, Staff Reporter... Ext. 1212
dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
Zach Silva, Sports Editor... Ext. 1204
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Customer Service
Meg Fringer, Office Manager, Legals, Classifieds... Ext. 1200
mfringer@cgsentinel.com
Production
Ron Annis, Production Supervisor... Ext.1215
graphics@cgsentinel.com
Subscription Mail Rates in Lane and Portions of Douglas Counties:
10 Weeks ....................................................................................$11.50
One year .....................................................................................$43.50
e-Edition year .................................................................................$35
Rates in all other areas of United States: 10 weeks, $16; 1 year, $56.50; e-Edition $35.
In foreign countries, postage extra.
No subscription for less than 10 weeks. Subscription rates are subject to change upon 30
days’ notice. All subscritptions must be paid prior to beginning the subscription and are
non-refundable.
Periodicals postage paid at Cottage Grove, Oregon.
Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424.
Local Mail Service:
If you don’t receive your Cottage Grove Sentinel on the Wednesday of publication,
please let us know.
Call 541-942-3325 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Advertising Ownership:
All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by the Cottage Grove Sentinel become the
property of the Cottage Grove Sentinel and may not be reproduced for any other use without
explicit written prior approval.
Copyright Notice: Entire contents ©2019 Cottage Grove Sentinel