Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2020)
4A | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Cottage Grove Sentinel 116 N. Sixth St. Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424 NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR | Opinion 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . COM 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 2020 © 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anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published.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: LETTER Naming Pet ‘Agent Orange’ is insensitive After reading the “Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales” column titled “The Chicken Charmer” (Jan. 30) in the Cottage Grove Sentinel, I was shocked, dis- mayed and devastated. Local resident Chris Perkins named an orange colored cat “Agent Orange.” Agent Orange was a chemical defoliant sprayed extensively in Vietnam from 1962-1975. During my U.S. Army BOG (Boots on Ground) time of 1970-1971, I was witness to the devastation of Agent Orange, whch causes birth defects, diabetes, chloracne, liver and kid- ney failure. Veterans Administration current data lists 27 A.O.-related health is- sues. I have A.O. exposure damage. There are many Vietnam vet- erans in Cottage Grove and Lane county with their personal stories of struggle with A.O. No joke for me. A.O. is truly bad stuff. Please respect and honor all vet- erans for their service. In my judgement and that of my fellow local veterans, Mr. Perkins’ name choice for his cat was insen- sitive and ignorant. — David Kopachik, Larry Simelius, Mike Flint, Bob Currier and Earle Quinlan Local veterans Understanding what homelessness isn’t a 2.5 percent increase — the fifth highest in the nation. Right after California. According to a report released last November by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), more than half of Ore- gon’s homeless families (60.5 percent) are with- out shelter, either living on the street, in cars or in displaced veterans. Before we can tru- ly address the issue of homelessness, we must be willing to understand that the majority of those who are living their lives without a home aren’t those on the street whose faces we often avoid. The fact is, more often they are those whose faces we recognize each day but who never say a criminals, we insulate ourselves from the reality of homelessness, and how close we all are from a life without shelter. Truth be told, nearly half of Americans live less than two paychecks There are a lot of away from the kind of things we’re proud of as financial crisis that could Oregonians: lead to homelessness. The scenic beauty we That’s not the kind are constantly surround- of stereotype we want ed by; Our generally to think about, but one progressive thinking on we have to be willing to important issues; Being From the Managing Editor’s Desk accept in order to affect outside of California. the kind of change that Ned Hickson Yet, amid all the things will, in turn, change the about Oregon that make lives of so many of our us proud, there’s one homeless in Oregon. thing I find it hard to tents within that scenic word about their home- While the bigger solu- admit about my beloved beauty I mentioned lessness. tion to solving home- state. While homeless- earlier. They are mothers and lessness in Oregon will ness has declined around As much as we want to fathers, sons and daugh- require more than dona- the nation, Oregon con- tell ourselves that most ters. tions of food and cloth- tinues to have the highest of the homeless are drug They are students, ing, our willingness to percentage of homeless addicts, criminals or cooks, part-time employ- acknowledge the home- families with children. suffering from mental ees, unemployed veterans less in our community Between 2017 and disorders, the fact is and senior citizens faced by offering support is an 2018, the number more than half of the with deciding between important step toward of homeless families homeless living without medication, food or achieving something else decreased in 41 states shelter in Oregon — shelter. we can all be proud of as across America while, in more than 7,000 — are By stereotyping the Oregonians. Oregon, we experienced either school-aged or homeless as addicts or 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. Send letters to: nhickson@cgsentinel.com 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 Gerald Santana, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1216 gsantana@cgsentinel.com Veronica Brinkley, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1205 vbrinkley@cgsentinel.com Carla Skeel, Inside Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1203 csummers@cgsentinel.com Editorial Ned Hickson, Managing Editor... 541-902-3520 nhickson@cgsentinel.com Damien Sherwood, Lead Reporter... Ext. 1212 dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Nick Snyder, Sports/Community News Reporter... Ext. 1204 nsnyder@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 Senior 62+ ...................................................................................33.00 e-Edition year ............................................................................$35.00 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 THURSDAY 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 ©2020 Cottage Grove Sentinel
