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4A | APRIL 22, 2021 | 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 2021 © 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anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published.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. Send letters to: nhickson@cgsentinel.com Support expansion of OSU Extension services (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.) The steering committee of Friends of Extension (FOE) sup- ports the passage of Ballot Mea- sure 20-319, which residents will vote on in the May 18 Special Election. The measure would enable the OSU Extension Service to continue and expand access to research-based information for youth and families, homeown- ers, farmers, ranchers, wood- land owners and businesspeople throughout Lane County. The measure would implement a local option tax of 2.8 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for five years. For example, a property assessed at $200,000 would be charged $5.60 per year. A local option tax measure of 1.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value was approved by 70 per- cent of Lane County voters in 2016 and expires this year. Ex- tension has used these funds to re-establish the 4-H program and the forestry program. Levy funds also provide oper- ational support for forestry, hor- ticulture, and small farms faculty members, who provide direct advice and training to producers and property owners. Guest Viewpoint By Leigh Reider Friends of Extention In addition, approval of the 2016 measure enabled signifi- cantly increased community outreach via social media for all Extension programs. A $1 investment in OSU Extension by Lane County generates $4 through other funding sources. In March 2020, Extension programs pivoted to online ed- ucational platforms to main- tain community services safely during the pandemic, including the Virtual Plant Clinic to an- swer gardening questions. Friends of Extension is work- ing to inform Lane County vot- ers of the myriad ways Extension programs contribute to food se- curity, economic development, wildfire resiliency and emergen- cy preparedness, and of the need to spread these benefits to all parts of the county. If passed, the 2021 levy would: • Expand existing 4-H and oth- er positive youth development opportunities to rural commu- nities • Continue and grow popular volunteer programs such as Mas- ter Gardener, Master Food Pre- server, Food Pantry, and Master Woodland Manager • Offer more educational pro- grams focused on community emergency preparedness • Continue to provide food safety and preservation, nutri- tion, and wellness education • Continue to provide techni- cal assistance to farmers, wood- land owners, and nursery grow- ers • Expand educational pro- gramming to all communities that encourages high school completion and college access Lane County Commissioners unanimously referred the mea- sure to the May 18 ballot. Anyone interested in staying informed about FOE’s activities should send an email to LaneEx- tension2021@gmail.com or visit www.friendsofextensionlane. org. LETTERS 2nd Amendment right and wrong The U.S. Constitution was written in order to ensure do- mestic tranquility and provide for the common defense of its citizens. The wording of the 2nd Amendment became problem- atic when “the right of the peo- ple to keep and bear arms,” was inserted between “A well-regu- lated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state shall not be infringed.” A well-regulated militia is what is necessary for the com- mon defense and tranquility. This is a collective right that su- persedes an individual right to keep and bear arms. I doubt that the Founding Fathers would have wanted a nation being overwhelmed by weapons that can shoot 100 rounds in the time it took to shoot and reload a muzzleload- er; a nation where a teenag- er can legally buy one of these weapons before he can buy to- bacco or alcohol; a nation where 4 percent of the world’ popula- tion owns more than 40 percent of the weapons. In order to “insure domestic tranquility,” we must put the collective rights above the indi- vidual rights to bear arms. An individual has a right to protect his home — but not to wage war against his neighbors. —Michael T. Hinojosa Drain Where is the outrage? 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? HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS Oregon state representatives • Sen. Floyd Prozanski District 4 State Senator PO Box 11511 Eugene, Ore. 97440 Phone: 541-342-2447 Email : sen.floydprozanski@ state.or.us • Rep. Cedric Hayden Republican District 7 State Representative 900 Court St. NE Salem, Ore. 97301 Phone: 503-986-1407 Email: rep.cedrichayden@ state.or.us • Rep. Peter DeFazio (House of Representatives) 405 East 8th Ave. #2030 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Oregon federal representatives Email: defazio.house.gov/ contact/email-peter Phone: 541-465-6732 • 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 • Heather Buch Lane County Commissioner - District 5 Email: Heather.Buch@lane countyorg.gov 125 E. Eighth Ave. Eugene, OR 97401 Or call 541-682-4203 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 Carla Skeel, Inside Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1203 csummers@cgsentinel.com Editorial 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. —Mary Marchenco Cottage Grove Ned Hickson, Managing Editor... 541-902-3520 nhickson@cgsentinel.com Damien Sherwood, Lead Reporter... Ext. 1212 dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Customer Service Meg Fringer, Office Manager, Legals, Classifieds... Ext. 1200 mfringer@cgsentinel.com Production Ron Annis, Production Supervisor... 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