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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2021)
4A | JULY 1, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Cottage Grove Sentinel 116 N. Sixth St. Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424 damien sherwood, editor | 541-305-1409| dsherwood@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anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published.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: Local focus an antidote for recovery (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.) As we continue to emerge from the pan- demic, there’s a sense of relief and optimism that things will return to normal. Long-awaited family gatherings, birthday parties and graduation ceremonies are finally happen- ing in person. Sporting events have fans in the stands, airports are busy, and we all are in the process of reclaiming those el- ements of life we’ve missed the past year. However, with that optimism is the reality of the impact the pandemic had on local com- munities. Local businesses that struggled through the past year, if they were able to stay in busi- ness at all, are still trying to re- cover and regain lost revenues. These locally owned restau- rants, shops and services are vi- tal to our economy and provide valuable jobs and important resources. Whenever you can, please shop local and eat local. You can add your local news- papers to the businesses that need your support. During the pandemic, newspapers provided the critical information needed to protect the health and safety of their readers. And, that level of commit- ment has continued with the most relevant information about vaccines and plans for schools to Guest Viewpoint By Dean Ridings CEO, America’s Newspapers return to normal in the fall. The importance of local news- papers reaches well beyond the pandemic. Local newspapers cover the issues most important to their communities. From crime to local schools to local government, readers can rely on their newspaper to provide the latest news that will impact them directly. Without vibrant newspapers, cities and towns across the country would surely suffer. Newspapers were hit hard during the pandemic, just like other businesses. Advertising revenue, which was already in decline, dropped significantly. While more readers turned to newspapers and their websites for information than ever be- fore, that didn’t generate enough additional revenue to bridge the gap. The result is that newspapers need your support now, more than ever. Fortunately, the importance of newspapers is being recognized in Washington. Legislation has been introduced to help protect newspapers from the business tactics of Big Tech companies that often use newspapers’ con- tent without compensa- tion. On June 16, the Local Journalism Sustainabili- ty Act was introduced as a bipartisan effort to rec- ognize and protect local news- papers and the journalists who deliver valuable content. The LJSA is unlike other bills in that it delivers benefits to readers and advertisers for sup- porting newspapers. Subscrib- ers will be able to get a tax cred- it for their subscription, local businesses can get tax credits for advertising in newspapers and other local media, and newspa- pers would receive tax credits for their newsroom employees. These legislative efforts de- serve your support and the support of your government representatives. Contact your congressional representative and ask them to co-sponsor and support the Local Journalism Sustainability Act that ensures newspapers continue to serve their readers and advertisers. And, while you shop local and eat local, we encourage you to continue to read local and sub- scribe to your local newspaper. Supporting your newspaper is one of the best things that you can do to directly strengthen your community. 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: dsherwood@cgsentinel.com 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.fl oydprozanski@ 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 Advertising Gerald Santana, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1216 gsantana@cgsentinel.com Carla Skeel, Inside Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1203 csummers@cgsentinel.com Editorial Damien Sherwood, Editor... Ext. 1212 dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Sophia Edelblute, Features Intern sedelblute@cgsentinel.com Customer Service Office Manager, Legals, Classifieds... Ext. 1200 mfringer@cgsentinel.com Kurt Krueger, Circulation... Ext. 1213 kkrueger@cgsentinel.com Production Ron Annis, Production Supervisor... 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