Page 4 :te e ra - October 24, 201 ?
COMMUNITY OPINION
From
Files
,iF
Looking back on more than 80 years of
coverage in east Linn County...
October 25, 1962
Green Peter and Foster re-
sivors, now under construction
on the Middle Santiam and South
Santiam rivers, are planned to in-
clude public use facilities.
Green Peter is" planned to be
available to the public in 1966 and
Foster in 1967.
An accident in the woods sent
logger Lewis Terry to the hospital
Monday.
He received treatment of inju-
ries, including head lacerations and
a cut lip.
Pacific Power and Light
company crews last Sunday com-
pleted the task of restoring power
to homes which had been Without
power since the violent wind storm
on Oct. 12. There are still many
low-hanging wires and loose or
fallen trees to take care of, how-
ever. Crews urge residents to be
careful around low hanging wires
or fallen trees.
October 21, 1987
Oct. 1 usually marks the start
of the fall backyard burning sea-
son, but the unusually dry weather
had put burning on hold.
There has been less rainfall
this year than any year in-the last
40 years. The dry weather has also
called a stop to all logging opera-
tions in the woods. Some opera-
tors have been down for up to four
weeks.
Willamette Industries will shut
down the green end of its Sweet
Home plant Oct. 23 to begin the in-
stallation of state-of-the-art equip-
ment.
The remodeling should be
done by Jan. 7. Some 36 employ-
ees will be out of work until the
completion of the remodeling.
When the project is complete 15
fewer people will be rehired.
The ballot measm:es: Here's what we think
Local voters should have re-
ceived their ballots for the Nov. 6
election, which were mailed last
week.
This year's ballot includes nine
measures, listed below. We offer a
brief description of each measure
and our take on the pros and cons.
Measure 77
Approval of this measure
would, in a nutshell, give the gov-
ernor constitutional authority to de-
clare a "catastrophic disaster" and
the legislature authority to override
constitutional spending restrictions
after the governor has declared such
a natural or human-caused "cata-
strophic disaster." It includes pro-
visions for the governor to respond
immediately to financial needs un-
til the legislature can be called into
session, if it is not .already.
With Oregon's proclivity for
LDIT'00.3RIAL
natural disasters - and we're still
waiting for the "Big One," it makes
sense to enable the state to respond
quickly when things go bad. The
main hindrances to facilitating a
rapid response are constitutional.
This measure gives the governor
and legislature flexibility to be more
creative in assigning resources when
disaster strikes.
There's really no way to say if
this will end up costing us more. It
could, but the state's response to a
serious disaster would come sooner
or later- and at least this way it could
be sooner. A concern, about this ini-
tiative is whether so much power
should be concentrated any more
than it already is - even temporar-
ily. But the fact that it is temporary
Thr
A locally owned newspaper founded Sept. 27, 1929
Scott and Miriam Swanson, Co-Publishers
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Office: 1313 MainSt., Sweet Home, Oregon
Mailing address: The New Era, Box 39,
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and two branches of government are
necessary to make it happen past the
initial response should be a deter-
rant against excess. Yes.
Measure 78
This •measure would change
wording in the state Constitution
for three state government branche s
- Legislative, Executive (including
Administrative) and Judicial - de-
scribing them as "departments."
The new language would describe
them as "branches," and the two
houses of the Legislature as "cham-
bers" rather than "branches." it also
makes grammatical and spelling
changes and references to the Secre-
tary of State to more gender-neutral
language.
Frankly, this seems like ado
over nothing, but we've got to keep
things orderly and this is the way to
do it. And, as the sponsoring legisla-
tors point out, it basically aligns Or-
egon's wording with the rest of the
nation. So maybe we don't want to
be that different. Yes.
Measure 79
Also known as Initiative 5 or
the Oregon Real Estate Transfer
Tax Amendment, this would be a
new constitutional amendment that
would prohibit state or local gov-
ernments from imposing real estate
transfer taxes, fees or other assess-
ments that were not operative on
Dec. 31, 2009.
This really seems like a non-
issue since it basically repeats what
is already the law. However, this
measure would insert the prohibi-
tion into the state constitution.
Here's how we read this. If you
like the idea of having the option to
implement taxes, voting no on this
initiative makes it easier to do that.
If you believe taxes are a hindrance
to business success and growth, in-
cluding construction, then this ini-
tiative simply puts a thicker layer
of protection on keeping real estate
transfer taxes off your bill. The fact
that numerous chambers of com-
merce from all over the state sup-
port this tells us that other people
think so too. Yes.
Measure 80
Cutting through the mumbo-
jtunbo (the smokey haze?), the Or-
egon Cannabis Tax Act Initiative le-
galizes the private manufacture, use
and possession of pot and opens the
door to hemp cultivation and pro-
duction in the state.
As far as hemp is concerned,
we have no qualms about advocat-
ing its cultivation in the state. Exist:
ing law banning hemp is foolish and
short-sighted. Historically, hemp
WRITE A LETTER
We encourage readers to express their opinions in letters to the editor
on matters of public interest. Letters should be typed and may be submitted
by mail, e-mail, fax or in person at The New Era office. E-mailed letters may
be sent to news@sweethomenews.com.
Please include a telephone number in case we need to contact you.
Also, we require that you include your name and city of residence or your
letter will not be published.
There is no length restriction, but letters may be edited for length and
all letters will be edited for libelous content. We discourage letters that attack
or complain about private citizens or businesses on a personal level. Also,
letters containing comments on topics deemed by the editorial staff to have
been exhausted in previous letters wilt be edited accordingly.
was a valuable cash crop in the U.S.
until the early 20th century, particu-
larly as an excellent source of fiber
and oil, and was used to make rope
and clothing.
Regarding legalization of mari-
juana, the libertarian side of us says
to go hands-off and let people do
what they want, as long as they don't
adversely affect others. Alcohol's
effects are comparable to marijuana
and it is legal. Plus, the prohibition
of marijuana in our nation is a sham,
as anti-drug forces spend billions to
combat the problem while people
grow their own plants legally under
marijuana-for-health laws that are
subject to rather flagrant abuse. It's
hypocrisy, really.
But, on the other hand, this
measure does not set limits for pos-
session or production and some op-
ponents say it sends a relaxed mes-
sage about drug use to kids. Plus,
it establishes a whole new bureau-
cracy and we note that the measure
has apparently wholesale opposition
from police and district attorneys,
even though its advocates claim it
would make life easier for law en-
forcement officials.
If it were simply to legalize a
legitimate crop that has gotten a bad
name due to its unfortunate family
ties with marijuana, we'd be unani-
mous in supporting it. As it is, we
don't find it very attractive. No.
Measure 81
The Oregon Gillnet Fishing
Initiative, also known as "Protect
Our Salmon Act," would ban Co-
lumbia River commercial salmon
fishing with gillnets by non-tribal
fisherfolk and allow the use of seine
nets instead.
Essentially, it restricts Ore-
gon's non-tribal commercial salmon
fishermen to designated off-channel
areas in lower Columbia River, but
no such restrictions will exist for
fishing on the Washington side of
• See Picks, page 5
