I am actually happy that the Myrtle Point
Herald, where I work as editor, isn’t online.
Well, that’s not quite true. But I am proud
of the length we go to provide accurate news and to print signed,
verified letters that we try to make sure are true … to the best of our
ability.
Because of the laws of libel, we would never
knowingly print something that libeled or slandered someone, even if
the letter writer were more than willing to sign his or her name,
because the paper is equally as responsible.
I love to read the Western World … but I
always pick it up on the newsstand, and I don’t go to the Internet to
read it online.
That’s
where the problem lies. For a corporation that is so careful never to
run unsigned letters, I can’t for the life of me understand why they
would print such terrible comments about people in the community on
their blog, without requiring that the writers sign their names or
identify themselves in some way. A case in point was a couple of
particularly nasty blogs about our city manager (who, I think is about
the best one this city has ever had). Someone printed them out and gave
them to him, and we tried to figure out who wrote them. That is
self-destructive at best. It would probably turn out that both of the
people we felt might have written them . . . didn’t. In fact, a friend
said she didn’t think it was either of the ones we came up with, but
the suspicion has been cast. I don’t mind people having their opinion,
but why they would not have the courage to sign their names is beyond
me. I don’t believe I have ever written anything for print without
identifying myself. It helps keep me from going overboard … when
sometimes I might want to.
I understand that there are many blog sites on the
Internet, and people usually use a “pen name” of one sort or another.
That’s pretty much the accepted practice, although in many cases (take
the health care issue, for example), I think unsigned, hate-filled
rhetoric accomplishes very little. And the reader never knows who, or
whose money (make that insurance companies), is behind those unsigned
blogs.
I’ve
asked my good friend, Amy Moss Strong, the editor of Western World, why
Lee Enterprises, the owner of the paper, allows such postings, with no
regard for truth or who they hurt, without making them sign their name.
I
don’t think she is particularly comfortable with them either, and she
promised that she would talk to her boss about it.
And
I hope she does.
I
keep thinking about an editorial written by Robert Jump, editor of
Coquille Community News (a very good online newspaper), who, like me,
has been in the business for a long time.
He
said: “We’ve gotten a ‘bad rep’ and with Internet communications being
what they are, the news industry seems to have thrown accuracy into the
wind in favor of politics and ‘clicks.’ Many newspapers featuring
online editions also feature blog sections where visitors may comment
regarding a story or issue. The result thus far has been a free for all
where hearsay, innuendo and supposition reign supreme, and little if
any value can be placed upon the information presented or the topics
being discussed.”
I, for one, am glad I was trained in the “old
school.”
*
* *
Several months ago, it was announced that
planning had begun on a proposed $20 million destination resort
featuring a world class golf course next to the ocean in Pistol River
(between Gold
Beach
and Brookings).
Plans for the Pistol River Golf Club project
were unveiled in May by the Crook family (who have lived in Curry County since the late 1800s) and
Brookings developer Leroy Blodgett (former Brookings city manager).
An article in the Curry Coastal Pilot said:
“Although the 200-acre resort would rival Bandon Dunes it would be
aimed at a clientele different from the business groups that travel to
Bandon for two or three days of golf and meetings.”
I’m not sure how the writer determined that
golfers are here for meetings; that might occur once in a while, but it
is definitely not the norm. They’re here for golf and to have fun.
Blodgett said this would be more of a
“getaway kind of thing” with families staying at cabins at the resort
for four or five days. “Maybe they’d play golf. Maybe not. It’s a
beautiful area.”
Although the resort would have an 18-hole,
top-rate golf course, designed by Denver-based Dye Designs, their
“target market is to have a reasonable greens fee,” said Blodgett.
He said while the Bandon Dunes greens fee is
about $240, they were looking at a fee of $115, which would include a
golf cart.
This is the second time in the past couple of
years that well-known area families have announced plans to build a
golf course in Curry
County.
It will be interesting to see if this one gets off the ground.
*
* *
I know how offended I was by the Ally Bank
commercials, featuring youngsters being humiliated, disappointed and
made fun of. But when I saw those very commercials discussed in the
business section of USA Today, I knew I wasn’t the only one who had
noticed them.
My friend Susan Coraor, who owns property
here but lives in Pennsylvania,
wrote to the company, like I did, to say that she found the commercials
distasteful. I will have to admit my e-mail was a bit stronger, which
may be why she got an answer from the bank … and I didn’t.
The bank thought that Susan was concerned
about the children who appear in the ads, saying “I can assure you that
the children were treated fairly and had fun on the set.”
To say that they are clueless is an
understatement. Of course, those children were being treated fairly
(and probably well financially), but it was the message they were
sending to those of us forced to watch them that was offensive.
If that is their way of trying to
“revolutionize the banking industry,” (their words, not mine), I don’t
think they will last long.
*
* *
Flower gardening has taken on a new meaning
for me as I lovingly tend my “highway flower garden” night after night
. . . and day after day, watering, weeding and dead-heading.
That’s why I thoroughly enjoyed last
weekend’s flower show, sponsored by the Port of Bandon
to honor well-known gardener Mary Smith. Many of the areas top
gardeners brought beautiful bouquets and displays for the show. It was
a real treat.
We old-timers remember the flower shows that
Mary put on, at The Barn, for many years. She admits she’s getting “up
in age” and isn’t able to garden like she used to, but there is no
doubt that she will always be our “master gardener.”
As I See It
for August 20th,
2009
By Mary Schamehorn
Coos Curry Electric Cooperative has sent out
several press releases in recent weeks about their impending rate
increase. And since Bandon area residents are served by three
utilities, including CCEC, their customers definitely need to know that
a sizeable increase is coming.
It appears that the first part of the
predicted 15 percent increase will go into effect in October, with the
remainder to be added to the bill in the spring. Thus far, the good
news for City of Bandon
customers is that we aren’t planning to pass any of the wholesale rate
increase onto our customers.
*
* *
There is apparently a new bank, known as Ally
Bank, which is looking for customers. I am sure that if you watch TV,
you have seen some of their cruel, heartless commercials. They
apparently find great humor in making fun of little children. I
personally think they are just about the worst commercials I can
remember in a long time. Most of us hate violence in commercials, but
usually it’s so exaggerated that it’s not believable.
But those Ally Bank spots, which pit one
little child against another, are awful. In one, some man (the banker,
I presume) asks two girls if they want a pony; he then gives one little
girl a miniature and the other a real pony. In another a little girl
has a shiny new bike, and when she goes to ride it, she is informed by
the man that she has to ride in the confines of a two-foot triangle.
I was so incensed after watching a couple of
their ads on The Golf Channel this week that I took the time to contact
them. I told them that if they are truly interested in gaining new
customers, they might rethink their advertising campaign.
They need to find out who writes the
Traveler’s Insurance commercials . . . and hire them.
*
* *
I recently received a question about “private
beach access” and what that really means in the state of Oregon. The
answer, of course, is that if a person owns the property all the way to
the beach, they can restrict access through their property. It they
don’t and if there is a right-of-way or some kind of public easement
between their property and the beach, it allows public access.
That is unless access is restricted by the
City (as is the case in some areas on the South Jetty) to protect the
foredune.
So, yes, just because our beaches are public,
it does not mean that people have to grant access through their private
property. That’s why Oregon
has so many parks and waysides, which provide access to the beach.
*
* *
For years I’ve wanted to spend a few days at
Steamboat Inn on the Umpqua
River
near Glide. And for my 70th birthday (Aug. 5), my boyfriend
decided that he would take me there … the weekend after my birthday.
But as “luck” would have it, his work schedule changed, and he had to
cancel our three-night reservations.
And when I say “luck,” I couldn’t have picked
a better word.
Not only would we have suffered through
unbearable heat, but the resort experienced a voluntary evacuation
around the time we were scheduled to be there because of the dense
smoke from the 3,000-acre Williams Creek Fire. A 10-mile section of
Highway 138, leading to the resort, was also closed for several days.
I feel sorry for those who did have
reservations … and kept them.
*
* *
I don’t spend a lot of time going through my
old report cards, but while looking for the documents I needed to renew
my driver’s license, I stopped to look over a few of my old “Elementary
Pupil Growth Reports” from third grade. I guess that was the
politically correct term (back in 1948) for report card. Who knows?
But it was what my teacher, Madge Shull,
said, that definitely got my attention . . . 61 years later. “Mary
retains her place in the superior group in all subjects.” Wow, that’s
great, I thought. Uh oh (but) . . . “Writing is her weakest one. It is
our aim that all work including workbooks reflect
neat, careful writing.” To interpret that, I am guessing that my
writing was sloppy, incoherent and not very good.
However, now that I think about it, my guess
is third-grade writing did not mean content, grammar, spelling and
flowing sentences. It simply meant that my penmanship wasn’t all that
good.
At least that’s the way I prefer to interpret
it.
*
* *
I have never grown vegetables, but this year
I decided to buy a couple of tomato plants to put on our recently
glassed-in front porch. I was sure that by this time I would have vines
dripping with small tomatoes because I was careful to give them
adequate Miracle Grow and as much water as they could handle.
After nearly two months, I have at least six
feet of growth on both plants, but I can count the tomatoes on one
hand. And that might be an exaggeration.
I realized just what a failure I was this
week when I purchased a good sized package of homegrown tomatoes from
Lachlan Miller . . . for $1. They were sweet and wonderful, and made me
realize that I would be wise to stick to growing flowers … and leave
the vegetables to those with a lot more knowledge than I have.
If my food source depended on my garden
expertise, it is clear that I would starve to death.
Thank heaven, we still have the wonderful
Little Farmers Market where we non-growers can still buy great, fresh
produce – grown by someone else.
