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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2005)
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, August 3, 2005 Page 2 Our house, two dogs and three cats pretty much have returned to “normal,” whatever that means, subsequent to our daughter, Vicki, and two grandchildren, Natalie and Ella, returning to San Diego County after devoting two weeks to a visit with my wife, “Nonna,” and me, “Pop-Pop.” It was a terrific and timely visit, as we cannot at this time take the time, or even leave the time, to travel to Carlsbad. Ella Valentina, named after Nonna’s mom (Louella), and mine (Valentina) was born approximately 12 weeks ago. We were “dying,” as the weird expression goes, to see her, as well as Vicki, Natalie (who’ll be 3 this month), and Vicki’s husband, Matt. He couldn’t take more time from work, as he used his maternity leave immediately after Ella’s birth. Fortunately, our son, Mike, who moved here recently from Washington state, was able to fly to San Diego and return with our daughter and the two girls. Otherwise, it would have been a mighty tough time for her, packing two kids and all the paraphernalia that’s needed. Then he was sweet enough to fly back with them, again to help with all the stuff. On the return trip he also took our other granddaughter, Kimberly, 9, and they stayed in Carlsbad five days. So Kimberly got to visit the San Diego Zoo and LegoLand. Our two big cats stayed hidden during most of the visit here. “Flint Eastwood,” our newest addi- tion, was unable to hide, as Natalie carried him around most of the time. She claimed that he wanted her to do that, and no one argued. What’s the use, arguing with a 2-year-old, anyway? Our doggies, “Bingo” and “Rocky,” received much attention from our two oldest visitors, espe- cially the one that’s turning 3. The young one seemed mildly interested in them, but other dis- tractions, such as eating and getting new diapers, took precedence. Our visitors saw some of the “local sights” in and around Illinois Valley, and enjoyed their stay, as did we. It was interesting, in an odd sort of way, to again experience having small children underfoot and about. However, being grandpar- ents is totally different than being parents. (You know who you are folks, and that this is truth.) Also, the care and feeding of small people presents new perspectives. Especially when your kids have been out of the house for oh, maybe 18 or so years. Something like that. We are back to “normal,” but it was so much fun being a little abnormal that we can hardly wait until the next visit. It’ll just take time. Pregnancy Center Benefit Concert with Kristy Lee Saturday August 13 5 p.m. at Illinois Valley High School Tickets $15, 2 for $25, Children under 18 FREE! 592-6058 The valley’s finest news source ... Illinois Valley News An Independent Weekly Newspaper Co-owned and published by Robert R. (Bob) and Jan Rodriguez - Bob Rodriguez, Editor El Jefe Entered as second class matter June 11, 1937 at Post Office as Official Newspaper for Josephine County and Josephine County Three Rivers School District, published at 321 S. Redwood Hwy., Cave Junction, OR 97523 Periodicals postage paid at Cave Junction, OR 97523 Post Office Box 1370 USPS 258-820 Telephone (541) 592-2541, FAX (541) 592-4330 Volume 68, No. 20 Staff: Kacy Clement, Michelle Binker, Becky Loudon, Bryan Harley, Tabitha Jackson, Nina Holm Consulting. Member: Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association DEADLINES: News, Classified & Display Ads, Announcements & Letters 5 P.M. THURSDAY (Classified ads & uncomplicated display ads can be accepted until Noon, Friday with an additional charge.) POLICY ON LETTERS: ‘Illinois Valley News’ welcomes letters to the editor provided they are of general interest, in good taste, legible and not libelous. All letters must be signed, using complete name, and contain the writer’s address and telephone number. The latter need not be published, but will be used to verify authenticity. The ‘News’ reserves the right to edit letters. Generally, one letter per person per month at publish- ers’ discretion. Letters are used at the discretion of the publishers. Unpublished letters are neither acknowledged nor returned. A prepaid charge may be levied if a letter is inordinately long in the publishers’ opinion. POLICY ON “HERE, THERE & EVERYWHERE,” DISPLAY & CLASSIFIED ADS & NOTICES: All submissions must be hand delivered, faxed or e-mailed to us for publica- tion. Submissions must be resubmitted weekly if the item is to run more than one week. SUBSCRIPTION RATES One year in Josephine County - $20.80 One year in Jackson and Douglas counties - $24.40 One year in all other Oregon counties and out-of-state - $36 POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to P.O. Box 1370, Cave Junction, OR 97523 (Editor’s Note: Views and commentary, including state- ments made as fact, are strictly those of the letter-writers.) * * * Typed, double-spaced let- ters written solely to this news- paper are considered for publi- cation. Hand-written letters that are double-spaced and legible also can be considered. Cards of thanks are not accepted as letters. * * * ‘Good old days’ From Laura Helms Selma It’s nice to see log trucks on the roads again. Reminds me of the good old days when a man could support his family, and his children had a future around here in the valley. If the environmentalists shut us down, don’t worry -- there’s always welfare. It’s the nicest building in town, and business is booming. ‘Local terrorists’ From Mara Carnes Cave Junction In response to Peggy Norman’s letter (“Illinois Valley News,” July 27), I feel compelled to respond. It’s obvious to me that she missed the point en- tirely, so I decided to assist her in understanding Jenni- fer Berubee’s letter (“Illinois Valley News,” July 13). “Jen” was using the truck-burning as an example of yet another crime in Cave Junction to go along with the others recently: the swimming pool break-ins, the vandal rampage against many local businesses, the Ollis Road thefts, the disap- pearance of Domingo Com- pany-Ramirez, and many other unmentionables. This town is small enough that most of us know each other; gossip spreads like wildfire. Yet nobody ever reports infor- mation they might have heard or seen about these local terrorists. I find it hard to believe, as well, that nobody can come forward and report the animals involved so that we can keep our streets safe. Every week I read about a woman in a car missing the driver door, accused of exposing herself to children. While I don’t know this per- son, I’ve seen her. I bet that someone in this town knows who she is. Why don’t they tell her to stop acting like a heathen and get some help? There’s a small red car here in town missing a windshield that I watched almost nail some kids in a crosswalk. There were four young men in this car -- and not one of them could tell the driver to stop acting like a jerk? Instead of misdirecting anger at someone like “Jen,” who loves this town and only wants to protect it, peo- ple should direct their anger toward getting this town cleaned up. There are hundreds of homes being built. If we cannot protect the people who already live in the val- ley, how can we expect to protect the hundreds more coming? Businesses won’t open here and offer jobs if they keep getting ripped off. We need to take our streets back from the troubled youth, meth freaks, and other moral-lacking people. ‘Give America back’ From Richard Strohl Cave Junction The problems in Amer- ica are significant and need immediate attention from politicians at all levels. Failure to act will have a devastating effect on the American standard of living for many decades or forever. Some of the immediate problems are lopsided American trade agreements, loss of American jobs to Third World countries, un- funded corporate pensions, massive federal deficits, secretive government, political lies and hidden agendas, health care, corpo- rate welfare, and inadequate corporate oversight, un- funded federal mandates. Also, an out-of-control military industrial complex, political trashing of Social Security, World Bank con- trol over Third World coun- tries, pre-emptive war and corporate greed. Our Founding Fathers and Constitution guarantee the right to vote for all citi- zens. The right is given to people and not corporations. Yet, American corporations control American politicians as never before with mas- sive contributions to all, and constant pressure from cor- porate lobbyists The favorite second career for retired politicians is to become political lobby- ists. Politicians’ concern for individual rights is only a drop in the ocean of concern for corporate favors. It is common knowledge that most wars engaged in by American forces are to pre- serve the integrity and de- sires of American corpora- tions, not the rights, con- cerns, and wishes of the masses. The political tradi- tion is not left, right, Repub- lican or Democrat. It is mass deception by most politicians favoring corporations over individual rights. All Americans con- cerned about their children’s future should demand that American politics change now. Corporations should be forbidden to contribute to or lobby politicians. Only those who are legally al- lowed to vote should be al- lowed to contribute or lobby politicians --- corporations are not allowed to vote, they should not be allowed the same rights allowed voters. Give America back to the voters and stop corporate greed because the conse- quences are loss of individual liberties: The choice is ours. gressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methampheta- mine, passed with over- whelming bipartisan support as part of the Foreign Rela- tions Authorization. The first amendment mandates that the five na- tions which export, and the five which import the largest amounts of pseudoephedrine (a key ingredient in meth) fully cooperate with U.S. law enforcement to prevent its misuse and diversion into meth labs worldwide. If these countries fail to cooperate in these efforts, their eligibility for aid from the United States under the Foreign Assistance Act would be diminished. These consequences would put meth on the same footing as “natural drugs” such as heroine and cocaine, which are already regulated in the same way. The second amendment addresses the smuggling of meth from Mexico. “Superlabs” throughout Mexico produce more than half our country's meth sup- ply, and smuggle the poison into America, where it infil- trates our communities, es- pecially in the West. The amendment calls for the Bureau for Interna- tional Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to take actions to improve bilateral efforts along the border to prevent smuggling of meth from Mexico. The amendment specifi- cally directs INL to help Mexican officials enhance their ability to combat smuggling through equip- ment, training and technical assistance, and encourages the Mexican government to take immediate action to reduce the diversion of pseudoephedrine from le- gitimate destinations into the hands of drug traffickers and superlabs. As you recall, Greg joined with colleagues on both sides of the aisle a few weeks ago to vote for in- creased funding levels for critical programs that help the fight against meth through programs at the local and community level. He firmly believes that the only way to truly suc- ceed in this effort is to en- sure a multiprolonged ap- proach-one that combines the determination and front- line efforts by our talented local officials with national and international efforts led by the federal government. This continuing effort is one to which Greg and other members of the meth caucus will remain committed. Corrections to letter, ‘How to stop theft’ From S.D. Freeman Cave Junction (Editor’s Note: Some material in a letter in the July 20 issue inadvertently was omitted. Following are the paragraphs with the omitted portions included.) “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance hereof … shall be the supreme Law of the Land and judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstand- ing.” (U.S. Constitution, Ar- ticle VI, paragraph 2.) Further, paragraph 3 of Article VI requires all “Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and Judicial Offi- cers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation to sup- port this Constitution.” The above information is enough to make you real- ize that the government is stealing from you. Walden vs. Meth From Angela Wilhelms, press secretary for Con- gressman Greg Walden Washington, D.C. Congressman Walden wanted me to share some information about two key amendments he voted for to further enhance the continu- ing fight against metham- phetamine, especially our international efforts. By not only fighting meth in our local communi- ties, but addressing the issue abroad as well, we reduce the threat posed on our own soil by this toxic poison. The amendments of- fered by Greg’s colleague from Oregon’s Fifth District, Rep. Darlene Hooley, and other members of the Con- at Lake Selmac Everyday Any ability from never ridden to advanced. If it’s hot, ride early, like 9 a.m., or late after 7 p.m. To make a reservation phone (541)-592-2143 Subscribe to the ‘Illinois Valley News’ What do you do when you can’t get to the river ? Use llama air conditioning Call or email and come for a visit. Joyce & Harry Abrams 592-6078 llamuz@forestedgefarm.com
