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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2005)
Page 2 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, December 28, 2005 This was the week that the editor was going to recap the past 12 months by looking through the 52 issues (minus this week’s offering) and paint a picture of What Happened During 2005. But the sands of time march on, to mix metaphors; so I have another idea because of time flying and deadlines crushing. By the way, I’m reminded of two public relations news releases from big companies. One read, “We’ve got to keep our foot in the public’s eye.” The other stated that a certain component comprised “the heart of the guts.” Ewww. Actually, I could review the past year by simply say- ing that it was a lot like 2004, and predict that it likely will resemble 2006. Most everything that happens around here is cyclical, with unfortunate circumstances thrown in: house fires, injury and fatal motor vehicle accidents, lack of money (or the perception thereof) by many tax- funded organizations, burglaries, thefts, vandalism, un- expected deaths, lost pets. And so on. They’re a bit depressing, but they occur each year with amazing regularity, no matter what steps are taken to prevent them in one way or another. To me, it’s like ODOT trying to reduce accidents on Hwy. 199 with a safety corridor near Grants Pass. Accidents will continue no matter how much the speed limit is reduced. In my view, we need safer, more-aware drivers. There seems to be way too many not-alert motorists. Some even do stupid things. Warning signs and reduced speeds are not the answer. Oh, well. But back to our Illinois Valley, and away from ad- verse events: Of course there are great, wonderful and happy events too. And outstanding folks. This valley is full of helpful, caring people. They respond to help those in need. And there are the children honored at our schools for their various achievements. There also are adults and organizations recognized for their accom- plishments and helpfulness. All good “things.” We need more of such endeavors. I’m looking forward to the sixth year of the 21st cen- tury. Let’s keep that good stuff coming and avoid the creepy whenever possible. Do I have New Year’s resolutions? Yeah, a few. I resolve to stop losing my temper over minor problems and inconveniences. I will not shoot my computer. I plan to pray more so that I don’t talk to God only when I need help. Plus, I’m going to exercise more and continue to eat as much of a nonfat diet as I can. It’s heartfelt. Additionally, I want my loved ones to know how much I care for them. I don’t seem to let them know of- ten enough that they are the lights of my life. Finally, I would like to know where did 2005 go? Man, the New Year stormed in before I knew it. Prospero año, and to all a good knight. P.S. -- Last week’s column about irrational airport security checks brought more favorable commentary than any other column I’ve written during the past 20 years. Additionally, many of you related your own horror stories about small children and elderly parents being put through the mill. It appears that TSA needs to be more aware of TLC. Fine Dining Steaks - Chicken - Fish - Large Hamburgers Restaurant separate from lounge Friday Special - Prime Rib Sunday & Monday - Filet Mignon Bring in this ad for a 10% discount Open 4 to 9 p.m. 7 days 592-2892 or 592-4222 Time goes, you say? Ah, no! Alas, Time stays, we go. - Henry Austin Dobson - 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 Email: newsroom1@frontiernet.net or newsdesk@illinois-valley-news.com Volume 68, No. 41 Staff: Michelle Binker, Becky Loudon, Bryan Harley, Tabitha Jackson, Zina Booth. Member: Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association (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. ‘Thank you’ submissions are not accepted as letters. * * * She feels developer insulted community From Mara Carnes Cave Junction I saw developer Larry Osborn’s recent comment and could not help but be insulted. He said, “I don’t think anyone can argue that Cave Junction is not a very pretty place to live.” (Source: “Daily Cou- rier” 12/16/05). I must take exception to that remark. From someone who admits he only recently stepped foot in our fair town two years ago, I think he’s blinded by his typical Cali- fornian views. I have lived in Cave Junction for many, many years. I attended IVHS and now am a local business owner myself. Cave Junction is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I need only look out my window at the green mountains, or drive five minutes to see the most gorgeous river in Southern Oregon. Our town is full of character. You can drive the “strip” and marvel at the individual building person- alities. Why would anyone change this? Would they prefer a town like they’d find in California where there is no personality and everything matches? Sounds awfully boring to me. The people of Cave Junction are one of the main reasons many people who leave the valley always re- turn. We have a group of some of the best people I have ever met. This town pulls together to help each other out, and most of us who have been around awhile know each other. I find it disheartening that developers like Osborn are pushing gated communi- ties. Does he think so lowly of us locals that he feels people need gates to sepa- rate themselves from us? While Osborn is busily exploiting our town, why does he feel the need to also insult us? Why is money more important than people to him? Not a single one of his developments are priced in a range that any average local citizen could afford. If our city council didn’t have their noses pressed up against his backside, maybe they wouldn’t be blind to this fact. Maybe it doesn’t bother them to be insulted like he has done, bit it sure bothers me. I have had the pleasure of meeting Osborn and talk- ing face to face. I really don’t think he is a bad per- son. I just am astounded at his comments. I think Cave Junction is beautiful. It’s sad that he cannot see it, too. Good Samaritans, angels at her crash From Olivia Taylor-Young Cave Junction By the grace of God and some guardian angels, I am writing this with nothing more than aching muscles and assorted ugly bruises. On Dec. 14 my car hit a patch of black ice on Hay’s Hill. Careening across Hwy. 199, it slammed into the opposite embankment, spun and struck the slope twice again before coming to rest on the middle of the lane for northbound traffic. Prior to the accident, there was a steady stream of vehicles in both directions. My first set of guardian an- gels apparently put a “heavenly hold” on oncom- ing traffic; in those few mo- ments there wasn’t any. The second set of an- gels, more Earthbound and visible, came in the form of Illinois Valley firefighters and some other Good Sa- maritans. Once the car stopped spinning, as I unsnapped my safety belt and unlocked my door, my first recollection is of a man running toward me yelling, “Don’t move. Don’t move.” I cannot remember his name; however, I clearly recall him saying that he was an I.V. firefighter. I believe that at least some of the other Good Sa- maritans were I.V. firefight- ers as well. In any event, several people immediately pulled over to offer aid. With precision team- work, they halted traffic in both directions, gave emer- gency first aid, kept me calm and awake, and as- sured me that help was on the way. The American Medical Response paramedics, who were there in a matter of minutes, were also totally professional and deeply con- siderate. They immobilized my neck and back to miti- gate possible spinal cord injury; yet also indulged the seemingly irrational con- cerns of someone in trauma. In this case, that meant assuring me that the Christ- mas presents in my car’s trunk were perfectly safe. In addition, one paramedic even dialed my husband and let me tell him personally that, while I was en route to Three Rivers in an ambu- lance, I was nevertheless conscious and coherent. The following day, when my husband saw the car, he said that the sight was almost more frightening than the original phone call, and that my relatively un- scathed condition was, in- deed, a miracle. I am eternally grateful to those who stopped to help. A confluence of events may have put me in the wrong place at the wrong time -- black ice is black ice -- but it put these guardian angels in the right place at the right time. They helped turn a potentially terrible situation into the best it could be under the circum- stances. I appreciate each and every one for coming to my aid; for giving us the chance to celebrate another wed- ding anniversary the follow- ing day; and for allowing our family and other loved ones to have a happy holi- day season filled with appre- ciation for the gifts of life and of each other. I hope that their lives will be filled with people as awesome as themselves. ‘Crimes committed; rights violated by judges’ From Raymond Ronald Karczewski © Cave Junction How do I know the above? I'm just one such “living, breathing, flesh- and-blood, sentient, natu- ral man/victim” of their criminal fraud. Our courts are legal fictions. They have jurisdiction only over other legal fictions. I am not a legal fiction. Keep this in mind. Very important. I am the Cave Junc- tion man who underwent two hunger strikes total- ing 55 days; was thrown out of JoCo Jail at the curb of Three Rivers Hospital, near death, be- cause I protested being unlawfully tried as a paper terrorist for my right to hold public officials accountable for their crimes. I challenged the courts/ prosecution to produce any- one who under oath or affi- davit claimed that I had committed a crime. They did not. Would not. Could not. Throughout my unlaw- ful arrest, being held hostage for 128 days of incarcera- tion and some 20 court appearances, I repeat- edly challenged the court/prosecution to prove they had jurisdiction over this non-fiction, living, breathing man. They did not. Would not. Could not. Under U.S. law, when challenge to jurisdiction is made to our present Mari- time Law Administrative courts, which require con- tract, consent, or waiver of rights by the accused to grant them jurisdiction, all court proceedings must halt and jurisdiction be proven, in writing, by the court be- fore proceeding further. To this very writing, three-plus years afterwards, the Josephine County courts and prosecutors have not and will not prove jurisdic- tion. Why? Will justice or police state tyranny be our JoCo legacy? We should demand that our courts answer the questions they have so dog- gedly evaded. Illinois Valley elk to be eliminated From Sandy Raymond Cave Junction Have you phoned the Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) to com- plain of elk eating your roses or of other property damage? If you made that com- plaint, you did it prior to 1994 and were persistent enough in your complaints through 2003 to have the elk in Illinois Valley designated as an “EDA.” If you don’t know what an EDA is, it’s perhaps time to learn PDQ or the ELK will be MIA. No, not miss- ing in action -- I’m refer- ring to Missing In the Area of the Illinois Valley. For those unaware, Illi- nois Valley is comprised of two designated hunting units divided by Redwood Hwy. The Chetco Unit lies on the west side and the Applegate on the east. In the Chetco Unit there is an early and late hunting season for which you must enter a drawing to receive a Harvest Tag, which, if successful, allows you to hunt for one bull elk in this unit. A disabled hunter, pos- sessing a Permanent Dis- ability Permit (PDP), is now also limited to one bull elk in this unit. The Applegate Unit boundary follows U.S. 199 from California to I-5, and then south through Medford, Ashland and again the California border. The Applegate Unit is also subject to an early and late hunt. However, the dis- tinction is that they are open hunts. Although designated a Bull Elk Only Hunt, a drawing isn't involved; the hunter merely purchases a tag for the hunt of their choice. The distinction for this unit is that the PDP holder is allowed to harvest one elk. The definition of one elk is: Bull, Cow or Calf; more commonly re- ferred to as a “Hair Tag.” Until perhaps four years ago, to my knowledge, there were no elk in Illinois Val- ley, and now there appear to be three small groups. That these few animals have mi- grated to the valley, from either the Onion Mountain (Chetco) or Williams (Applegate) area is unim- portant. What is important is that there are once again elk in Illinois Valley. On Nov. 10, I wrote ODFW questioning the wis- dom of a potentially devas- (Continued on Page 3) If you know someone who needs a helping hand… And you don’t know how to help, please contact: THE ILLINOIS VALLEY FAMILY COALITION. DEADLINES: The Coalition works with more than 25 agencies to match up the services needed with the organization that can provide assistance. 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 publishers’ 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 Linda Sallman 128 S. Redwood Hwy. Cave Junction OR 97523 541-592-4541 Across from Select Market on Redwood Hwy. Open Mondays - Fridays, 9 to 5 Auto - Home - Life - Commercial TOGETHER WE CAN HELP INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES PUT THE PIECES OF THEIR LIVES BACK TOGETHER. ILLINOIS VALLEY FAMILY COALITION 535 E. River St., Cave Junction, OREGON Carol Ronan, Exec. Director 541-592-3961, ext. 303
