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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Many people believe (erroneously, for the most
part) that those of us in the wonderful wacky world of
journalism know most everything about everything
there is to know.
This is not entirely true. Still, many of us in the
Fourth Estate have a wide range of facts, statistics,
inside information, factoids, figures and stuff in the
dusty attics of our minds. And we often are aware of
much that the “general public” is not. But we are not
(usually) omniscient. However, those guys on the cor-
ner drinking from brown paper bags know everything.
It’s true. Just ask them.
Others who know everything are girls from age 10
and older; boys from when they’re around 15 until
they get married; every newspaper city editor in the
world; and certain people who address city councils.
The latter not only know everything, but they know
stuff beyond that. (You figure it out).
As a nightside young reporter (working from 2:30
p.m. until at least 10 p.m.) in San Diego I fielded a
number of phone calls. They were usually from inebri-
ated people of both genders, but not simultaneously,
wanting to know some fact or other. Because we
newspaper people know everything. At least 99 per-
cent of callers were in bars and wanted to settle bets.
I’d listen to the question and make a decision.
Did I want the caller or the co-bettor to win? It de-
pended on the caller’s attitude. If he or she was polite
and didn’t cuss too much, I’d give them the answer
they wanted: “Yes, you’re right, it was Gen. Horse
Puckey who won the Battle of Horehound Heights.”
But if they didn’t meet my criteria, I’d go the other
way: “No, your buddy is correct. It was actually Chief
Arrowshirt who defeated Gen. Tornshortz at the Bat-
tle of Hambone.”
Why do we know so much? It’s because we have
to be specialists in generalities. Longtime reporters
have read a lot of books, magazines, encyclopedias
and other newspapers. We’ve attended many meet-
ings, tragedies, special events; spoken with many
people of many ages at many levels. Plus we’re horri-
fied that someone might ask us a question to which
we don’t know the answer.
So we always have to be ready. And most often
we can provide a proper answer.
Really.
Iron Horse Bike Rally would like to thank the
following sponsors and all of the people of the
Illinois Valley who made all of the guests of the
Iron Horse Bike Rally feel welcome!
Hwy 101 Harley Davidson, Coos bay
S& D Custom Cycle and Fabrication
Kate’s Redwood Tavern
Antique Alley Custom Rod Shop
IHR Promotions LLc
Bravo’s Painted Dream
My Brothers Pub
Bond’ s Automotive
Oregon Tool and Supply, Roseburg/Coos Bay
Lake Selmac Resort & RV Park
Logan Design
Riverside Physical Therapy
Shelton Auto Parts
Rays Sentry #71
Action Physical Therapy
Quality Cars
Specialized Coating
Mock Ford
Frost Office Supply
Senior Hearing Care/Grants Pass
Red Garter Steak House and Saloon
Cartwright’s Valley Meat Company
Kawasaki Honda of Medford
Lil’ Pantry, Merlin
76 Union Station & Selma Quik Mart
Balldini’s Restaurant and Lounge
Custom Cycle
B&C Café
Hart’s Café & Lounge
Dale Woodruff Construction
Aflac - Debbie Hodgson
Annie the Clown
Garron Lee Sound
Temple Of God
Iron Horse Riders Association
Illinois Valley News
An Independent Weekly Newspaper Co-owned and published by
Robert R. (AKA Bob or El Jefe), Editor and Jan Rodriguez
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. 46
Staff: Michelle Binker, Bryan Harley, Zina Booth,
Millie Watkins, Tina Grow, Tabitha Jackson
Member: Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
DEADLINES:
News, Classified & Display Ads, Announcements & Letters
5 P.M. THURSDAYS
(Classified ads & uncomplicated display ads can be
accepted until Noon, Fridays 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 - $22.80
One year in Jackson and Douglas counties - $26.40
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.
‘Thank you’ submissions
are not accepted as letters.
* * *
Finding lost men
a God happening
From Dave Tromler
Cave Junction
My son, Jon Tromler,
came to me and said, “Dad!
This morning as I was having
breakfast I heard on the scan-
ner that a fella’ and his friend
had gone off the road some-
where near Bolan Lake.”
Jon said he tuned into
the message and realized he
had been listening to the
scanner for about four
hours, and he had become
very anxious, as he felt he
could find the missing men
who were calling 911 from
somewhere in the mountains
off Happy Camp Hwy. The
Jeep in which the men were
riding took a sudden turn off
the road to Bolan Lake.
My son put his small
motorcycle in back of his
pickup truck; grabbed his 7-
year-old son and headed for
Bolan Lake. Jon had made
contact with 911 to let them
know his intentions.
As he was driving up
Happy Camp Road he
passed a search-and-rescue
truck a short time later. Jon
made the turn from Happy
Camp Road to Bolan Lake,
and after the turn-off he re-
alized that he was running
out of fuel.
So he pulled his truck to
the side of the road and got
out. He said that he thought
he heard a cow bawling, but
realized there were no cows
in the area. Then he realized
that he found the men who
were lost for nearly two
days.
At this time, Josephine
County Search And Rescue
drove up, and Jon waved
and hollered that he found
the missing men. Those in
the rescue truck rolled up
the windows and locked the
doors -- wonder what they
were thinking?
Jon didn’t wait for them
to get their bearings back,
but jumped 30 feet down
and slid another 60 feet to
where a man was mentally
lost sitting on a rock asking
Jon to find his friend. Jon
found him about 30 feet
from the man in shock, but
he was not functioning.
Jon hollered back to the
rescue people to come and
get the men. He then went
back to his truck: the one he
forgot was out of fuel. He
managed to get it back to
Happy Camp Road and
coast down the mountain
and into my driveway and
told me this story.
Then he took my car
and a can, and resupplied his
truck with fuel.
What a guy! As his dad,
I’m busting with pride.
Jon truly does have a
sixth sense. Tune in to God.
Confidence lack seen
toward sheriff’s office
From Richard Thomas
Cave Junction
Since its inception in
May I have been attending
the Cave Junction Security
Council meetings. The turn-
outs for the first two were
very small.
To these tiny audiences
council founder Cpl. Sean
Rarey, of the Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office
(JCSO), spoke very can-
didly. He addressed what
JCSO could and couldn’t do
to address citizen safety
concerns, mostly property
issues and concerns over
vagrants in Jubilee Park.
Any complaints about
what the sheriff’s office
couldn’t do were easily ex-
plained away because of its
lack of resources and our
valley’s size and rural na-
ture. The purpose of the
meetings was to prioritize
what JCSO could do.
July’s meeting was a lot
different; there weren’t even
enough chairs for everyone.
There were a lot of different
people with many different
concerns, and amid the
chaos I think some impor-
tant issues were lost in the
frustration: one being the
incident July 8 when Cory
Bockstiegle sustained inju-
ries that caused him to lose a
piece of his brain and half
his skull in a brutal beating.
I think a lot of people
were there to let JCSO
know that resolution of this
matter should be a priority.
This was never really
mentioned, as the night of the
8th brought too much contro-
versy over our contract dep-
uty’s alleged response at the
scene, so the issue of Bock-
stiegle was overshadowed.
Rarey said that the meeting
was not the forum for a dis-
cussion about Deputy Cory
Krauss and the issues sur-
rounding the incident, so the
topic was dropped.
I saw a great deal of
relevance in the discussion.
It raised questions about
people’s confidence in
JCSO. I think that the usual
low turnout to these safety
meetings has something to
do with the people’s frustra-
tions turning into apathy and
a lack of trust that JCSO is
here to help.
For example, when
Rarey mentioned “work”
and “Cory Krauss” in the
same sentence the entire
crowd got a laugh. To me
this all seems indicative of
some real problems in our
valley. And without a coop-
erative community with
confidence in its law en-
forcement the concerns over
our valley’s safety and secu-
rity will only grow more
numerous.
IVHS not included
in Rotary contest
From Craig Glynn
Cave Junction
The other day I was set
to buy one of those floating
duck toys in a contest spon-
sored by the Grants Pass
Rotary Club Foundation, as
I like to help our Illinois
Valley schools. The ducks
were for sale in a Cave
Junction bank.
But lo and behold, upon
carefully reading the promo-
tional info for the fund-
raiser, I noticed that -- guess
what? -- Illinois Valley High
School is not included. Pro-
ceeds are to help Hidden
Valley, North Valley and
(Continued on page 3)
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