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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2007)
Page 2 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, January 31, 2007 We bit the bullet recently (because I’m always shooting off my mouth) and acquired a new motor vehi- cle. This was accomplished with creative financing and having a used vehicle that held its value. So now we have probably the most luxurious set of wheels we’ve had in all our 63 years. It definitely beats, in more ways than one, my first car, a ‘52 Ford with a ‘54 Olds mill and tranny. It smoked and smelled bad. But it was fast, although the Ford rear axle kept snapping in half from the torque of the four-speed automatic trans- mission. Each axle cost me $60, which was one week’s net pay for me then (1960). We were misled by the ad for the car. Among the notations were R&H and W/W. Turned out that R&H actually meant “Rattles & Heaves,” and W/W stood for Wheels Wobble. Back to the present, I had looked at a sporty Japa- nese vehicle. It had 650 hp with gears of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and Banzai! Also looked at a small electric- powered car. Took it home and my wife drove it around the living room a couple of times. Realizing that neither of these would be practical for hauling newspapers, we opted for another Japanese-brand vehicle, a Toyota Highlander, offering the best of Japan and Scotland. Our new vehicle has all sorts of bells and whistles, as the saying goes (but neither bagpipes nor Samurai swords). I’m still working on figuring out the actual fea- tures. Discovered last week that there is even a “Low Tire Pressure” warning light. I took care of the tire, but the warning light stayed on. My engineer-brained son, Mike, had to find the reset button for me. He knows his Dad; made me push it (the button, not the car) so I’d remember where it is. Sometimes I feel like Capt. Picard of the starship “Enterprise,” what with all the controls. I tried shouting, “Red Alert!” but nothing happened, so I guess the car doesn’t have that feature. I’m still working on the tem- perature controls, which seem to have a mind of their own. Maybe I should break down and look at the owner’s manual or watch the CD that was provided to acquaint one with their acquisition. Nah. I’m a guy -- why would I want to do that? Every so often I find a new feature in the car, like it actually has a glove compartment. There’s storage available beneath the shift console, and another storage spot under the driver’s right elbow. Took me a while to understand use of the cruise control, but I was deter- mined to engage it. I know, read the booklet. Nah, I’d rather just stumble around like when you stay in a hotel and wake up in the dark and try to find the bathroom without turning on a light. Must be a guy thing. Next, I’m going to comprehend the vehicle’s remote door lock system and alarm. Might even look at the owner’s manual. But probably not. Vendors (non-member & member) for Spring Craft Fair Friday & Saturday, April 13 & 14 $20 fee for both days due at registration (no refunds). Only 25 tables available! Reserve yours early at I.V. Senior Center front desk beginning Thursday, February 1st through Monday, April 2nd, 520 E. River St. 592-6888 Illinois Valley News www.illinois-valley-news.com 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 69, No. 46 Staff: Michelle Binker, Zina Booth, Josiah Dean, Scott Jorgensen Millie Watkins, and Tina Grow 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. * * * See an ‘emergency?’ Stop and find out! From Tim Norman, Volunteer Firefighter Cave Junction I am writing about a sensitive subject that, I think, needs to be addressed. We truly live in a remark- able age, the age of the cel- lular phone. Being a volunteer fire- fighter, I am affected by this innovation daily. It is truly remarkable. Cellular phones expand the contact area of the 911 system immensely. Before this technology, if someone was in trouble in an outlying area, a phone had to be located to start the response process. This obvi- ously meant that we were losing precious minutes (sometimes hours) where time is of the essence. We have a thing called the “Golden Hour,” which is another discussion. While I embrace this technology, it is not without its pitfalls. While dropped calls (disabling the ability of Dispatch to track the caller) and being out of a service area are problems in them- selves, the issue I want to discuss is the Age of the Drive-by Good Samaritan. Where the exposure to incidents has increased, the amount of false alarms has increased as well. For example (I will not list names or locations due to privacy issues), we were called out for an “unconscious person” lying on the side of the road one day. Upon arrival, we found the person sitting on their suitcase drinking coffee from a Thermos. It turns out that the person had been walking all day and just decided to lie down for a minute. Another incident was a “structure fire” that had our whole Cave Junction Station 1 scrambling. When our command vehicle arrived, the responder found the resi- dent sitting at a campfire in his front yard, roasting marshmallows. I’m not making this up. Anyone with a scanner could verify what I am relat- ing. I might also add that the resident took exception to being swarmed upon by just about every piece of appara- tus from Station 1. It is a traumatic experience, to say the least. In both incidents, if the caller would have just stopped and merely asked the simple question -- “Is everything OK?” -- all of this could have been avoided. I have listed only two incidents. The fact of the matter is, we receive at least five such calls a week. Some may attest that this is a conservative estimate. In any case, we are be- ing rooted out of bed or pulled away from the dinner table, as the level of adrena- line climbs with the prospect of donning breathing appara- tus and walking into a burn- ing structure, only to arrive to a legal-size burn pile with the resident looking at us as though we’re crazy. This really gets old. Don’t get me wrong. Every- body realizes that this is the life we signed up for when we joined our Illinois Valley Fire District, and most show up with vigor and conviction, but that doesn’t dismiss the fact that these situations are avoidable. I don’t want to discour- age people from getting involved. This is one of the few saving features for the hu- man race: a person helping another person in need. What I am saying is this -- If you commit to becoming involved, stop your car, get out and ask the simple question. What would really help is staying on scene, and on the line with the 911 operator, until emergency services ar- rive. Most times, this means waiting around for a matter of minutes. While it will take a little longer for major appara- tus to respond, you will at least see a brush truck/ command vehicle or a medi- cal unit in literally minutes. That is all it takes to eliminate false alarms and the potential wasting of our resources and taxpayer dol- lars -- a few more minutes of your time. Again, I applaud those who feel the need to get in- volved when a fellow hu- man being is in trouble. I’m just asking for those people to follow through. False alarms are not only wasteful of our re- sources; they have the possi- bility of being disastrous. I hate to think of a house be- ing destroyed by fire, or someone dying because we couldn’t get there due to re- sponding to a burn pile on the opposite side of town. Volunteers sought for Takilma Fire Station From Cathy Ducat aka ‘Sunshine’ Takilma Now wait a minute. I could have written that article -- regarding the house fire in Takilma (Jan. 17, 2007 “I.V. News”), that was full of nonfact -- way more interestingly. First, although it is true that the co-owners of the property (Kitty & Edward Crow) are definitely out-of- town, they are even farther away than that. They are both no longer living. And the second person believed to have jumped from the second-story win- dow (Otis Jones) is housed in Josephine County Jail, where he has been for months. Justin Leavitt, who did indeed jump out a window, ironically is one of the few people to have signed up as a volunteer firefighter for the Takilma Fire Station. And someone has been trying to get volunteer fire- fighters together. It’s me, the resident fire-dancer. I was told by I.V. Fire District that I needed more people and to come back when I have enough people for a crew. I was told that men with beards and mustaches can- not wear the fire turnout gear such as breathing appa- ratus. That’s why I’ve only conditions he created within the sheriff’s office? I believe that this is the same Dave Daniel who re- ceived a vote of “no confi- dence” from his deputies; I believe this is the same Daniel who failed to investi- gate citizen complaints; and I believe this is the same Daniel who elected to ig- nore his office and abandon his employees during the Kim search. I believe it is the same Daniel who will go down in history as the best “part- time” sheriff in the history of Josephine County. I have worked closely with Gil 10 hours a day for the past four weeks. He is committed to save the jobs of his employees; create a fair working environment; and provide the quality of law enforcement the citizens of this county deserve. I accepted the position as Gil’s undersheriff be- cause I believe in his vision of law enforcement, and I made a promise to him and the citizens of this county. We will work to earn your trust and make this county a safer place to live. Sheriff Gilbertson and I have been in office just four weeks. We are working hard to resolve problems that Daniel took eight years to create. I would ask that we be given the time and sup- port we need to turn around this situation. The intent of this letter is not to trade cheap shots with Daniel. My intent is to share the truth, and it is that Daniel failed at his job, and it’s time he was held ac- countable for his actions. got eight people to sign up. One of the other eight peo- ple to have signed up was Dudley, also mentioned in the article. Some reading this have seen the flyers I posted since before last summer, asking people to sign up. This is really frustrat- ing. I am embarrassed to live in a community where there is a fire station and fire trucks and no one to man them. So let’s try this again. I want to drive the fire truck. We had it more together 30 years ago when all we had was a phone tree, a pickup truck and the hand siren kept in the drawer at the Takilma Clinic. To sign up, I can be reached at 592-6781. If I can get more than eight people to sign up, we can move forward and actually have a working fire station. Your house or mine could be next. Let’s not lose another home to fire. Sign up today. New undersheriff queries remark by former sheriff From Don Fasching Selma I was told by several people I respect to not reply to the letter from Dave Daniel (“Immediate past sheriff critical of tax plan” in the Jan. 24 issue), but I cannot stand by and allow these unprovoked attacks against the character of an honorable public official. How dare Dave Daniel criticize Gil Gilbertson? When is Daniel going to be held accountable for his mistakes and the deplorable Linda Sallman 128 S. Redwood Hwy. Cave Junction OR 97523 541-592-4541 Across from Caves Pharmacy on Redwood Hwy. Open Mondays - Fridays, 9 to 5 Auto - Home - Life - Commercial Take your Valentine to... Wednesday, Feb. 14, 4 p.m. to close 2 Prime Rib Dinners or 2 Shrimp Dinners only $ 20 (mix or match) Limited seating ~ Reservations required 592-6434 (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, & checks welcome) Special Prices on some LLAMA FELT HATS Look for the green tags at the S. Oregon Guild Gallery in the RCC Belt Building in Kerby 10 -- 3 Wed.-Sat. Sign up for the Feb. 18 Hat Workshop at The SOG Gallery or at Picket Fence Fabrics Phone 592-6078
