Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Page 3
Locked-up federal land tied to tax base
(Continued from page 1)
DANCE 4TH (& 5TH) - Music Night, with dancing
at Lorna Byrne Middle School for fourth- and fifth-graders,
will be held Friday, Feb. 23. The free event will run from
6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Snacks and drinks will be provided by the
sponsor, the Illinois Valley Section of Boys & Girls Club
of the Rogue Valley.
COOKIE (MUNCHIN’) TIME - Girl Scout Cook-
ies will be available at locations valleywide beginning
Friday, Feb. 23. Sales will run through March 11 to sup-
port the programs of the Girl Scouts of Winema Council
Inc. serving Josephine, Jackson, Curry and Klamath
counties in Oregon and Siskiyou County in California.
The varieties: Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos (peanut butter
sandwiches), Trefoils (shortbread), Tagalongs (peanut
butter patties), Samoas (caramel delights), and All
Abouts (shortbread with a bottom layer of chocolate).
Winema Council uses proceeds to provide resident
camps, special skills and educational programming, girl
assistance, leader training and support, troop program ma-
terial and related items. The stated, primary purpose of
cookie sales is to help girls learn how to set goals, develop
budgets, work with money, and market creative concepts
and entrepreneurial skills.
GRAD PLAN - A meeting of the Grad Night Party
Committee for the Class of 2007 at Illinois Valley High
School will be held Monday, Feb. 26. The gathering will
begin at 5:30 p.m. in the IVHS Library. For more infor-
mation, phone Sara Ball at Bi-Rite Auto Parts, 592-3691.
‘NEWS’ MIXER 70 - “Illinois Valley News” will
host a mixer for Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce on
Friday, March 2, as part of the celebration of the commu-
nity newspaper’s 70th anniversary. The get-together at the
“News” office will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., and feature
goodies from Kate Dwyer Catering. The mixer, for cham-
ber members and prospective members, also will include
information about special opportunities for businesses and
spread the word about what they offer.
STAMP ACT - The price of a first-class U.S. post-
age stamp could rise by 3-cents to 42-cents in May, un-
der a rate increase requested by U.S. Postal Service
(USPS) governors. With the proposal, they also devised
making a “forever stamp,” which would be good for all
future first-class mailings, no matter how high the price
of postage goes. A price for a “forever stamp” was not
suggested. Among factors justifying the proposed post-
age rate increase, USPS cited increasing costs for fuel
and employee health care.
NOTEPAD - Jack Brown, a Canadian native who’s
a naturalized U.S. citizen, points out that DBR Media
erred in info last week (“You Don’t Say,” page 11) about
diamond mines. A major one has been discovered in
Canada, notes Brown, a resident of rural CJ … Suicide
prevention for senior citizens is the topic for a work-
shop set Tuesday, Feb. 27 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. by As-
ante Health System. It’ll be held at the Washington Out-
patient Center in Grants Pass … Dinner and activities
are on the schedule for Family Night at Lorna Byrne
Middle School on Thursday, March 1, with food catered
by Taylor’s Country Store … Some $180,000 worth of
penalties were levied during January by Oregon Dept. of
Environmental Quality for various violations. None were
in Josephine County … T-shirts: *Beer is technically a
vegetarian meal. *Would you like some cheese with that
whine? *Will work for shoes. *Save the ales.
LAST WORDS - *If you had to identify in one
word the reason why the human race has not achieved,
and never will achieve, its full potential; that word would
be “meetings.” (Dave Barry)
*Live long enough and you’ll eventually be wrong
about everything. (Russell Baker)
*Age may wrinkle the face, but lack of enthusiasm
wrinkles the soul. (a proverb)
Tree Planting Day planned
for valley Saturday, Feb. 24
Community effort seeking volunteers, donations
By SUZANNE VAUTIER
FAC Tree Planting
Project Coordinator
The IBIG Forestry Ac-
tion Committee (FAC) will
hold its 15th annual Volun-
teer Tree Planting Day on
Saturday, Feb. 24.
It is a big family event;
children are welcome. Chil-
dren can earn money for
their youth group for the
trees they have planted
while they do community
service activities, thanks to
the Illinois Valley Soil &
Water Conservation District
Board donation of 25-cents a
tree to participating children.
Come dressed for the
weather. Bring gloves and
tools if you have them. Meet
at the forest service lower
compound in Cave Junction
at 9 a.m. to join the fun.
On Volunteer Day all
participants are provided a
lunch by community mem-
bers and local businesses.
It is a big event, so we
need lots of food to feed all
those hungry tree planters,”
said Vautier. “If you would
like to donate food such as
casseroles, salads, your fa-
vorite desserts, juice, etc.,
drop off the food in the But-
ler Bldg. at the lower com-
pound on Saturday between
7:30 and 11 a.m.
The tree planters will
return to the compound
when they are finished
planting trees for the morn-
ing. And there in the Butler
Bldg. they can eat a great
meal and share their stories
of the day with the camara-
derie that comes from doing
good things together as a
community.
The event generally
winds down around 1:30 to
2 p.m.
For more information
phone 592-4098
guarantee that several Ore-
gon counties, in the very
near future, will no longer
be financially able to func-
tion as governing bodies.”
Committee member and
House District 3 Rep. Ron
Maurer (R-Grants Pass) said
that despite passing out of
committee, House Joint Me-
morial 5 was more of a sym-
bolic gesture than an actual
solution to the problem.
“It’s just a piece of pa-
per. It means nothing,”
Maurer said. “It was really
an opportunity for people
directly impacted by the loss
of safety net funds to bring
it to the state’s attention.”
Maurer said that if all
else fails, the burden of pro-
viding basic services to rural
residents may end up falling
on the state.
Further complicating
matters were rumors that
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho)
was pulling his support for
federal O&C legislation.
Craig had co-authored the
original O&C legislation
with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-
Oregon).
“That was a bombshell
to us,” Raffenburg said. “If
the Secure Rural Schools act
needed a death knell, that
was it.”
However, in a telephone
interview Friday, Feb. 16,
Craig’s communication di-
rector, Dan Whiting, denied
any such action by Craig.
“Sen. Craig never said
he’d pull his support from
it,” Whiting said.
Whiting said that Craig
is working to make the leg-
islation “more palatable to a
wider range of senators.”
He added that, “The
most immediate reality is
‘Desperate times’ looming,
sheriff tells state body, for
law enforcement, services
State legislators from
Josephine County joined
with county commission
Chairman Jim Raffenburg
and Sheriff Gil Gilbertson in
conveying concern regard-
ing the loss of federal O&C
funding.
Raffenburg
and
Gilbertson testified at the
Capitol in Salem to the
House Committee on Agri-
cultural and Natural Re-
sources regarding the devas-
tating effect the loss of fund-
ing will have on Josephine
County.
The committee also on
Thursday, Feb. 15 heard
testimony regarding House
Joint Memorial 5, which
urges Congress to restore
O&C funding.
Josephine County’s
largest revenue source is
O&C funding. It accounted
for 39 percent of its budget
during 2005-2006.
“The loss of O&C fund-
ing to Oregon’s counties is a
devastating blow to public
safety and education,” said
Rep. Dennis Richardson (R-
Central Point). “I join my
colleagues from Josephine
County in urging Congress
to restore this vital funding
for our communities,” he
said.
Rep. Ron Maurer (R-
Grants Pass) who sits on the
committee, stated his sup-
port for the funding.
“The loss of O&C fund-
ing is fundamentally the
most important issue that
Josephine County has en-
countered since the Iron
Curtain descended around
our public timberlands,”
said Maurer. “Loss of this
funding will have a devas-
tating impact on Southern
Oregon.”
Sen. Jason Atkinson (R-
Central Point), vice chair-
man of the Senate Commit-
tee on Environment and
Natural Resources, con-
curred.
“Federal mandates have
damaged the timber industry
and now cutting federal
funding on O&C payments
will close libraries, cut ser-
vices to our most vulner-
able, and further erode our
public safety coverage,” he
said.
“We must do every-
thing within our power to
ensure Oregon remains a
state of 36 counties and that
our Southern Oregon is still
home for our citizens,”
stated Atkinson.
Said Gilbertson, “I call
upon the state legislators for
assistance facing this finan-
cial disaster, and take an
active role in protecting the
citizens of Oregon through
new legislation.
“Without these federal
funds, our county law en-
forcement will be reduced to
one patrol vehicle, serving
two 10-hour shifts and only
respon ding to life-
threatening calls. Our 262-
bed jail will be limited to
holding only 20 to 30 of the
most dangerous prisoners.”
“These are hardly the
tools necessary to provide
meaningful safety.
“County law enforce-
ment will be relegated to a
dangerously insufficient
number of deputies to cover
the jail, Civil, and Court
Security, which are required
by law, as well as providing
minimal patrol and support
services,” said the sheriff.
“Not only is this sce-
nario a quality of life issue
for citizens, but also elevates
the risk factors exponen-
tially upon the deputies
sworn to protect them,”
Gilbertson added. “Officer
safety should always be a
priority concern, without
them, you will be forced to
protect yourselves.
“These are desperate
times and we desperately
need your help,” Gilbertson
concluded.
we’re trying to get some-
thing in the supplemental
appropriations, which will
be working its way through
Congress in March,.
“Hopefully, we’ll have
a firm proposal by March 1
when the Energy Committee
is set to look at that.”
Raffenburg said that he
plans to meet with represen-
tatives of the Association of
Oregon Counties about al-
ternate funding proposals,
and may make a trip to
Washington, D.C. in early
March to push the issue.
Community Media
& Education Center
Mark S. McNutt, of Dead-
wood, Ore., will present a
workshop, “The Astrologer
Perspective,” on Sunday, Feb.
25 from noon to 2:30 p.m. at
140-C S. Redwood Hwy. in
Downtown Cave Junction. Ad-
mission will be on a sliding
scale.
Vertical Horizons
Tree House
Paradise
is offering winter
rates until May.
Check us out,
come by and look
around!
(541) 592-4751
verticalhrizons@frontiernet.net
treehouseparadise.com
Art Classes
at
BeBe’s Art for Everyone
February 23 from 11-1, come join us for a beginning
Pine Needle Basketry
class by
Master Artist Susan Freeman.
Seating is limited, so sign-up today at BeBe’s.
Cost is $25 for instructor and supplies.
148 S. Redwood Hwy., next to Taylor’s
541-592-5343
An Invitation to Apply for Appointment to the
Three Rivers School District Budget Committee
for Zone 2 & Zone 3
The Three Rivers School District Board of Education has vacant
Budget Committee positions open in Zone 2 and in Zone 3. The
Board invites all interested patrons to apply for either of these
Budget Committee positions. The Board will appoint the new
Budget Committee members from the list of those who made
application.
To be eligible for appointment the candidate must:
1)
Live in one of the following precincts for:
Zone 2 - Hamilton, Jerome Prairie, New Hope,
Robertson, Slate Creek; OR
Zone 3 - Cloverlawn, Applegate, Board Shanty,
Riverside South, or Williams
2)
Must not be an officer or employee of the School
District; and
3)
Must be a qualified voter of the School District. The
members of the Budget Committee shall be appointed
by the Board for a term of three (3) years.
Interested patrons should pick up an application at the District
Office or send a letter of interest with a brief description of quali-
fications. The letter or application must be received at the District
Office no later than March 6, 2007. The appointment will be
made during the regularly scheduled Board meeting on Monday,
March 19, 2007. Written correspondence may be addressed to:
Three Rivers School District
Business Office
P.O. Box 160
Murphy, OR 97533
(541) 862-3111 Ext. 5217
It takes a long time to become young.
- Pablo Picasso -
Pool group seeks solutions
(Continued from page 1)
money for anything else,”
Carmody said.
“We’re trying to work
every possible avenue of
funding,” Carmody said.
Even proceeds from the
Culpepper & Merryweather
Circus, slated to swing
through town in May, will
Honesty
Integrity
go to the pool this year.
Carmody stressed that
the chance of receiving
grant funding is improved if
community financial sup-
port can be demonstrated.
Those with questions or
an inclination to help are
asked to phone Carmody at
(541) 415-1962, or email
shawn@ivpool.org.
Dependability
I OWE YOU!
OU!
That’s right, Uncle Sam could owe you money. If you paid federal excise tax on long-distance
Attention Buyers!
phone service during the last three years, you may be eligible for a telephone tax refund.
The standard refund is $30 to $60 and for some people, who had large phone bills, it could be
Take advantage of this “Buyer’s
Market” now! We live here, work
here, know the area well, & support
our local community! Call us NOW for
all your real estate buying & selling
needs!
Steve Lyons
592-3181
even more. Go to IRS.gov for details. Or dial 1-800-829-4477 and select recorded tax topic #611.
Becky Newsted
660-2032
Notary Public