Page 2
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Still on the topic of house cats and their ilk, I continue to
be fascinated and irritated at their inquisitive nature. For ex-
ample, son Mike was fixing a toilet at our house, and Charlie
immediately leaped up to watch. Perhaps he’s going to apply
for a job as a plumber? I doubt it. More likely he simply has
the innate and intrusive curiosity of the breed.
Also, Charlie likes water. In fact, more than once he’s
taken an inadvertent dip by slipping on the edge of the tub
when a bath has been drawn. Doesn’t seem to bother him
much; he just shakes it off and does that cat thing that says, “I
meant to do that, and I’m not in the least bothered.”
Charlie also is somewhat famous for his amazing capac-
ity to get into places and items you wouldn’t think he could
reach. For example, when we make ice cream, we have to
place a basket over the machine and a weight on top of that.
Otherwise, Charlie sticks one of his octopus-like front paws
into a revolving portion, and the machine stops. Something
like that.
And he has a tremendous talent for “helping” us fix meals.
Actually, (see “octopus-like” above) trying to prepare a meal
with Charlie on the kitchen counter is nigh impossible. Yes,
we do try to discourage him from leaping onto the counter, but
you try it. It’s like he’s attached to a bungee cord that keeps
yanking him back.
Yep, Charlie and
his house buddies
get into most eve-
rything. On a few
occasions, while
we were watching
a video, one of the
furry-footed
fe-
lines has come
onto the couch
and stepped on a
control, causing
all sorts of prob-
lems. It usually
takes me 20 min-
utes to figure out
how to restore the proper settings. Either that or ask our 10-
year-old granddaughter.
Charlie is the most destructive of our house guests, hav-
ing broken several items, including an old railroad lantern.
With red glass. However, Jan and daughter Vicki found re-
placement glass for me, so all is well, and I didn’t have to
send Charlie to cat prison or put him on probation.
It’s said that “curiosity killed the cat,” and I’m here to tell
you that we haven’t lost any cats through the years to curios-
ity, but their curiosity occasionally has aged at least one of us.
Cave Junction
Wednesday, May 16
Sunny with some
clouds
High--78 Low--42.
Thursday, May 17
Partial sun and
pleasant
High--74, Low--41.
Friday, May 18
Some clouds and
sunny, wind later
High--74, Low--41.
Saturday, May 19
Nice and warm
High--84, Low--45.
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in O’Brien
by Cheryl & Harry Johnson.
*Fri.,
May 4: 63-39
*Sat., May 5: 70-35
*Sun., May 6: 78-40
*Mon., May 7: 90-51
*Tue., May 8: 88-51
*Wed., May 9: 86-48
*Thurs., May 10: 81-42
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in Cave Junction at
Mountain Wind Farm.
*Fri.,
May 4: 61-39
*Sat., May 5: 68-33
*Sun., May 6: 78-38
*Mon., May 7: 87-47
*Tue., May 8: 91-46
*Wed., May 9: 83-43
*Thurs., May 10: 82-39
Sunday, May 20
Some clouds,
warming
High--85, Low--47.
Monday, May 21
Increasing clouds,
slightly cooler
High--80, Low--41.
Tuesday, May 22
Clouds with some
wind
High--73, Low--42.
Noise proves nothing.
Often a hen who has
merely laid an egg
cackles as if she
has laid an asteroid.
- Mark Twain -
illinois-valley-news.com
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 70, No. 9
Staff: Michelle Binker, Zina Booth, Josiah Dean, Scott Jorgensen
Millie Watkins, and Tina Grow
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.
• * *
About energy, promises,
and global warming
Gregory D. Anderson
Cave Junction
Hillary told us approxi-
mately a year ago that if we
elected Democrats, gasoline
prices would come down. (So
much for her word.)
Bat- and bird-killing
windmills, unless they can be
seen from Teddy Kennedy’s
compound, can produce a
little energy. Harnessing the
energy from ocean waves
could help. Solar energy has
shown promise.
The ethanol joke has
caused the price of corn to go
so high that the poor in Mex-
ico can’t afford their staple,
corn tortillas, because they
have increased in cost 300
percent. Some farmers and
some huge corporations like
ADM are making huge
amounts of money.
Meanwhile we have
found that substituting etha-
nol for gasoline does nothing
toward cleaner air, does noth-
ing to save money, and does
nothing to reduce oil con-
sumption. The oil used spray-
ing, cutting, processing, and
shipping the corn uses as
much energy as ethanol
saves. If taxpayer subsidies to
the fat cats were taken away,
it would be a loss. But De-
mocrats always reason if it
makes you feel good, that’s
the important thing.
If the Dems and radical
enviros had not blocked drill-
ing at the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge or off the
coasts, or in the oil-rich sands
in Utah that Clinton put off
limits, or allowing refineries
to be built, we would have
much more oil and much
lower gas prices.
Global warming is taking
place on planets throughout
our solar system, but only on
Earth is it man’s fault. The
religion of “Man-Caused
Global Warming,” led by
Pastor Algore, is the greatest
hoax perpetrated on the tax-
payers in my memory.
The “carbon credit” ruse
is to make the limousine lib-
erals feel good in their en-
ergy-burning mansions and
private jets.
It took years to dispel the
“spotted owl” myth. After
closing hundreds of mills,
costing considerably more
than 100,000 jobs; and result-
ing in suicides, divorces and
poverty for many families, we
all know now that man and
logging were not the prob-
lems. Scientists tried to tell
the Clinton administration
that the barred owl was the
problem, but they could not
be heard above the din of the
leftists enviros worshipping at
the church of the spotted owl.
This is, of course, the
reason elected liberal officials
2,000 years ago someone else
took a great deal of suffering
and died -- for me. I didn’t
know him either, but I read
about him. In that same book
it also says that, “The greatest
love a man can show is to die
for someone.”
It states that although
perhaps one might die for his
friend, it would be most
unlikely that one would die
for someone he didn’t know.
Or perhaps even one who
disliked him.
What courage. What
principle. What love.
At that funeral, I again
saw, through the eyes of a
weepy old man, that I had
been in the company of great-
ness: John Granville.
‘In the company
of greatness’
From Tom Ninow
Cave Junction
On May 4 I returned
home from a funeral for a
man that I barely knew, yet I
felt that I should attend be-
cause my encounter with him
impressed me so.
As I sat through the
eulogy and testimonials of his
life I felt that I had known
him for a long, long time.
He was a former U.S.
Marine, a Vietnam veteran,
who suffered debilitating inju-
ries requiring amputation of
both legs. Although he suf-
fered a long and undoubtedly
painful readjustment, there
were none present who testi-
fied of his complaining.
Eventually he returned to
civilian life and, despite his
being a “short” person with
backward shoes, took his
place in society and eventu-
ally became an inspiration to
his family, friends, church,
and even to people who never
really knew him -- like me.
I saw John Granville
around town, and once was
introduced to him in Selma.
Through my wife I also met
his son, “J.J.,” a tall, gangly
kid with a big, genuine smile,
a firm handshake, and a de-
sire to become a Marine --
like his Dad.
That’s about all of my
experiences with John Gran-
ville except for hearing others
testify about him, what hap-
pened to him, what he was
doing, prayer requests -- and
one day John Granville died.
I was shocked. I didn’t
even know that he was ill,
and now he’s gone.
I read his obituary and
thought that here was a real
man: A man who did some-
thing with his life. He also
stood for something, and was
twice incorrectly pronounced
dead because he acted upon
his belief.
John gave a large portion
of his life, and probably
would have given all if neces-
sary for his beliefs, his coun-
try, and countless Americans,
one of whom is me.
This called me to think
again of the price some have
paid so I can be free. Soon I
noticed some rather large
saltwater drops upon the page
I was reading, and things
were suddenly out of focus.
My thoughts raced to
another time and place where
IRVAC projects,
volunteers noted
From Dorothea
Hover-Kramer
Cave Junction
It has been my pleasure
to represent the Illinois River
Valley Arts Council
(IRVAC) as president this
year and to observe and ap-
preciate the fantastic contri-
butions of nearly a hundred
volunteers to our Learning
Through Arts program.
The Learning Through
Arts is a multifaceted pro-
gram that brings art education
into the school system in con-
junction with the school cur-
riculum. Thus, teachers, vol-
unteers, and students collabo-
rate to bring each culture that
is being studied to life
through various art forms.
This year we sponsored
three projects at Lorna Byrne
Middle School: the Latino-
oriented Day of the Dead
project in November, the Asia
project in February, and the
recently completed Africa
Saturday, May 19th
I.V. Senior Center, 520 E. River St.
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(Continued on page 3)
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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
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one week.
Use supertankers to stop
wildfires now, he says
From John F. Rambousek
Yucca Valley, Calif.
I’m writing to urge citi-
zens to get government agen-
cies such as the U.S. Forest
Service, FAA, and local and
state fire agencies off the
backs of the supertanker wa-
ter bomber companies that
built the DC-10 and Boeing
747 supertankers, privately
investing millions of dollars
for which they have received
almost no returns.
This is because the forest
service reportedly has refused
to use supertanker aircraft to
fight fires on federal land for
more than 12 years, allowing
horrible loss of life and de-
struction in the meantime.
How long will we stand
for this deliberate destruction
of human life and property by
our own public safety offi-
cials? Right now, reportedly
there are only two supertank-
ers in our country while the
Russians, offering us help
refused by the forest service,
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News, Classified & Display Ads, Announcements & Letters
project in early May. The co-
ordinators for each project
were Gabi Salas-Roth, Patti
Culver, and Sue Lily, respec-
tively, and did a superb job of
assisting program chairman
Kathy Kelley in actualizing
the goals of each project.
But none of it could have
happened without the steady
stream of capable volunteers
from the community who
assisted. Each knows who
they are, and deserve much
appreciation.
It is gratifying to know
that so many people from this
community want to help our
students to deepen their un-
derstanding of art and culture.
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DEADLINES:
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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
like Dave Toler don’t have
the money they say we need
today.
If we had an independent
major media that questioned
the off-the-wall assertions by
the looney liberal left, we
would have fewer manufac-
tured crisis and save a lot of
taxpayer money fighting
phantoms. If you think the
spotted owl myth caused
problems, the myth of man-
caused global warming will
dwarf it.
Unfortunately, ignoring
their “separation of church
and state” mantra, the govern-
ment schools are teaching this
religion and even using their
bible, “An Inconvenient
Truth,” as a text.
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