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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Rods’ Rancho is a bit more lively these darn-hot
days, as daughter Vicki with our grandgirls Natalie, 4, and
Ella, 2, are here from Carlsbad in San Diego County for a
visit. It took a few days, but our kitty-cat quintet finally is grow-
ing accustomed to the two smaller of our guests.
In fact, Crazy Charlie, the black-and-white whirlwind and
escape artist, has taken to them with gusto. He thoroughly
enjoys having them play with him. The girls like it too, espe-
cially having Charlie chase them up and down the hallway as
they drag a length of string or green garden tape. They also
invented a game using part of our living room décor so that
our tuxedo cat bats furiously at pieces of colored reed they
dangle and wiggle for him.
Only a few scratches have resulted. No, not the ones on
the furniture; the ones on the kids from a rambunctious feline.
We took the California trio to Lake Selmac, and Natalie
caught her first fish while Ella tried to fill the lake with rocks.
Fortunately, Natalie is fond of bugs and such, so handling the
worms was no big deal. She caught three fish, which all were
returned to the water, as they were real small. However,
catching three is nothing to sneeze about, although she kept
asking about eating them. We explained; she accepted.
It’s a whole new lifestyle for us with small children about. I
had forgotten (Jan had not) that raising and taking care of kids
is a full-time endeavor. The fun never stops. Feeding them.
Bathing them. Changing diapers (for Ella). Keeping their
clothes clean. Dealing with tantrums. Dealing with sibling ri-
valry. Dressing them. Getting them out of the house and into
the car or outside. Shoes on/shoes off. Quite interesting.
Phew, makes me perspire just to think about it.
Like many youngsters, Natalie and Ella have two voice
volumes: inaudible and Force 10. Little Ella calls herself “Aya”
with a hard A. She wants to do everything herself, so we hear
“Aya do it” many times daily. She has quite a vocabulary, but
expresses gratitude by saying, “Kack you.” Upon arising in the
morning, she’ll say, “Eat!” Right to the point.
Big sister Natalie takes care of Ella, although there are
times when they squabble over toys or what-have-you. Ella’s
response to being denied is, “I need it!” Sometimes Nat’s re-
sponse is, “I had it first!” But she often helps her sister, even to
comforting her when Ella demonstrates her 2-year-oldness
when it’s bedtime. Screaming/yelling/anger: She does not
want to sleep. Natalie speaks soothingly and lies with her.
Pretty neat.
Our 11-year-old granddaughter, Kim, who lives in Cave
Junction, deals well with both little visitors. She reads to them
and plays games, which Natalie loves a lot. Of course, Ella
observes and gets involved as best she can.
Like most of us when we were 4 or so, the play scenarios
involve major circumstances with the caveat, “But you don’t
know it.” Example: “See, you’re driving your car and it’s on
fire, and one wheel fell off, and the police are chasing you,
and there’s an earthquake, and it’s the end of the world. But
you don’t know it.” I’ve always enjoyed stories like that.
But you don’t know it.
MANSFIELD R. CLEARY
Attorney at Law
General Practice in
Illinois Valley
since 1980
Practice includes but not limited to:
Bankruptcy - Eliminate
financial problems
Living trusts - Avoid probate
Estate planning - Wills,
power of attorney
Domestic relations
Auto accident - Personal Injury
Criminal - DUII
Real Estate contracts - Foreclosure
592-2195
200 W. Lister
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. 17
Staff: Michelle Binker, Zina Booth, Josiah Dean, Scott Jorgensen
Millie Watkins, and Tina Grow
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(Editor’s Note: Views and
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Guv’s hound-hunting an
‘outrageous slap in face’
From Lisa Rohde
Siskiyou Project
Cave Junction
I was heartbroken to
learn that Gov. Kulongoski
signed into law HB 2971, a
bill reinstating hound hunt-
ing of cougars in Oregon.
This is an outrageous
slap in the face to Oregon
voters, who approved Meas-
ure 18 in 1994 banning the
cruel practice of chasing
cougars with hounds. Unfor-
tunately, we can now expect
more cougars to be killed
in Oregon than ever before.
The magnificent Siski-
you Wild Rivers area of
Southwestern Oregon boasts
outstanding large tracts of
wildland suitable for many
predator species including
cougars. The real problem is
not too many cougars, but
too many deer and other
species that would ordinar-
ily be kept in check by large
predators.
By facilitating a natural
balance between cougar and
deer populations, we could
reap many benefits, includ-
ing fewer vehicle collisions
with deer, fewer cases of
Lyme disease, and lessened
agricultural losses.
The state’s Cougar
Management Plan needs
greater emphasis on non-
lethal steps such as
educating people about how
to prevent conflicts with
cougars. Humans can learn
to co-exist with wildlife.
Cave Junction
Wednesday, July 11
Yikes!
High--104 Low--60.
Thursday, July 12
Continued hot with a
few clouds
High--99, Low--57.
Friday, July 13
Some clouds and
warm
High--91, Low--49.
Saturday, July 14
Sunny with more
clouds
High--88, Low--49.
Sunday, July 15
Clouds with some
sun
High--92, Low--50.
Killing should be used only
as a last resort.
The Oregon Dept. of
Fish & Wildlife should im-
mediately halt its Cougar
Management Plan until the
plan undergoes rigorous
peer review to ensure scien-
tific credibility.
Why shouldn’t name be
Deer Creek Valley?
From Fred Krauss
Selma
I have lived for 75 years
in Selma that we call Deer
Creek Valley.
There are a lot of nice
people here and in the Illi-
nois Valley too. I think that
Illinois Valley should start
at Sauer Flats and let you
people retain the name,
“Deer Creek Valley.”
Selma residents who
read this can write a letter to
the county commissioners if
they are interested in mak-
ing a change.
Selma Center appreciates
support by ‘I.V. News’
From Reni Schaeffer
Illinois Valley
The volunteers at Selma
Community Education Cen-
ter are so grateful to you for
keeping the Center in the
news. Your support of the
library, as well as all our
other endeavors, is invalu-
able.
It is so rewarding to see
the results of the publicity
you have given us. We have
added new members, as
well as new volunteers for
the office, all as a result of
your most-recent story.
Use of the library also
has risen.
She finds communities
with gates ‘insulting’
From Linda S. Tedder
Cave Junction
Here on Schumacher
Street, new homes are being
built. But who is buying
them?
And why gated com-
munities? Come on, this is
Cave Junction. Who or what
are builders gating in/out?
What are they afraid of?
This is a very nice area.
Why the gates? What Cave
Junction does not need is the
attitude of elitism from
people who don’t already
live here. If they did live
here they would know that
the need for a gated commu-
nity is not a need at all.
In fact, it almost has the
feel of racism. Gives us a
bad feeling all around.
Builders should go to the
larger cities where real
crime is a real norm. Then
they and their buyers could
just feel so safe and warm
behind a gate.
This is Cave Junction --
population under 2,000.
Builders have insulted the
residents of this town with
this gated community.
County board wrong
about airport advisers
From Roger Brandt
Cave Junction
The disbanding of the
Josephine County Airports
Advisory Board has gener-
ated a great deal of public
misunderstanding due to
incorrect information given
by county commissioners.
I have attended almost
all advisory board meetings,
and I would like to provide
the following insights.
The commissioners
claimed that there were ram-
pant arguments at meetings,
but I can verify there was
never an argument at any of
the board meetings that I
attended.
However, there were
many complaints, almost all
of them about the same per-
son. I heard many business
owners and private citizens
describing this person as
deceptive, evasive, inaccu-
rate, inequitable, obstruct-
ing, and hostile to business
owners and business devel-
opment.
During the four years
that I have been attending
board meetings, I have per-
sonally experienced and
observed behavior by this
person that validates every
word board members, busi-
ness owners, and private
citizens have used to de-
scribe him. The lack of busi-
ness development at the
airports appears to be
largely caused by this per-
son.
And despite the fact that
the advisory board tried to
deal with this person as part
of its efforts to bring busi-
nesses to the airports, the
county commissioners re-
moved the Airports Board
and put this person in charge
of business development at
the airports.
I have personally ob-
served the most-recent Air-
ports Board and the former
Illinois Valley Airport Advi-
sory Board attempts to bring
in businesses. However, the
county commissioners have
given them no power to set
these ideas in motion.
The Airports Board was
given the authority to pro-
vide “advice” on business
development opportunities,
but the decision on what
businesses were allowed to
be developed is ultimately
the decision of the county
commissioners. They are
well aware that the Airports
Board acts only in an advi-
sory capacity, and that it
was very improper, if not
deceptive, for them to pub-
licly deflect the responsibil-
ity for business failure at
airports away from them-
selves and onto a group of
volunteers with the lowest
level of authority.
Let’s be honest. The first
chore given the combined
airports board by the county
commissioners was to create
new bylaws for the board,
not business development.
The board produced draft
bylaws, but it took months
for the county commission-
ers to approve them.
This left the advisory
board drifting aimlessly for
the first months it was in
operation and, as is perfectly
understandable, it didn’t get
much done during that time.
The commissioners need to
acknowledge their role in
setting the foundation for
poor productivity in citizen
support groups such as the
Airports Board.
The claim that the advi-
sory board was disbanded to
save money is comically
ironic. It is a volunteer
group. Members covered
their own expenses and
spent hours of their personal
time driving to meetings,
organizing committees, and
providing written input, all
of which was done at no
cost to the county.
The county commission-
ers asked for their help, and
the Airports Board members
gave freely of time and
money for the benefit of Jo-
sephine County. It is haunt-
ingly tragic that the dedica-
tion of these people is being
obscured under a cloud of
contempt and blame, and
stamping them publicly with
a label of failure.
No one has said, “Thank
you” to any of the board
members. They include Bill
Gettles (owner of an airplane
repair business at I.V. Air-
port), Bob Bleadon (a Selma
resident and retired profes-
sional airline pilot), Kurt
Krauss (owner of Krauss
Kraft), Luz Moore (Century
21 Harris & Taylor real es-
tate agent), Mike Schmeltzer
(building contractor), Andy
Chen (Sterling Develop-
ment), and, in respectful
memory, Gerry Sterling
(business developer).
The county commis-
sioners were wrong when
they publicly declared the
work of these people to be
a waste of time.
Support the I.V. Lions -- Buy a Harley raffle ticket!
Available at Taylor’s Sausage and Century 21.
Phone 592-2252 or 287-0290
Monday, July 16
Again, hot and mostly
sunny
High--98, Low--48.
Tuesday, July 17
Sunny and balmy
High--93, Low--47.
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in O’Brien
by Cheryl & Harry Johnson.
*Fri.,
June 29: 70 - 52
*Sat., June 30: 80 - 43
*Sun., July 1: 76 - 46
*Mon., July 2: 85 - 48
*Tue., July 3: 96 - 59
*Wed., July 4: 101 - 59
*Thurs., July 5: 100 - 66
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in Cave Junction at
Natural Designs Farm.
*Fri.,
June 29: 79 - 40 0.01
*Sat., June 30: 79 - 40
*Sun., July 1: 77 - 41
*Mon., July 2: 81 - 45
*Tue., July 3: 93 - 47
*Wed., July 4: 98 - 52
*Thurs., July 5: 97 - 62
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