Page 2
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Sometimes, although many readers would argue that it
would be more correct for me to write, “All the time,” I don’t
know where this column will head. My fingers and brain can
work independently of my consciousness, and so one never
knows what will come forth. Or fifth.
For some obscure reason I was reminded recently of
road signs we saw in 1970 while on a family vacation. We
were in Las Vegas, N.M., which reminds me of another topic
to be addressed here just below. Anyway, our three children
were quite young, which has nothing to do with the sign we
saw. But the sign read, “Do Not Pick Up Hitch-Hikers.
(Courtesy of the New Mexico Institute for the Criminally In-
sane.”) Needless to say, Jan and I cranked up the windows,
locked the doors, and left the area. Kinda’ scary.
My minirant, if you will, has to do first, with the shortening
of names of many locales, including Las Vegas. A lot of peo-
ple invariably refer to “Vegas,” a slang term that hurts my
ears. Also, Las Vegas, Nev. (which some cleverly change to
Lost Wages) is not the only city with that name. (See Las Ve-
gas, N.M. above). By the way, Las Vegas, N.M. originally was
called Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de Las Vegas Grandes
(Our Lady of the Sorrows of the Great Meadows). Quite a
mouthful. On the other hand, besides five fingers, we find that
Las Vegas, Nev. translates as “The Meadows” or “The Grass-
lands.” Whatever.
Moving on, we find that there are those who call San
Diego “Dago,” which also hurts my ears. I know, these mat-
ters don’t rank highly on the list of world situations that need
attention. It’s just my rant.
Oh, and let’s not forget Los Angeles, which nearly all of us
shorten to “L.A.” I suppose that’s OK. Especially when review-
ing information about the city’s original name. Some say it was
El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles de
Porciuncula (The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of
the [River] Porciuncula). But some now are saying that the set-
tlement simply was named El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ange-
les (The Town of the Queen of the Angels.) Whatever.
Still moving on, we touch on a distant relative of mine,
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who led the first European expedi-
tion to explore what is now the west coast of the United
States. In September 1542 he arrived at “a very good en-
closed port.” It now is known as San Diego Bay.
I’ve been to Cabrillo National Monument many times,
especially growing up in San Diego. Not enough room here to
talk about it this week though. Actually, I think telling you the
rest of the story from that 1970 trip that included Nuestra Sen-
ora de los Dolores de Las Vegas Grandes would be enlight-
ening. Maybe next week.
Whatever.
We digitize your logo or art
to personalize hats, shirts,
uniforms, jackets, etc.
Personal & Commercial Orders
No Order too Small or Large
Affordable Rates
Call 659-6838 for quotes
(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.
* * *
Airports manager ‘needs
to share his I.V. vision’
From Jack McCornack,
McSquared Design at
Illinois Valley Airport
In this column last week
I read that Josephine County
Airports Manager Alex
Grossi has a definitive long-
term vision for the future of
I.V. Airport; and, “That’s
the direction I’ve been
pointed in for the last five or
six years.”
Perhaps the advisory
board would have been
more productive if he had
shared his vision with the
board and with the public. If
Grossi is holding back local
use of the airport to make
way for future “… medical
flights and freight flights,”
I’m wondering what medi-
cal and freight demands
Illinois Valley should ex-
pect.
I guess it’s going to be a
pretty big deal, and more
than the 10-passenger busi-
ness jets can handle. Those
guys manage to get in and
out without hitting any
parked cars on Smokejumper
Way, as did the smokejum-
per planes and other fire sup-
pression aircraft for the 50
years before Grossi arrived.
But now he says that
it’s “… pretty obviously a
hazardous situation,” and
alludes to FAA regulations;
regulations which apply if
you’re bringing in airliners.
Emergency medical
flights are fairly common,
and don’t demand any
restructuring of the airport.
What possible need is there
Cave Junction
Open Daily
11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Your Hosts: Gary & Ann Garnett
2680 Deer Creek Rd., Selma
( H w y . 1 99 t o D e e r C r e e k R d . )
(541) 597-4226
~ Wine Tasting ~
~ Gift Shop ~
~ 10% discount on case purchases ~
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. 19
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
publication. 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
Wednesday, July 25
Hot and sunny with
wind
High--91 Low--59.
Thursday, July 26
Brilliant sunshine and
warm
High--99, Low--55.
Friday, July 27
Warmer with much
sun
High--98, Low--55.
Saturday, July 28
Hot and sunny with
an occasional cloud
High--95, Low--54.
Sunday, July 29
Mostly sunshine
High--94, Low--55.
Monday, July 30
Passing clouds & sun
High--93, Low--52.
Tuesday, July 31
Hotter still with sun
High--99, Low--53.
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in O’Brien
by Cheryl & Harry Johnson.
*Fri.,
July 13: 91 - 53
*Sat., July 14: 87 - 57
*Sun., July 15: 83 - 57
*Mon., July 16: 83 - 59
*Tue., July 17: 75 - 57 0.43
*Wed., July 18: 73 - 58 0.48
*Thurs., July 19: 78 - 54
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in Cave Junction at
Natural Designs Farm.
*Fri.,
July 13: 86 - 50
*Sat., July 14: 86 - 54
*Sun., July 15: 83 - 51
*Mon., July 16: 84 - 59
*Tue., July 17: 71 - 53 0.37
*Wed., July 18: 72 - 58 0.39
*Thurs., July 19: 76 - 54
for airline-size medical
flights in the valley? Charter
flights for organ donors,
perhaps?
What freight will be
flown out of the valley, and
if it’s so bulky that it needs
an airliner, why not save 50
grand or so by putting it on
trucks? It’s not like lumber
has a critical sell-by date. Or
is the plan for bulk airfreight
coming in, something the
state highway department
won't allow on the roads?
Alex Grossi and I don’t
chat much these days. Per-
haps your reporters will
have better luck getting him
to define his definitive long-
term vision for the future of
I.V. Airport, which to some
extent will define the future
of Illinois Valley.
Uncle Sam spending
needs to come home
From Paul Grad
Cave Junction
Sue Norman-Jones’
letter of June 27, decrying a
proposal to cut timber for
revenue and suggesting a
sales tax instead, caught my
attention, for it seemed to
well illustrate the attitude of
“if only we had more
money, and how do we go
about raising it?”
I believe this is the
wrong attitude. The right
one is: how do we cut
big government spending
which sucks up so much of
our current tax revenues?
Is Norman aware that
we spend $100 billion a year
on farm subsidies, which are
collectivist giveaways of
your money to farmers, the
majority earning well above
the average American’s in-
come and many owned by
wealthy corporations?
The bipartisan collectiv-
ist mantra is “rob the non-
union worker, the small
businessman, the small in-
vestor and the artisan, and
give the loot to the wealthy
corporations.” A thousand
cotton farmers alone receive
$10 billion in subsidies.
Then let’s look at
the $100 billion plus that
we spend defending the
European socialists, who
then turn around and use
that money to provide all
kinds of collectivist perks to
their people, and massive
farm subsidies to their very
affluent farmers. Let the
European socialists pay for
their own defense, instead of
sucking off of the U.S. tax-
payers.
If we divide the more
than $200 billion saved each
year by eliminating these
two programs alone, and
that money were to be
turned over to the states, it
would provide $4 billion for
each state in the union.
Further dividing that
sum by the 30-odd counties
in Oregon, we find that Jo-
sephine County’s share
would come to more than
$115 million, almost 10
times what the county was
seeking from Washington.
As we see law enforce-
ment and the libraries shut-
ting down, remember
that the money that would
have paid for those services
is going into the pockets of
French farmers, and giant
American agri-corporations.
When we recall that
these are only two pro-
grams, and that there are
many other useless and un-
constitutional programs that
could be cut, we can see
why the American people
continue to live without
those basic necessities
like law enforcement that
would make life in America
so much better.
Our current county fis-
cal woes are the price of
collectivism and continuing
to vote for bipartisan collec-
tivists.
9-11 demonstrators
unhappy with ‘News’
From Toni Starr, Gina
Pitts, Sara Austin, Cath-
erine Austin, and Rachael
Starr
Cave Junction
We are extremely disap-
pointed by the quality, accu-
racy and depiction of our
9/11 Truth street action that
took place Wednesday, July
11. First, you mistakenly
reported that it occurred on
July 12, which is neither
true nor representative of the
11th-of-every-month actions
occurring nationally.
Second, we did tell you
at the time that we will meet
in front of the county build-
ing at noon on the 11th of
each month, and resent the
implication that we were
attempting to withhold this
information.
Third, you reported that
the deaths on 9-11 included
those of 19 terrorists, when it
has been proven in the main-
stream press that at least
seven of the “supposed” hi-
jackers are still alive. Fourth,
we feel that you misquoted
our statements to make it
appear that we were uncer-
tain and had no basis in fact
to substantiate our accusa-
tions of a 9-11 cover-up.
We have spent thou-
sands of hours researching
the events of Sept. 11, 2001
and subsequent reports. All
the information is com-
pletely verifiable and acces-
sible through the Internet.
Several Websites are
available. We invite your
readers to join us as we
stand for 9/11 Truth on the
11th of each month at noon
to demand a new and truly
independent investigation.
If you are serious about
reporting the news, you
should avoid the term
“seems” when covering a
story. You failed to verify
facts given you at the time.
You must strive to be repu-
table and conduct your own
investigative research,
which it “seems” you have
yet to do.
What’s going on?
Who’s on first?
From Bill Schneider
Cave Junction
Between treasonous
vice presidents and presi-
dents, and tire-slashing con-
tractors, what the hell is go-
ing on?
And what exactly is
(Continued on page 3)
Jay & Pam
Selma, Oregon 597-2000
18398 #3 Redwood hwy.
Charbroiled K Tri-tip & Ribs
Buffalo Wings K Fries
Espresso K Sarsaparilla K More...