Page 2
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Like a lot of guys, I enjoy watching “old movies.” That is,
movies that sometimes not only are old, but are those I have
viewed several times. And like many men, I have no problem
watching a movie from any point in its plot. Or its lack of plot.
It’s a guy thing.
This reminds me (note the illogic) of the Barry Manilow
song, Everything Is Beautiful (in its own way). Making this
statement allows me to view ridiculous films with bad acting
and horrible storylines because I can see loveliness despite
ugliness. And I can even eat popcorn while doing that.
Heck, I even find beauty in cars including the 1958
Oldsmobile. For those who do not recall its style, it looked like a
child’s idea of how to haphazardly apply chrome onto a shoe-
box. I mean, that is an unattractive car. But it’s so hideous that
people like me can see magnificence in its repulsiveness. Get
the idea?
Even wooden acting, and fights that are about as realistic
as that Lionel toy train crash in The Greatest Show On Earth
have an attraction. For some of us.
Which brings us to some dreadful movies I’ve watched of
late. In one, a car with an automatic transmission is being used
to chase another vehicle down a winding, mountain road. The
guy in the chase car keeps shifting. Why? Who knows; maybe
because the director thought it added to the action. And at one
point, the driver smashes his car’s right-front fender against the
other vehicle. But a few seconds later, the smashed fender is
miraculously restored. Weird.
Once I saw a Western in which a man was shot dead. He
was lying on the ground in a scene. But when the camera
pulled back for a longer view that included a bunch of horses
stampeding toward the fort, the dead man arose and got out of
the way. A miracle if I ever saw one.
And there are the films in which characters are introduced
as part of the plot, but then they disappear. Without explana-
tion. Or their dialog refers to something that’s a mystery to the
viewer, although it seems apparent that we’re somehow sup-
posed to know.
One of my favorite movie mishaps though is when a char-
acter’s clothing mysteriously changes. In like the same scene.
A character wearing a long-sleeve shirt will walk into a room
and greet another person; then when we’re supposedly seeing
the first person a few seconds after the greeting, they’re wear-
ing a short-sleeve shirt. Talk about a quick-change artist.
I know that some out there likely are wondering why some
of us get a kick out of such stuff. Hey, it’s just a guy thing. And
I’ll thank you to pass the popcorn.
Concrete
Remodel
New Construction
592-4753
CCB 174891
Helping Children Who Have
Been Exposed to Batterers
The Illinois Valley Safe
House Alliance is pleased to
offer our community
“Helping Children Who
Have Been Exposed to
Batterers.” This 16 week
program is designed for
parents, grandparents, foster
parents or anyone interested
in helping children who have
been exposed to domestic
violence.
At the end of 16 weeks
participants will receive a
certificate of completion.
Classes are always
free, however pre-
registration
is
required. Classes
begin October 22
and will be from
10:30 a.m. to noon
and will be held at
the Illinois Valley Resource
Center, 535 E. River Street,
Cave Junction.
To sign up or for
additional information please
call Susie, the Women’s
Advocate at 592-2515.
Illinois Valley
Safe House
Alliance -
More Than
a Safe Place
(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.
Top officer discourses on
law enforcement options
From Sheriff Gil
Gilbertson
Josephine County
During my campaign
for sheriff, among the com-
mitments I made to the peo-
ple of Josephine County was
to seek alternative sources
of funding and to provide
the best public safety envi-
ronment possible with the
funding available.
Many of our citizens
have expressed their dissat-
isfaction with the property
tax solutions proposed to
date. Practically speaking,
there may not be a one-shot
solution to our financial
problems, but weaving to-
gether several different solu-
tions could provide substan-
tial benefits.
One of the first steps I
took in this regard was the
formation of a Sheriff’s Ad-
visory Council (SAC) com-
prised of well-qualified vol-
unteers with many years of
combined service to Jose-
phine County to help iden-
tify and develop ideas. I
have asked this council to
look beyond funding the
sheriff’s office to consider-
ing solutions for the county-
wide issues. Some of the
more promising ideas are:
*New construction asset
buy-in. This proposal would
assess all new dwelling units
built in Josephine County to
proportionately match the
investment in existing com-
munity assets such as roads,
fairgrounds, parks, bridges,
buildings and equipment
that existing residents have
already funded.
The ability of existing
residents to remain in their
homes would not be threat-
ened, as their existing
homes could be grand-
fathered in.
*Two separate tax dis-
tricts for law enforcement.
This would copy a system
already implemented in
Deschutes County by creat-
ing tax districts. District
One, would include every-
one in the county, which
would fund the lawfully
mandated services to the
community (i.e. jail, civil,
court security, search and
rescue).
The second district
would provide all “other”
current services; including
Illinois Valley News
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Entered as second class matter June 11, 1937 at Post Office as Official Newspaper for
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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
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Volume 70, No. 31
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Millie Watkins, and Tina Grow
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P.O. Box 1370, Cave Junction OR 97523
Cave Junction
Wednesday, Oct. 17
Cold with showers
High--54 Low--37
Thursday, Oct. 18
Lots of clouds then
rain
High--55, Low--40.
Friday, Oct. 19
Cloudy, windy and
rain later
High--63, Low--36
Saturday, Oct. 20
Rainy and cold
High--56, Low--37
Sunday, Oct. 21
More drizzles then
clearing at night
High--62, Low--38
Monday, Oct. 22
Some sun, more
clearing
High--69, Low--49
Tuesday, Oct. 23
Warming and sunny
High--77, Low--47
911 response, patrol, investi-
gations, records, etc. Only
the residents directly bene-
fiting from those services
(everyone outside the city of
Grants Pass) pay for district
two. We are currently devel-
oping this proposal.
*Insurance industry
program funding. I have
initiated discussions with
several companies providing
home owner and vehicle
coverage in our market to
review with them how in-
creased patrol presence
might benefit them by re-
ducing their claims losses;
and provide an elevated
level of safety to our com-
munity. So far, they have
been receptive to the idea
with more discussion on the
horizon.
*Deductible contribu-
tions to public safety trust
funds. The sheriff’s office
currently has several line
item “Trust Fund” accounts,
similar to a nonprofit 501(c)
(3) -- where tax-deductible
donations can be made di-
rectly to funding the sher-
iff’s office obligations.
Since this type of account is
legally insulated from the
county, public confidence
concerning how, and for
what, the money is spent is
dramatically enhanced.
*Justice of the Peace
(JP) System. Such a system
would take over administra-
tion of minor civil matters
arising in Josephine County
such as traffic or parking
tickets, code violations, etc.
This would retain the related
fine revenue that currently
goes to the State of Oregon.
By jointly occupying current
building space owned by the
county, and by staffing the
JP position from the many
well-qualified local retirees,
the accompanying costs re-
main low.
These alternatives ad-
dress the problem in a vari-
ety of ways. Some charge
county residents for services
that directly benefit them.
Others charge new arrivals
for incremental demands
placed on our community
services purely by their join-
ing the community.
I don’t expect any of
these alone to solve our
problems, and I don’t expect
a free lunch to last. Perhaps
others have some ideas as
good, or better that these.
Ideas sent to jocosher-
iff@co.josephine.or.us will
be forwarded to the Sheriff’s
Advisory Council, which is
open to any viable proposal
and will appreciate contribu-
tions and creativity.
It continues to be my
honor and privilege to serve
the people of Josephine
County in these difficult
times.
Youth sports programs
make couple happy
From Christi Alvarez
Cave Junction
“Coach Cricket” is how
some people know me, al-
though most probably will
recall me as Christi Alvarez
(Raymond). My husband,
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in O’Brien
by Cheryl & Harry Johnson.
*Fri.,
Oct. 5: 57 - 36
*Sat.,
Oct. 6: 65 - 33
*Sun., Oct. 7: 71 - 36
*Mon., Oct. 8: 72 - 41
*Tue., Oct. 9: 62 - 43 0.55
*Wed., Oct. 10: 57 - 42 0.39
*Thurs., Oct. 11: 53 - 43 0.06
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in Cave Junction at
Natural Designs Farm.
*Fri.,
Oct. 5: 58 - 35
*Sat.,
Oct. 6: 65 - 31
*Sun., Oct. 7: 73 - 33
*Mon., Oct. 8: 74 - 41 0.01
*Tue., Oct. 9: 64 - 38 0.48
*Wed., Oct. 10: 60 - 40 0.27
*Thurs., Oct. 11: 54 - 41 0.06
Dane, and I are fairly active
parents.
We enjoy the fact that we
are able to be so involved
with our children and their
activities, especially sports.
For the past four years we
have coached whatever sport
our children choose.
We have coached base-
ball, from coach pitch to
majors, and helped some
with wrestling. Until this
year my husband coached
Pop Warner and high school
football, and I have coached
Pop Warner cheerleading.
I have 23 of “my boys”
on my team, a Boys & Girls
Club tackle football pro-
gram. I have four awesome
coaches: Billy Culbertson,
Nathan Smith, Erik Kovis
and, most recently, Tony
Hess. Our team is awesome.
It will play its last game
on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 11
a.m. on the IVHS football
field. We hope lots of peo-
ple will come watch.
Thanksgiving, Christmas
free meals help needed
From Lynn Boucher,
Cave Junction Cares
coordinator
This is written to de-
scribe the Cave Junction
Cares Program. The
“Program” started in 1989,
when it was very clear that
the Illinois Valley had a
large number of homeless
and needy residents.
Approximately six peo-
ple at that time decided to
feed these people on
Thanksgiving Day and
Christmas. It was arranged
that the pavilion at Jubilee
Park would be the perfect
place to achieve this.
The first year we fed
approximately 50 people.
Since that first year, it has
escalated. With the help of
more volunteers and gener-
ous donations, the Cave
Junction Cares Program
now feeds approximately
300 to 350 people each
Thanksgiving Day and
Christmas morning.
With the generous do-
nations, we have been able
to expand the Christmas
breakfast to include two
Santas, one who delivers
breakfast and new toys to
the needy that cannot get to
the park (this includes the
elderly and disabled that are
homebound). The other
Santa sits on the stage sur-
rounded by beautiful new
donated toys and distributes
them to every child.
It is such a blessing to
see a child receive a new toy
and a stuffed animal (we
want all the children to have
something to “hug”). Some
of these children have never
seen Santa Claus or received
a new toy. We have been
fortunate during the past few
years to even get new do-
nated bicycles. Unfortu-
nately, not enough for every
child, but the bikes are given
to those who truly needed
them.
The breakfast consists
of all-you-can-eat pancakes,
cooked-to-order eggs, ham
and Taylor’s sausage patties,
and gravy with homemade
biscuits. There is plenty of
hot coffee, milk and orange
juice.
Our Thanksgiving din-
ner consists of a complete
home-cooked dinner of tur-
key, ham, candied yams,
stuffing, mashed potatoes
and gravy, vegetables, and
rolls and butter. Hot coffee,
milk, punch and pies are
also available. This is an all-
you-can-eat meal.
We encourage our vol-
unteers to serve these people
and then join them and
make them feel comfortable
and wanted. It is a joy to see
that the volunteers are en-
joying the event even more
than the people they serve.
Donations and volun-
teers are always needed.
Those who wish more infor-
mation can contact me at
592-6855 or 592-3594.
We appreciate all our
supporters and helpers, and
wish a God Bless on all of
them. Those making a dona-
tion by check should make
the check payable to: Cave
Junction Cares c/o Lynn
Boucher-Johnson.
Thirty-seven years
of observing valley
From Ellis Couron
Cave Junction
When I came here all of
those years ago this valley
was a quiet place where the
country folks looked after
each other, and mostly there
was no trouble.
Trouble of any kind
was settled by those who
lived here; and law enforce-
ment, such as it was, was
rarely seen.
Later people started
buying property and moving
in. Illegal plants of one kind
or another began growing in
the forests, fences went up,
“No Trespassing” signs
sprouted like weeds -- and
then trouble started big time.
When the local residents
tried to control what was
going on, the sheriff (from
Grants Pass) sided with
those living in shacks and
around the forest saying
they had a right to manage
their property or any part of
the forest around them in
any way they saw fit.
Then the logging indus-
try, that had been the main
support of those who lived
here, was almost totally shut
down by those who came
here from LaLa Land claim-
ing to know more about the
forest and spotted owls and
the like than anyone else.
Nearly every week I read
long letters in the local pa-
per about how determined
they are to save us all from
ourselves.
(Continued on page 3)
20% OFF
ALL MEALS
“Where eating right means as
much to us as it does to you”
Della’s Restaurant
1802 NW
6th St.
(across from
Motel 6 in
Grants Pass)
Present coupon for discount
Offer expires 11/30/07
Serving the Illinois Valley since 1979
Auto
Home
Business
Life
Health
Motorcycles
Bonds
Boats
592-2176
Representing:
S a fe co
Met-Life
Pr ogr e ssive
AIG
Viking
Dairyland
or
800-500-5635