Page 2
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Cold weather in our neck of the woods, and in my neck
now that you mention it, prompts me not only to blow on my
half-frozen fingers as they struggle to type, but to recall certain
cold memories. Or actually, memories of cold, although some
icy memories have a warm spot in my memory. Something
like that.
I know that many out there have experienced many more
chilly times than I, with more bitter temperatures. But they’re
not writing this column, he said frostily.
Being a San Diego boy, I had to get out of town for arctic-
type weather. One memory revolves around my first Boy
Scout overnighter, at Camp Hualah-Cucush in the Cleveland
National Forest area. That’s not the proper spelling of the
camp, but I could not locate the correct name. Apparently it’s
no longer used, being supplanted by Mataguay Scout Reser-
vation between Julian and Warner Springs.
But that camp story, wow. First, the whole troop made the
trip in the rear of a large stake-bed truck that had a partial
canopy. All our gear was on the bed, which meant that some
of our stuff got a bit crushed on the cruise. We Tenderfoot
and Second Class-rank Scouts were in the open part of the
bed, while the First Class and higher ranks got the protection
of the canopy -- (RHIP).
When we arrived at the camp on a frosty Friday night, hav-
ing enjoyed the brisk breeze during our “sub-zero” trip, we
could see our breath. A lot. We hiked in the moon-illuminated
evening to our designated location and set up our campsite.
We slept well, as we had warm sleeping bags. But when we
awoke early Saturday morning, we noticed something. Snow.
Everywhere. Approximately 3 inches of it. Overhanging tree
branches kept most of it off us, but there definitely had been a
surprise storm.
We were smart enough to recognize that. And as Be Pre-
pared is the Scout motto, we were prepared. Prepared to eat
breakfast and get the heck out of there. Which is what we did,
although we had to carefully warm the syrup bottles for our
campfire pancakes, as the sticky-sweet stuff was frozen.
Thus fortified with hotcakes, plus cups of scalding hot
chocolate in tin cups, we made our exit. It was extremely win-
try. Like glacial. When I got home that afternoon, half my
camping stuff was missing from my pack, which apparently
had been forced open by people standing on it.
I did not care about the missing items. All I wanted was to
get warm. So I took one of the longest hot showers on record.
Another recollection involves covering a missing child
story in Idlewild, Calif. I was working in the former San Diego
Evening Tribune Escondido bureau and was assigned by
telephone. To make a long story short, I drove to the search-
and-rescue camp; spent the night (a cold one) on the front
seat of a rescue rig with half-a-dozen radios blaring all eve-
ning; and stayed at the scene until the next evening.
When I got back to our home in Escondido, the mountain
chill was still in my bones. So I took the longest hot bath on
record. Guess I don’t enjoy being Polarized.
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. 35
Staff: Michelle Binker, Zina Booth, Josiah Dean, Jennifer Newsted
Millie Watkins, and Tina Grow
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Aiken’s positive article
garners ‘A’ response
From Nancy Schwickrath
Cave Junction
I really enjoyed the arti-
cle by Wally Aiken, “He
Knows We’ve Got
Warts…” (Illinois Valley
News, Oct. 31.)
It was a pleasure to read
a positive article about Cave
Junction. It gets very dis-
heartening to hear about the
meth problems, police short-
falls, library closures, etc.;
all the things that make the
Illinois Valley seem like a
dreadful place to live. I
know these problems exist
and they need to be ad-
dressed, but Aiken’s article
reminded me of why I live
here in the first place.
We have amazing artists
in this valley including mu-
sicians, painters, furniture-
makers, and writers and
crafters. We also have a
number of art/furniture gal-
leries, the Kerbyville Mu-
seum, live music at Taylor’s
Country Store on Friday and
Saturday nights, open mic
Thursday nights at Nacho
Mama’s and live music on
Saturdays.
We have Art Walks in
CJ and Kerby, the seasonal
farmers market in Selma,
year-round courses about
the region at Siskiyou Field
Institute, and events at Spi-
ral Living Center.
Plus we have a national
landmark at Oregon Caves
National Monument, miles
of hiking trails, beautiful
scenery, free summer con-
certs at Jubilee Park pro-
vided by Illinois Valley
Chamber of Commerce, and
many worthy nonprofit
organizations that bring re-
sources into the community.
There are plenty of
other events and community
expertise and resources that
I haven’t mentioned. How
many other small communi-
ties can boast of such abun-
dance?
More citizens of Illinois
Valley might be inclined to
deal with the hard problems
facing this valley if they
participated in even a frac-
tion of the positive things
that make this a worthwhile
place to live.
Fuel dispute ends
on happy note
From Bob McCarver
O’Brien
Well, God bless Amer-
ica. Me, the guy in the van
and a wheelchair, got the
$22.50 I believe I was owed
from the Oregon Caves
Chevron owner. I’m glad
we still have freedom of
speech in our country.
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in O’Brien
by Cheryl & Harry Johnson.
*Fri.,
Nov. 2 58 - 35
*Sat.,
Nov. 3 58 - 34
*Sun., Nov. 4 56 - 34
*Mon., Nov. 5 56 - 35
*Tue., Nov. 6 55 - 38
*Wed., Nov. 7 55 - 37
*Thurs., Nov. 8 54 - 36
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in Cave Junction at
Natural Designs Farm.
*Fri.,
Nov. 2 62 - 31
*Sat.,
Nov. 3 68 - 29
*Sun., Nov. 4 65 - 32
*Mon., Nov. 5 67 - 32
*Tue., Nov. 6 64 - 33
*Wed., Nov. 7 64 - 32
*Thurs., Nov. 8 62 - 32
He’s calling project
‘Open Pit Junction’
From Larry Herman
Cave Junction
It’s strange to wake up
to an unfamiliar sound, in a
place you’ve been living in
for more than 17 years. In a
little while you realize that
there is a full-blown mining
operation going on at the old
Martin Dairy bordered by
Martin and Rockydale
roads.
What look like over-
loaded dump trucks begin to
travel down Rockydale with
regularity, depositing part of
their contents on the road
and obstructing the center
line between the mining site
(Little Elm Ranch) on
Rockydale and Barlow
Rock, 1.5 miles down the
road. The part of Rockydale
above Crest Drive is an ex-
tremely dangerous blind
curve, and anyone entering
the road below this point
needs to be vigilant of traffic
coming out of the void.
It is as if we were in-
vaded by an alien presence,
viral or human; it’s hard to
distinguish the difference.
It’s as if terrorists set up
shop in our neighborhood.
So Copeland Sand &
Gravel/Barlow Rock, and
Little Elm Ranch (formerly
Martin Dairy), team to get
the agricultural zoning
changed, to create a wet-
land. The plan calls for the
removal of gravel and rock
to a depth of 19 feet, which
undermines the ancient riv-
erbed, and is below the pre-
sent Illinois River.
The hole will be 700
feet long, 33 feet wide, and
19 feet deep. This intrusion
went unnoticed; and the
residents of the area were
given only one-month no-
tice to provide written opin-
ion, by the U.S. Corps of
Engineers and the Oregon
Dept. of State Lands. I
phoned the U.S. Corps of
Engineers in Eugene; it is
the agency to OK the pro-
ject’s safety as a wetland.
I asked if it were legal to
profit from a wetland? The
engineer assured me that
there are ways to circumvent
the law. I also asked, in the
event our wells were com-
promised, who would be
liable: the U.S. Corp of En-
gineers, the state of Oregon,
Little Elm Ranch or Cope-
land? He told me to send a
letter. I did -- and have never
received a response.
The U.S. Government
doesn’t care if a covert ac-
tivity that is subverting peo-
ple’s lives without recourse
is taking place in my
neighborhood. The Jose-
phine County Planning
Commission is hearing a
Cave Junction
Wednesday, Nov. 14
Good chance of rain
High--58 Low--43
petition from Copeland/
Barlow, to change zoning on
Holland Loop on a 55-acre
piece, from agriculture to
aggregate, in order to open
pit mine 11.5 acres, that will
also be trucked to Barlow
Rock on Rockydale.
How many more places
in this area will be violated,
for greedy purposes with
total disregard for inhabi-
tants? Both the Rockydale
mine and the Holland Loop
mine projects are across the
river from each other and
approximately 2 miles above
the Cave Junction water
treatment plant.
How much longer will
outside interests be allowed
to destroy the environment?
There will be a planning
commission meeting on
Monday, Nov. 26 in Grants
Pass at 7 p.m. This meeting
should be rightfully held in
Cave Junction, where a large
crowd in opposition to the
mining would assemble. But
it is not in the best interest of
Copeland and its hired law-
yers and assorted experts to
play on a level field.
Only concerned citizens
can prevent waking up with
a mine in their back yards.
Stem cell ruling stirs
‘respect for life’ wish
From Chris Matthews
Cave Junction
I recently read about our
president vetoing money for
stem cell research due to his
concern that these cells have
the potential for life. I wish
he had more respect and
concern for the actual inno-
cent lives being lost on a
daily basis.
We have 3,800 dead
Americans and thousands
more wounded, with tens of
thousands of innocent dead
Iraqis, with no end to the
killings in sight. Too bad
George doesn’t hold actual
lives more important than
potential lives.
Plus, stem cell research
offers a potential cure for
thousands of people around
the globe from horrible, de-
bilitating diseases. Too bad
George didn’t spend $500
billion on helping people,
furthering medical research
instead of padding corporate
America profit margins.
Maybe he would be
more inclined to fund stem
cell research if he or one of
his family or rich friends
comes down with dementia
or Alzheimer’s or a host of
other diseases stem cell re-
search may cure.
JoCo board endorsement
of timber plan cited
From Ananda Floyd
& Daniel Dalegoski
O’Brien
On Monday, Oct. 15 the
Josephine County Board of
Commissioners voted 2-1 to
endorse BLM’s WOPR Al-
ternative 2. This is the
“highest-cutting” alternative
BLM is considering.
Jim Raffenburg and
Dwight Ellis are in favor;
Dave Toler is not.
This type of forest man-
agement would dramatically
affect the quality of life,
water, and air we all en-
joy. The “Timber or Taxes”
rhetoric is political pander-
ing meant to distract us from
the more immediate need to
address the budget crisis.
We’re writing our
commissioners
at
bcc@co.josephine.or.us to
let them know that we want
a solution to our problems,
not the destruction of Ore-
gon’s heritage forests.
The public was not ade-
quately informed prior to the
meeting during which the
commissioners voted on this
issue. We understand that
the agenda for the Oct. 15
meeting was published in
the Grants Pass Courier
without mention of the
WOPR, but instead under
the heading of a Natural
Resources Subcommittee
Recommendation. We have
been unable to confirm or
deny this via the Courier
archives.
It is, however, our un-
derstanding that the public
was not aware of this vote in
time to voice opinions to our
commissioners. They should
be advised that the public is
upset by the unclear an-
nouncement of this impor-
tant meeting. We understand
that there were less than five
members of the public at
(Continued on page 3)
Is GREEN important to you?
At Z Coffee we recycle all plastic, glass,
cardboard, tin cans, & even used
coffee grounds (for gardening)!
OPEN EVERY DAY
4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Gregory & Kylene wish you all a
Very Happy Holiday Season
from Yanase Jewelers
Thursday, Nov. 15
Increasing clouds,
chance of rain late
High--59 Low--39
Friday, Nov. 16
Cloudy; evening
showers likely
High--57 Low--36
Saturday, Nov. 17
Rainy and rainier
High--57 Low--37
Sunday, Nov. 18
Some rain; then
possible snow
High--52 Low--30
Monday, Nov. 19
Cloudy, morning
snow and rain
High--48 Low--31
Tuesday, Nov. 20
Cold with rain
High--49 Low--36
Gregory is leaving for his last deployment
in November, then to permanent duty at
Whidbey Island Navel Air Station by May, 2008
Open:
Tuesdays - Fridays, 9 to 6
Most Saturdays, 9 to Noon
23772 Redwood Hwy., Kerby
592-4838
www.yanasejewelers.com