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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 2007)
Page 2 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, November 28, 2007 Here are some Thanksgiving leftovers, courtesy of a friend of mine, Roan McClure. *What did the mama turkey say to her naughty son? “If your papa could see you now, he'd turn over in his gravy!” *Asked to write a composition titled, “What I’m thankful for on Thanksgiving,” one little boy wrote, “I am thankful that I’m not a turkey.” *What was Tom the Turkey’s excuse for not coming over for Thanksgiving dinner? “I'm already stuffed.” *A woman was picking through the frozen turkeys at a grocery store, but couldn’t find one big enough for her fam- ily. She asked a stock clerk, “Do these turkeys get any big- ger?” The stock clerk answered, “No ma’am, they’re dead.” *A son-in-law wanted to play a joke on his mother-in- law, so he took a small Cornish game hen and put it inside the Thanksgiving turkey before they roasted it. When they served the bird, he stuck the fork inside and pulled out the fully cooked Cornish game hen. When his mother-in-law saw it, she cried out, “Oh no, you cooked a pregnant tur- key,” and fainted. Jefferson Baroque Orchestra & Chorus Margret Gries, harpsichord & director Saturday, December 1st, 8 p.m. Newman Methodist Church, 6th & B Streets, Grants Pass Tickets: $16 reg, $12 students, at Music 4 Kids, Grants Pass; The Book Exchange, Cave Junction; at the door, or phone (541) 592-2681 Home Mortgage Solutions We make loans work for you! 315 S. Redwood Ave. 5 9 2 -4 6 4 6 Call for an appointment. Specializing in Honest & Fair loans. We work hard to get the best deal possible from all lenders. Purc ha se s or Re fina nc e s Const ruc t ion Loa ns M a nufa c t ure d H om e s We do it a ll...for le ss! Ask a bout t he Ore gon Bond progra m , it just m ight w ork for you. St e ve Elliot t 6 5 9 -2 1 4 2 Cave Junction Wednesday, Nov. 28 Nastiness later- snow, sleet & freezing rain High--50 Low--27 Thursday, Nov. 29 Clouds during the day High--46 Low--25 Friday, Nov. 30 Morning clouds and wind then cold High--42 Low--22 Saturday, Dec. 1 More sun and rather frosty High--39 Low--22 Sunday, Dec. 2 Increasing clouds and continued chilly High--40 Low--26 Monday, Dec. 3 Overcast with showers anon High--49 Low--42 Tuesday, Dec. 4 Increasing rain High--47 Low--36 St e ve Wa re 6 6 0 -8 8 5 2 Following are the high-and- low temperatures, and rainfall, recorded in O’Brien by Cheryl & Harry Johnson. *Fri., Nov. 16 57 - 51 0.83 *Sat., Nov. 17 58 - 54 1.18 *Sun., Nov. 18 59 - 47 1.06 *Mon., Nov. 19 49 - 33 0.47 *Tue., Nov. 20 45 - 33 *Wed., Nov. 21 49 - 29 *Thurs., Nov. 22 44 - 27 Following are the high-and- low temperatures, and rainfall, recorded in Cave Junction at Builders Coop. *Fri., Nov. 16 54 - 50 0.66 *Sat., Nov. 17 57 - 52 1.01 *Sun., Nov. 18 59 - 45 1.02 *Mon., Nov. 19 51 - 32 0.44 *Tue., Nov. 20 46 - 32 0.01 *Wed., Nov. 21 52 - 27 *Thurs., Nov. 22 52 - 27 0.01 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. 37 Staff: Michelle Binker, Zina Booth, Josiah Dean, Jennifer Newsted 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 (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. * * * ‘Not so funny,’ he says From James Guthrie Cave Junction This letter is for Illinois Valley High School adminis- trators, IVHS staff, IVHS students, parents, law offi- cials, friends and family. I am writing this to say, “I am sorry.” I know now that a bomb threat is not a joke. I didn’t do it as a threat. On Nov. 15, when I had written, “There is a bomb” on that envelope, I was goofing off with my friends. I never meant for it to go any further than that. But it did, and I am very sorry. I am not responsible for any of the other “threats.” Measure 49 disappointment From Tim Norman Cave Junction I’ve got to say that I’m a little disappointed. With all the “No on 49” signs posted around the valley, you would think I would’ve gotten a response from my letter I wrote prior to the Nov. 6 election. Either no one reads these anymore. Or, is it possible no one had a decent rebuttal? That seems funny since so many people felt so strongly about this issue. Could it be that the misinformation was exposed, and therefore these supporters have no founda- tion? It’s all moot now since the measure passed. This is due mostly to our fellow Ore- gonians to the north, but the fact remains, it is now law. Those who opposed the measure can take heart. Land developers have tons of money. They already have lawyers working on it as I write this. A loop hole will be ex- posed eventually. It is only a matter of time. There will be subdivisions and strip malls. I only ask developers to take this “lull” and reflect on what is being accomplished by letting our small rural towns become suburbs and eventu- ally cities. First, people should ask why they came here in the first place. Then, why did they leave wherever it was they came from? Was the purpose of coming here only about making money? The reason I came here was docu- mented in my previous letter, but I’ll summarize by saying that I wanted to live a simple life. At one time, everyone here did. I’m appealing to the people who came here with their only intention to try to make their fortune. I’d like to beg them to let us have this place. We were happy here, once. We were poor, but OK with it. There are things way more important than money. People here realized that once. Those who have to chase the almighty dollar should go to Idaho. Or Ne- vada. Those people would embrace them. They are screaming for development. Those who have been here and want all this devel- Does someone’s drinking bother you? Al-Anon can help. www.OregonAl-Anon.org New Cave Junction meeting: Friends of Lois Wednesdays, 7 p.m., I.V. Senior Center 520 W. River St. opment should realize that there is a whole big world out there. Heck, they can get what they’re looking for only 23 miles north of here. I want our little town left alone. ‘WOPR, taxes not the issues’ From Kelpie Wilson Cave Junction The Oregon Taxpayers Association, a pro-corporate group based in Tigard, has accused Josephine County Commissioner Dave Toler of being “pro-tax” because he opposes the preferred alterna- tive of BLM’s Western Forest Plan Revision (WOPR). This alternative would nearly triple logging levels and remove protections for old-growth forests and streams. Commissioner Jim Raf- fenburg also accuses Toler of being “pro-tax,” warning that without the logging increase, “…your taxes will go up or you will have no public ser- vices.” BLM undertook the WOPR in response to a tim- ber industry complaint that the agency was not offering the timber sale volumes pro- jected under the Northwest Forest Plan. It was imple- mented in response to a judge’s legal ruling that ex- cessive logging was driving forest-dependent species like the spotted owl to extinction. The legal ruling still stands. and the courts are unlikely to allow BLM’s WOPR to go forward. Toler has pointed this out to his fellow commissioners and called for Oregon coun- ties to stop looking backward to the days of unsustainable high-volume logging and flush county timber receipts – days that can never come again. But instead of facing reality, and working for crea- tive solutions to the county’s fiscal woes, the Oregon Tax- payers Association and its local allies prefer to shoot the messenger. Sadly, reality today indi- cates that protecting old- growth forests is more impor- tant than ever. When the Northwest Forest Plan was crafted in the early 1990s, the big environmental concerns were the loss of species like the spotted owl, the degrada- tion of salmon spawning streams and the effects on municipal drinking water sources. Now, in 2007, we have new worries: fire and global warming. Biologist Pepper Trail has closely examined the fire analysis section of the 1,600- page WOPR planning docu- ment, and he has discovered that BLM’s preferred man- agement alternatives would push thousands of acres of forest into a “high-fire sever- ity” category. Because Preferred Alter- native Two relies on clear- cutting and re-growth in even-aged plantations, it also would transfer thousands of acres into a “low-fire resil- iency” category. Unlike old, wet forests with thick-barked trees, young plantations have zero resistance to fire. All that Raffenburg and his allies can think about is the money that cutting those old-growth trees would bring. They are not thinking about the cost to defend homes now surrounded by highly flam- mable tree plantations. Residents of Oregon for- est-dependent counties also should consider this: global warming means that our local forests now have greater value as carbon storehouses than as sources of timber. Approximately a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide come from land clearing and deforestation -- more than from the entire transportation sector. Even in forests that have been only selectively logged rather than clear-cut, it can take decades before new growth attains the same car- bon-absorbing ability as the forest it replaced. And it is not just the trunks and branches. Much of the carbon storage is in the complex for- est soils that are disturbed by logging. Federal action on global warming is inevitable. If it is done right, we will build a new green economy with jobs in renewable energy, energy- efficiency retrofitting, land restoration and forest fire prevention. As a forest- dependent community, our Josephine County commis- sioners should be leading the way to this bright green fu- ture. ‘War and Rumors of War’ From Jim Finley Grants Pass Fifty-eight thousand gave their all/Only to have their names etched on a wall. While politicians spoke of the fall of a domino/Many objected and chanted, “Hell no, we won’t go.” The elite deferred and found refuge in the Guard/ But the lowly had no out and simply burned their card. How can we ever justify thousands to die?/Based com- pletely on a political lie. Will we ever do this again?/If we do, it will surely be a sin. History does repeat, we cannot deny/Again the politi- cians deceived us and dis- patched thousands more to die. We destroyed a nation and the world knew we were wrong/Yet our politicians (Continued on page 3)
