Page 2
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, March 12, 2008
We recently had two new temporary houseguests, one of
whom bit my right index finger and drew blood. I was holding
his tiny tail at the time while trying to transfer him from the
bathroom sink to the bathtub while Jan cleaned up their
mousey dung. When I picked him up, he squeaked at the in-
dignity and used his incisors to inflict a teeny wound.
After contacting a renowned physician who deals in po-
tential diseases related to mice, I felt better. And at this writ-
ing, I’m still in excellent health. In fact, the doctor told me that I
have the body of a 25-year-old. (A 25-year-old Chevy).
I said that our two rodent buddies should be named Harry
and David, but Jan renamed them Harriet and David after a
short physical exam. She also called them Pinky and Stinky,
but those names were only in passing.
The meese were obtained because it was thought by one
of us that our two house cats needed some … er … entertain-
ment. And Jellirabbit and Flint Eastwood were entertained.
But that was as far as they would take it. Yes, they liked
watching the little white critters scurry about the bathtub. Yes,
they thoroughly enjoyed the company. In fact, at one point
Flinty picked up each of the mice in turn, sort of tasted them,
and then spit them out. And he and Jelli seemed to be thrilled
by staring at Harriet and David.
In fact, they got a big kick out of being in the bathtub with
the mice. They became friends of a sort, although the cats
were a bit jumpy when the newcomers trod on their tails.
Once we realized that our kitties no longer are as fero-
cious as they’d led us to believe, we decided that we really did
not want to add the mice to our home zoo. So after a few days
of searching, we found someone who wanted them, and off
they went to yet another residence.
Frankly, we humans even got a bit attached to the little
guys. But boy, they are dumb; not even smart enough to be
scared of Big Bad Cats. Still, they’re cute with their beady red
eyes, little claw paws, and wiggly rodent tails. And that’s the
end of this tale.
*In a page 1 caption in
the March 5 issue, Selma
resident Bill Waggoner incor-
rectly was identified as Bill
Wagner.
*For clarification, a page
8 story about Illinois Valley
Fire District cutting costs was
not meant to state that cur-
rently responding volunteers
will go unpaid, but that no
new volunteers will be taken
on until funding improves.
Illinois Valley Diabetes
Support Group
There will be a meeting
Thursday, March 13 at 1 p.m.
at Illinois Valley Senior Cen-
ter in Cave Junction.
Group meetings are held
on second Thursdays unless
stated otherwise. Anyone can
attend.
illinois-valley-news.com
Cave Junction
Wednesday, March 12
Clouds and sunshine
High--54 Low--35
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in O’Brien by
Cheryl & Harry Johnson:
*Fri.,
Feb. 29 60 36 .07
*Sat., Mar. 1 46 35 .60
*Sun., Mar. 2 54 29 .20
*Mon., Mar. 3 54 28 .00
*Tue., Mar. 4 55 32 .00
*Wed., Mar. 5 61 27 .00
*Thurs., Mar. 6 59 29 .00
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in Cave Junction at
Illinois River Farm:
*Fri.,
Feb. 29 68 34 .19
*Sat., Mar. 1 49 33 .34
*Sun., Mar. 2 54 29 .01
*Mon., Mar. 3 56 29 .00
*Tue., Mar. 4 54 31 .01
*Wed., Mar. 5 62 27 .00
*Thurs., Mar. 6 59 27 .00
Thursday, March 13
Cloudy
High--54 Low--31
Friday, March 14
Cloudy
High--52 Low--29
Saturday, March 15
Colder with a snow
and rain mix
High--52 Low--29
Sunday, March 16
Cloudy
High--53 Low--29
Monday, March 17
Rain
High--55 Low--38
Tuesday, March 18
Rain
High--50 Low--35
Keep your foot in the public’s eye.
Advertise!
Illinois Valley News 592-2541
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. 52
Staff: Michelle Binker, Zina Booth, Brenda Encinas,
Millie Watkins, and Sandy Gladish
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. Gener-
ally, 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 newspa-
per are considered for publica-
tion. Hand-written letters that
are double-spaced and legible
also can be considered.
‘Thank you’ submissions
are not accepted as letters.
* * *
I.V. Lions appreciated
From James R. Johnson
Cave Junction
I recently had reconstruc-
tive surgery on my right an-
kle. The Illinois Valley Lions
Club loaned me a roll-about
cart, which helped so much.
The kindness of the club and
its members is greatly appre-
ciated.
Industrial park grounded
From Jim Lombardo
O’Brien
The idea of an Illinois
Valley Industrial Park at the
airport had to come from
someone who knows nothing
about business.
Why would anyone want
to start a business on a small
lot with no water or electric-
ity? The largest private em-
ployer in Illinois Valley, Fire
Mountain Gems, moved to
the city of Grants Pass for
simple business reasons. Five
minutes from I-5, not one
hour by truck. And with all
the water, electric and park-
ing needed.
There are places along
199 (Redwood Hwy.) that
would be better by far. Just
ask at any real estate office.
Alex Grossi, airports
director, said, “All we need is
one new business to come in
and then it will take off.”
What he doesn’t know is they
are grounded.
Putting down roots
From Susan Chapp
Cave Junction
Our community is so
fine, turning out year after
year to get those tree seed-
lings in the ground on the
Forestry Action Committee
Volunteer Day.
I just want to add to the
coverage (Illinois Valley
News, March 5) of the event,
as well as the 50-plus com-
munity members who
showed up to plant trees in
the rain; and the dozen busi-
nesses who contributed food
for the potluck feast. And
more than 16 individual com-
munity members also contrib-
uted wonderful food for the
hungry planters.
Spiraling community spirit
From Lisa Widner
Selma
Community: What great
joy to see the Selma Center at
full capacity all day long Sat-
urday, March 1. And better
yet, to know that the fullness
was due to the Spiral Living
Center’s free Skills Ex-
change/Potluck.
I was thrilled with expert
workshops, local/organic
foods, professional informa-
tion sharing, and extraordi-
nary child-care. My heart was
warmed and soul inspired by
the show of community sup-
port at this event. (More,
please.)
Rumor has it that there
are dances yet to come to the
Selma Center; more kids
events, and perhaps next
school year we’ll see a home
school co-operative as well?
I hope that Selma’s com-
munity embraces all these
wonderful events.
Pledge of Allegiance stance
From Catherine Austin
Cave Junction
During a recent Illinois
Valley High School pride
assembly, my daughter, a
junior, chose not to stand
during the Pledge of Alle-
giance. Vice Principal Patty
Dickens-Turk, requested that
everyone stand, and stated
that anyone who was not
standing was thereby show-
ing disrespect to everyone
else.
After the assembly, Ed
Faircloth, the school librarian
and a former mayor of Cave
Junction, suggested that my
daughter move to Canada
because she had refused to
stand. My daughter’s position
is that she is more concerned
with being a conscious hu-
man being in the world that
we share than with being
blindly and exclusively
American.
My daughter has main-
tained a 4.0 grade-point aver-
age and has received aca-
demic praise from her teach-
ers. Outside school, she has
learned about the propaganda
and conditioning used on the
public by government and
corporate mainstream media,
and the egregious gutting of
our Constitution.
The U.S. Constitution is
a far more precious thing than
the Pledge of Allegiance or
the flag.
Our freedom, liberty, and
security are in the Constitu-
tion. Benjamin Franklin said,
“Those who would give up
liberty for security deserve
neither.” Thomas Jefferson
said, “Dissent is the highest
form of patriotism.” My
daughter has noted that free-
dom is a great concept as
long as people don’t insist on
actualizing it. She compares
not standing up for the pledge
to flying the flag upside-
down -- a distress signal that
is often misinterpreted.
Our country is being run
by a ruthless and greedy band
of criminals, to whom our
Constitution is nothing but a
worthless piece of paper with
meaningless concepts that
they wish to get out of the
way.
The problem is that we
are being herded like a pack
of lemmings into an eco-
nomic, moral, and quality-of-
life abyss. I do not say that
lightly. Blind and unquestion-
ing obedience is totally un-
American.
Whoever said that “war
is good for the economy”
needs to get their head exam-
ined. Using government pro-
vided data, the unconstitu-
tional Iraq invasion and occu-
pation alone (with no end in
sight), costs taxpayers $275
million per day, or at a cur-
rent five-year total, a half
trillion dollars.
The expense to Josephine
County is currently at $68
million. That is debt that must
somehow be paid; debt that
not even our grandchildren
will be able to pay off. For
one war and only one
cost. The fascist corporate
criminals who control the
White House say that the
United States needs to
“liberate” Iraq. Some libera-
tion. The only ones I’ve see
celebrating are oil companies
like Exxon Mobil, with their
record-breaking yearly profits
for 2007 at $40.6 billion.
Operation Iraqi Libera-
tion truly is “O.I.L.” Like all
wars, they are not started to
be won. They are to be sus-
tained indefinitely to maxi-
mize corporate profits.
When considering the
warnings that abound
throughout history, such as,
“When fascism comes to
America, it will be wrapped
in the American flag,” and,
“Fascism should be more
properly called Corporatism
because it is the merger of
state and corporate power.” It
is worth noting the stark con-
trast to the liberal rugged in-
dividualism that our founding
fathers wrote about.
They cautioned about
enemies foreign and domes-
tic, and as the current admini-
stration has amassed an ex-
cessive amount of power in
the executive branch, through
presidential directives, sign-
ing statements, executive
orders and secrecy, we need
to remember that “absolute
power corrupts absolutely.”
Goose-stepping with
(Continued on page 3)
Atlantis & Lemuria
and the story of the Snake and the Dragon
Thursday March 13th from 8pm - 10pm
Presented by Jason Matozzo
Join Jason as we explore Atlantis and Lemuria, The First
Deluge (The Great Flood), The War of the Gods and the
Pole Shift 10,173 B.C. Using the latest research into the past
the terrific story of "Pre-Historic" times comes to light,
shattering the myths of conventional "History”.
Community Media & Education Center
140 "C" S. Redwood Hwy. (upstairs)
592-2408 / $3 donation/sliding scale
Fine Dining
Steaks - Chicken - Fish - Large Hamburgers
Restaurant separate from lounge
Now Available Every Day!
Prime Rib & Prime Rib Sandwiches
Bring in this ad for a 10% discount
Open 4 to 9 p.m. (winter hours) 7 days
592-2892 or 592-4222
H.D. PATTON JR
C O
N
S T
541
•
R U
C
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476-2127
Classic Rock
In-shop or
Playing at
Headers
Saturday,
March 15, 7-11
Tony’s
Appliances
541-592-3600
N
Lic #39671
R EACH - U p , S TAND - UP , F LY - UP !
Service & Parts
In-home Repairs
I O