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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2009)
Page 2 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Cats don’t necessarily rule our household, but they make a great and hairy attempt. I can tell about the latter because of the furry remnants that they leave behind on our bed and furniture. We still have Jellirabbit, Bubba Big Foot and Flint East- wood in the house. They are, in order, a Jellicle (black- and-white), a Siamese (typical markings and beautiful blue eyes), and a Bombay (all black with yellow eyes). Interest- ing trio these felines, who seem to get along. Mostly. However, Jelli has usurped Bubba as alpha cat. Flinty doesn’t care who’s in charge, as long as he’s pretty much left alone. And when the two other guys fight in their catty ways, Flinty cries. That’s right, he yowls and comes to us for comfort. He is a pacifist kitty. As for the two contenders for the throne, let’s just say that they agree to disagree. Unfortunately, Jelli continually stalks Bubba, which causes no end of difficulties around the rancho. Periodically we’ll hear hissing, running feet … I mean paws … and the chase is on. We have tried some herbal remedies, and they work. Mostly. But our tuxedo cat is truly intimidating. Just his staring will cause the Siamese to leap off the bed via his four six- toed paws, or wherever he’s trying to take a stand. Actu- ally, they’ve both reverted to kitty ambushes. One will hide just outside a door, and when the other guy leaves the room, the bushwacker will pounce. This is followed imme- diately by a frantic chase, hissing and batting at each other as though they’re going to disembowel one another. Our two outside fur snakes continue to be Maui, who is Bubba’s mom, and Deckster, who is a gray-and-white fluffy guy with a pleasant face and personality to match. Maui is mellowing in her “old age,” as Jan rescued her in mid-2002 during the Biscuit Fire. We don’t know how old she was then, but she was pregnant. Despite mellowing she still can be a bit of a terror if she doesn’t like something. Oh yeah, there also are two or three other kitties who come around for handouts. Don’t know their names, but we enjoy being friends. Mostly. ILLINOIS VALLEY’S LOCAL MOBILE RV SERVICE Accessory installation & more Ask about our Spring Check-up Special! 13-point basic check-up starting at $129 95 Call today to schedule your appointment! 541-592-9905 1-4-U RV REPAIR More than 25 years experience RVIA/RVDA Certified RV Repairs The Valley’s Tax Experts Has Joined Forces With... The Nation’s Tax Experts Same Great Preparers & Same Great Service! 204 W. Lister St. Cave Junction, OR 541-592-3667 Illinois Valley News www.illinois-valley-news.com An Independent Weekly Newspaper Co-publishers: Bob & Jan Rodriguez Editor-in-Chief: Michelle Binker 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 P.O. Box 1370 USPS 258-820 Telephone (541) 592-2541, FAX (541) 592-4330 Email: newsroom1@frontiernet.net or newsdesk@illinois-valley-news.com Volume 72, No. 4 Staff: Zina Booth, Brenda Encinas, Scott Jorgensen and Millie Watkins Advertising sales: Kenny Hix Website design and maintenance by Ashgrove Visual Arts Member: Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association (Editor’s Note: Views and commentary, including statements made as fact, are strictly those of the letter- writers.) * * * Typed, double-spaced letters are considered for publication. Hand-written letters that are double- spaced and legible also can be considered. “Thank you” submissions are not ac- cepted as letters. ‘Open I.V. Library’ From Andrea King and Linda Naydol Cave Junction The library will reopen in Cave Junction when 400 Illi- nois Valley residents sub- scribe at the $100 level, or when 1,000 of us subscribe at the $40 level. Such a commit- ment will have almost no effect on an individual budget; less than $10 or $4 per month, respectively. Reopening all libraries in the county has been the goal of Josephine Community Libraries Inc. (JCLI) since its formation in 2007. The sys- tem’s base, the Grants Pass Library, opened last Decem- ber and has established tech- nical support for branch li- braries when their communi- ties offer financial and ener- getic commitment. The adventure of JCLI’s existence is exceptional in the world of libraries. It is a vol- unteer-run nonprofit organi- zation whose sole purpose is to open and maintain commu- nity libraries throughout its home county. To participate in re- establishing the I.V. Branch Library, people can mail a check with a note that it comes from I.V., to Josephine Community Libraries, P.O. Box 1684, Grants Pass OR 97528; complete the auto- matic monthly payment form on josephinelibrary.org, or phone 592-3289. Beware ‘green-washing’ From Shannon Wilson Selma The residents of Takilma, Selma, O’Brien, and the en- tire Illinois Valley should pay special attention to the so- called “fire fuels” reduction projects being touted as resto- ration. The Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest’s real man- date remains the production of tree fiber from native for- ests and future tree planta- tions. The timber industry and the emerging “forest biomass energy industry” still hold the U.S. Forest Service and BLM captive to their whims. Just because the forest service and BLM are propos- ing to use some good folks to do the job does not mean that this will benefit the ecosys- tem (community) and biodi- versity. Earlier this year I wit- nessed the pre-commercial thinning of the replanted Longwood Fire Complex just outside of Takilma. This is just the continuing subjuga- tion of the native biodiverse forests struggling to re- establish itself. By eliminat- ing the naturally seeded spe- cies the forest service and BLM are perpetuating the industrial tree farm model. In fact they are perpetuat- ing the subjugation tactics that have been used on Native American people and native species for more than 500 years. Real fire fuels reduction would be most effective within a few hundred feet of homes. Real restoration would not reduce biodiversity and the populations of native species, but would increase them upon every acre treated. Real restoration would re- move hundreds of miles of eroding and failing forest roads. Real restoration would not degrade nor compact soils and mycorrizial relationships within the forests. The subjugation of the forests in your own backyards may get painted in “green- wash.” Be watchful. Solutions at hand From Bruce Jackson Cave Junction There is something artifi- cial or disconnected about our current financial crisis. The crisis is in the system that has facilitated the accumulation of massive wealth by some and a challenge to survive by most. The problem is more abstract than what can be fixed by all of us merely working harder. There is the growing factor of public awareness. It’s not that people are better educated, or that the general public has a better under- standing of economics and politics than before. In some ways apathy has won, and most people feel helpless to affect the systems of wealth and government. But something else is emerging in the awareness and consciousness of a grow- ing number of people. Ironi- cally, it may be the very op- pression and threat of disaster that serves to awaken us to real solutions. To start with, we must realize there are many per- spectives to view our current situation. If we begin to dissect the system with the intent to fix it, we run into a quagmire of complexity that would put us safely asleep if we study it long and hard enough. Instead we need to think a little more like Thoreau, who described economics of two men. One worked to earn the money for train fare while the other be- gan walking. Both ways have validity, but result in very different experiences. Starting over is not really an option that most of us would care for, as the system for all its evils has produced some remarkable conveniences that keep us careening down the highways at high speed to our next ap- pointment. Indeed the very system that threatens to de- stroy us is helping us all to live more comfortably in many ways. So the system works in some ways, but remains fa- tally flawed. The world now at this critical juncture has a rare opportunity to transform. Unfortunately, real change in this world requires the un- comfortable breakdown of the very system we depend upon to live. I am not an ad- vocate for anarchy nor is any effort needed to bring down a system that is consuming itself at an alarming rate. How long the agony can be prolonged by printing more money and assigning it to our collective indebtedness is yet to be seen, but I pro- pose that we use our remain- ing time to make our own positive effect on this world. I believe we must look past the economics to the real solutions and the real prob- lems that face us. In order for us to have food, shelter, cloth- ing, health care, education, and the agricultural, manufac- turing, and service ability to produce the essential and de- sired stuff that we have come to depend upon, we must give something for it. What have we to give? We have only our lives, our energy, our creative innova- tion. Our heart and souls are our true treasures. And so we live in a world of two reali- ties; our flesh and blood and living soul reality, and our existence as a legal entity with a number. We cannot return to the land like the communes of the ’70s attempted. We can- not live in isolation from the rest of the world that makes our shoes and cars and com- puters. The glory of our pre- sent system is that we can pull into a service station or a grocery store and fill our tank or shopping cart with the swipe of a card. The power lines keep our TVs and com- puters powered while we contemplate organic garden- ing and spiritual awakening. So what can we do while the economy threatens the balance of so many? Our di- rection begins by simply keeping in touch with that question. What resources do we have within our reach? What kindness can we do to relieve the suffering of oth- ers? What good ideas can we implement? How can we build something new? How can we create the kind of community that we would like to live in? How can we live full, healthy and productive lives? May the celebration of resurrection this year be our true willingness to be made new in heart and mind as we trust in our highest inspira- tion, and then find its purest expression in our lives. Resources counter bullying From Sue Lily Cave Junction Our middle school has been celebrating a “Day of Respect” for several years, but it’s a continual process. An April 4, 2009 article in the New York Times by Winnie Hu on the subject of bullying included the following links, for those who wish to help improve communication in our town and county: Knowledge Is Power Program; Second Step: Roots of Empathy; National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform; Character Education Partnership; Thomas B. Ford- ham Institute; Parent Teacher Association. Even smugness is a form of bullying. Brandy’s Boutique & Gifts next to True Value Come Check Us Out Unique Gifts Big Sales on all gifts Clothes Racks $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 WOW! Big Bargains 234 Redwood Hwy. 592-6535 OPEN: Wed. - Sat. 10-5 Closed: Sun. - Tues. Say you saw it in the I.V. News Support the Josephine County Fairgrounds Senior Nutrition Menu Sponsored by DEADLINES: News, Classified & Display Ads, Announcements & Letters Saturday, April 11 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 publisher’s discretion. Letters are used at the discretion of the publisher. Unpublished letters are neither acknowledged nor returned. A prepaid charge may be levied if a letter is inordinately long in the publisher’s 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 illinois-valley-news.com Josephine County Fairgrounds, Pavilion Building Meals are served in the CJ County Bldg. 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