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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, January 13, 2010
CJ council refers social gaming to city voters
Mayor agrees with Subway objection to grease trap rule; delivers ‘State of City’ address
LONG TRAIN COMING - Kerbyville Museum will be
open Saturdays through January so that visitors can view
the Christmas Village and Circus Train display. Hours are
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is a slight charge for admission
to help offset the cost of clean-up from flooding that the
museum sustained during December which caused can-
cellation of scheduled showings. Also, the museum is
collecting canned food for Illinois Valley Family Coalition.
FOOD FOLKS - Valley Bluegrass favorite Eastfork
will perform a concert on Sunday, Jan. 31 to benefit the
LifeLines Ministry, Selma Open Door and Cave Junction
Cares. The performance will be held at the Illinois Valley
Grange Hall, 3763 Holland Loop, beginning at 3 p.m. Do-
nations of cash and food are welcome.
QUAKY SHAKY - An earthquake measured at 6.5
on the Richter scale struck Saturday afternoon, Jan. 9
some 29 miles west of Eureka, Calif. It was reported
that tremors were felt as far north as Eugene and as far
south as Capitola, Calif., south of San Francisco. Sev-
eral Illinois Valley residents reported feeling the quake,
and it was noted that dogs and other animals behaved
in a manner suggesting that they were attuned to the
happenings beforehand.
NOTEPAD - “Happy Birthday” to area teaching
icon Lorna Byrne. She celebrated her 104th birthday at
Redwood Terrace in Grants Pass on Tuesday, Jan.
12 ... IVHS students of art teacher Elaine Barker have
published a calendar featuring scratchboard images.
The decorative calendar is available for sale in Cave
Junction at Cabin Chemistry, Bear Images and the Illi-
nois Valley Visitor Center ... AARP Tax Preparation
Assistance for senior citizens and low-income individu-
als will be sponsored by Illinois Valley Family Coalition.
Phone (541) 592-6139 to schedule an appointment ...
Area codes are required when dialing all phone num-
bers, even local ones, as of Sunday, Jan. 10. While it is
not necessary to dial “1”, the entire 10-digit number will
have to be entered to phone next door, across the val-
ley or to Grants Pass. A new area code, 458, will be
applied to numbers assigned after Feb. 10 ... ’Til Death
Do Us Part, a murder-mystery dinner theater produc-
tion, will be performed on Saturday, Jan. 23 at Selma
Community Center. Advance tickets are available at the
Illinois Valley Family Coalition office, 535 E. River St. in
Cave Junction, behind Jefferson State Financial Group.
Contact Carol Ronan at 592-6139 ... Bumper sticker:
*Now my little voices are texting me!
LAST WORDS - “A people that values its privileges
above its principles will soon lose both." (President
Dwight D. Eisenhower, former U.S. Army general who
served as Supreme Allied Commander during World
War II)
(Continued from page 2)
(that’s 85 percent of us).
Then there’s the 13 per-
cent of us on unemployment;
these measures exempt the
first $2,400 of unemployment
benefits from tax, reducing
taxes for families who have
lost a job.
And of course I keep
hearing how businesses will
leave or won’t locate here
because of the high taxes.
Wrong. Prior to the tax fair-
ness measures, Oregon had
the third-lowest corporate
income taxes in the nation.
Under the new plan, ac-
cording to the Legislative
Revenue Office, Oregon will
have the fifth-lowest corpo-
rate taxes – still close to the
lowest in the nation, and
lower than any other West
Coast state. Washington’s
Business & Occupation tax,
at 0.47 percent, is almost five
times higher than Oregon’s
new corporate minimum tax.
Those against these
measures have said it is class
warfare. Wrong again. Class
warfare was the tax breaks for
those who didn’t need them
under Reagan, Bush, Clinton
and Bush. I didn’t get one,
and I bet most others didn’t
either. They say Oregonians
don’t need these tax in-
creases. Really?
Just ask the local teach-
ers. Three Rivers School Dis-
trict stands to lose $2.78 mil-
lion. We could lose up to 34
teachers. And then ask the
parents. Won’t they be happy
when we have to cut 17 days
of school? Then there’s
Rogue Community College
which stands to lose $2.62
million. More jobs gone out
of the community.
It is fair to increase taxes
for corporations and high
income citizens. It is right to
balance the budget without
taxing low income folks.
I will vote “Yes” for
measures 66 and 67.
We think she’s pregnant…
I’m not sure what to do…
This is going to change my life!
For Confidential Help, call the
Pregnancy Center
592-6058
319 Caves Hwy., Cave Junction
PregnancyCenterIV.org
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Cave Junction voters will
have their say on May 18
about allowing social gaming,
which would include poker,
blackjack and other games of
chance where the house has
no stake or income, within
city limits.
That decision was made
by the city council during its
half-hour long meeting Mon-
day night, Jan. 11 at city hall.
Andrea Thomas, owner
of Nacho Mamas on N. Red-
wood Hwy., had requested
permission from the council
during its December meeting
to host social games.
City Recorder Jim Polk
asked the council to give him
time to check with Josephine
County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson
to gain his perspective on the
matter. He also wanted to
speak with officials from
other cities that have passed
similar social gaming rules.
Monday night, Polk re-
ported back to the council
that Gilbertson expressed no
objections to having social
gaming in city limits.
Polk said that most cities
that have social gaming ordi-
nances on their books have
issued no licenses under
them, and have none pending.
Some cities in Oregon
had social gaming ordinances
and subsequently repealed
them. Polk said that was
largely due to the expansion
of the state’s lottery games
and not due to problems with
Cave Junction Mayor Don Moore delivered a state of the city ad-
dress while Councilor Margaret Miller looks on. ( IVN photo)
increased criminal activity.
Thomas made a renewed
plea to councilors. She said
that her intent is to increase
her business through the fi-
nancially slow winter months.
She added that her building is
(Continued from page 1)
Commissioners choose to skip Cassanelli ...
(Continued from page 1)
in the March 18 primary elec-
tion, also criticized Ellis and
Toler for the move.
Seligman read from a
prepared statement, and char-
acterized the vote by Toler
and Ellis as a “gross miscar-
riage of justice.” He accused
Ellis of “playing politics.”
“This is not right,” Selig-
man said. “Do the right thing.
Rescind your decision.”
Cassanelli stated that if
she were chairman, she
would make more of an effort
to allow citizens to speak up
during meetings.
“We are paid to listen to
the people of Josephine
County,” she said, claiming
that Ellis has a history of
shutting down public com-
ment.
Seligman, still at the po-
dium, asked Toler to elabo-
rate on his motion.
“Why didn’t you do the
fair thing?” Seligman asked.
“I think the public would like
to know.”
Toler did not respond, at
which point Seligman stated
that voters should throw
Toler out of office. That
prompted applause from the
audience.
Ellis restated a previous
warning to the crowd about
clapping and outbursts.
“It looks like you can’t
control the meeting, Dwight,”
Cassanelli said.
Her comment sparked
laughter and further applause
from crowd members. Ellis
then abruptly adjourned the
meeting, cutting off the com-
ment of one audience mem-
ber, Rycke Brown, who had
intended to speak in favor of
the commissioners’ decision.
Many angry audience
members converged outside
of the auditorium afterward.
Some began discussing possi-
ble recall efforts against Ellis.
Later that evening,
Copeland crew lauded
From Jerry Work
Kerby
I want to give kudos to
the Copeland crew working
to bring much-needed clean
drinking water and fire hy-
drants to Kerby.
They have been fast,
efficient, courteous and hard
working. No slackers in this
crew. They have had to con-
tend with all the traffic on
Redwood Hwy. while they
lay pipes down both sides,
including coming right in
front of our building.
They thoughtfully dug
with care so as not to disturb
our street-side plantings or
driveway, brought in the pipe
and fill aggregate, tamped
everything in place and had
us back in business within the
day. That same day they had
to bring the water pipes
across Sixth Street parallel to
the highway and they even
had that back open before
they left for the day.
Today they came back
and paved over the cut in
Sixth Street, leveled every-
thing out and brushed the
street and the highway clean
without so much as throwing
a rock onto our front porch or
entry way. I hope that all fu-
ture public works projects can
be done so professionally.
The guys and gals did a
great job.
Laureate Beta Beta
Laureate Beta Beta had a
successful fall fund raiser for
their local scholarship program.
The raffle prize winners were:
Dottie Childers won a gift card
for Taylor’s Sausage, Rusty
Daughtry won a gift card for
Shop Smart Food Warehouse
and the grand prize winner of a
night stay for two at Seven
Feathers Casino and Resort
was John Patton. Special
thanks to all who supported our
fund raising efforts.
For more information
about the organization, contact
Virginia Gilliam, chapter Vice
President, at (541) 592-2293.
Children's Library
Committee.
Please join us on Saturday
Jan. 16, at 11 a.m. at the I.V.
Branch Library. We will plan
children's reading & art pro-
jects, discuss redecorating the
walls, story time, and more.
Phone Linda Naydol at
(541) 592-3289.
I.V. Fine Artists
Artists in all media and
experience levels are welcome
to share the bright, Open Stu-
dio space at the RCC Belt
Bldg. in Kerby Mondays from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Visitors also are welcome.
Grants Pass attorney Jack
Swift sent an e-mail to Ellis,
stating his opposition to the
move and suggesting that
legal action may follow.
“I was outraged by the
board’s action this morning in
abandoning past practices
because you and Toler have
judged commissioner Cas-
sanelli to be an inferior com-
missioner,” Swift wrote.
“I told (County Legal
Counsel) Steve Rich that I
would be pursuing federal
action against you and the
board to redress what I per-
ceive as a denial of Constitu-
tional rights provided the vot-
ers of this County,” Swift
wrote.
Water Wells
Pump Sales
Installation
Service
592-6777
1470 Caves Highway
Licensed • Bonded • Insured
Locally owned and
operated in the valley
for over 25 years.
WWC #1504 • CCB #152266 • CPl #7-113
Member Oregon Ground Water Assoc.
Imagine getting
fresh, tasty,
locally-grown
vegetables each
week without
shopping, planting,
weeding, watering,
or harvesting.
Sweetwater
Meadows , CSA
has the answer!
9375 Caves Hwy.
Cave Junction
541-592-4637
sweetwatermeadows
@ yahoo.com
Illinois Valley Little League
Chili Feed & Cook-Off
Live Local Band ~ Silent Auction
Saturday, January 16, 4 to 7 p.m., County Building
$5 per meal includes chili, cornbread, drink, & dessert
$5 cook-off entry fee
Winner gets bragging rights for
“The Best Pot of Chili in Town”
plus a gift basket and half of all entry fees
Phone: (541) 415-1718