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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Som e 46 or so years of newspaper work has
provided plent y of am m unit ion for rem iniscing in
colum ns like t his. Gives m e a chance t o dust off
m em ories and recall what it was like in newsroom s
way before t he advent of PCs.
My earliest recollect ions are of t he form er San
Diego “ Evening Tribune” newsroom at 919 Second
Ave., j ust off Broadway. The room was paint ed
wit h what can only be described ( by m e) as bilious
green paint . Som e would call it inst it ut ional green.
What ever: I t was used ext ensively.
I t was a large room . Had t o be, as it cont ained
t he Societ y Sect ion report ers ( all wom en) ; t he
Sport s Dept . ( all m en) ; general assignm ent , beat
report ers and rewrit e m en ( all m ales except for an
occasional wom an) ; cit y desk wit h cit y edit ors and
assist ant cit y edit ors, plus m anaging edit or; t he
t elegraph desk ( for wire service st ories) wit h t he
t elegraph edit or and his assist ant ; and t he phot o
desk ( one guy) . There also was t he rim , a horse-
shoe- shaped t able wit h a slot m an in t he opening,
nearly surrounded by t he proofreaders, who also
wrot e headlines.
There was a const ant hum of act ivit y wit h t he
clat t ering of m anual t ypewrit ers, which lessened on
night side, when a sm aller st aff worked from 2: 30
t o 10 p.m ., alt hough we usually bagged at least an
hour of overt im e. There also was a copy boy shift
from m idnight t o 6: 30 a.m ., when you were t he
only person on t he ent ire t hird floor. That ’s fuel for
anot her st ory.
Most of us sm oked cigaret t es and drank a lot of
coffee. I t seem ed t o be an occupat ional hazard,
along wit h t he st ress of m eet ing absolut e deadlines
for five edit ions.
On t he fringes of t he newsroom were t he phot o
lab, wit h individual room s equipped wit h developing
t rays and enlargers for each phot ographer; offices
for colum nist s; t he execut ive edit or’s office; and
t he edit or’s office guarded by his execut ive secre-
t ary, a form idable wom an who probably had been a
prison guard.
There also was t he wire room , filled wit h clat -
t ering t elet ype m achines. I t also had desks for t he
report ers from AP and UPI . I loved t he at m os-
phere; it was excit ing in a real sense: clat t ering
t ypewrit ers, t elephones ringing, report ers and pho-
t ogs com ing and going; j ust a cont rolled chaos all
aim ed at producing an inform at ive, int erest ing
newspaper. Tension on a deadline.
Oh, I forgot about a far corner of t he news-
room ; a sit e wit h t hree desks cram m ed t oget her t o
accom m odat e: The copy boys. That ’s where I
st art ed. I was a gofer. I fet ched coffee, cleaned
and refilled glue pot s; sharpened pencils; ran pho-
t os t o t he engravers across t he st reet ; picked up
t he “ zincs” wit h t he phot o im ages on t hem ; ran
down t o Com posing. God, it was great t o be in-
volved in such a heady operat ion. Confusion, but
wit h direct ion.
Through t he years since becom ing a newspa-
perm an I ’ve covered plane crashes, t rain crashes,
shipwrecks, car crashes, t rials, hom icides, suicides,
wildfires, st ruct ure fires; lot s of deat h and dest ruc-
t ion, including cit y council m eet ings ( an inside
j oke) . I ’ve been im pressed, depressed and dis-
t ressed. I ’ve covered power boat and yacht racing,
surfing cham pionships, spelling bees, science fairs,
high school sport s, ship arrivals and depart ures,
m em orial services, parades, circuses, and all sort s
of m eet ings.
I t ’s not over yet . Just had t o share som e recol-
lect ions. I t felt good. Probably won’t be able t o
handle anot her 46 or
so years, but I ’ll t ake
FREE RENT *
what ’s left . However,
don’t expect t o see m y
at
room s paint ed inst it u-
Bargain Storage
t ional green.
3rd Month FREE with
two full months rental
of any unit.
541-592-3355
*new customers only
Advertising doesn’t cost,
It pays! Phone 592-2541
to reserve your space in
the I.V. News
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. 50
Staff: Zina Booth, Brenda Encinas, Scott Jorgensen and Millie Watkins
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POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to
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(Editor’s Note: Views
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Tree planting unfunded
From Susan Chapp
Cave Junction
For the first time in 20
years, the Forestry Action
Committee did not get fund-
ing for its annual Tree
Planting Project. Rather
than let the program drop,
we are doing it as volunteers
this season, no paid staff.
It is quite a challenge,
and a great experience dem-
onstrating the kind of volun-
teer effort this community
can accomplish.
Volunteer Day, when
the good people of this com-
munity show up and plant
trees where they are needed,
is set for Feb. 27, the last
Saturday of the month. I.V.
Soil & Water Conservation
District still is offering the
25-cents a tree program in
conjunction with Volunteer
Day, where youths can earn
money for their class or or-
ganization through the seed-
lings they plant.
We need adults to help
plant the trees. It is a good
family activity. Even those
not connected to a group
can just show up, have a
good time, and help get
those trees planted.
Those who want their
youth group to participate,
or have any questions or
comments or need direc-
tions, can phone 541-592-
4098. We can use food do-
nations for the potluck feast
that follows the planting
activities.
Volunteer planters of all
ages should show up at the
U.S. Forest Service lower
compound at the south end
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall
recorded at The End of the Road
in O’Brien by Cheryl & Harry
Johnson:
*Fri., Feb. 12 49 43 .83
*Sat., Feb. 13 61 46 .00
*Sun., Feb. 14 51 45 1.02
*Mon., Feb. 15 58 44 .04
*Tue., Feb. 16 59 40 .00
*Wed., Feb. 17 54 38 .00
*Thu., Feb. 18 55 37 .00
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures and rainfall
recorded by Oregon Builders
Guild in Cave Junction:
*Fri., Feb. 12 50 41 .43
*Sat., Feb. 13 62 40 .01
*Sun., Feb. 14 52 39 .73
*Mon., Feb. 15 57 44 .01
*Tue., Feb. 16 63 41 .01
*Wed., Feb. 17 54 37 .01
*Thu., Feb. 18 58 36 .01
Cave Junction
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Rather cloudy
High--51 Low--31
Thursday, Feb. 25
Clouds and sun
High--54 Low--32
Friday, Feb. 26
Cloudy, rain, breezy
High--52 Low--29
Saturday, Feb. 27
Mostly cloudy
High--54 Low--29
Sunday, Feb. 28
Partly sunny
High--58 Low--29
Monday, March 1
Periods of rain
High--58 Low--36
Tuesday, March 2
Rain
High--53 Low--32
of Cave Junction around 9
a.m. on Saturday the 27th.
Dress for the weather. Bring
a planting tool if you have
one. Come ready to have a
good time.
D.C. culture in JoCo?
From T.A. Allan
Cave Junction
So now we have a candi-
date for county commissioner
who is fresh from Washing-
ton, D.C. and it appears that
he might have brought some
Washington, D.C. culture
with him.
On his campaign Web-
site he has photos labeled
“Supporters.” One photo
shows Sheriff Gil Gilbertson.
However, the sheriff is actu-
ally backing Dave Toler for
re-election.
So within just days of
announcing his candidacy,
this Washington, D.C. guy
has made a major misrepre-
sentation of Gilbertson.
I suspect that by the time
this letter hits the pages of
Illinois Valley News, the mis-
representation will be re-
moved. But that doesn’t erase
the misdeed.
While such misrepresen-
tations might be business as
usual in his former D.C.
stomping grounds, I think
he’ll find that folks in Jose-
phine County aren’t too keen
on it -- no matter how it’s
packaged.
Can’t swim in sprinklers
From Celine Martens
Cave Junction
It has been a while since
we’ve heard any word on our
Illinois Valley Swimming
Pool. Last I remember, Cave
Junction Mayor Don Moore
said that he was able to raise
$15,000 to turn it into a sprin-
kler site.
I am sorry, but people
cannot learn to swim in sprin-
klers, and the rivers are too
By ED FEULNER
The Heritage Foundation
Suppose you made 10
trips to an ATM, but three of
those times it was out of or-
der. Or if, in 10 visits to a
fast-food place, the milkshake
machine was broken three
times. Think you’d find a
different bank and a better
take-out restaurant?
The fact is, when dealing
with customers, getting it
right 70 percent of the times
isn’t nearly good enough.
Unless, of course, you have
the power of the U.S. govern-
ment behind you.
As Americans begin
thinking about tax season, the
IRS promises that, this year, it
will aim to answer 71 percent
of the phone calls to its help-
line number, 800-829-1040.
So the agency begins the tax
season by admitting it plans
to ignore three out of every
10 callers.
This would actually be a
slight improvement from
2008, when only five out of
every 10 calls to the IRS were
answered. And it would
roughly equal last year’s
“success rate”, when seven
out of 10 calls were an-
swered.
Meanwhile, those who
do manage to get their call
answered must endure the
waiting game. The average
caller will spend 12 minutes
on hold.
“This level of service is
unacceptable,” said Nina Ol-
son, a national taxpayer advo-
cate. She called the IRS unre-
sponsiveness the “number-
one most serious problem for
taxpayers.” (Wonder if she’s
ever been audited?)
In the agency’s defense,
spokesman Michelle Eldridge
told The Washington Post
that, “The bottom line is we
have answered millions more
phone calls in the last two
years than ever before.”
That’s undoubtedly true. Year
cold for infants and the eld-
erly. At 85 degrees, the tem-
perature that the solar system
on our pool water can be
brought to, on hot summer
days, is perfect to learn life-
saving methods and skills.
If we can mend the integ-
rity of our pool, the water is
already seeped in from rain
and run-off. With the money,
a certification for a pool
chemical person to keep with
regulation, and the idea of
being a life guard and work-
ing the front desk, at least a
few of our ambitious area
youth can have summer jobs.
The future of our pool is
up to the community. We
need support. The voice of
people who care can move
mountains. Letters of support
can be written for our com-
munity pool. Those who
don’t swim will fill it with
dirt or put in sprinklers for
our water needs. To support
our youth and needs of our
community, we can’t settle
for less than a functioning
pool.
Summer will be here
before we know it, and we all
know how hot it gets. Let’s
be ready to provide jobs and a
safe place to teach our young
how to swim.
A group of valleyites affiliated with the international Women in
Black movement, have been standing in silent vigil on this corner
of Redwood Hwy. and Lister Street in front of the Josephine County
Bldg. since 2002, prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In their
vigil, said one member, they seek to “let people in Illinois Valley
know that there are those who believe that there are more reason-
able ways to conduct ourselves than through violence.”
(Photo by Michelle Binker, Illinois Valley News )
after year, Congress makes
changes to the tax code, mak-
ing it even more difficult to
understand. That’s why most
taxpayers pay someone else
to prepare their return; they’re
afraid to make an expensive
mistake.
They’re right to worry.
Even if they can get through
to the IRS for help, taxpayers
are often steered wrong.
For example, a 2004
Treasury report found that the
IRS provided incorrect an-
swers 20 percent of the time.
In the agency’s defense, that
may be because there often
isn’t one single, apparent cor-
rect answer. For many years,
Money magazine asked 50
tax professionals to prepare
sample returns. Year after
year, the pros came up with
different tax liabilities --
sometimes differing from
each other by as much as
$1,000.
Even when IRS advice
isn’t wrong, it’s often mis-
leading.
Last year, the Treasury
Dept. studied the IRS pro-
gram that provides volunteer
tax preparers to those who
ask for help. Some 41 percent
of returns were filled out in-
correctly. “If 17 of the incor-
rectly prepared tax returns
had been filed, taxpayers
would not have received
$4,138 in tax refunds to
which they were entitled,” the
Treasury report found. Quite
a price to pay for free help.
The real problem is that
lawmakers keep trying to use
the tax code to shape social
policy. They then compound
the mistake by ramping up
the IRS workload without
providing additional resource
to do the work.
Congress gives tax
breaks to induce people to
save for retirement. It aims to
encourage oil production --
but in trying to discourage
energy tax shelters, lawmak-
ers thwart most of the incen-
tives.
It gives tax breaks for
installing a particular type of
window in your home. It
gives a tax credit for each
child, but beware: the amount
of that credit will plunge next
year unless lawmakers act
this year.
Enough. The purpose of
a tax code is to collect reve-
nue to fund the federal gov-
ernment. And that’s all it
should be used for. In 1986,
lawmakers greatly simplified
the tax code, but we’ve al-
lowed it to get out of hand
again in the decades since.
It’s time for a flat tax that we
can all understand and com-
ply with.
Maybe we can’t force
government bureaucracies to
become as responsive or ef-
fective as McDonald’s em-
ployees are. But at least we
can ensure that Americans
can fill out something as ba-
sic as a tax form without
needing to place an unan-
swered or errantly answered
call to the IRS.
illinois-valley-news.com
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