Page 2
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Been having some difficulty getting up in the mornings,
and it’s making me feel down. Does this mean that my en-
ergy is going down while my age is going up?
Actually, the whole up-and-down situation in our lan-
guage is more of a downer than an upper.
For example, when a store goes out of business, is it
closing up or closing down? When there’s a major struc-
ture fire, does the building burn up or down? In large cities,
what’s the difference between going uptown or downtown?
It’s all quite confusing to my literal editorial-type brain.
Sometimes there are significant differences in the us-
ages of up and down. Putting someone down is way differ-
ent than putting someone up, unless you’re talking about
picking up an infant vs. putting the same child down.
When a TV emcee shouts to a contestant, “Come on
down!” wouldn’t it be just as good to scream, “Come on
up!” And what about telephone calls? Why do we call up
someone? Why do we slip up?
Why not avoid using up and down when appropriate?
They often are unnecessary: Phone me. I slipped. The
building burned. See what I mean? I have to admit that
there are times the words are OK and useful. Pick that up.
Put that down. They make sense.
But many times the words are simply thrown in for no
good reason. Why do people say they’re going to cook up
something? It’s alright to cook something down if it has too
much liquid, but do we really cook it up? Maybe we should
write that down. Or do we write it up? Perhaps we should
look it up. There’s an upside and a downside to most every
situation.
And notice that we work hard to avoid using that cheap
and lazy word, “things.” We
strive to find the proper
word, rather than taking the
easy way out by utilizing
“things.”
What’s up with that?
Cave Junction
Wednesday, April 14
Afternoon showers
High--51 Low--36
Thursday, April 15
Partly sunny
High--55 Low--41
Friday, April 16
Partly sunny
High--54 Low--45
Saturday, April 17
Clouds and sun
High--59 Low--45
Sunday, April 18
Sun and clouds
High--57 Low--47
Monday, April 19
Periods of rain
High--65 Low--33
Tuesday, April 20
Cool rain
High--57 Low--35
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, rainfall and
snowfall recorded at The End of
the Road in O’Brien by Cheryl
& Harry Johnson:
*Fri., April 2
*Sat., April 3
*Sun., April 4
*Mon., April 5
*Tue., April 6
*Wed., April 7
*Thu., April 8
48
48
43
37
57
70
52
351.49
34 .28
33 .59 3.0
37 .00 1.0
36 .00
33 .05
40 .00
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures and rainfall
recorded at Oregon Builders
Guild in Cave Junction:
*Fri., April 2
51 35 1.22
*Sat., April 3
50 33 .03
*Sun., April 4
44 33 .53
*Mon., April 5
45 32 1.12
*Tue., April 6
56 33 .28
*Wed., April 7
69 32 .00
*Thu., April 8
47 39 .03
(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.
Management, not politics
From John Gardiner
Cave Junction
Most of the people I
know are frustrated by the
political nonsense that bedev-
ils our country, all too often
driven by moneyed interests.
Groaning inwardly at the
thought that we were shortly
to be inflicted locally with yet
another round of political
polemics, I thought about
what I wanted from a county
commissioner. What came to
mind are job creation, secu-
rity, education and public
access to recreational space.
However, I don’t want
decisions based on political
ideology. Josephine County
residents cannot afford
county business decisions to
be made on anything other
than “What is good for the
county.” That may mean a
leaner administration, though
it may have already been
“leaned” as far or further than
the optimum.
What is more important,
in my view, is that small busi-
ness in this county is encour-
aged to expand and offer
more opportunities for family
wage employment. Small
business also needs greater
security – witness the rash of
break-ins in Cave Junction.
At the same time, our
community needs its libraries
and safe recreational space;
my wife and I are grateful to
be able to donate books to our
IVHS Activities Calendar
Celebration of life for
brought to you by the folks at
Jer r y Buell
Saturday, April 24, 1 p.m.
Art’s Red Garter in Cave Junction
Bankers Life and Casualty Company
For the life of your retirement
In the insurance Business since 1879, we offer:
• Drug Discount Cards
• Medicare Supplement Insurance
• Long-Term Care Insurance
• Annuities
• Life Insurance
Roger “Kent” Chidester
Your Local Licensed Agent
541-415-2770
Medford, Oregon
02-B005 Neither Bankers nor its agents are connected with the U.S. Government or the
Federal Medicare Program.
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 73, No. 5
Staff: Zina Booth, Brenda Encinas, Scott Jorgensen and Millie Watkins
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POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to
P.O. Box 1370, Cave Junction OR 97523
541-592-3556
Cave Junction
541-471-7487
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Medford
THURSDAY, APRIL 15
* After Hours - 21st Century:
homework help, mountain
biking, beading @ 3:30 p.m.,
indoor soccer @ 4:30 p.m.
* Softball at North Medford
Varsity girls @ 4:30 p.m.
* Softball at Rogue River
JV girls @ 4:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, APRIL 17
* Track at Crater
Crater Rotary Classic
Co-ed @ 10 a.m.
* Softball vs. Phoenix
Varsity girls @ 10 a.m.
* Baseball vs. Phoenix
JV boys @ noon
* Baseball at Phoenix
Varsity boys @ noon
* Softball at Phoenix
JV girls @ noon
MONDAY, APRIL 19
* Golf at North Valley
Varsity girls @ 8 a.m.
* Golf at North Valley
Varsity boys @ 1 p.m.
* After Hours - 21st Century:
homework help, orchestra,
college prep / ASPIRE
@ 3:30 p.m.
TUESDAY, APRIL 20
* Golf at Henley
Varsity girls @ noon
* After Hours - 21st Century:
homework help, martial arts /
tai yuan tao, mountain biking
@ 3:30 p.m.
yoga @ 4 p.m.
* Baseball vs. Henley
Varsity boys @ 4:30 p.m.
* Softball vs. Henley
JV girls @ 4:30 p.m.
* Softball at Henley
Varsity girls @ 4:30 p.m.
* Baseball at Henley
JV boys @ 4:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21
* After Hours - 21st Century:
homework help, scrapbooking,
orchestra, IVHS annual,
SMILE / science & math club
@ 3:30 p.m.
(All 21st Century events are free, open to
students, homeschoolers, staff and parents/
guardians of students at any I.V. school.)
CJ library (bless you, all who
manage to keep the doors
open). The recent good work
on our parks – again involv-
ing many volunteers - is a
vital initiative to maintain.
Since we came to live in
CJ, we saw first a worsening
in all these areas, and then a
resurgence of investment and
interest of which CJ residents
can feel proud. So far as we
can see, no political agenda
has driven these initiatives –
just sound county manage-
ment promoted by commis-
sioners Ellis and Toler.
In my view, we need
commissioners who are good
managers, who know from
experience how the land lies
locally. They need to know
how to initiate and make solid
progress in these areas; I shall
be looking at the candidates’
track records of accomplish-
ment before casting my vote.
Never mind the politics – can
they manage a tight budget?
Facts vs. ideology
From Waves Forest
Cave Junction
Watching the candidates
forum in Cave Junction re-
minded us of the joke: “There
are three kinds of people:
those who understand math
and those who don’t.”
A recurring theme was
the notion that we can scale
up logging to cover the
county’s operating costs. That
ship already sailed, taking
most of our giant trees with it,
back when extraction costs
were a much smaller fraction
of timber revenues. And now
we know the ecosystem ser-
vice values of a mature forest
are worth several times the
profit from any lumber we
can take out of it.
John Lesh cited Alaska
as a model we can follow, but
Alaska’s surplus comes from
oil, which makes up more
than 80 percent of its econ-
omy. The only oil boom pos-
sible in this county would be
from hempseed oil, an option
not mentioned at the forum.
Jack Brown’s Website
reads, “We need to struggle
against the forces of nature.”
That’s the very attitude that
caused our country’s ecologi-
cal and economic crises in the
first place. His site also
states, “I will make sure you
are heard when I am elected
to the Oregon Legislature.”
So either he doesn’t notice
important details or he does-
n’t really want to be a com-
missioner, except as a step-
ping stone.
Simon Hare, whose
Website lists values, but no
plans, suggested we find out
how Douglas and Jackson
counties meet their operating
costs. Dave Toler pointed out
they do so by having property
tax rates two and four times,
respectively, that of Josephine
County.
Toler consistently gets
his facts straight while others
struggle. He’s avoided the
expensive mistakes of the
past and helped repair much
of the damage. And he’s put
up with a lot of abuse without
getting sidetracked from the
essential task: fiscal manage-
ment in all its complicated
non-glory.
We do like some of the
candidates, as people, but that
doesn’t mean we think they’d
make better commissioners.
Even Ellis says he’d rather
work with Toler than with
any of the others. We don’t
always agree with Toler, or
with anyone, come to think of
it, but we observe he’s basing
his decisions on the facts and
figures as he understands
them, not on some ideology.
Ideologies, whether po-
litical, scientific or religious,
induce people to ignore phe-
nomena which conflict with
them, and interfere with clear
unbiased perception.
One thing several candi-
dates got right: our county’s
most valuable resource is
people, and the ideas, imagi-
nation and energy we can
bring to meet the challenges
ahead. If we don’t let fear or
resentment hold us back, an
entirely new form of prosper-
ity is coming. Stay tuned.
Toler accomplishments
From Aaron Howard
Takilma
I went to the forum in
Cave Junction to find out
about the candidates. Simon
Hare, recently back from
Washington, D.C., criticized
Commissioner Dave Toler for
the county not having as
much reserve funds as Jack-
son County.
He said that he would
like Josephine County to
copy Jackson County for the
answers to a better county
government. What he didn’t
say out loud is that Jackson
County has a property tax rate
nearly four times that of Jose-
phine County. It was a shock
finding out that Simon simply
wants to increase our taxes by
four times.
Meanwhile, Toler talked
about his accomplishments in
helping the library, bringing
more than 100 jobs to Jose-
phine County and saving us
more than $800,000. Words
are cheap, but actions speak
louder than words.
As a young farmer, I
work hard, and that’s what I
expect from my commis-
sioner. For my money, I vote
Toler.
Toler and Ellis a good team
From Doug Kendall
Takilma
My hat is off to Commis-
sioner Dwight Ellis for sup-
porting Commissioner Dave
Toler. Ellis and Toler are two
people with different political
views who have worked to-
gether to bring positive
change for our county.
In this time of great po-
litical polarity we need this
good example of diverse rep-
resentation coming together
for all the people, not just one
side. Toler’s sound manage-
ment and good fiscal respon-
sibility have helped to create
more jobs and improve our
libraries and parks.
The county bond rating
has been upgraded from A- to
A+ during Toler’s tenure al-
lowing the refinance of the
jail bond, saving taxpayers
more than $800,000.
A vote for Toler is a
vote for fresh thinking, new
approaches and balanced po-
litical cooperation in our
beautiful county.
Cutting to issues
From Shelley Heon
Cave Junction
I think it is an important
moment to look realistically
(Continued on page 3)
Would you know what to do if someone you
know was thinking about suicide?
QPR: Question · Persuade · Refer
QPR is intervention training to help you offer hope to
someone thinking about suicide. The training is FREE and is
for ANYONE who wants to learn how to help.
Tuesday, April 27, 3 to 4:30 p.m., I.V. Family Coalition
535 East River Street, Cave Junction
Refreshments provided
Please register with Jenifer at 541-218-4539 or
jperry@collegedreams.org