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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, March 19, 2014
costs to harvest hemp were radically reduced. This invention
caught the eye of “Popular Mechanics Magazine” which pub-
lished an article in February 1938 that called hemp the “New
Billion-Dollar Crop.”
While this invention made those in the hemp-based econo-
my feel optimistic about the country’s future, others did not share
the feeling. In the 1930s, DuPont Industries had been developing
chemical-based synthetics such as plastics made from coal and
oil; sulfur based paper making processes; and the nylon that we
By DAN MANCUSO,
now use in our daily lives. DuPont Industries had a problem, and
Publisher
that problem was hemp. Hemp produced four times the amount
of pulp per acre than trees. DuPont products would not fare well
against low cost hemp products.
Throughout history, there have been trends and revolutions
DuPont Industries received a large amount of financial sup-
due to inventions and advances in technology. Along that line, port from Mellon Bank.
The Mellon Bank was owned by Andrew Mellon, who also
one could argue that the synthetic boom of the 1940s was a ne-
happened to be the United States Treasury Secretary and held
cessity due to the Marihuana Tax Stamp Act of 1938.
In “The Emperor Wears No Clothes,” a book about hemp quite a bit of political clout. Mellon had so much clout that he
that was first published in 1985, author Jack Herer argues that was able to handpick the man who ran the Federal Narcotics Bu-
corporate greed and, dare I say, dirty politicians who were finan- reau, Harry Anslinger, who was married to Mellon’s niece.
Given the facts about hemp, why would Mellon contin-
cially invested in certain synthetic companies like DuPont, led to
ue to heavily invest in DuPont? Well, he had a plan. He knew
the criminalization of marijuana.
Herer backs his positions with some thought provoking something that most Americans didn’t know. During the course
facts. According to Herer, in the 1860s, 80 percent of our econ- of two years, Anslinger wrote the Marihuana Tax Act in secret.
omy depended on hemp for paper, fiber and fuel. At that time, Anslinger never spoke to the American Medical Association or
it took 300 man-hours to harvest an acre of hemp. But, with the law enforcement agencies for fear of having it shot down by doc-
invention of the brand new hemp decorticator in the 1930s, the tors, farmers, law enforcement and businessmen.
Life in the
Valley
of Riches
The second part of Mellon’s plan involved William Ran-
dolph Hearst. Mellon used Hearst’s powerful chain of newspa-
pers to work over the public. Hearst was a big investor in the
timber industry, which produced newspaper. Hemp would cause
his investments to wilt.
Because of land lost in the Spanish American War, Hearst
was not a fan of Mexicans and used his papers to show that
“lazy” Mexican immigrants used marihuana, which in turn
shaped American’s negative views on both Mexican immigrants
and “marihuana.” After that, he went after African Americans
by claiming that they abused marihuana, raped white women
and created the satanic music. They even funded a move called
“Reefer Madness” to double down on the issue. By the time
Anslinger shared his bill, even Congress believed that marihuana
was a powerfully addictive and dangerous drug that should be
prohibited. By doing this they killed the “billion dollar” cash
crop in exchange for reaping the profits from DuPont’s chemi-
cals and Hearst’s timber.
Many of our readers grew up in an era that was brainwashed
by Mellon and Hearst, and I understand your position against the
plant. Unfortunately, the basis behind your position was a belief
based on lies fabricated by the rich and powerful.
All this leaves me wondering this: What’s in it for our
elected officials to continue the hoax that hemp and cannabis
are bad and therefore state-sanctioned dispensaries should not
be allowed?
Thank you for picking up this weeks paper, enjoy ~ djm
Letters to the Editor
that time used the county legal consul
to bring this to court. A county judge
overturned the election, the will of
the people and the county charter. In
the name of the state and federal con-
POLICY ON LETTERS:
stitution decided the raising of county
‘Illinois Valley News’ encourages letters
commissioners salaries was an ad-
to the editor provided they are legible
and not libelous or scurrilous. All letters
ministration responsibility and could
must be signed, including name, address
not be voted on. Meaning the county
and telephone number. The latter need
commissioners could decide on their
not be published, but will be used to
own raises of salary. They are now
verify authenticity. The “News” reserves
paid $78,000 a year plus perks. The
the right to edit letters. Letters are used
county commissioners stand firmly
at the discretion of the publisher.
against any lowering of their salaries.
***
They distort and abuse ordinances,
(Editor’s Note: Views and commen-
codes, rules, regulations, charters and
tary, including statements made as
laws. They continue to demand more
fact are strictly those of the letter
writers)
tyrannical ordinances, codes, rules,
regulations and more levies to raise
property taxes.
Charter in question
Then they don’t understand why
I want to thank the publisher
the
voters
consider them arrogant and
of this paper, Dan Mancuso for point-
corrupt.
They
plead with us to trust
ing out the tyranny of the law in Jo-
sephine County. The county commis- government, not to abuse the will of
sioners are once again using building the people and the constitution. Now
ordinances to twist the truth to serve they are claiming if we vote no on
new property tax levies, the lawyers,
their own corrupt purposes.
If you look up the JO CO Char- judges, commissioners and gover-
ter, you will find section 25.2 clearly nor will declare a public safety fiscal
states that the county commissioners emergency and enforce the corrup-
are not to be paid more than $30,000 tion and distortion of the constitution.
a year. The amount can only be rati- Does anyone out there still believe
fied every 4 years with a 2/3 majority we are not in a state of tyranny of the
vote. The county commissioners of law?!
Illinois Valley News welcomes Let-
ters to the Editor.
Please e-mail them to
dan@illinois-valley-news.com
per week! Sounds like CSOS wants to
throw a party, but nobody will come.
Commissioner Simon Hare
Publishers note: This letter was
accepted prior to Mr. Wichers filing recently said if the levy passes, $2
as a candidate for County Commis- million from a carry-over fund would
sioner. Had this letter came in after, be freed up to pay for the D.A. and
Sheriff’s patrols. If Josephine county
it would not have ran.
is partitioned into three areas (Illi-
nois Valley, Murphy and Merlin), and
Just say no!
each area would need 5 Deputies for
Recently, the PAC Citizens
24/7 road patrols, about 15 Deputies
for Securing Our Safety (CSOS) pe-
would be needed. It is estimated that
tition for a five year levy to fund the
each Deputy costs the county about
County jail and Juvenile Justice Cen-
$100,000 per year or $1.5 million,
ter (JJC) was approved for the May
not counting training costs if no pat-
2014 primary. If passed, this levy
trained Deputies can be found. That
would daddle property owners with a
would leave about $500,000 for the
tax rate of $1.19 per $1,000 assessed
D.A.
value for five years, which, for ex-
But it is not known if the cur-
ample would ADD $238 per year on
rent year one supplement of $2 mil-
property assessed at $200,000.
lion will be available in tax levy
But there is something very
years 2, 3, 4 & 5. Commissioner Hare
wrong with this picture. It doesn’t
says, “Our projected carryover for
fund ANY Sheriff’s road patrols! The
2014 – 15 is nothing.” And odds are
jail and JJC is staffed and otherwise
slim to none that federal funds will
operational, but there are no Sheriff’s
be available in the future. If this is
deputies in patrol cars on the road
the case and the levy passes, county
to apprehend or deliver juveniles
taxpayers will still have to pay $8.1
or other law-breakers to the county
milllion levy – year 2, $8.3 million
jail. Earlier this year, there were two
levy – year 3, $8.6 million levy year
dedicated Deputies and the Sheriff
4 and $8.8 million levy year 5. If the
for road patrol funded for only eight
$2 million supplement is not avail-
hours per day, five days a week. Now
able for the next four years, Sheriff’s
there is only the Sheriff and ONE
road patrols and the D.A.’s will not
Deputy funded for only EIGHT hours
Mark Wichers
Cave Junction
be funded, reverting back to virtually
no patrols like we have today. Pas-
sage of the levy, however, benefits
the city of Grants Pass, who will be
able to fill the jail and JJC, leaving
the rest of the county again without
added patrols and D.A.’s and contin-
ued lawlessness.
CSOS and JoCo Commission-
ers must also take responsibility for
this debacle, their only funding solu-
tion was easy pickin’s, property tax
instead of other alternatives, such
as an in-county-only JoCo lottery,
where 10 winners of $10,000 could
reap net proceeds of several million
dollars dedicated only to the Sheriff
patrols.
It’s a sad state of affairs when
rural residents must rely on state po-
lice who race 30 minutes or more to
an incident, only to arrive too late
to prevent it. Has JoCo’s economy
improved so much to justify a third
vote in three years when most of the
county is rural and people are out of
work?
The proposed five year levy
sounds like a lose-lose situation for
county taxpayers.
Vote NO! on the proposed tax
levy on the May primary ballot.
Robert Thomas
Cave Junction
I llInoIs V alley F uneral D Irectors
www.since1928Hull.com
541-592-4110
Obituaries
Lee is survived by his
Please sign the family one year enlisted in the United Company, retiring in 1987. In 2012 he worked for Josephine
Verle “Lee” Pax-
1988,
Lee
went
to
work
for
CP
County
UCAN.
wife,
Linda K. Paxton, of Cave
States
Air
Force
serving
four
guest
book
at
http://www.sin-
ton, age 74, of Cave Junc-
tion, died Tuesday, March 4,
2014, at Three Rivers Medical
Center.
A memorial service will
be at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, April
12, 2014, at Valley Evangelical
Free Church, with Pastor Mar-
vin Porter officiating. Illinois
Valley Funeral Directors are in
charge of arrangements.
ce1928hull.com/.
Remembrances may be
made to the Verle Lee Paxton
Fund at any branch of Wash-
ington Federal.
Lee was born on No-
vember 18, 1939, in Hedrick,
Iowa, to Verle and Freda Pax-
ton. At age 16, he joined the
Iowa National Guard and after
years. In August 1961 he en-
tered the United States Army
and served with the infantry
in the 101st Airborne Divi-
sion. On January 22, 1960,
in Ottumwa, Iowa, he married
Linda K. McCarty. In January
1965 he moved to San Ber-
nardino, California, and began
working for GTE Telephone
National in Colusa, California.
The company later became
Alltel (now Frontier.) He was
promoted to manager within
the company in 1993, and
moved to Cave Junction that
same year. He continued to
work for the telephone compa-
ny until his retirement in 2003.
From November 2005 to May
Lee was a member of Val-
ley Evangelical Free Church
in Cave Junction since 1995.
He served on the leadership
board as well as volunteering
in many other capacities.
His hobbies included
woodworking, breeding and
showing dogs, reading, and
spending time with his family.
Junction, Oregon; two sons,
Brad Paxton and wife Carrie
of Cleveland, Missouri; and
MAJ (Ret) Jason Paxton and
wife Gina of Cibolo, Texas; 11
grandchildren; and four great-
grandchildren.
His parents; three sisters;
and a daughter preceded him
in death.
Save The Date
March 19
Wed, March 19th – Movie: A Chemical
Reaction, 6 p.m., FREE – IV Library, 209 W
Palmer St, CJ 541-592-4778.
“A Chemical Reaction” tells the true sto-
ry of how much of Canada banned Roundup,
Weed ‘n Feed and other pesticides from public
and private property — and how SafeLawns
founder Paul Tukey is steadfastly attempting to
bring that movement to the United States.
March 21-23
Josephine County is pleased to announce
we will be hosting a Community Emergency
Response Team (CERT) Class in the Illinois
Valley March 21st – 23rd.
Registration is limited, please sign up
in advance by contacting Jessica Schwarz,
Emergency Services Manager at jschwarz@
co.josephine.or.us or by calling 541-474-5300.
March 21
Debbie Lukas, who grows over 100 spe-
cies of medicinal plants on their Permaculture
Illinois
Valley
News
Published weekly by
W.H. Alltheway, LLC
Daniel J. Mancuso, Publisher
farm, will present a slideshow of plants (includ-
ing medicinal plants) taken on her recent trip
to Malaysia at this Friday’s March 21 meeting
of the Illinois Valley Garden Club. Come join
us! The IV Garden Club meets the 3rd Friday
of the month at United Methodist Church, 200
W Watkins (across from Shop Smart) in Cave
Junction, OR. Coffee hour is at 12:30p.m.
Meeting starts at 1p.m. For information call
541-592-6009. (You can ‘like’ Debbie on face-
book at Siskiyou Mountain Herbs, Spiral Liv-
ing Center and Frog Farm.)
March 21
Friday, March 21: The Dome School el-
ementary class presents a child-created theat-
rical performance of “Beauteous Black.” The
Moorish African fairy tale is based on the book
illustrated by local artist Johnnie Walker. Bring
snack/dessert dish and small container of wa-
ter for Spring Equinox ritual and potluck after
the performance. Shows starts at 6 p.m. at the
Dome School, 9367 Takilma Road. Free.
POSTMASTER: Please send
address changes to P.O. Box 1370,
Cave Junction OR 97523
Illinois Valley News is published at
221 S. Redwood Hwy.,
Cave Junction, OR 97523
Telephone (541) 592-2541
FAX (541) 592-4330
Since 1937 periodicals postage
paid at Cave Junction OR 97523
P.O. Box 1370 USPS 258-820
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
One year in Josephine
County - $30.50
One year in Jackson and
Douglas counties - $32.50
One year in all other
Oregon counties and
out-of-state - $39.00
Illinois Valley News does not refund subscriptions.
Remainder of subscription will be donated to the
charity of your choice.
March 22
I.V. Little League will be hosting a chili
feed/chili contest from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the
Kerby Belt Building. Come enjoy a night with
the family filled with fun and live entertainment.
Dinner is $5.00 which includes: a bowl of chili,
drink, cornbread and dessert. There will also be
a silent auction of items from local businesses.
Entry fee for the contest is $5.00 per entry.
For more information contact: Ashley Da-
vis at 541-415-4684.
March 26
Wed, March 26th – Craft Night: Minia-
tures, 6 p.m., FREE – IV Library, 209 W Palmer
St, CJ 541-592-4778.
Join Roberta for an evening of creating
miniatures. Whether your interest is doll house,
Barbie or itty bitties, we know you’ll have fun
with this little workshop.
appointment, Noon - 3:00 p.m. walk-ins wel-
come). At the Illinois Valley High School Gym.
Free eye exam & pair of glasses (if needed). To
schedule an appointment call 541-787-0860.
Please leave a message. This clinic is brought to
you by Amigo Vision, Josephine County Foun-
dation & IVHS Leadership Class.
April 12
Open House on April 12, 2014 to invite
Bud Winter’s friends and relatives to spend the
day to help celebrate his 100th birthday. Steak,
chicken, barbecue, plus sides will be served
from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. followed by birthday cake
& ice cream. 5138 Holland Loop Dr., Cave
Junction, 541-592-2743.
April 12
FREE Eye Clinic Saturday April 5th
from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. (9:00a.m. - Noon by
News - Dan Mancuso
dan@illinois-valley-news.com
Circulation - Kimberly Potter
office@illinois-valley-news.com
Advertising / Composition
Dan Mancuso
dan@illinois-valley-news.com
Mailroom - Millie Watkins
Office Manager-Laura Mancuso
office@illinois-valley-news.com
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ages letters to the editor pro-
vided they are legible and not
libelous or scurrilous. All let-
ters must be signed, including
name, 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.
Letters are used at the discre-
tion of the publisher.
