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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Life in the
Valley
of Riches
By DAN MANCUSO,
Publisher
This week’s edition we picked 10 community leaders who
may have an impact on our lives in 2015.
I had planned on using my space this week to eat some
crow and look forward to the upcoming year.
Instead I am running an editoral by John Edgecombe Jr.
which I feel is a little more important than anything I had to
say. Thank you for picking up this week’s paper, enjoy! ~ djm
Rural mail will suffer with more mail plant closures
By John Edgecombe Jr.
Publisher, The Nebraska Signal, Geneva, NE
And President, National Newspaper Association
A friend of mine from South Dakota noted that the U.S.
Postal Service delivered a lump of coal to many small towns
last Christmas when it proceeded to eliminate overnight mail in
most of the nation in 2015. That was a good description. USPS
will slow delivery officially by one day for First-Class and
Periodicals mail. Many members of Congress have asked it to
hold off. But USPS is plowing ahead.
It is time for lawmakers to consider how rural and small
town mail is suffering.
The USPS plans to close more than 80 mail processing
plants in 2015. Smaller plants will be consolidated into urban
plants. It has already closed nearly 150 plants in the past three
years and says service was not affected.
That is hard to believe, at least in small towns.
Longer road trips for most mail, traffic delays in urban
areas to get sorted mail back to the local post offices, post office
closings and shorter business hours have made claims of good
service hard to trust. There is also the upheaval while workers
lose their jobs or have to be retrained. Now, according to the
nation’s mail agency, cost-cutting means admitting service will
be even slower, even in urban areas, by at least a day.
What the public announcements do not say is that when
America’s mail sneezes, rural mail gets pneumonia. Cutting
a service day is a big sneeze even in the metro areas. But
rural and small town mail had already contracted the illness.
Many subscribers who receive newspapers by mail have been
disappointed by late deliveries. The scattered reports we may
hear of delayed credit card payments and business invoices
Letters to the Editor
Illinois Valley News welcomes
Letters to the Editor.
Please e-mail them to
dan@illinois-valley-news.com
POLICY ON LETTERS:
‘Illinois Valley News’ encour-
ages letters to the editor provided
they are legible and not libelous
or scurrilous. All letters 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
discretion of the publisher.
***
(Editor’s Note: Views and com-
mentary, including statements
made as fact are strictly those
of the letter writers.)
Reader found it to
be not funny
Mr. Mancuso,
I’m laughing almost too
hard to compose this comment
on the BBFC feature column
by Annette McGee Rasch.
Little did I know how funny
Ms. Rasch is. Just imagine her
new world order without the
things she would ban: chemi-
cals (no birth control pills, no
cancer treatments); or lawyers
(no issues debated in court
over, say, marijuana use, spot-
ted owl protection), or activi-
ties that alledgedly increase
pollution (no CO2 production
from activities like . . . breath-
ing, or flatulent cows); or poli-
ticians (no Obama, Kitzhaber,
DeFazio).
And her desire for a “biore-
gional board’ to rule on wheth-
er or not one can hurt other life
forms is hysterical. Can you
imagine a board filled with
children, animals, plants and
storytellers (some of the sub-
groups she would still permit
to exist)? (“Hey, Azalea, speak
up . . .!! And, Trigger, please
stop eating Mr. Grass Man and
if you poop one more time in
this conference room, you’re
outta here!” ) Ms. Rasch could
do a whole comedy series on
these scenarios.
Well, I’m off to have din-
ner: a shrimp appetizer, steak
with mushrooms, and mince
meat pie. Thank you, Dan and
Annette! What a truly funny
and enlightening feature col-
umn. Happy New (World Or-
der) Year.
Sue Williams
Cave Junction
would be much louder if consumers felt there was any point in
complaining.
Unfortunately for many—seniors without Internet
capabilities, lower income residents, rural folks without good
Internet service and people who just don’t trust the Internet—
the mail is a necessity.
The USPS inspector general last October chastised the
agency for not fully analyzing the impact from its proposed
plant closings and the Postal Service said it would do so—but
only after its slower service standards go into effect. In other
words, it will consider whether it can reach its goals after it has
lowered them.
Even before the change, it has been hard to find out how
well rural mail is delivered.
The Postal Service provides a public report to its
regulator, the Postal Regulatory Commission, on how well it
performs against its service standards. See Periodic Reports at
www.prc.gov. USPS gathers information on speed of delivery
from several sources, including its own digital scanning. The
greatest volume of mail is in urban areas, so national statistics
may look ok. But the law doesn’t require USPS to report on
how the rural mail is doing. That is something Congress should
consider.
For a list of cities where changes in mail processing are
scheduled in 2015 go to https://ribbs.usps.gov/index.cfm. Then
open “2015 Network Consolidations.”
Barb Padgett wins Southern Oregon
Guild’s 2014 Raffle Grand Prize
Winner of Sheila Mason’s
uniquely charming sculpture,
“Bird’s Nest,” is Illinois Val-
ley resident, Barbara Padgett.
“I told Sheila I was going
to win it,” says Barb, but she
was both shocked and thrilled
when she did.
The sculpture portrays a
woman who has a very spe-
cial relationship with nature.
A small bird sits trustingly on
her hand while its nest full
of eggs rests securely on the
woman’s head. The woman
appears to be talking with the
bird.
“Bird’s Nest” was
the grand prize in Southern
Oregon Guild’s 2014 raffle
series. Tickets were avail-
able at the Guild and through
Guild members throughout
the year, and those who at-
tended the Guild’s quarterly
show opening events receive
a raffle ticket as part of their
admission.
The 2015 grand raffle
prize will be announced early
in 2015.
Guild’s Raf e Grand ri e winner, Barbara
Padgett and good friend Patrick Pennell, express
delight at Barb’s new piece of art, Sheila Mason’s
sculpture, “Bird’s Nest”.
I LLINOIS V ALLEY F UNERAL D IRECTORS
WWW.SINCE1928HULL.COM
541-592-4110
Obituaries
Thomas Joseph
Paulsen; age 65, passed away
peacefully in his sleep Dec. 29, 2014
in Grants Pass, Ore.
A memorial graveside service
is set for January 9th at 10:00 a.m.
at Eagle Point National Cemetery.
Stephens Family Chapel is in charge
of arrangements. Condolences may
be sent to the family at stephensfc.
com.
He was born June 23, 1949 in
Hawley, Minn. to Dorothy Moore
and George Paulsen.
He enlisted in the Army in
1967 and served during the Vietnam
War, ranked E4 Corporal. He was
awarded multiple medals and
badges. He was the front man for our
troops in Vietnam. After two tours in
Vietnam, he traveled to Sierra Leone
in the early 1980’s as a diamond
miner.
He then resided in Southern
Oregon. He graduated from Rogue
Community College with a degree in
welding and worked as a truck driver
for Erickson Trucking until Nov.,
2012 when he retired.
He was a member of “The
Old Guard Riders” riding for Vets,
and enjoyed to ride his Harley. He
enjoyed many activities with this
club and attended biker rallies. He
loved to fish, be outdoors and build
things in his shop. Most of all, he
loved and enjoyed spending time
with his friends and family.
Survivors include two sisters,
Claudia Pratt of Williams, Ore. and
Berdette McDonald of Medford,
Ore.; two brothers David Paulsen
of Kirby, Ore. and Lyle Paulsen of
Rimrock, Ari . Four nephews, five
nieces and two great nieces.
Brant Andrew
Schnitzer, age 60 , died
Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015 at his home in
Kerby, Ore.
A viewing will be from noon
to 3:00 p.m., Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 at
Hull & Hull Funeral Directors.
A Celebration of Life will
begin at 3 p.m., Friday, Jan. 9, 2015
at Hull & Hull Chapel
James Edward Blair,
age 86, of Cave Junction, died
Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014 at his
home.
No services are planned.
Southern Oregon Cremation Services
are in charge of arrangements.
Please sign the family guest
book at www.since1928hull.com.
James was born Aug. 29,
1928 in Pullman, Wash. to James
& Lucille (Parks) Blair. On Oct. 2,
1947 in Cloquet, Minn. he married
Mary Tamillo. From 1945 to 1947
he served in the Merchant Marines.
He later owned and operated Blair
Drywall in Santa Ynez, Calif. After
moving to Cave Junction he worked
as a night guard at Rough & Ready
Lumber for six years.
James especially loved fishing
and hunting with his sons.
Survivors include his wife of
67 years, Mary L. Blair; two sons,
James Michael Blair and Dean
Edward Blair all of Cave Junction,
Ore.; four grandchildren; two
step-grandchildren; many great-
grandchildren; and one great-great-
granddaughter.
Save The Date For more listings go to www.ivcalendar.org
Jan. 7
All are welcome at Cave Junction’s
Seventh Day Adventist Church’s Open
House. Wednesday, Jan. 7, 6 p.m. (each
day except Wednesdays at 5 p.m. until Fri-
day the 16th) Matthew 18:19: “Again I say
unto you, That if two of you shall agree on
earth as about anything that they shall ask
Illinois
Valley
News
Published weekly by
W.H. Alltheway, LLC
Daniel J. Mancuso, Publisher
be done for them of my Father which is in
heaven.” May God Bless.
Jan. 9
Learn about library resources and
tools to make your life easier at a free Wel-
come Workshop, 11 a.m. to noon, Jan. 9 at
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
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Illinois Valley News does not refund subscriptions.
Remainder of subscription will be donated to the
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the Illinois Valley branch, 209 W. Palmer
St. Learn how to search the library catalog
and manage your account, research online
databases, work with student support por-
tals, and download eBooks, all for free.
There will be time for questions and a brief
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Jan. 10
Little League sign ups will be held
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, at the Il-
linois Valley Golf Course.
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
laura@illinois-valley-news.com
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POLICY ON LETTERS:
‘Illinois Valley News’ encour-
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.