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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (May 24, 2017)
Page A-2 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, May 24, 2017 Letters to the editor just quieter and busy caring 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 The latter need not be published, but will be used to verify authenticity.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.) Where in the World is Takilma? Takilma. This was our peaceful, beautiful world when we moved here in 2005 and found we were surrounded by kind, caring, amazing neighbors. We loved it here. It was a healing, inspiring place. We had horses to ride and trails to hike and new friends to make. I began creating gardens and adding new landscaping to our property and we cleaned up the land. It was all positive. The sweetest treat was when Patrick Farley would sit outside his house on the ridge and play his flute or saxophone and the lovely music would float on the air, enchanting and soothing all his neighbors. It was magical then. I miss the neighbors who are gone. I miss what was and dislike what is now. I can complain about lawbreakers. I can stop giving lifts to town to the new batch of transient strangers. They are not the same kind of people we used to have here. Life is more dangerous and less pleasant and certainly we are disrespected. Theft, vandalism, violence, and trashing the land are now common, where once it was rare. This was the heart of the Back to the Land Movement in the 1970s. Now we get the “I’m Entitled to Do What I Damn Please and Screw You” folks moving in. This is not sustainable. Longtime locals will finally get fed up and take back the Land of Takilma (I hope and pray). Once in a while a group of us gather and I feel that warm connection to friends and for a moment believe that we are all still here. Maybe the tight-knit community is for our land, while the newer, noisier strangers are busy throwing up huge grow fences and destroying hay fields, gardens, old farms, and bits of our local heritage for the new industry. I must learn to trust that my neighbors and friends are still here, still the same, and dedicated to making our world a better place, as I am trying to do in my own small way. Linda Corey Takilma Hello I.V. Community, I have lived in the valley for a little over 20 years. My husband is retired from the Air Force and I have worked in one nonprofit charity or another my entire life. So I guess I feel we have been “giving back” to the community as much as we can. I have voted every single year since I became eligible to vote and, while not an expert, I feel somewhat well informed about our varying social and political issues. Every season I vote to “hire” one politician or another to work for our community. If someone is elected for whom I did not vote, I move on – it’s the will of the people, and I do my part to keep contributing to our culture, no matter the party who is leading us. However….when the person whom we as a community have hired to work for us, demonstrates consistent ongoing lying, nepotism and graft, (“Graft, as understood in American English, is a form of political corruption, being the unscrupulous use of a politician’s authority for personal gain.”)…..well then, I draw the line. For me it’s not about party – if someone is good and right for a job, I vote for that person. But as a member of the community who employ our politicians, I demand honesty. I demand truth. I want to know what happened when the Russians invaded our election process. I am joining with many other concerned citizens nation- wide, state-wide and county- wide in the June 3rd March for Truth, to make it clear to our “leaders” that we want transparency and we want honesty. This is a national movement for creating a better future in our country. We want to see an Independent Commission established, with subpoena power, so that the public can learn as much as possible. While an Independent Counsel is a step, he is under no obligation to let the public know what is going on! There are unanswered questions about what role the Russians played in our 2016 election process. “If the President was elected even in part due to collusion with a foreign effort to interfere in our democratic process, then the will of the people has been subverted.” ~ D.Smith I am hopeful that our speaking up, and demanding accountability will make our country stronger. I feel a great deal of trust in our democratic process and I am very proud of all those who have defended it, and are still defending it. Public outcry is one of the essential checks and balances of our democracy. Our First Amendment freedoms were instituted to prevent abuses of power, and prevent unlimited corruption. But like other rights, they only work when they are exercised! We don’t live in Turkey, where this week we learned first hand that peaceful public demonstration incurs a beating from thugs in power. Here in the United States we are proud and privileged to be able to say we allow peaceful Freedom of Speech. So let’s speak out! As my neighbors and friends, I invite you to join with other concerned citizens in the Josephine County March for Truth, June 3, 2-4 p.m., taking place in Cave Junction, at the county building 102 S. Redwood Highway. It will be peaceful. It will be large. It will be fun! But bring your signs. There will be a sign-making party on Monday, 5-29 at the Cedar Brook Estates Club House from 5 to 6 p.m., 497 Laurel Rd, Cave Junction. ~ With Love and Respect for our Valley Community, Patty Downing, O’Brien Reader tells a tale Daddy, tell me about the good old days when America was really great. There was a time, son, when our nation’s highest office came with expectations of humility, rather than self-aggrandizement; a time when our President asked what he could do for his country, rather than what the country could do for him. A time before an avalanche of “Alternative Facts,” a time before lies slid by unchallenged in an era of ‘Post Truth”. A time when “America First” meant that national interest came before personal gain, and being President was not some scheme to make a wealthy man and his family even richer. When “conflict of interest” did not refer to which woman to come on to next. Maybe we can’t return to the good old days, son. Now speeches like FDR’s “Day of Infamy ” or “ Nothing to fear but fear itself ” are replaced by chest thumping, bragging and childish name calling. But then, son, maybe the good old days weren’t so good either, when young men like you were dragged off the street to fight and die in a losing war, and many were imprisoned for even speaking out against it. Watch out, son, for Emergency Powers, for hysteria about threats like Weapons of Mass Destruction and a Trumped-up need to suspend rights, democracy and rule of law to meet some confabulated crisis. Son, many of us would like to make America great again. But when the president only trumpets his own “greatness” that goal moves farther away with every tweet. Robert Hirning Takilma Tax Distortions Glenn Mollette’s column in the May 10 issue of the I.V. News is so rife with inaccuracies and distortions that it is hard to know where to start in listing them. First, his examples seem to confuse TOTAL income with TAXABLE income, which is what tax is based upon. Second, he misapplies the MARGINAL tax rates, which grossly overestimates the amount of taxes owed. If one is just barely in the 15% MARGINAL tax bracket, one actually pays at the 10% rate on almost all of one’s income, and at 15% only on the income above that break- point. Likewise for the other brackets. I understand that he is trying to make a point or two, and is not claiming absolute accuracy. However, the degree of error in his conclusions is not trivial. Let’s take that low income example. Assuming the $9,276 is TAXABLE income, and there are no adjustments to income, and that this person does not itemize deductions, then he/she would have already subtracted $10,350 (lumping standard deduction and personal exemption), meaning TOTAL income is $19,626. Not that great, but not nearly as dire as he made it seem. That means, by the way, he/she would actually be in the 10% bracket, not 15%. So the income tax would be $928 (2016 federal tax tables), rather than $1391 as claimed. This is an error of 49.9% above the correct amount, which is enormous and extremely misleading. His other examples have the same types of errors in them. And of course, one or more tax CREDITS might apply also (for example, the Earned Income Credit and Child Tax Credit, if he/she was supporting a child), which might result in this person receiving a hefty tax refund far beyond what he/she had withheld from paychecks. We all like to complain about our taxes going to programs and departments we don’t believe in. Some like to complain about paying ANY taxes at all, though how they expect civilization to continue without paying into it is beyond me. (We are testing that concept here in the IV.) My intent is not to defend the tax system, but merely to make sure people do not form opinions based on bad information. And we all wish, like Mr. Mollette, that paying less tax would stimulate the economy to the point that overall tax revenues remain the same. This is what is known as “trickle-down economics,” it is very nice for rich people, and it has never worked as envisioned. As just one example, Ronald Reagan managed to push through a huge tax cut based on trickle- down, and later had to resort to increasing taxes again, as his grand plan ballooned the deficit to a frightening degree. There are more distortions, but suffice it to say I’m glad I haven’t hired Mr. Mollette to do my tax returns. My main complaint about the current tax system is that it is so absurdly complicated that many intelligent people, including columnists, can easily misunderstand it. For those of you who find the tax world far too complicated, the good folks at H&R Block of S Oregon/ Crocker Financial Services, including myself, are available to help explain and help prepare. William Gray Licensed Tax Preparer Takilma Technology is the real job killer Thank you for this opportunity to respond to the Associated Press article by Gillian Flaccus in last week’s edition. The loss of the O&C funds for our timber communities is a thorny problem, no doubt. But just once, in these types of analytical articles, I would appreciate seeing the mention of a commonly overlooked fact that bears a great deal of the blame for this mess: over extraction of a public resource by corporate interests. I’m from the northern Colorado/ Wyoming area where shale oil has come and gone through the years. All extraction industries (industries that provide us with oil, coal, wood, minerals, i.e. things we need) are boom and bust industries. There is an abundant resource, such as our Pacific NW forests, companies move in and mine that resource (frequently making extraordinary profits in the process), the resource is depleted and then the company leaves. This happens all over the world. The communities that are providing the man-power and tax-funded infrastructure for these harvests are rolling in the dough until the pickings get thin and then the resource runs out and the community is plunged into poverty. Anyone who does a little research on this topic will realize quickly that all of the low hanging, super profitable fruit in our forests was “picked” during that 1980’s harvest of a billion board feet per year. What was left after that was smaller diameter, less profitable logs and a LOT of degraded forest lands. When the profit flow slows the timber companies pull up and move on to the next community until the trees grow back. The BLM waits 30-40 years and then sells off harvestable timber and for a brief moment in time the community has money again. Up and down, up and down. SEE LETTERS ON A-3 I LLINOIS V ALLEY F UNERAL D IRECTORS WWW.SINCE1928HULL.COM 541-592-4110 Save the date May 26 May 31 Continuing SFI event: Friday, May 26, 5:30 p.m. Evening Birdwalk led by Dennis Vroman, in Fish Hatchery Park, Grants Pass Please call 541- 597-8530 to RSVP. Community Meeting Fruitdale Grange 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. May 31, 1440 Parkdale Dr. Grants Pass. Learning - Discussing - Seek- ing Long term solutions for Jose- phine County’s on going funding challenges Guest speaker Loma Wharton on Authority & Jurisdic- tion: How Understanding this can help our county! On land use, re- source production, jobs and eco- nomic growth. Q & A time… bring your knowledge, ideas. State Reps ,Senator and County Commission- ers with others have been invited. It’s your county, your home let’s work together to find Answers! For more info - contact Ron Smith 541-660-4185 *Illinois Valley Community Watch Meeting every Monday from 5 - 6 p.m. at Wild River Pizza, 249 Redwood Hwy. – Cave Junction. A Public Safety Outreach Campaign effort with all I.V. Neighborhood Watch Groups – representatives, including businesses and churches, and support for anyone wishing to start a neighborhood watch. In- cludes a 2-way hand held radio pro- gram briefing from 4:20 - 4:50 p.m. Contact Guenter - 541-415-1929 / ivwatch541@gmail.com. May 27 Saturday, May 27, - Public lands clean up at Waldo-Takilma, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Join KS Wild as a public lands steward on some of the most beautiful and also threatened places in the Klamath-Siskiyou. Stronger together: We will work together with the BLM, Illinois Valley resi- dents, the Illinois Valley Soil and Water Conservation District to clean this place up - just in time for the fi- nalizing of its designation as an offi- cial “Area of Critical Environmental Concern.” RSVP for carpool infor- mation and other details: call 541- 488-578, or e-mail jeanine@kswild. org. Illinois Valley News Published weekly by W.H. Alltheway, LLC Daniel J. Mancuso, Publisher June 18 *The I.V. Senior Thrift Store: Join the crew and make new friends. You don’t need to be a senior citizen to volunteer at the store. Call us at 541-592-6630. Open Monday – Sat- urday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday, June 18, 6:30 p.m. “Adventures with Butterflies in the Bioregion,” with Dana Ross: Deer Creek Center, 1241 Illinois River Rd., Selma 541-597-8530 *The C.J. Substation hours are changed. Open hours are now Mon- day and Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The phone number for the substa- 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 Since 1937 periodicals postage paid at Cave Junction, OR 97523 P.O. Box 1370 USPS 258-820 SUBSCRIPTION RATES One year in Josephine County - $35 One year in Jackson and Douglas counties - $36 One year in all other Oregon counties and out-of-state - $43.00 Illinois Valley News does not refund subscriptions. Remainder of subscription will be donated to the charity of your choice. tion is 541-592-5151. Volunteers are needed to ex- pand support service hours to the public. Applications are avail- able at the substation or on-line at http://www.co.josephine.or.us/ Files/Volunteer%20Application. Mar%202014.pdf.” *Cave Junction Patrol, LLC is looking for volunteers. CJ Patrol is a private citizen volunteer orgnaniza- tion dedicated to effectively address- ing heretofore-unchecked property crime in our city and neighborhoods. The primary mission of CJ Patrol is to prevent, interrupt, report and de- crease property crime in the city of Cave Junction. Call 541-592-9665 or visit cjpatrol.org. *Committee Meeting STATE OF JEFFERSON Josephine Coun- ty 1st Thursday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Black Forest Restaurant, Grants Pass and 3rd Thursday of each month at 6 p.m., Wild River News - Dan Mancuso dan@illinois-valley-news.com Editor -Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com Classified Ads -Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com Circulation - Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com Advertising / Composition - Dan Mancuso dan@illinois-valley-news.com Mailroom - Millie Watkins Pizza in Cave Junction. *Come join the Cave Junction Lions Club at River Valley Reste- raunt, at 6 p.m. on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month. We are a co-ed club and are always looking for community minded people that are dedicated, hard working, wheth- er physically limited or not and most of all, like to have fun. We host the Classic Car Show in late June and Turkey Bingo in early November. So if you like to have fun and like to help make great things happen, to provide glasses, hearing aids, scholarships and sup- port for our community and so much more. Come by and see what we do or give us a call, 541.592.9243 Nina Horsley Vice President or 541-295- 7579 Sherry Overstreet President. DEADLINES: News, Classified and Display Ads, Announcement and Letters 4 P.M. FRIDAYS 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.
