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need not be published, but will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.,
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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
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One year in all other
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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
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laura@illinois-valley-news.com
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laura@illinois-valley-news.com
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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.
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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.