Established
in 1937
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Letters to the Editor
(Editor’s Note: Views and commentary, including statements made as fact, are strictly those of the letter-writers.)
* * *
Typed, double-spaced letters written solely to this newspaper and/or Website are considered for publication. Hand-written letters that are double-spaced and legible also can be considered.
Cards of thanks are not accepted as letters.
* * *Freedom not free; U.N. action cited
From Marvin D. Sprinkle
Cave JunctionEverybody getting set to have a good time during the 4th of July holidays? Going to the beach? Spend quality time with friends and relatives? Watch fireworks?
Yeah, sounds great. Hoping with all the lousy weather we’ve been having this year that it doesn’t rain on our parade?
There will be another little thing on at that time that most folks don’t know about. There will be a resolution being debated in the United Nations. It will be regarding whether the United States will be subjected to the rules of the U.N. If it passes we will lose our Bill of Rights and our Constitution and will no longer have the freedom as we know it now.
No -- you’re right!
There has been no notification of it in the news. And there won’t be. Simply because there are a great many people in high places in our government that want this to be kept as quiet as possible.
This is no time to be pointing fingers. It is a time for everyone to put down whatever it is they are doing and phone, write, drive, hitch-hike or crawl to let their senators and representatives know that they don’t want our country to be under anybody’s rule other than our own.
Why do you think people from other countries want to come to the United States? Because there is no other country in the world that has the freedoms that we possess. We are the last bastion of freedom. Let’s keep it.
Let our congressman know this now because if we wait too long we may not have another chance. Freedom isn’t free. And it comes with no guarantee.
Public libraries ‘should not be money-pits’
From Marilyn Arnold
O’BrienIn the response to Jennifer Berubee’s March 27 comments in another newspaper regarding my “bashing” our library: My problem is with the proposed tax district, not the library.
There are very successful libraries throughout the country supported through donations, fund-raisers, membership cards and fines. The library board needs to get the law changed to allow more sources of support so that the public who uses the library can pay for it.
Public libraries should not be money-pits for property owners, most of whom are on fixed incomes. I don’t want to see libraries close, but why does it have to be the property owners shouldering the entire burden?
I agree with Cheryl Walker’s March 30 statement in another newspaper that the library needs to have funding and control completely separate from city and county government. But the minute you slap a library tax district or levy on property tax bills, you irrevocably meld the entities and process required to actually fund the library. If the county collects library taxes, then those funds are in government hands, grasped fiercely when shortages are perceived.
Walker cited the library closure of 1992 as a perfect example of just such an occasion. That makes me wonder: Does the 4-H Club ever truly receive the $10 or so per year that I am taxed for on their behalf? There’s another private interest that managed to find its way onto property tax bills, benefiting annually by 3 percent.
O&C funds that help many programs, including our libraries, may not be disappearing after all, according to Democratic Sens. Wyden and Baucus. Their plan is exciting, and I hope they succeed in getting their bill passed. But let’s remember that those funds and all tax monies will continue to be siphoned to the libraries through the government, at the discretion of our commissioners.
Want a healthy, separate, public library system? Put diverse, solid funding solutions in place (via new laws); maintain a cohesive, enthusiastic board of directors; and stay far, far away from government.
DeFazio chided for ‘no’ vote on forest help bill
From Jennifer Gaskill
SpringfieldThe passage of Second District Rep. Greg Walden’s Forest Restoration Bill has, of course, been receiving a lot of press.
Not only in Oregon newspapers, but in numerous papers across the country. It is nice to see that each article credits those who worked so hard to get the bill passed through committee.
What each, and so far, every article that I have read fails to do, is point out the fact that our Rep. Peter DeFazio voted against this bill. Why is it that this isn’t pointed out, considering the fact, the people of his district, but also to the future economy of Oregon.
The voters need to know what their congressman is doing, or in this case, not doing, for the people of his district. In the 20 years that DeFazio has been our representative, we have lost more than 14,000 timber related jobs.
DeFazio finally has the opportunity to help bring back some of these jobs to the Fourth District, and he votes “no.”
Selma Center building has many contributors
From Marcy Sowa, board chairman
Selma Community and Education CenterOn March 22, the “Illinois Valley News” printed a photo of the pole building at Selma Community and Education Center (SCEC). The caption identified some of the major contributors to the project.
However, this last included only donations received as of December 2005 and, unfortunately, updated information was not requested by “I.V. News” prior to printing the picture.
Since December, we have reached our fund-raising goal through donations from many individuals, families, and businesses. These donations will make it possible to complete this project this spring.
Financial donations have been received from Kathy Mechling and Jim Gurley, Chuck and Betsey Jacobs, Steve Stock, Ellen Lovett at Ox Bow Ranch, Lee Clinefelter, Joan Wolf, Jan and Jack Walker, Elizabeth Metcalf, Larry Weatherwax; Kay, Connie, and Vern Nielson; Jeff and Paula Wood at Riverside Physical Therapy, Chuck and Dorothea Kramer, Heidi Rousseau, Ronnie Chittum, the Jessome Family, Grange Co-Op, John Schlesinger, Pamela Tennity and Will Etherington, Larry Allen, Len and Diane Lea, the Schiffmans at the Tree Surgeon, Gary and Chris Simpronio, Cavenet, Nika Lyon, Tom and Terry Crawford, Jim Tehan, Elaine Wood and Mort Mondale, Harry and Bettie Robertson, Roxy Sincerny, Joan Guilbert, Lynne Campbell, Chuck and Ann Hackford, and, Terry Cain. Donations ranged from $10 to $1,000.
Also, in-kind donations have come in many forms including materials, services, and equipment, which have kept our costs down, made our work easier, and demonstrated a real commitment to our community.
Generous in-kind contributions have come from Orville and Mary Camp, Kenny Houck, Clearway Transportation, Dutch Boy Paints in Grants Pass, Marty’s Tree Service, Dale Madsen, Eight Dollar Boat Works, and Kauffman Wood Products.
SCEC also received Community and Economic Development grants from IVCDO and the Josephine County commissioners. The Meyer Memorial Trust awarded SCEC a $8,212 grant for roofing materials.
Of course, the Energy Trust of Oregon provided the original motivation for this project by awarding SCEC a $35,000 grant for an installed 6-8kw flush-mounted photovoltaic solar system that will generate electricity for SCEC.
The completed building will be the home of a Farmers’ Market which is being organized by dedicated community members and is scheduled to open in May.
All these contributions have combined to make completion of this tremendous project a reality. We will be putting the roof on in April in a series of community events and will celebrate completion of the building, including installation of the solar equipment, in June.
There is still time to participate in this community effort. Information is available at 415-1000.
BLM, USFS criticized for ‘treatment plans’
From Dorothea Hover-Kramer
Cave JunctionThe forests in our backyards are again threatened, not by disease or a foreign invasion, but rather by two agencies that are quickly undoing all remnants of public trust.
With the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed logging of timber sales around Selma, Cave Junction and Takilma; and the U.S. Forest Service’s “fast-track” proposed advance into roadless areas in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, more than 28,000 acres of forest land soon may be transformed into a desert-like landscape.
That is, unless we the public are willing to speak up to reverse these heartless plans.
Contrary to popular belief, timber sales do not generate money for our
areas; instead, they bring profits to timber companies which offer few local jobs. Intangibles such as tourism, regional beauty, and quality of life are destroyed, while-so called forest management programs consistently lose money.If thinning of undergrowth and small trees is needed, then there should be adequate funding and activity for forest restoration and fuel reduction. It appears that good and financially sound forest management is not possible under the present planning.
BLM and the forest service would do well to leave our woodland hills alone, without their “treatments.”
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