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.)
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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.
* * *Liking clean machine atmosphere in CJ
From Elder Lambeth, & Debra A. Mcafee-Graves
Cave JunctionWe’re particular about our laundry. We love getting the white clothes white, keeping the colored clothes their proper color, removing stains and folding everything nice and neat.
Margaret Brandeis and Joel Buck became the new owners of Brown Barn Launderette and Internet Café next to the post office in Cave Junction in July 2005. They have worked night and day to modernize, become energy-efficient and do their best to be ecologically friendly to our environment.
Margaret is a special lady with a ready smile, soft voice and an easy manner. She understands that problems arise and not all dropped-off laundry goes home immediately. She graciously allows for monetary shortages and will hold your clean clothes until payday at no extra charge.
I also appreciate how clean and dust free the whole place is now. If you have allergies you know what I mean. Margaret and Joel are not finished fixing and adding for comfort. There is something new every time you go to the Brown Barn.
They care about their patrons and appreciate patrons who care about them.
Business could harm family environment
From Wanda Hoffman
Cave JunctionI have heard about the topless bar and strip club that is coming to Cave Junction in the old movie theater.
I would like to voice my opinion on that. I moved here six years ago to a nice quiet community, and I found out after being here awhile, that there was a big meth problem. It is sad to see people waste their lives on things like this.
I think adding a topless bar and strip club is just another way of people to avoid life and look for entertainment instead of being family oriented and enjoying life. I feel that this kind of club will only bring the wrong kind of people to our community. I would much rather see a sports bar, such as Applebee’s, opened that families could come to for meals with our children.
I think a sports bar with video games for kids to play when in the restaurant with parents would be an asset to the community. My daughter opened one in Eureka, and the kids could come and play pool in the back room and play video games. They weren’t allowed in the front of the restaurant unless a parent was with them because it was a bar also.
If you partition off the bar, it then becomes a restaurant to which kids could come with friends and have a soft drink and hamburger. It could be open earlier, for the after-school crowd, as well as the dinner crowd.
The bar, being in a separate room, could be open according to the laws governing it.
We have been foster parents for 10 years and are raising children who have experienced first-hand the results of alcohol, drugs, neglect, and abuse from parents who use these things, thinking that they will be happier, or trying to avoid the misery in their lives.
Wanting to give back to our community for being so good to you is done by benefiting all in the community, not just a handful of adults.
In face of topless bar, where are leaders?
From Elizabeth Reall
Cave JunctionIt is true that the law is weak to prevent immoral businesses from opening in our town. It is true that the law enforcement can’t control the delinquency which already exists in our town.
I look toward our town leaders, I wonder where they are.
Do we have any pillars of strength and power who have enough intelligence and integrity to make descent decisions for our families? Our town fathers should be standing together, shoulder-to-shoulder, to keep pride in our community instead of allowing trashy strip club entertainment to disgrace our name.
Fathers are raising a slut, a whore.
Only a fool can raise his face in agreement with such filth. Shame on anyone who would support such immoral garbage.
He’s thinking drinkers don’t need Bare Bait
From Ken Stepp
O’BrienIt is illegal in Oregon to bait bears.
Now in Cave Junction we have someone who wants to use Bare Bait to attract people who want to get an alcoholic drink. Our drinkers seem to have plenty of opportunity already.
Family could suffer while dad’s watching
From Steve Lyons
Cave JunctionOn Monday, May 22 during the Cave Junction City Council meeting, I gave testimony on the negative effects that Larry Goynes’ proposed topless bar could have on our community.
Unfortunately, I failed to communicate who will be the biggest victims. Those most negatively affected will be the wives and children waiting at home for Daddy, while he spends the rent, grocery and clothing money hoping to get “lucky” with one of the girls.
Being a former customer, boyfriend and employee of such establishments in my younger, wilder days, I know of what I speak. This town and furthermore, our community, does not need another bar nor especially a topless bar.
Goynes states that television exposes children to worse things (however, that can be controlled by the parent) so that makes it OK?
Goynes says his business will be discreet, no large signs, and only open Friday and Saturday nights. Sure, in the beginning maybe. Usually people open businesses to make money.
With a lack of sheriff’s patrol, especially during the house of his proposed operation, do we need more drunken driving, fighting and public urination? Don’t we already have enough of that? Try having a birthday party in Jubilee Park.
Goynes’ proposal has absolutely no redeeming social value. I am encouraged by the more than 600 signatures collected against this and sincerely hope my fellow citizens remain involved and don’t become complacent or apathetic.
Topless club place in visitor guide?
From Larry Cook
SelmaI was reading in the “Welcome to the Illinois Valley” on the Website about the small town community. My question is, where do we proudly boast the topless club?
Could it go after “Sights,” or maybe “Professional Services, medical, dental legal, topless bar,” or is it recreation?
Should I be impressed that we have more opportunities for the working force. Maybe we can add a dance class at the high school and list it under “Higher Education,” and we won’t have so many kids dropping out of school.
Earlier this year, Illinois Valley Chamber President Terri Hill mentioned that her goals were to unite business communities and remove the invisible barrier (I don’t think a topless bar is what she meant).
She wants more business with family wage jobs, to work together with our efforts, to benefit our community, our business, our families and our future. Well, the idea is nice, and hopefully we will work together to ensure people trying to bring this kind of garbage into a community that is already trying to clean up a drug problem (which currently is among the worst in the country), will never see the light of day.
Hopefully the churches, businesses and community will not allow any more eroding factors like a topless club into this community. Our future lies within our youth. Currently they are dropping our of school at an alarming rate, getting involved in alcoholic activities, drug abuse and teen-age pregnancy.
Maybe our focus should be on keeping fathers home to raise their kids, not out in the bars engaging in promiscuous activities.
How nice would it be to use that facility for a movie house that could actually show up-to-date movies. How many of our kids can afford to drive to Grants Pass to watch a movie? Seattle City Council members were caught being bribed by nude dance-porn industry according to “Seattle Weekly,” with contributions that exceeded those of city, and state workers, as well as Boeing and Microsoft employees combined. Hopefully that type of corruption hasn’t moved this way.
We should consider the percentage of dancers who are prostitutes, drug users and homeless, and according to “Business Newswire” people in prostitution are increasingly getting younger from 14 to 13 and 12 and suffer wartime trauma symptoms caused by acts of violence against them.
Females in prostitution have a mortality rate 40 times higher than the national average, and a majority of them are addicted to crack. (“New York Times”).
With the high employment, high drug abuse, no law enforcement in our community, it is the perfect opportunity for someone willing to exploit our young females for the love of money.
I believe that a staff of community volunteers should take photos of the cars, license plates or patrons of the bar every day and publish it in our weekly paper so we can know who our proud supporters are.
Goynes should take his big city club to the big city. Those who like the country should get a sheep -- well, maybe just plant corn.
Topless bar schedule could be enlarged
From Don Simons; Don’s Auto & Tire Center
Cave JunctionI wish to express my objections as a business owner in Cave Junction to the proposed topless bar, as I feel once it is established it will escalate into more than just two after-business hours late-night events.
For the past few years, Cave Junction has been trying to establish a favorable and positive tourism image and has started different beautification projects to enhance tourism by presenting an image that can be seen by people driving through the town on Hwy. 199.
Everyone has been hoping that what people see will encourage them to stop and spend money; thus benefiting the merchants.
Many dollars have been spent on making this town a place to be proud of. Yet, once again, just like the adult store that was approved, the city powers are approving something that will become a detriment to the young people, respectable businesses and the population in general. I have yet to talk to anyone who approves of the project.
Most people are just shaking their heads and wondering how this can happen in a small town without all the merchants in town approving it by special vote. I sent a letter to the mayor expressing my objections and requesting that it hold a special meeting and invite all business owners and residents of the community to express their opinion.
The time and place of this meeting should be on the front page of the local paper and the Grants Pass paper for at least one week. It should not be in small print or in an obscure place in the paper. That way, all who are interested may attend and voice an opinion.
A lot of people have said they heard that the people involved in this venture expect approximately 60 percent, or more, of the clientele to be from out of town. If this is true, then what is going to happen when all the people who have been in the club begin their long drive home after having a few drinks, or in some cases, a lot drinks? There are laws against driving under the influence; yet the clientele will have to drive home, and this will put other people who are on the road at risk.
According to the article in “Illinois Valley News,” Goynes said that serving beer and wine, rather than hard liquor, should lessen the severity of intoxication. Who does he think he is fooling? Any alcohol consumption ultimately has the same effect on people because most people don't stop after only one drink.
Many in this community choose to live here so they won’t have their children exposed to all the adult entertainment establishments that are in the cities.
We already have an over-abundance of derelicts taking over a lot of the curbs in town and Jubilee Park; plus they are allowed to drink openly. This small town already has an adult novelty store right on the main street, and now the city is allowing a topless bar to open basically right on the main street in the future. What next?
As a business owner, I do understand the premise of free enterprise, but is this really the image of our town we want to present to tourists and children?
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