From our weekly issue dated July 23, 2008

(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.

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Reunionmania salute
From Linda Milner
Bremerton, Wash.

Just want to say that we enjoyed the photos with the names and the whole reunion gathering (Illinois Valley News July 9). Good job.

Turning down alcoholics
From Jimmy Su
Speedy Mart, Cave Junction

In response to the page one article in Illinois Valley News on July 16 about Mayor Tony Paulson’s attempt to “curtail the extreme alcoholic abuse” by “not (selling) any alcohol to the extreme ‘street’ alcoholics,” I have a few choice words.

I am one of those business owners to whom the mayor delivered the said letter mentioned in the article. Yet I have not received a call from him to discuss the issue. In the letter he hides behind ORS 471.030 to solve the “extreme alcoholic abuse,” but nowhere does it provide specific actions that would accomplish his goals.

We as merchants have and continue to turn away certain individuals. To insinuate that we, as business owners, turn a blind eye to “visibly intoxicated” individuals is not just prejudicial, it is downright insulting. We are well aware of this issue; however, we do not feel that the problem will miraculously go away the minute all six of us businesses turn down the sales of alcohol to “extreme ‘street’ alcoholics.”

Many of us take quite seriously being an Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) licensee. We follow its rules and regulations, just as the mayor follows the rules and regulations set forth by the city. He should not try to dictate how we operate -- we are not civil servants -- we are private citizens trying our best to do what is right according to OLCC by not selling any alcohol to “visibly intoxicated individuals,” which we are firm to comply with, using utmost due diligence.

OLCC defines “visibly intoxicated” literally as “intoxication you can see” --

*Swaying, staggering or stumbling when walking.

*Falling down.

*Eyes that are bloodshot, glassy or look drowsy.

*Difficulty handling money.

*Slurred, rambling, loud or noisy speech.

*Clumsy.

*Difficulty standing.

We have stressed to our employees that when in doubt, “Don’t sell!” As mentioned earlier, we have turned down sales in the past, and we plan to continue to refuse individuals who are “visibly intoxicated.”

While the mayor supplements his income at CJ 76, I am sure that he has encountered many of the “extreme ‘street’ alcoholics.” How many of them are “visibly intoxicated?” How many has he actually turned away?

Our employees have no qualms about refusing the sale of alcohol to “visibly intoxicated” individuals. As recently as Saturday evening, July 19, one employee was confronted by sheriff’s deputies regarding the sale of alcohol to “visibly intoxicated persons.” The employee’s performance was by the book. He had refused at least six individuals due to their “visible intoxication,” yet the deputies found the need to harass him.

We as business owners are not mindless money-mongers: We know our rights. We know that we can refuse service to anyone for anything. If an individual is “visibly intoxicated,” we will refuse to sell him or her alcohol.

But as to fixing the problem, that is the mayor’s job. Is his real target beautification or re-election?

I.V. Lions assistance
From Janet & Willy Knodel
Gasquet, Calif.

Because of the service provided by the Illinois Valley Lions Club, our sister was able to wait out in comfort and safety the recent temporary closure of Hwy. 199 because of wildfire.

The I.V. Lions provided her a wheelchair, which was a blessing, as she could not walk because of major foot surgery. Lion Carl Jacobson Jr. responded quickly to our call and is appreciated.

We also want to note our friend, Jean Berg, for her kindness in offering other needed equipment. The folks in Cave Junction have been good friends to us during the years we have lived close by.

People in Illinois Valley are kind and generous.

I.V. Airport direction
From Alan Jensen
Cave Junction

Does the public know that it is a shareholder in the ownership of an airport?

More than two decades ago, the U.S. Forest Service turned over ownership of the Siskiyou Smokejumper Base near Cave Junction to the people of Josephine County. Some may say, “I don’t own an airplane; why should I care?”

The airport does not rely on county money to operate. All operating expenses come from federal grants or airport user fees. This airport, if properly utilized, has the potential to become a significant money-maker for the county. This could mean much to the people of the county, possibly even helping with taxes.

The key is to provide the best and most-effective use of the property. There have been a number of airport advisory boards, composed of volunteer career aviation professionals, to recommend to the county commissioners and the director of airports what would be, in their opinion, the best function of the airport.

Each of the past boards has been unanimous in their recommendation that the airport be used as a general aviation or community operation suitable for recreation, tourism and business uses. The county already has a general aviation airport in Merlin, so another of this type would be superfluous.

The county airport manager wants another commercial airport, and is directing his efforts in that direction. To counter all advice to the contrary, he had the commissioners dissolve the advisory board.

He is now developing a new version of the Airport Layout Plan, which will determine the direction the airport will take for the next 20 years. He has announced four public meetings in which he will discuss this planning.

Those who agree that a single county employee should not have total control over the future of our airport should attend all these meetings and decide for themselves which path will be the most beneficial use of this facility.

A question of extremes
From Josiah Dean
Cave Junction

I sometimes think that Bob puts certain letters in the newspaper just to get me to respond. This time it is a letter from a commissioner in Tillamook County printed in the July 16 Illinois Valley News. 

Anyone who uses the term “environmental extremist” in the first sentence is likely to get my hackles up. And so, Charles J. Hurliman has drawn me in like fish on a line. The issue that I have with Hurliman is what he means by “extreme.” According to a 2006 ABC News and Time magazine poll:

A striking 86 percent of those surveyed want President Bush, Congress, American businesses and/or the American public to do “a great deal” or “a lot” to improve the health of the environment during the next year.

Tyranny of the minority seems to more accurately apply to the small number of extraction business owners who continue to cling to the unsustainable business practices of “cut-’em-all-and-let God-sort-it-out.”

When Hurliman invokes Gifford Pinchot and talks about integrated forest management policies he misses the point. If the industry had been actually following these practices and the law, there would be no lawsuits. The lawsuits come about because folks are not following the law. Get it, “law” suit? If the forests had been managed properly from the 1950s, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

The current administration has had seven years to address energy policy and environment. There were six years when the president and Congress worked together to gut the environmental gains of the last 150 years. The result?

Hurliman said it, “The costs of gas, food, housing, fuel, roads and law enforcement are getting out of hand.” It wasn’t “environmental extremists” at the helm unless “extreme” refers to the excessive rate of damage done to protections that were in place.

If a person thinks that 86 percent of Americans hold “extremist” views, maybe it is time to look in the mirror. Who really has the extreme view?

Denial of services
From Ellyn Coley
Cave Junction

“I’m not going to sell those cookies to you,” she says. “You’re overweight and I find that offensive. You are an eyesore.”

Or being denied hair dye because “that color won’t become you.” Or a lipstick “because you are too young (or old) to wear that color.”

The list goes on. Arrest lawbreakers, but don’t ask people to deny services to people based on their looks. That’s shameful.

Parental teachings?
From Linda S. Tedder
Cave Junction

Well, well. Seems there are real thieves wandering around Schumacher Street. Noises were heard at 3 a.m. recently, so we checked the vehicles.

But the miscreants stole a back pillow from a  porch chair that I use when I practice my harp. Why would anyone want an old pillow that  was dirty, lumpy, faded?

I know why -- because it was there. This speaks volumes about how people raise
their kids here. I’m not saying it was kids, but hey, where would anyone learn this behavior except at home? Good ol’ dysfunctional home.

May it ever be so humble.

Now just how are we to get people to move to this quaint little burg? How do we explain the loss of respect for property, environment, and just plain old good manners? Can’t say I would recommend moving here.

Snowbirding/snowboarding
From Jim Lombardo
O’Brien

Anyone who has been to Palm Springs in winter can ride the tram there. When it’s 100-plus degrees on the desert floor, the tram carries passengers up to snow.

On they way down, guides point out the stuff you are going to use for air. The air in my 8-by-8-foot chicken coop, with the chickens inside, is healthier by far than the air at the Palm Springs Golf Course. The water we flush our toilets with is better than the chemically treated water they drink there.

Weather? We can count our seasons barely. When it snows for a day or two, people get out their cameras to get a photo for next Christmas. I have never had to use four-wheel-drive in a winter here. The only damage to my 40-year-old Jeep was the windshield in a sand storm on the way to Palm Springs.

Would I care to go snowbirding? I’d rather go snow-boarding at Page Mt. Sno-Park. To get the quality of health we have in O’Brien, people who go to that area should stay at an oxygen bar and drink bottled water.