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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 2002)
Yule Parade, Toy Run among Dec. 7 events Construction is ahead of schedule at Lorna Byrne Middle School in Cave Junction, with occupancy planned early next year. LBMS staff, pupils await new school By SAM NEWTON Continuing construction of the new Lorna Byrne Mid- dle School, which began in July, is three weeks ahead of schedule, according to Tom Hewkin, vice principal. Primary contractor is Doug McKee/Adroit Con- struction, of Ashland. To date there are 45 workers on-site including five people from Illinois Valley. Cost of the new construc- tion and remodeling of what will be left of the old school, the former high school (which was built in 1949) is approxi- mately $7 million. That’s a portion of the $24 million school bond that passed in November 2000. “This is the first time a school bond has passed in Jo- sephine County since the ‘70s,” said Hewkin. I never thought I would see the day.” The new facility, designed for 500 students (current en- rollment is approximately 400) consists of three build- ings, designated A, B, and C, with each building housing different features necessary for proper operation of the school. Bldg. A, the only two- story structure, is at the north end of the school. It consists mostly of classrooms, but will have the student health-care center on the bottom level in the northwest corner. Sixth-grade classes will be held on the lower level, with seventh- and eighth-grades in the upper. It also will have computer labs on both levels. Bldg. B, in the center, is the “Heart and Soul” of the school, according to Hewkin. It will include the main en- trance into the school and be adorned with huge high- beamed ceilings and two spi- ral staircases. The media center is lo- cated in the building along with administrative offices. It also will feature the (Continued on page 8) A Christmas Parade, and 20th annual I.V. Bikers Toy Run/Pearl Harbor Remem- brance are among events set for Saturday, Dec. 7. The 12th annual parade grand marshal is Chief Kyle Kirchner, of Illinois Valley Fire District. Theme of the parade is “Peace on Earth,” and it will begin at 3 p.m. from Ever- green Elementary School. It will proceed up W. River Street, turn south on Redwood Hwy. and end at the Commu- nity Christmas Tree on the Junction Inn vacant lot, where a tree-lighting ceremony will be held. Candy canes will be given away, courtesy of parade sponsor, Illinois Chamber of Commerce. The annual I.V. Bikers Toy Run (see ad in this issue for details) will include a poker run from noon to 4 p.m. There will be festivities and drawings all day at the “base camp,” the Junction Inn. There will be live entertain- ment, and of course, the col- lecting of toys. Donations of toys or money “are greatly appreci- ated,” said I.V. Bikers, and more are needed. Toys will be distributed at I.V. Senior Center on Tues- day, Dec. 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The bikers said that they greatly appreciate use of the senior center. Among parade entrants: I.V. Bikers, I.V. Fire District, SOFCU, I.V. High School equestrian team, IVHS U.S. Air Force Jr. ROTC unit, Boys & Girls Club, Josephine County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse, American Legion Post 70 Auxiliary, and Cub Scout Pack 79. Santa Claus, a good friend of Lee Eschen, will conclude the parade, riding aboard an I.V. Fire District engine. Lights were placed on the Community Christmas Tree last week. Helping were Leo- nard Frick, of Holiday Motel; Ted Crocker (parade chair- man), of Ted Crocker LTC; Marty Hertler, of Hertler Tree Service; and Lee Paxton and Dennis Reviea, of frontier, a Citizens Communications company. Also on Saturday, besides the parade and Toy Run, Crossroads Animal Hospital will conduct an open house, including refreshments, prizes and photos of pets with Santa. (See ad in this issue.) And eight central Down- town CJ merchants will be conducting a Christmas Block Party. (See “Here, There & Everywhere” on page 3.) In addition, Family Tree Garden Center is sponsoring the fifth annual I.V. Music Dept. benefit and open house. (See ad in this issue.) Common ground explored for Biscuit Fire aftermath CONSTRUCTION CREW TREAT - Based on an idea from Vice Principal Tom Hewkin at Lorna Byrne Middle School, students treated approximately 40 workers to lunch on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Besides lunch, those working on the new construction at the school were given LBMS booster pins, which they proudly wore. There was also a large sign thanking the construction crew. The men said that they enjoyed the Thanksgiving lunch and were quite appreciative. Community workshops set for post-wildfire project talk Two community workshops about managing forestland in the aftermath of the Biscuit Fire will be held in Cave Junction next week. Meetings will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 10 in the county building. Both input sessions will be in the county building at Redwood Hwy. and Lister Street. Both meetings, open to all, will run from 2 to 4:30 p.m., and 6:30 to 9 p.m. The gatherings will consist of small discussion groups to pro- vide opportunities for community members to share ideas and thoughts with the U.S. Forest Service, overseer of Siskiyou Na- tional Forest. Fire recovery needs, and potential management activities will be among topics, said the forest service. The Biscuit Fire burned over some 500,000 acres of forest- land. It began in mid-July and was not declared controlled until Nov. 8 when fall rain began. Holiday crashes down: OSP Oregon State Police re- ported that troopers investi- gated only one fatal crash dur- ing the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, with the Oregon Dept. of Transportation re- porting a total of three crashes statewide. Last year 12 fatal crashes occurred, resulting in the deaths of 14 people. “We don’t know how much weather or traffic counts played into these numbers, but we do know one thing for sure, a lot less people died this year than last year and that is very positive news,” said Lt. Gary Miller of OSP’s Patrol Services Division. During the holiday week- end OSP assisted 595 motor- ists; and stopped 6,187 motor- ists for traffic violations, of which 40 percent were warned for these violations. Some 100 drivers were stopped for driv- ing while impaired; 2,019 for speed violations; and 339 for safety belt violations. Be holiday safe -- Please don’t drink and drive. Date abuse, safety topics for program The number-one cause of injury to women and girls in the country is partner vio- lence. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 17 through 19 from 2:45 to 5 p.m., a three-day after-school program will be provided by Asante Health System. It is designed to to help young women learn about dating vio- lence and abuse, and explore ways of increasing personal safety, responsibility, and mu- tual respect in relationships. This program is open to high school-aged girls. A one- hour parent orientation will be held on Monday Dec. 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the Illinois Valley High School Library. Pre- registration by a parent/legal guardian is required. To register, phone the IVHS Student Health Center at 592-3749. The program is free and co-sponsored by the I.V. Student Health Center Advisory Board in partnership with Josephine County Dept. of Health and Community Action, and Siskiyou Commu- nity Health Center. By SAM NEWTON Approximately 85 persons (double the amount from the first meeting in early Novem- ber) from Illinois Valley met in the county building in Cave Junction on Monday evening, Dec. 2, to discuss concerns and ideas regarding salvage logging in the burned-out areas of the Biscuit Fire. During the open forum meeting, Ron Phillips, of I.V. Community Response Team (IVCRT) led the community education program. Guest speakers were Pam Bode, U.S. Forest Service (USFS); Dan McCLaughlin, Rough & Ready Lumber Co. (a member of the Biscuit Fire Task Force Recovery Team); and Ro- maine Cooper, Siskiyou Re- gional Education Project. Two main concerns dur- ing the meeting were the fi- nancial and economical effect salvage logging would have on the community (positive and negative). And the envi- ronmental effect logging would have on soil, vegetation and wildlife. Bode explained that sal- vage logging would bring revenue to the community if and when it is approved. She stated that a sale would create jobs and would put money back into the rehabilitation of the sale that had been logged. She noted that it is re- quired that after any logging operation, rehabilitation or replanting has to be done within five years. “There are trees that were pushed over during the build- ing of the fire breaks that could not be used in the reha- bilitation after the fire,” she said. “When pushed back into the middle of the cleared areas there were too many and the logs ‘straw-jacked,’ making them unusable in the rehabili- tation effort. “The logs consisted of a lot of White Fir and small- diameter timber have been decked and put up for bid,” said Bode. “There were three sales on the Illinois Valley side and none of them were bid on. The timber market is soft right now and evidently the price was too high for the bidders,” said Bode. “The cost of cutting, limb- ing, and decking the logs were added into the price when they were put up for bid, and that could be why the cost was higher than usual,” she said. Asked if the decked tim- ber that doesn’t sell will be offered to people for woodcut- ting, Cliff Phillips, USFS, re- plied, “The decked timber will be repriced and put up for bid again. I don’t think it will get as far as becoming wood- cutting material.” Time that the timber is left standing and lying on the ground seemed to be a con- cern. Also the matter of pest infestation in dead and dying timber threatening timber out- side the wilderness boundary was brought up. There were questions as to whether log- ging would be allowed in the wilderness to control the (Continued on page 8)