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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2003)
Takilma community rallies for protection State Representative Anderson visits valley Home invasions, burglaries spur action BY BRITT FAIRCHILD Staff Writer Measure 28’s defeat sent a clear message to Rep. Gordon Anderson, R-Grants Pass -- the majority of his con- stituents don’t want to pay more in state income taxes. Even in the face of signifi- cant funding cuts to local schools, police, courts and other services, some of which have already gone into effect. “I thought Measure 28 would pass” to supply funding until the next biennium, Anderson told a group of 10 people during a workshop in the council chambers of Cave Junction City Hall on Satur- day, Feb. 1. “Especially considering some fear factor tactics used to get the measure passed,” said Anderson. Nearly all of those who attended the town-hall style meeting were city council members and representatives from Josephine County agen- cies such as Senior and Dis- abled Services. A similar meeting, which drew a much larger crowd of more than 60 people, followed in Grants Pass later that after- noon. Anderson arranged the visits, his first to the valley as state elected representative for District 3, to find out how the failure of Measure 28 would affect those in Josephine County, especially the seniors, mentally ill, and others at the greatest risk for losing vital services, such as life-saving medications. “I don’t know anyone, (republican or democrat), who wants to put them on the street,” Anderson said. “We’re going to deal with these peo- By PAM COOPER Correspondent The song line “the times they are a changing,” was ap- parent at the Takilma Commu- nity Building on Monday eve- ning, Feb. 3, when five offi- cers from the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office met with Takilma residents to dis- cuss crime in the area. Approximately 45 people attended the “Crime Action” meeting, prompted by a series of home-invasion robberies and daytime burglaries in Takilma in recent months. Alarmed residents re- quested representation from the sheriff’s office and gath- ered to ask questions and hopefully hear that the perpe- trators had been arrested. Without getting into de- tails because the crimes are still under investigation, Lt. Lee Harman told residents that no arrests have been made but that the robberies were the number one priority for the sheriff’s office. He also said that officers knew of three robberies going back two years in which armed people wearing ski masks invaded private homes, demanding money and mari- juana, and that they believed there was a fourth robbery, but have no proof of its occur- rence. “I started out here in 1978 and if anyone had told me then that I’d be facilitating a Neighborhood Watch meeting in Takilma, I would have been shocked,” Harman said. Deputy Rich McMillen explained to residents how they could better protect them- selves against crime, and how a neighborhood watch could benefit their community. “We need you Takilma residents to be the eyes and ears of the police department,” he said. One Takilma resident asked about self-protection and what would result if “someone came into my house and I shot them?” “You have to be very sure of what you are doing and think about it,” Harman re- sponded. Another resident asked if “we should arm ourselves,” to which Harman replied that he believed “everyone has the right to arm themselves.” “But I can’t tell you that it’s OK to shoot someone be- cause circumstances vary. If a guy is running out the door with your television set and you shoot him in the back, you’ll have a very hard time convincing a jury that your life was in danger,” he said. With staffing down to four deputies for the entire county of 1,467 square miles, Harman said two deputies are assigned to patrol the valley during the day, and two at night, plus one contract officer working for the City of Cave Junction, to respond to calls outside of city limits. Harman went on to advise Takilma residents that after an initial non-emergency call-in, they may not hear back from a deputy for almost a week due to shift changes. He offered to be the liaison between Takilma and the sheriff’s of- fice. Detective Sgt. Ron Good- pasture, who supervises the Major Crimes Unit and the Josephine County Interagency The Illinois Valley mourns the loss of the seven astronauts who died on Saturday, Feb. 1 when the space shuttle Columbia broke apart and exploded 16 minutes before it was scheduled to land at Ken- nedy Space Center in Florida. Debris from the shuttle is still being found in several states. Flags are being flown at half-staff to honor the fallen. (Photo by Sam Newton) (Continued on page 8) ple.” He noted that Gov. Ted Kulongoski previously said that he would restore money for such services but has since decided to leave the budget as is. Anderson suggested using approximately $30 million in emergency funds from the $3 billion annual budget for Ore- gon's Dept. of Human Ser- vices. In the interim, he said he is working with the area’s faith-based community to have residents help those in need. Public Employee Retire- ment System (PERS) reform would also help save the county money, Anderson told the group. On Wednesday, Jan. 29, Anderson cast his first official vote on the House Floor for House Bill 2001, which caps the annual returns paid on em- ployee pension accounts at 8 percent until the system’s re- serves no longer have a defi- cit. HB 2001 would save school districts and counties (Continued on page 8) Measure 28 voting unofficial results 99 percent of precincts reporting Josephine County- 57 percent voted No Jackson County- 55 per- cent voted No Douglas County- 70 per- cent voted No Klamath County- 68 per- cent voted No Curry County- 65 percent voted No Lake County- 69 percent voted No STATE- 54 percent voted No I.V. women with a peaceful purpose Protest to local and global violence mission of valley’s Women in Black COUGARS KEELHAUL PIRATES - The IVHS Cougar boys wrestling team made the Phoenix Pirates walk the plank with a score of 34-28 on Thursday, Jan. 30 at IVHS during Skyline Con- ference wrestling against North Valley and Phoenix . I.V’s Mike Pagnotta, at 152 pounds, won a 6-0 decision over Ricky Farrell of Phoenix. Cougar Matt Miller, at 135 pounds, pinned Josh Firth, also of Phoenix in 1-minute, 40-seconds. At 160 pounds, Oley Crocker won 12-10 against Pirate Riley Gibson. (Photos by Gary Bell) By BRITT FAIRCHILD Staff Writer Twice a month, they gather outside the Josephine County building in downtown Cave Junction in protest. Dressed in black, the 15 or so women stand side by side saying nothing. Their defiance to a war with Iraq is silence. “When you use words someone will always want to argue,” said Carrie Stanlick, a Cave Junction resident who helped start the Illinois Valley network of Women in Black, an international movement of women who oppose all forms of local and global violence, in November. Besides, she added, words fail in describing the realities of war. Stressing that war with Iraq is not inevitable, Gloria Fiorini of Cave Junction said talk of a possible military con- flict there was the catalyst for the formation of the I.V. Women in Black. She, Stanlick and fellow woman in black, Betsey Ja- cobs of Selma, started the group after Stanlick and Ja- cobs attended a Women in Black peace vigil in Grants Pass. “We felt it was important to be visible,” Stanlick said. “Plus, we live in this com- munity,” Fiorini added, ex- plaining why they chose to hold vigils in Cave Junction instead of participating in those held in Grants Pass. The group recently changed the time for its vigils to noon on the second and fourth Mondays of the month to accommodate working women’s lunch schedules, Fiorini said. In general, there seems to be support for the local Women in Black, Fiorini said. A number of drivers-by acknowledged their approval of the women and their mes- sage during the 30-minute vigil on Monday, Jan. 27 by making thumbs up and peace signs, or honking their horns. Others let their feelings be known by making references to Sept. 11 as they drove or walked by the women. “We’re really just getting started,” Jacobs said, noting the potential for greater mem- bership among women in the valley. Drawing inspiration from the Black Sash movement in South Africa, in which women (Continued on page 8) ILLINOIS VALLEY WOMEN IN BLACK (Photo by Britt Fairchild)